ACT 1-2 他为什么一直未结婚呢？

【故事梗概】

Grandpa读了老朋友Pete Waters寄给他的信。Pete邀Grandpa到自己的乡间农场小住，与几位老同学聚会。

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.

【语言点精讲】

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

他写信请我到他农场上去度周末。

invite sb. to do sth.: 邀请某人去做某事。

spend a weekend with sb.: 与某人共度周末。

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

他正计划着要同两三位别的大学时期的朋友聚会一下，就算是个毕业50周年纪念重聚会。

get-together: 联欢会，聚会。

kind of: 在非正式英语中表示“某种， 类似，如同”，可用于单数名词、形容词、动词等的前面。也常说成 “sort of”。

reunion: 重聚，同班同学高校毕业后的重聚联欢会。高中和大学时的同班同学在毕业多年后常安排重聚或重聚联欢会。

3. How come he never got married?

他为什么一直未结婚呢？

How come: 用于一个完整的陈述句前，构成问句，是用来问“Why”的非正式说法。意思是“事情是怎么发生的?”，“为什么会有这种情况？”How come，等。这个come无时态或人称变化。又如，

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

You’re back early. How come?（你为什么会回来得这么早？）

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

这问题问得很好，Robbie。问得很好。

That’s a good question. : 说这句话，并不一定是指对方的问题提得好，更经常的情况只是为了给自己争取一点时间来思考一下，或者引出自己的回答。

5. He never got over it.

他始终未能释然于怀。

get over: 指的是从某种精神状态恢复过来。在这里指从（失恋中）恢复过来，忘却。