Dialogue
Anne: Hey, Den, what’s up?
Den: I’ve been busy lately.
Anne: Doing what?
Den: I’ve been spending a lot of time on-line.
Anne: On-line?
Den: On the Internet, talking to people in chat rooms.
Anne: So have you met someone yet?
Den: Lots of people! Yesterday over one hundred people wanted to talk to me!
Anne: About what?
Den: About anything and everything.
Anne: Really?
Den: One even said that I was his dream girlfriend.
Anne: What? Wait a minute. Don’t you mean dream boyfriend?
Den: Oh, I forgot to tell you I pretendedto be a 16-year-old girl.
Anne: Are you nuts?
Den: I had to. Nobody wants to talk to me as a guy.
Anne: I don’t know about this, Den.
Den: But now I have a new Internet friend.
Anne: You mean the guy who thinks you’re Ms. Right?
Den: Yeah, we’re meeting on Friday night.
Anne: You are what? Have you lost it?
Den: I gave up on looking for a girlfriend and now I’m making friends!
Anne: But he thinks you’re a girl. He’ll want to be more than friends!
Den: I know, so I need your advice.
Anne: If I were you, I’d get a good psychiatrist.
Notes
1. 對話中Den在網上聊天的時候假裝成一個16歲的女孩子, 并且還要和新認識的網友約會。他在聊天室里跟很多人聊天，Anne問他都聊些什么，Den說About anything and everything. 就是無所不談。
2. 注意兩個人見面打招呼時Anne說what’s up? 最近如何? 在口語當中很常用。
3. Den說最近一直很忙, I’ve been busy lately. Anne又問到Doing what? 這里就包含了一個詞組, be busy doing something, 忙于做某事。例如：I was busy doing my laundrywhen he called last night. 他昨晚給我打電話的時候，我正忙著洗衣服呢。be busy with something or someone，忙于做某事，忙于應付某人。例如：I’m busy with my papers. 我忙著寫論文。She’s busy with the client. 她忙著接待客戶。
4. Den回答I’ve been spending a lot of time on-line. 這里用了現在完成進行時態，表示從過去到現在一直在做某事。例如：She has been writing to me since last year. 從去年開始，她就一直在給我寫信。
5. 當Anne知道Den在網上裝成一個16歲的女孩子的時候，很驚訝，問Are you nuts? 你瘋了？nut是干果的意思，做“發瘋”解釋是一種俚語用法。
6. Den說I had to. Nobody wants to talk to me as a guy. 我必須這樣，因為如果知道我是男的就沒有人愿意跟我聊天了。Anne卻不同意，說I don’t know about this, Den. I don’t know about this. 表示“我不怎么同意這件事”。當你無法同意別人所說的話，又不想跟他爭吵時，就可以用這句話結束討論，改變話題。
7. Ms. Right和Mr. Right都是表示理想的伴侶, 也就是公主或白馬王子。上面的dream girlfriend和dream boyfriend表示夢中情人。
8. give up on doing something放棄做某事，對話中原句是I gave up on looking for a girlfriend and now I’m making friends! 我不想找女朋友了，我只要交朋友。make friends with someone這個短語是“和某人交朋友”的意思。
9. 當Anne知道Den周五要跟一個男網友見面時，更驚訝了，Have you lost it? 你瘋了？跟上面的Are you nuts?是一樣的。
10. 最后Den想問問Anne對此事有什么建議，Anne的回答是If I were you, I’d get a good psychiatrist. 如果我是你，我就要去找一個好的心理醫生看看了。If I were you, I would...是個虛擬語氣句式，表示“如果我是你，我就會……”。給別人建議時，若要強調自己和對方是站在同一戰線的，就可以使用這個句式。
