By Sophie Mach

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In the bank...

Tracy has too many coins and wants to have a twenty-dollar bill instead. So she goes to the bank.

cashier: May I help you, Miss?

Tracy: Yes. I have some coins that I need to change.

cashier: That’s great! I can use some change. I’m almost out.

Tracy: You must be very busy today, I guess.

cashier: We’re always busy, but today it’s crazy. Now, how do you want it?

The vending machine is out of order...

Judy puts some quarters in the soda vending machine, but the machine is out of order...

Judy: Oh, that’s great! I just lost another 50 cents in this stupid vending machine.

Sophie: I’m not surprised. It’s always out of order.

Judy: Yeah. It eats my money relentlessly.

Sophie: OK. Let me try. You know what? Whenever things like this don’t work, hit it. And it’ll work.

Judy: You mean, SOMETIMES!

Sophie: (Hitting the vending machine hard.) Bang! Bang! Bang! Hmmm...it usually works.

Judy: Let’s put a sign on it so that the same thing doesn’t happen to others.

Borrow money from friend...

Jim is broke. He wants to borrow some money from his friend Rose, only to find out that Rose is broke, too.

Jim: Can you loan me some money?

Rose: I’m sorry. I’ve already gone through my paycheck for the week.

Jim: You’ve gone through all you money so quickly? I thought you were well-off.

Rose: Not me! You know money always burns a hole in my pocket.

I need to get some change for the parking meter.

Mary doesn’t have any change for the parking meter, so she goes to a store nearby. However, the cashier refuses to give her change...

Mary: Excuse me?

Shop assistant: Yes, can I help you?

Mary: Yes. I need to get some change for the parking meter. May I have change for a five dollar bill? I just need five dollars in quarters.

Shop assistant: I’m sorry, but we’re not allowed to give change.

Mary: Oh. That’s too bad! Is there a change machine somewhere around here?

Shop assistant: There is one in the shopping mall across the street.

Mary: Well, that’s too far. I may have a ticket when I come back. What the heck...I’ll buy a candy bar.

Vocabulary

change: 零錢

vending machine: 自動販賣機

quarter: 25美分的硬幣

out of order: 故障，出故障的

cent: 一分硬幣

relentlessly: 無情的

sign: 標記

loan: 貸款，借出

go through: 用完，用掉

paycheck: 薪水

well-off: 手頭寬裕的

parking meter: 停車計時器

cashier: 收銀員

candy: 糖果

Please fill in each blank with the correct form of a word or phrase given below:

Loan cent go through relentlessly out of order sign

1. My clock is ____ and waked me up at 3 this morning.

2. We've ____ all those envelopes I bought last week.

3. The sun beat ____ down on his head.

4. Pay attention to the road ____.

5. The public library ____ books to people.

Answers:

1. out of order

2. gone through

3. relentlessly

4. signs

5. loans

（來源：英語學習雜志）