Part 6 Start A Family 成家立業

關于婚姻和家庭的觀念，每個人都有不同的看法，下面就來聽聽Linda 和Bob之間的一段對話。

Dialogue Script 對話原文

Linda: My daughter is 30. I don't understand what goes on in her mind.
Bob: Is she acting strange?
Linda: She plans to quit her present job and wants to find another. She says she wants to get a better job with higher pay.
Bob: It seems quite normal to me. It is pretty much what I want to do.
Linda: But what about settling down to start a family? Doesn't anyone want to get married any more?
Bob: It's different now. The world is becoming colorful. Some of my friends don't feel the same pressure to marry. We all want to wait for the right moment.
Linda: What time is the right moment?
Bob: Let the universe find us instead of forcing love. We prefer natural love. The most important thing is to be happy. Love will find us later. That is what we say.
Linda: You know, when I was young our parents taught us that if you have a little bit of love for someone it's okay to marry.
Bob: How does that work? How could you spend your whole life with someone that you don't love?
Linda: As each day grows, so will your love.

講解：

1. 對話中Linda和Bob在討論成家立業的問題。Linda的女兒都已經30歲了，可是還是沒有考慮結婚的事情，只是想把精力放在事業上。但是Linda卻認為這很怪。what goes on in one's mind或者what's going on in one's mind表示“某人正在想什么”，或者更簡單地說成“What's on your mind?”。當你覺得某人的行為很怪異的時候，就可以用這個表達方法了。

2. 我們來看Bob是怎么說的，Is she acting strange? 她行為反常嗎？act strange就表示“行為怪異，反常”。strange這里是一個副詞，來修飾act“行為，行動”這個動詞。Linda的女兒想辭掉現在的工作，再找一個更好的薪水更高的職位。quit one's job，“辭職”。quit這個詞可以表示“從某處離開，離去”，例如：He got his present job when he quit the army. 他退伍之后得到了現在的這份工作。quit doing something 表示“停止做某事”，比如 “我已經戒煙了。”我們就可以說I've already quit smoking. 這里順便說一下，在美式英語當中，quit的過去式和過去分詞形式都是quit，但是在英式英語中是quitted，雙寫t加-ed。

3. Bob覺得想換一個好一點的工作挺正常的，他自己也正想換工作呢。Linda卻覺得穩定下來，成個家也不能忽視。settle down這個詞組表示“過安定平靜的生活；習慣于新的工作方式或生活”，When are you going to get married and settle down? 你什么時候才能結婚過上安定的生活？再舉個例子，She's settling down well in her new job. 她很能適應這份新工作。settle down 還可以表示“舒適地坐著或者躺著”，He settled down in the armchair to read her book. 她舒適地坐在扶手椅上看書。

4. to start a family，表示“成家，組建家庭”。Linda覺得很奇怪，難道現在的人都不想結婚了嗎？Bob告訴她，現在時代不同了，人們對婚姻的觀念發生了很大的變化，大家都覺得并不是非要結婚不可，當合適的人出現，就會在合適的時間結婚。

5. Linda 就問，什么時候才是合適的時間呢？Bob說，Let the universe find us instead of forcing love. 讓老天來安排而不要強求去愛，這很像我們說的“緣分天注定”，意思就是“一切隨緣，不要強求”。最重要的事情就是大家都開心，愛情會找上門來的。

6. Linda說她們年輕的時候，父母告訴他們只要對某個人有點好感，就可以結婚了。It's okay to do something，表示“可以做某事”。okay這個詞的用法很豐富，我們最熟悉的就是okay作為感嘆詞，表示“好的，是，行”，常寫成OK，注意字母O, K要大寫。例如：OK, children, we'll clean up the room now. 好的，孩子們，現在我們來打掃房間。

7. okay 還可以作為形容詞，表示“好的，不錯的”，比如：I hope you're OK with that. 我希望你對那件事沒有意見。還可以作為副詞，I think you did OK in the exam. 我覺得你考得不錯。We'll talk about that tomorrow, OK? 我們明天再談，好嗎？

8. okay還可以作動詞，表示“同意，認可”，例如：He okayed/OK'd my idea. 她同意我的想法。這個用法可能大家不太熟悉。最后，okay還可以作為名詞，是“同意，允許”的意思，例如：Have they given you their okay? 他們同意了嗎？

9. Bob對Linda父母的想法持懷疑態度，覺得怎么能和一個自己不愛的人共度一生呢？Linda有自己的理由，她說：As each day grows, so will your love. 日久生情，這個俗語大家可以直接記住。

Part 7 Family Relationships 家庭關系

年輕人通常對家有一種非常復雜的感情。有時候孩子覺得父母不應該插手她們的事情，他們自己會做得很好；而有時候經常感到自己做事沒有把握，缺乏經驗，會不知所措，這時候他們希望父母能告訴他們怎么做。

許多孩子和父母之間的矛盾來自社會關系方面。青少年通常熱切地想找到屬于自己年齡的群體，他們在交友和約會時，會不加選擇和不用理智去判斷。這時，父母不得不介入，幫助他們控制社交活動，尤其當涉及安全和健康問題時，父母更應該如此。

Dialogue Script 1 對話原文 1

Jake: Hi, Annie.
Annie: Hi.
Jake: Gee, what's the matter?
Annie: I have a problem with my mom.
Jake: Do you want to talk about it?
Annie: My mother said I can't go to Sam's birthday party on Thursday night.
Jake: How come?
Annie: Because it's a school night and exams are next week. She wants me to stay at home and study. But I really want to go. I don't know what to do.
Jake: Why don't you talk with your mom about it and promise to come home early?

講解：

1. 對話中Annie在向Jake抱怨她的媽媽不允許她參加Sam的生日會。gee，是一個感嘆語，表示“ 驚奇、贊賞”等意思。例如：Gee, you've really got a great car! 嘿，你的車真棒！

2. Annie跟她的媽媽鬧矛盾了，她是這么說的，I have a problem with my mom. have a problem with someone or something，表示“某人/某事難對付，難處理”，例如：We have a problem with the car---it won't start! 我們的車出故障了，發動不起來！

3. Jake關心地問，你想跟我說說你的問題嗎？Do you want to talk about it？原來是因為Annie的媽媽不讓她去參加周四晚上Sam的生日派對。How come? 表示“為什么？”，跟why的用法差不多。因為晚上要學習，下周就要考試了。媽媽想讓Annie待在家里復習。

4. 媽媽的做法也是有道理的，不過Annie真的很想去，她不知道該怎么辦了。Jake建議她好好跟媽媽談談，并且保證一定會早點回家。也許這是一個可行的辦法。

Dialogue Script 2 對話原文 2

Sam: I'm really mad at Mom and Dad.
Mona: Why? What did they do?
Sam: I asked them for a leather jacket for my birthday, and they just got me this stupid raincoat.
Mona: Oh, come on! It's a beautiful raincoat.
Sam: I don't care! I want leather jacket. I tried on Bill's, and I look great in it.
Mona: You know leather is expensive. Maybe they didn't have enough money.
Sam: I want to return it and get leather! All my friends have leather jackets.
Mona: They don't all have leather jackets, Sam.
Sam: Anyway, on your birthday Mom and Dad gave you what you asked for!
Mona: That's true, but all I asked for was a new pair of jeans.
Sam: I hate this raincoat.
Mona: All right, how much is a leather jacket?
Sam: If I return this raincoat, I only need another $50.
Mona: I'll lend you the $50, but you have to pay me back.
Sam: Great. Way to go, Sis!

講解：

1. 對話中Sam在跟Mona抱怨爸爸媽媽沒有給他買他喜歡的生日禮物。be mad at someone，生某人的氣，跟be angry with someone表達的意義是一樣的。Sam很生爸爸、媽媽的氣，Mona問為什么，這里也可以用how come，我們剛剛說過。

2. 為什么Sam會跟父母生氣呢？原來他過生日的時候想要一件皮衣，但是父母卻只給他買了一件破雨衣。ask someone for something，向某人要某種東西。Mona很不以為然，說，Oh, come on, It's a beautiful raincoat. 喂，別這樣說，那件雨衣很漂亮。come on 這里帶有“勸解”的意味。

3. Sam說：“我才不在乎呢，我就是想要一件皮衣，我試過Bill的皮衣，我穿著很好看。”看來Sam真的是很任性。Mona勸他說，皮衣很昂貴，可能父母沒有那么多的錢。Sam想把這件雨衣退了，再換一件皮衣。I want to return it and get leather! 在美國，如果你買了或收到了自己不喜歡的東西，可以把它拿到商店退掉，商店會將原款返還。

4. 不過即使把雨衣退掉，返回的錢還是不夠買一件皮衣。但是看Sam這么不喜歡這件雨衣，Mona只好答應借他錢去買皮衣。如果把雨衣退掉，Sam還需要50美金去買一件皮衣。這里把50美元看成了一個整體，所以用了another這個限定詞。

5. Mona可以借Sam50美金，但是一定要還的，pay someone back something，表示“償還、報答”，例如：I'll pay you back next week. 我下周會還你錢。但是pay someone back for something，就表示“報復、懲罰某人”了，要區分開，比如：I'll pay him back for the trick he played on me. 他對我使壞，我要報復他。

6. Sam聽Mona說可以借錢給他，非常高興。Way to go，在這里表示“沒問題，我一定會還你的” 。看來，有時候孩子們還真的要多多理解父母，不能太任性。