The first day my sister Ann hosted a foreign friend was full of stumbles and troubles.
The other day, Ann went to school to fetch her guest an exchange student from a U.S. middle school. After a brief self introduction, the two girls decided to saunter around the city. In the taxi, when the driver inquired the destination, it suddenly occurred to Ann that she hadn't exchanged ideas about it with her guest yet. To her surprise, before she could say anything,the American girl took out a pile of cards from her bag, randomly picked one out to the driver. Reading the card on which the name of the bund was printed bilingually, the driver started the engine, added sarcastically to my sister, "So, you are a foreigner too, aren't you?"
At noon, Ann invited her new friend to lunch. The waitress couldn't speak English; the menu was packed with tricky and confusing names;the American vegetarian was so particular about what she ate, all of which made the little interpreter helterskelter. She was trying her best to balance the demand and supply when she suddenly found both parts silently looking at her with a strange expression. Only then did she realize that she was constantly talking to the Chinese waiter in English and to the American in Chinese !
After the meal, they went straight to XiangYang Market.The American girl was at once fascinated by the lovely stuffs there. At first, Ann did behave like a hospitable host, but when she came across a cute handbag, she just couldn't help bargaining with the shopkeeper. Unfortunately, when she successfully got the new bag with half the price cut, she just recognized that her new friend was nowhere to be found. It was not until 30 minutes later that she caught the girl in a corner shop and prevented her from paying 200 Yuan for a simple false silver necklace.
"Even hanging about is no easy job," signed Ann to me. It is true, but even the most unpleasant experience can teach us how to do better the next time, can't it?
簡 評
本文記敘了中國女孩Ann第一次做翻譯陪同美國朋友的經歷。作者用幾件小事寫出了一天的波折，刻畫出小翻譯的熱情，窘迫和缺乏經驗，以及美國女孩的獨立與率性。結尾以一個反意疑問句點明文章中心：不愉快的經歷也能對人有所教益。這樣深化了主題，達到了以小見大的效果。
文章篇幅不長，卻將一天的歷程講得生動，清楚，使人如臨其境。這主要得益于作者善于把握重點及對動詞短語運用較為恰當。如午飯一節描寫小翻譯手忙腳亂的形象極為生動，令人忍俊不禁。 而如“saunter around”,“randomly picked one out”,"packed with”，“balance the supplyand demand”等表達都相當簡潔傳神。從全文來看，作者文筆流暢自然，語句富有節奏，尤其是“full of stumbles and troubles”，“helter—skelter”等辭彙有幾分押韻，使文章讀來朗朗上口。