Tim:I see the number of homeless people is a lot lower than when I was
last in this town.
提姆:我發覺這個城市的遊民數量，比我上次來時少了很多。
Marie:That's true. When you were last here the numbers were double what
they are now.
瑪麗:沒錯，你上次來這裡的時候，遊民數量比現在多一倍。
Tim:What's the reason for the fall?
提姆:減少的原因是什麼？
Marie:Well the main reason is that the town council has been working hand
in glove with local charities for several months now to try to bring
the numbers down.
瑪麗:主要原因，是因為過去幾個月，市議會和本地慈善團體通力合作，努力減少遊民。
Tim:Well, they've certainly been having some success.
提姆:嗯，他們的確蠻成功的。
Marie:Yes, it's really very encouraging.
瑪麗:是啊，這樣令人十分振奮。
瑪麗裡解釋遊民減少的原因：The town council has been working hand in glove with local charities to bring the numbers down。
Hand in glove直譯是「手在手套裡 」。這成語從前作hand and glove，現在一律以in代and。手和手套，關係密切，所以常用來比喻「通力合作」，往往指合作做壞事，多用在work、act這兩個動詞之後，例如：(1) Several police officers were found to be working hand in glove with drug traffickers（幾名警員被揭發和毒品販子勾結）。(2) Doctors and nurses must act hand in glove（醫生和護士必須緊密合作）。
說通力合作，英文還有兩個常用成語：side by side（並排）和shoulder to shoulder（並肩），例如：(1) The government and the chicken farmers must fight shoulder to shoulder/side by side in the battle against the bird flu（政府和養雞業者必須並肩作戰，對抗禽流感）。(2) The town council has been working shoulder to shoulder/side by side with local charities。談到遊民的數量，提姆以the number of homeless people為言，瑪麗則說the numbers。究竟單數的the number和複數的the numbers意思有沒有分別？按number和numbers說數量，往往可以通用，例如：(1) The number/numbers of people out of work has/have reached an all-time high（失業人口上升到歷年來最高點）。(2) A large/small number（或Large/Small numbers）of pigs died mysteriously（有很多/有些豬離奇死亡）。(3) The elderly are growing in number/numbers（老年人越來越多）。
