365个英语简短小故事- 58.I Need Water for My Clients

Cynthia and George went shopping together at Wal-Mart. “I need a water dispenser for my office,” Cynthia told George.

“What do you mean by water dispenser?” George asked.

“You know, one of those things that they put the big five-gallon jug¹ upside down into. Then you can pour yourself cold water using the blue handle, or hot water using the red handle,” Cynthia said.

George tried to tell her that she had too few clients² coming to her office to need such a dispenser. He told her to buy a case of bottled water. She could keep the bottles cold in the office refrigerator. Plus, she had a stove and a coffeemaker in her office, so she could use either of them to produce hot water for her clients or herself.

“A contract with a water company is going to cost you at least $30 a month,” he argued. “And maybe you won’t even be consuming³ that much water a month. Why don’t you wait a few months and see how many clients you get and then decide if a water dispenser is absolutely necessary? If it is, buy it then. There’s no rush to buy it now.”

In addition, he argued, the trunk of her car was too small for the dispenser to fit into. Nor would it fit into her back seat. So, “end of argument,” he concluded. They left Wal-Mart. Cynthia dropped George off at his place, and then drove back to Wal-Mart. The dispenser was in a box that was almost the size of Cynthia, but she carted it out to the parking lot and managed, somehow, to get it into her trunk.

That night, when George called, he asked, “You didn’t go back to Wal-Mart and buy that thing, did you?”

“Of course not!” she told him.
 

1 jug   

n.(有柄，小口，可盛水等的)大壶，罐，盂

参考例句：

• He walked along with a jug poised on his head.他头上顶着一个水罐，保持着平衡往前走。
• She filled the jug with fresh water.她将水壶注满了清水。

2 clients   

n.顾客( client的名词复数 )；当事人；诉讼委托人；[计算机]客户端

参考例句：

• a lawyer with many famous clients 拥有许多著名委托人的律师
• She understood the importance of establishing a close rapport with clients. 她懂得与客户建立密切和谐的关系的重要性。

3 consuming   

adj.强烈的；消费的v.消耗(consume的现在分词)

参考例句：

• an all-consuming love of jazz 对爵士乐的迷恋
• Basketball is his consuming passion . 篮球令他着迷。