1988年高考英语全国卷 - 阅读理解B

Having returned from her round trip, the angry woman stood outside the ticket office of the station. "The railway owes me ￡12." she said to Harry Jenks, the young man working at the office. "You sold me a ticket from May 22nd, but there was no ship from Jersey that night. So my daughter and I had to stay in a hotel. It cost me ￡12."
往返回来后，这位愤怒的女士站在车站售票处外。“铁路欠我12英镑，”她对在售票处的年轻人哈利·詹克斯说，“你们卖给了我一张5月22日的票，但那天晚上没有从泽西岛来的船。所以我和女儿不得不住在一家酒店。我为此花了12英镑。"

Harry was worried. He remembered selling the woman a return ticket. "Come into the office, Madam," He said politely, "I'll just check the Jersey timetable for May 22nd."
哈利很担心。他记得给那个女人卖了一张回程票。“来售票处，夫人，”他礼貌地说：“我只是看看5月22日的泽西时间表。”

The woman and her little girl followed him inside. She was quite right, as Harry soon discovered. There was no sailing on May 22nd. How could he have made such a careless mistake? He shouldn't have sold her a ticket for that day. Wondering what to do, he smiled at the child. "You look sunburnt," he said to her, "Did you have a nice holiday in Jersey?"
女人和她的小女儿跟着他进去了。哈利很快发现，她说得很对，5月22日没有通航。他怎么会犯这么粗心的错误？他不应该把那天的票卖给她。不知该怎么办，他对孩子笑了笑。“你看起来晒黑了，”他对她说，“你在泽西岛度假愉快吗？”

"Yes," she answered shyly, "The beach was lovely and I can swim too!"
“挺好的，”她害羞地回答，“海滩很漂亮，我也会游泳！”

"That's fine." Said Harry. "My little girl can't swim a bit yet. Of course, she's only three..."
“没关系。”哈利说，“我的小女儿还不会游泳。当然，她只有三岁……”

"I'm four," the child said proudly, "I'll be four and a half."
“我四岁了，”女孩骄傲地说，“快四岁半了。”

Harry turned to the mother. "I remember your ticket, Madam," he said. "But you didn't get one for your daughter, did you?"
哈利转向母亲，“我记得你的票，夫人，”他说，“但你没有给你女儿买票，是吗？”

"Er,well..." the woman looked at the child, "I mean... she hasn't started school yet. She's only four."
“呃，嗯……”女人看着孩子，“我的意思是……她还没开始上学，她才四岁。”

"A four-year-old child must have a ticket, madam. A child's retum ticket to Jersey costs... let me see...￡13.50. So if the railway pays your hotel, you will owe ￡1.5. The law is the law, but since the fault was mine..."
“一个四岁的孩子必须买票，夫人。一张去泽西岛的儿童票需要……让我想想.....13.5英镑。所以如果铁路支付你的酒店费用，你将欠欠我们1.5英镑。法律就是法律，但既然过错是我的......"

The woman stood up, took the child's hand and left the office.
女人站了起来，牵着孩子的手离开了售票处。