ACT 1-2 “他為什么一直未結婚呢？”

【故事梗概】

Grandpa讀了老朋友Pete Waters寄給他的信。Pete邀Grandpa到自己的鄉間農場小住，與幾位老同學聚會。

Robbie: What does he say? Is he OK?

Grandpa: Yeah, he’s fine. Just fine. He’s writing to invite me to spend a weekend with him at his farm. He’s planning a get-together with two or three other college friends. Kind of a fifty-year anniversary reunion.

Robbie: Sounds like fun. Fifty years? Wow!

Grandpa: It sounds like fun to me, too, Robbie.

Robbie: What kind of farm does he have?

Grandpa: I’ve never been there, Robbie, but he has chickens and cows and all. That means fresh eggs and fresh milk.

Robbie: Does he have a family?

Grandpa: No, he doesn’t, Robbie. He never married. He’s not as lucky as I am to have a family and grandchildren. I’m a lucky man.

Robbie: How come he never got married?

Grandpa: That’s a good question, Robbie. A very good question. He never married because the girl he was in love with in college married someone else. As simple as that. He never got over it.

【語言點精講】

1. He’s writing to invite me to spend a weekend with him at his farm.

他寫信請我到他農場上去度周末。

invite sb. to do sth.: 邀請某人去做某事。

spend a weekend with sb.: 與某人共度周末。

2. He’s planning a get-together with two or three other college friends. Kind of a fifty-year anniversary reunion.

他正計劃著要同兩三位別的大學時期的朋友聚會一下，就算是個畢業50周年紀念重聚會。

get-together: 聯歡會，聚會。

kind of: 在非正式英語中表示“某種， 類似，如同”，可用于單數名詞、形容詞、動詞等的前面。也常說成 “sort of”。

reunion: 重聚，同班同學高校畢業后的重聚聯歡會。高中和大學時的同班同學在畢業多年后常安排重聚或重聚聯歡會。

3. How come he never got married?

他為什么一直未結婚呢？

How come: 用于一個完整的陳述句前，構成問句，是用來問“Why”的非正式說法。意思是“事情是怎么發生的?”，“為什么會有這種情況？”How come，等。這個come無時態或人稱變化。又如，

How come she doesn’t know about it? （為什么她不知道？）

You’re back early. How come?（你為什么會回來得這么早？）

4. That’s a good question, Robbie. A very good question.

這問題問得很好，Robbie。問得很好。

That’s a good question. : 說這句話，并不一定是指對方的問題提得好，更經常的情況只是為了給自己爭取一點時間來思考一下，或者引出自己的回答。

5. He never got over it.

他始終未能釋然于懷。

get over: 指的是從某種精神狀態恢復過來。在這里指從（失戀中）恢復過來，忘卻。