本文是經典愛情電影聽力系列The Lake House(湖邊小屋，又叫“觸不到的戀人”)的第十六段對白。
　　Kate的時間里，生日又一次到來，她卻只身坐在酒吧，算是給自己的生日禮物。同事Anna也來到這里。各有各的寂寞。Anna依然清晰記得女兒在泥水地亂跑摔跤的情形，可現在女兒卻已經念大學了。

　　兩年前的生日，Morgan召集一大幫朋友給Kate過生日，Kate似乎不太喜歡這種熱鬧的場面。對客人只是應付而已。生日宴會上，Kate認識了Alex，但此時的她，應付的心理怎么會記得這個人呢？

　　時空就在這兩年的生日里轉換。Kate告訴Anna那個活生生站在自己面前，想和她結婚的男人，她推開了；而這個只能感覺到，卻觸摸不到的人，她卻想給他整個全部……

Anna：According to most accepted social norms, a person should not drink alone after 10 p.m unless they have a good excuse. What's yours?

Kate：Gosh, don't have one.

Anna：I do. My youngest left for college this morning. Marie. One day she's splashing around a wading pool in diapers then she's packing up a Volvo and driving to California. I just hope she knows what she's getting into.

Kate：Don't tell me. Premed?

Anna：Bingo.

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Morgan：Hey, how are you? Good to see you.

Alex：I'm well, thanks.

Morgan：I want you to meet some friends of mine. Alex, Mona, the Wootch. Susan, Johnny.

Alex：Hi.

Morgan：Let's get you something to drink. Come on. Bar's back here. Come on. Hey, this is Marjorie.

Anna：Why didn't you mention it was today? We would have had a cake for you or something.

Kate：Oh, it's just time passing. I hate making a big deal out of it.

Anna：You keep a lot to yourself. Nothing wrong with it. But I've sometimes wondered what else you have in your life besides work. Family? Boyfriend?

Kate：Well, I did. Once. His name was Morgan.

Anna：Morgan? Morgan. That's a sexy name.

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All：Surprise! Happy birthday, Kate. Happy birthday. Happy birthday. We got you.

Morgan：This is Kate, obviously.

Someone：Hi, Kate.

Morgan：This is Alex and Mona. This guy's gonna help us find our lake house. Right?

Alex：You haven't had cake.

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Kate：Anyway, well, I ended it. And I'm happy now, and it was the right thing to do.

Anna：So who is it you write to? I couldn't help... every time you get a break at the hospital...you're writing something.

Kate：There is someone. It's kind of a long-distance relationship.

Anna：How did you meet?

Kate：We haven't.

Anna：What?

Kate：No. The story of my life.

Anna：You're kidding.

Kate：Keep everything at a distance. Everyone. The man who was standing in front of me, the one that wanted to marry me, him, I push away. I run from him. In the meantime, the...the one man I can never meet...him, I would like to give my whole heart to.

Anna：He must write one hell of a letter.

Kate：It's nice. It's safe.

Anna：Christ, he's in prison, isn't he?

Kate：No.

Anna：You're one of those women, aren't you?

Kate：No. No, he's just a guy who lives on a lake. He's an architect.

注釋：

1. social norm：社會規范

2. gosh：感嘆詞，唉，糟糕

3. diaper：尿布。Anna依然記得小女兒很小的時候摔跤的情景，而現在就要去讀大學了。

4. make a big deal out of：小題大做

5. long-distance：長途，遠距離。Kate形容和Alex的關系距離很遠。

6. You're kidding：美國常用的口語，意思是“你在開玩笑吧”

7. push away：推開