High 2 · Reading series
Lesson 38 · Where Our Festival Budget Went
Audio track 38
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Our festival committee received a fixed budget for signs, materials, and a small performance. The first plan spent almost half on bright decorations. Everyone liked the picture, but we had forgotten the cost of printing clear maps for visitors.
We divided the budget into required expenses and optional ideas. Then we asked each team what would happen if its request were reduced. The art team offered to reuse boards from last year; the music team found equipment we could borrow. We kept some decorations, but added maps with larger print and clear routes to the accessible entrance.
At the end, we posted the spending list and the reasons for our choices. A few students disagreed, and their comments helped us identify what to record better next year. Transparency did not mean that everyone loved the result. It meant they could see how we reached it.
Money forced us to choose. Explaining the choice turned the budget from a private sheet of numbers into a shared plan.
Check your understanding
After reading, state the main idea in one sentence and find a line that supports it.
Chinese translation
校园节筹备委员会拿到一笔固定预算，用于指示牌、材料和一场小型表演。第一份方案近半数资金要花在鲜艳装饰上。大家喜欢效果图，却忘了清楚的访客地图也要印刷费。
我们把预算分成必要支出和可选想法，再问各组：如果拨款减少，会发生什么？美术组提出重复使用去年的展板，音乐组找到可以借的设备。我们保留部分装饰，也增加了字更大、写明无障碍入口路线的地图。
最后，我们公开开支清单和选择理由。几位同学不同意，他们的意见帮助我们发现明年该记录得更清楚的地方。透明不意味着人人喜欢结果，而是让人看得见决定怎样形成。
资金迫使我们取舍。解释取舍，则把一张私下的数字表变成了大家都能讨论的计划。
Key words and expressions
Key terms have Chinese explanations. Hover over dotted words in the English passage for word help and pronunciation when available.
- budget
- 预算；固定的可用金额。
- expenses
- 支出；先区分必要项目。
- optional
- 可选的；装饰并非都必须。
- reduced
- 减少；问各组削减时的影响。
- reuse
- 重复使用；沿用旧展板。
- borrow
- 借用；音乐组找现有设备。
- spending
- 花费；最后公开清单。
- Transparency
- 透明；让人能理解决定过程。
- identify
- 辨认；不同意见指出记录问题。
- private
- 私下的；数字表最终变成共享计划。
Background notes (Chinese)
有限预算需要说明优先次序。委员会借用设备、重用展板，腾出经费制作更清楚的导览，并公开决策理由。