Immediately after hanging up the phone with her aunt, Melissa begins planning a trip to Seattle with her mother. The following weekend, Melissa and her mother leave for a short visit to the place known as the “Emerald City.”

Melissa: Are you almost ready to go, mom? I’ll go and pull the car out of the garage.

Mrs. Jones: OK—just a minute. Could you see if there’s a map of Seattle in the glove box ?

Melissa (shouting from the garage): I don’t see one. Wait! I found it! It’s in the compartment in the driver’s door.

Mrs. Jones: Great! We’ll probably need it to find your aunt and uncle’s place. It’s a bit tricky finding their place—especially at night.

Melissa: Why don’t we just go online to get the driving directions to their place? The Internet is pretty handy, you know!

Mrs. Jones: So I’ve heard. In this situation, the Internet probably won’t be able to help us as we don’t know which direction we’ll be coming from.

Melissa: OK! I am pretty good at reading maps. We probably won’t get lost!

Mrs. Jones: Great! Let’s go, Missy! Let’s leave a note for your father reminding him to take out the dog when he gets home.

Melissa: Bye, Judd. Be a good boy!

Melissa and Mrs. Jones get into the car and begin their trip. Their first stop is the gas station.

Melissa: Just a second and I’ll fill the car up with gas. Do you want me to pay for it with cash or use the credit card?

Mrs. Jones (reaching into her purse): Let’s use the credit card. Here you go. Thanks, honey!

Melissa (jumping into the car): Can we grab a latte on the way out of town? I am feeling a bit drowsy and need a boost .

Mrs. Jones: That sounds like a great idea! I could use a tall mocha myself! Let’s go to the coffeehouse on Union Street—their mochas are the best!

Melissa: And don’t forget their famous cinnamon rolls!

Mrs. Jones: How about splitting one? I am watching my weight, you know!

Melissa: Sounds good to me!

Two hours later, Melissa and Mrs. Jones arrive in Seattle. As it is almost noon, they decide to go to lunch at their favorite French café in a local market known as Pike’s Place Market.

Mrs. Jones: Wow! That sure was lucky getting a parking space so close to the market. Sometimes it is really difficult finding a good parking place on the weekends!

Melissa: You’re not kidding! Remember that time we had to park four blocks away and hike to the market in the rain! That was crazy!

Mrs. Jones: Don’t worry. I always carry an umbrella in the trunk of the car these days! What are you going to get for lunch?

Melissa: I am going to get the lamb burger and fries. It is always fabulous! How about you?

Mrs. Jones: I think I’ll get the same thing that I always order—the quiche . We’re kind of boring, aren’t we?

Melissa (laughing): Why change a good thing? Can we go shopping after lunch? I’d like to pick up some of those dog cookies for Judd at the Doggy Bakery down the street.

Mrs. Jones: Sure! You can pick up some treats for Judd and I’ll get some chocolate chip cookies for your father while we’re at the market. That way, they’ll both be glad to see us when we get home!

Melissa: Do you think there will still be time to catch the new Spanish exhibit at the Seattle Art Museum? Isn’t it a couple of blocks up the street?

Mrs. Jones: I don’t see why not. The museum is within walking distance and I was hoping we could stop by and see what’s new. What’s the name of the exhibit, again?

Melissa: Spain and the Age of Exploration. I read a little about it in the newspaper. I think the exhibit focuses on several hundred years of Spanish expansion throughout the world and the discoveries that were made during this period.

Mrs. Jones: That sounds really fascinating! Why don’t we finish up our lunch and stop by the museum for a couple of hours?

Melissa: Great! Let’s go!

Melissa and Mrs. Jones spend the rest of the afternoon looking at the museum exhibit. Later that day, they check in to a hotel.

瑪麗莎一掛她姨媽的電話，就立即著手計(jì)劃她和母親的西雅圖之行。下個(gè)周末，瑪麗莎和母親出發(fā)，去短暫拜訪這座名為“翡翠城”的地方。

瑪麗莎：媽媽，差不多準(zhǔn)備好走了嗎？我去車(chē)庫(kù)把車(chē)子開(kāi)出來(lái)。

瓊斯夫人：好的——馬上就好。你看看手套箱里有沒(méi)有一張西雅圖的地圖？

瑪麗莎（在車(chē)庫(kù)里大聲喊道）：沒(méi)看見(jiàn)啊。等等！我找到了！就在駕駛位側(cè)門(mén)的隔層里。

瓊斯夫人：太好了！我們可能要靠它去你姨媽姨父那兒。要找到他們那兒還真有點(diǎn)難——尤其是在晚上。

瑪麗莎：我們?yōu)槭裁床簧暇W(wǎng)查查去他們那兒的開(kāi)車(chē)路線呢？要知道，現(xiàn)在網(wǎng)絡(luò)可方便了！

瓊斯夫人：這個(gè)我也聽(tīng)說(shuō)過(guò)，但這回互聯(lián)網(wǎng)恐怕幫不上我們了，因?yàn)槲覀冞B自己從哪邊過(guò)去都不知道呢。

瑪麗莎：好吧！我很會(huì)看地圖的。我們大概不太會(huì)走丟！

瓊斯夫人：太好了！瑪莎，我們走吧！給你父親留個(gè)言，提醒他回家后記得帶狗出去溜溜。

瑪麗莎：再見(jiàn)，賈德。要聽(tīng)話哦！

瑪麗莎和瓊斯夫人坐上車(chē)，開(kāi)始了她們的旅程。她們的第一站是加油站。

瑪麗莎：稍等一下，我去給車(chē)子加滿油。你說(shuō)我是用現(xiàn)金還是信用卡付錢(qián)呢？

瓊斯夫人（手伸進(jìn)錢(qián)包）：我們用信用卡吧，給你。寶貝兒，謝謝！

瑪麗莎（跳進(jìn)車(chē)?yán)铮何覀兡懿荒茉诔龀堑穆飞吓c(diǎn)拿鐵咖啡喝？我有點(diǎn)兒困，需要刺激一下。

瓊斯夫人：聽(tīng)上去不錯(cuò)啊！那我自己可以來(lái)一個(gè)中杯摩卡！我們?nèi)ヂ?lián)盟街上的那間咖啡館吧——他們的摩卡最好喝了！

瑪麗莎：還有，別忘了他們的肉桂面包卷也很有名哦！

瓊斯夫人：咱倆合吃一個(gè)怎么樣？你知道，我得注意著點(diǎn)兒自己的體重！

瑪麗莎：我覺(jué)得聽(tīng)起來(lái)不錯(cuò)哦！

兩小時(shí)后，瑪麗莎和瓊斯夫人到達(dá)西雅圖。這時(shí)將近中午，她們決定去吃午飯，她們要去當(dāng)?shù)匾粋€(gè)叫作“派克市場(chǎng)”的地方，那兒有一家她們最喜歡的法國(guó)餐廳。

瓊斯夫人：哇！真是走運(yùn)，在離市場(chǎng)這么近的地方找到了一個(gè)停車(chē)位。有時(shí)候周末真的很難找到一個(gè)好車(chē)位。

瑪麗莎：沒(méi)錯(cuò)兒！還記得有一回我們不得不把車(chē)停在離這兒四個(gè)街區(qū)遠(yuǎn)的地方，然后冒雨走到了市場(chǎng)！太荒唐了！

瓊斯夫人：別擔(dān)心，我現(xiàn)在總會(huì)在車(chē)的后備箱里備把傘！你午飯打算吃什么？

瑪麗莎：我要吃羊肉漢堡和炸薯?xiàng)l。味道總是好極了！你吃什么？

瓊斯夫人：我想，還是點(diǎn)老樣子吧——蛋奶火腿餡餅。我們真沒(méi)新意，對(duì)吧？

瑪麗莎（大笑）：為什么要換掉好東西呢？吃完午飯我們?nèi)ベ?gòu)物好嗎？我想去街那頭的狗狗面包店給賈德買(mǎi)點(diǎn)兒狗餅干。

瓊斯夫人：當(dāng)然可以！你可以給賈德買(mǎi)些點(diǎn)心，我就在市場(chǎng)里給你父親買(mǎi)點(diǎn)兒巧克力薄餅干。這樣他們看到我們回家就能皆大歡喜了！

瑪麗莎：那我們還有時(shí)間趕到西雅圖藝術(shù)博物館去看新的西班牙主題展嗎？是不是沿著這條街向北過(guò)幾個(gè)街區(qū)就能到？

瓊斯夫人：應(yīng)該沒(méi)什么問(wèn)題。博物館走著就能到，之前我就希望咱們能順道去那兒，看看有什么新東西。再有，展覽的名字是什么來(lái)著？

瑪麗莎：“西班牙和探索時(shí)代”。我在報(bào)紙上讀到了一些相關(guān)介紹。我覺(jué)得這次展覽主要展現(xiàn)的是西班牙幾百年來(lái)在全世界的擴(kuò)張以及在這段時(shí)期的一些發(fā)現(xiàn)。

瓊斯夫人：聽(tīng)著很吸引人啊！咱們吃完午飯，不如順便去博物館呆上幾個(gè)小時(shí)？

瑪麗莎：太好了！我們走吧！

那天下午接下來(lái)的時(shí)間，瑪麗莎和瓊斯夫人都在博物館里看展覽。那天晚些時(shí)候，她們住進(jìn)了一家酒店。

Vocabulary:

1. Emerald City: 翡翠城，西雅圖的別稱，有關(guān)其淵源，請(qǐng)參考下文“Did You Know”一欄。

2. glove box: 手套箱，也作glove compartment，即汽車(chē)儀表板上存放手套零星小物件的貯物箱。

3. tricky: 難對(duì)付的，棘手的。

4. latte: 拿鐵咖啡，是意式濃縮咖啡和牛奶的混合，一般不加入奶泡。

5. boost: 激勵(lì)，促進(jìn)，鼓舞。

6. mocha: 摩卡咖啡，和拿鐵咖啡很相似，不過(guò)它還會(huì)加入少量巧克力，有時(shí)還會(huì)在咖啡表面加點(diǎn)奶油、可可粉和綿花糖等來(lái)加重咖啡的香味和作裝飾用。咖啡的大、中、小杯的英文分別為Grande, Tall和Short。

7. trunk: 〈美〉（一般設(shè)在汽車(chē)后部用以裝東西的）行李箱，后備箱。

8. quiche: 什錦烘餅，蛋奶火腿餡餅。

9. chocolate chip cookie: 巧克力薄餅干，又叫巧克力奇普餅干，是把巧克力的小粒或小薄片加在曲奇餅中烘培做出的甜餅干。

（來(lái)源：英語(yǔ)學(xué)習(xí)雜志 編輯：丹妮）