Jane meets her old friend, Fred.
J: Hi, Fred! How's everything?
F: Not so good, I'm afraid. Supporting a family is becoming more and more difficult these days.
J: What you say can't be more true. Everything is so expensive. I can hardly make ends meet myself.
F: Oh, really? Do you need any money? What I have is not much, but I can loan you some.
J: I'm OK. Thanks for being so thoughtful anyway.
F: What are friends for?

flatter 奉承   flattery
meet with trouble 遇到麻烦   meet sb
The chinaman presided over the meeting.
meet you halfway 折衷
Let's compromise 妥协  to reach a compromise
招呼语 greeting：
How are you?
How have you been?
How are you getting along?
How is everything?
polite behavior
Peter is afraid/scared/frightened of snakes.
cockroach(es)  蟑螂
support a family 养家   back you up 支持
I couldn't care less. 不在乎
hardly = almost not
Today many city couples both have to work, or they can't make ends meet. 收支平衡
We are in need of more parks in our city. =  We need more....
stingy 小气的
get by 说的过去，混过