Carrie: While at home, all the English I seemed to encounter was "bills, bills, bills." I envied Amalita. Her life was a blur of rich men, designer clothes and glamorous resorts. She didn't actually work for a living, yet possessed a dazzling sexual power that she exploited to her full advantage. Which presented a certain conundrum: Where's the line between professional girlfriend and just plain professional?
Samantha: Women have the right to use every meansat their disposalto 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 perfectly legal.
Carrie: Saturday night. In an effort to save money and maybe even pick up a few extra bucks, I invited the girls over for poker.
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: Ifold.
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 coup. 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'llsue the hell out ofhim. 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 havecleaned me out. Good night, ladies. Charlotte,keep me posted.
Carrie: A couple of hours later, I was looking forward tocalling 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 Iam dying foryou to meet.
Carrie: I'd love to, but I'm really trying tocut 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 fabulous 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.
妙語佳句,活學活用
1. At someone's disposal
意為"由某人做主，聽某人之便，受其管理，由其支配"，例如：They put their car at our disposal for our entire stay.
2. Fold
這里的fold 特指玩游戲時的一種行為--收回：在失利時收回（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. "均指玩牌時賭的錢數。
3. Sue the hell out of
"Hell" here is simply a swear word used for emphasis. "Sue"指得是"訴訟"，意思是"（打官司）讓某人輸得一敗涂地"。
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.
Carrie: While at home, all the English I seemed to encounter was "bills, bills, bills." I envied Amalita. Her life was a blur of rich men, designer clothes and glamorous resorts. She didn't actually work for a living, yet possessed a dazzling sexual power that she exploited to her full advantage. Which presented a certain conundrum: Where's the line between professional girlfriend and just plain professional?
