Pictures vs. Reality (Part 2)
Online photos look perfect — maybe too perfect. Practicing 简直, 未必, 不见得, 倒是, 说不定 and 至于.
周末之前，小林先在手机上仔细看了那三个房子的照片。Before the weekend, Xiao Lin carefully studied the photos of the three apartments online.第一个房子的照片简直太漂亮了，像宾馆一样。The photos of the first place were simply gorgeous — like a hotel.照片里的房间又大又亮，家具也都是新的。In the pictures the room was big and bright, and all the furniture looked new.小林高兴地把照片发给朋友看。Xiao Lin happily sent the photos to his friend.
朋友说：“别太相信照片，照片未必是真的。”His friend said, "Don't trust the photos too much — they aren't necessarily real."小林说：“不会吧？照片拍得这么清楚。”Xiao Lin said, "No way — the photos are so clear."朋友说：“拍得清楚不见得就是真的，你去看看就知道了。”His friend said, "Clear doesn't necessarily mean honest. Go see for yourself and you'll find out."
第二个房子不大，照片倒是很真实，看起来干净又安静。The second place wasn't big, but its photos did look honest — clean and quiet.第三个房子最便宜，小林觉得说不定是因为离火车站太远了。The third was the cheapest — Xiao Lin figured it might well be because it was so far from the train station.他想：便宜有便宜的原因，说不定房子本身有问题。He thought: there's always a reason something's cheap — who knows, maybe something's wrong with the place itself.
朋友说：“先去看第一个吧。至于第三个，太远了，最后再说。”His friend said, "Let's see the first one first. As for the third — it's too far, we'll leave it for last."小林同意了：“好，就这么定了。”Xiao Lin agreed: "Okay, it's settled."
晚上，小林躺在床上，楼下的饭馆还是很吵。That night, Xiao Lin lay in bed while the restaurants downstairs were as loud as ever.他想：新房子哪怕小一点也无所谓，安静就好。He thought: even if the new place is a bit small, it doesn't matter — as long as it's quiet.他看着手机里漂亮的照片，心里想：希望别让我失望。Looking at the beautiful photos on his phone, he thought: please don't let me down.可是照片和真的房子，差别会有多大呢？But just how different would the real apartment be from its pictures?
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