Fifty pence worth of trouble
原文
Lesson 15
Fifty pence worth of trouble
Did George get anything for his fifty pence? What?
Children always appreciate small gifts of money.
Mum or dad, of course, provides a regular supply of pocket money, but uncles and aunts are always a source of extra income.
With some children, small sums go a long way.
If fifty pence pieces are not exchanged for sweets, they rattle for months inside money boxes.
Only very thrifty children manage to fill up a money box.
For most of them, fifty pence is a small price to pay for a nice big bar of chocolate.
My nephew, George, has a money box but it is always empty.
Very few of the fifty pence pieces and pound coins I have given him have found their way there.
I gave him fifty pence yesterday and advised him to save it.
Instead, he bought himself fifty pence worth of trouble.
On his way to the sweet shop, he dropped his fifty pence and it bounced along the pavement and then disappeared down a drain.
George took off his jacket,
rolled up his sleeves and pushed his right arm through the drain cover.
He could not find his 50 pence piece anywhere, and what is more, he could not get his arm out.
A crowd of people gathered round him and a lady rubbed his arm with soap and butter, but George was firmly stuck.
The fire brigade was called and two fire fighters freed George using a special type of grease.
George was not too upset by his experience because the lady who owns the sweet shop heard about his troubles and rewarded him with a large box of chocolates.
译文
第15课
五十便士的“代价”
乔治用那五十便士得到了什么吗？是什么？
孩子们总是很乐意接受小额的金钱礼物。
当然，爸爸妈妈会定期给他们零花钱，但叔叔阿姨们也是他们额外的收入来源。
对一些孩子来说，这些小额的钱可以派上大用场。
如果五十便士硬币没有被用来买糖果，它们就会在存钱罐里待上好几个月。
只有非常节俭的孩子才能真正把存钱罐填满。
对大多数孩子来说，五十便士不过是买一块美味巧克力的小小代价罢了。
我的侄子乔治有一个存钱罐，但里面总是空空如也。
我给他的那些五十便士硬币和一英镑硬币，几乎没有一个真正进了那个存钱罐。
昨天我又给了他五十便士，并建议他要把钱存起来。
相反，他给自己惹来了价值五十便士的麻烦。
在去糖果店的路上，他掉了那50便士硬币；硬币沿着人行道弹跳着滚去，最后掉进了下水道里不见了。
乔治脱下了他的夹克。
他卷起了袖子，然后将右臂伸进了排水口的盖子里。
他到处都找不到那枚50便士的硬币，而且更糟糕的是，他的手臂还拔不出来了。
一群人围了上来，一位女士用肥皂和黄油涂抹他的手臂，但乔治还是被卡得牢牢的。
消防队被叫来了，两名消防员用一种特殊的润滑剂把乔治解救了出来。
乔治对他的遭遇并不太在意，因为那家糖果店的老板听说了他的麻烦后，送了他一盒大巧克力作为奖励。