Carrie: While at home, all the English I seemed to encounter was "bills, bills, bills." I envied Amalita. Her life was a blur¹ of rich men, designer clothes and glamorous² resorts. She didn't actually work for a living, yet possessed³ a dazzling sexual power that she exploited to her full advantage. Which presented a certain conundrum⁴: Where's the line between professional girlfriend and just plain professional?

Samantha: Women have the right to use every mean sat their disposal to achieve power.

Miranda: Short of sleeping their way to the top.

Samantha: Not if that's what it takes to compete.

Charlotte: But that's exploitation!

Samantha: Of men-- which is perfectly⁵ legal.

Carrie: Saturday night. In an effort to save money and maybe even pick up a few extra bucks⁶, I invited the girls over for poker⁷.

Charlotte:I'll buy two.

Carrie:I'm in for three.So you advocate a double standard. Women can use their sexuality to get ahead whenever possible, but men should not be allowed to take advantage of it?

Samantha: No. I'm just saying that men and women are equal-opportunity exploiters.

Miranda: I fold.

Charlotte: What if you sense that someone is giving you a professional advantage because they find you charming?

Miranda: Charming?

Samantha: This I gotta hear.

Charlotte: Well, a few days ago, Neville Morgan, the notoriously reclusive painter paid a visit to the gallery.

Carrie: Neville was making his yearly pilgrimage to Manhattan to check out what was new and hot on the art scene. And he found it--Charlotte. It was only a matter of moments before he invited her to his farm upstate to view his latest work.

Charlotte: So, if I could get him to show at the gallery, it would be an incredible coup⁸. But what if he wants me to, you know.

Carrie: Hold his brush?

Miranda: If he so much as suggests what she's suggesting you give me a call and we'll sue the hell out of him. That's the only proper way to trade sex for power.

Samantha: I can't believe what I'm hearing. You're like the Harvard Law Lorena Bobbitt.

Miranda: It's Skipper. I told him I was here. He insisted on picking me up, but he's not supposed to be here till 11:00.

Carrie: He's like a sweet little seal pup.

Miranda: That you sometimes want to club. You're an hour early.

Skipper: Oh, I can wait in the hall.

Carrie: No, Skipper, come in.

Miranda: It's all right. I'm leaving anyway. You guys have cleaned me out. Good night, ladies. Charlotte,keep me posted.

Carrie: A couple of hours later, I was looking forward to calling it an early night, when-- Hello?

Amalita: Carrie, you bitch! What are you doing?

Carrie: Actually I'm getting ready to go to sleep.

Amalita: Why don't you come and join us? We are at Balzac, and there is someone here I am dying for you to meet.

Carrie: I'd love to, but I'm really trying to cut back. You know, pinch a few pennies.

Amalita: You are crazy, you know that? Why don't you just come down here and be your fabulous⁹ self?

Carrie: The truth was I could barely afford that either. But I rationalized that my new shoes shouldn't be punished just because I can't budget.

妙语佳句,活学活用

1. At someone's disposal

意为"由某人做主，听某人之便，受其管理，由其支配"，例如：They put their car at our disposal for our entire stay.

2. Fold
这里的fold 特指玩游戏时的一种行为--收回：在失利时收回（手），如把牌面朝下放在桌上。
上文中Charlotte 提到"I'll buy two."，Carrie 提到" I'm in for three. "均指玩牌时赌的钱数。

3. Sue the hell out of

"Hell" here is simply a swear word used for emphasis. "Sue"指得是"诉讼"，意思是"（打官司）让某人输得一败涂地"。

4. Clean out

意思是"to drive out by force"，例如：The new CEO tried to get away with cleaning out all employees over the age of 60.

 5. Keep me posted

意思是"有消息通知我"。我们在The Queen《女王》中也学过一个同样意思的表达：keep me updated。

6. Call it a night

Call it a day 的意思大家应该都知道吧，就是"Stop a particular activity for the rest of the day"，比如快到下课的时候，老师说"Let's call it a day."意思就是"这节课结束了"。同样的，call it a night 的意思就是"to stop something for the rest of the night"，例如：One more hand of bridge and then let's call it a night.

7. Be dying for

这个片语的原形是die for，意思是"long for, desire excessively渴望，强烈的希望"，例如：I'm dying for some ice cream.

8. Cut back

意思是"Reduce, decrease"，例如：They are going to cut back defense¹⁰ spending.

上一篇：Sex and the City《欲望城市》（四） 下一篇：Sex and the City《欲望城市》（六）