付出代價的經驗
【內容提示】
如今，上當的事也真不少。要獲得一種經驗也得付出高昂的代價。比如你要請你的朋友吃一頓午飯，你們隻要找個幽靜的地方邊吃邊敘即可，而不需要講排場。你在某一夜總會預訂一房間，約好你的朋友去吃飯時，服務員問你吃50元的還是20元的飯，你說吃50元的。等你付款時才知道是每人50元。有時候除了飯菜還得加上飲料錢、酒錢、水果錢和空調錢。錢再多也得付，因為這不是俱樂部的錯而是你自己的無知。吃一塹，長一智。長一智，要付出十倍的代價。
【作文示範】
Paid Experience
These days experiences, like many other things, are becoming more and more expensive. One"s got to pay quite a lot to get an experience, even an ordinary one.
Not long ago, I wanted to treat my friend to a lunch. What we really needed was a quiet place for some conversation, not a big meal. So I told my friend,“Let"s go to a nice club.”
When I ordered a day in advance, I was asked whether I would eat a 20 yuan or 50 yuan lunch. I said,“50 yuan”I didn"t realize, until I was asked to pay after the lunch, that“50 yuan” means“50 yuan for each person”.
There were five of us the other day, and all of us were surprised by the quality of the 50 yuan meal (for all, we thought). The bill came at last; it was 310.40 (250 yuan for the five of us plus the charges for drinks, fruits and air conditioning). I paid the bill without a word.
What could I say? It was not the club"s fault. It was my own ignorance① that made me pay the largest lunch bill of my life.
On the whole, it was not so miserable; we had a good lunch and in a beautiful place. Besides, the experience was unique and will be helpful in later years.
To support the logic of the lunch bill, I have developed my own calculation②: 50 yuan for the lunch and 260. 40 for the experience.
This paid experience has made me ten times wiser.
(選自1987年11月10日《上海學生英文報》)
【詞語解釋】
①ignorance["ign+r+ns]n.無知;愚昧
②calculation[?k$lkju"leiM+n] n.計算結果;計算
【寫法指要】
這是一篇雜文，是對商業上欺詐行為的一種針砭。作者採用詼諧的筆調，結合自己的親身經歷——約朋友去夜總會小酌的事例，揭露和批評了當今社會上的一些醜惡現象。
文章一開頭提出論點：經驗也得付出可怕的代價。接下來，作者結合事實運用歸納推理法進行論證。最後的結論是：花300多元吃一頓飯算來倒還不算太慘，50元在華麗的餐廳美餐一頓，260.40元買了一個經驗教訓，以後就會學乖。