基础英语轻松学【69】约会，有什么了不起！（2）

本课您将学到：engaged in（从事），day after day句型

　　第一次约会，是我们努力跨出孩子天地的第一次尝试，不管成功与否，都会令人难以忘怀。所以，读一个男孩子第一次约会的经历，可能会让我们回忆起自己的过去吧！

　　By the middle of the movie I was still trying to figure（考虑、算计） just how to do that. "I' m thirsty（渴了）," Karen said suddenly.

　　"I' ll get us something!" I said, almost leaping（跳跃） out of the car. I wound through the dark rows to the concession stand（货摊） thinking, I' ll show her that I' m no cheap skate. So I bought Cokes and popcorn（爆米花） and M&Ms. My arms loaded with the goodies, I turned to head back to my car.

　　And that' s when I realized……I had no idea where my car was! A sea of automobiles（汽车<美>） surrounded me. I couldn' t even remember which direction（方向） I' d come from!

　　So I began walking around looking for a baby blue Chevy convertible（敞篷车）. Aisle（过道） after aisle. Dead end（死路） after dead end. Then……could it be? Yes! I headed for the blue convertible, hoping the Cokes weren' t too warm or the popcorn too cold for Karen' s liking.

　　I flung（猛地打开） open the door of the car —— only to discover a couple engaged in some serious necking in the back seat. "Sorry," I muttered（低声叨咕）, spilling（散落） popcorn as I banged the door shut.

　　Finally, after bumping about（碰撞） in the dark so long that I ate the popcorn myself and downed（吃下） both Cokes, I found the car. Karen glanced（瞥） over at me, her eyes icy. "Where' s my drink?" she asked. I tossed（扔） her the M&Ms. "This is all they had." I slid（悄悄地走） into my seat, and we watched the rest of the movie in silence（沉默）.

　　I never went out with Karen again, although one time she did ask to borrow my car. （I said no.） And the next time I took a date to the drive-in, I took an extra（额外的） pack of M&Ms with me……and dropped（扔） them all the way to the concession stand, just so I could find my way back.

　　「读书笔记」

　　电影过半，我仍在考虑该怎么做。（I was still trying to figure just how to do that）突然卡伦说：“我渴了。”

　　“我去买点东西！”（I' ll get us something!）我说着，几乎是跳出了车外。（almost leaping out of the car）我绕过黑乎乎的一排排车到了货摊，心想，我不能让她觉得我是个吝啬鬼。我买了可乐 、爆米花和M&M豆。我抱着满满一兜好吃的，转身往自己的车返回。

　　忽然，我意识到……我找不到我的车了。茫茫一片车海围绕着我。（A sea of automobiles surrounded me）我甚至记不得我从哪个方向来的！

　　Cheapskate是美式口语，意思是吝啬鬼（尤指逃避付费的人），goodie在口语中指好吃的东西。

　　我开始到处走，寻找我的蓝色敞篷宝时捷。 一排接着一排，一条死路接着一条死路。（Aisle after aisle. Dead end after dead end.）然后，那是……是的！我直奔那辆蓝色敞篷车，（I headed for the blue convertible）希望就卡伦的喜好来说，（for Karen' s liking）可乐还不算太热，爆米花也不算太冷。（the Cokes weren' t too warm or the popcorn too cold）

　　我猛地打开车门（I flung open the door of the car）——不料发现一对恋人正在后座上沉醉在亲吻中。（only to discover a couple engaged in some serious necking in the back seat）“对不起”我咕哝说，关车门时把爆米花撒了一地。（spilling popcorn as I banged the door shut）

　　Only有“不料，结果却”的意思；necking在美国口语中指“搂脖子亲嘴”。

　　这段中的短语engaged in，意思是“从事于、忙于、埋头致力于”，显然，他说对这对恋人engaged in some serious necking有点调侃的意思。其实，这是个很正式的短语，常用在简历中，比如下面这个人就写道：

　　As a lecturer, I have been engaged in English teaching for ten years.
　　作为讲师，我已经从事了十年的英语教学工作了。

　　这个短语也可以指做不好的事，比如：

　　Robert is engaged in drug trafficking.
　　Robert从事贩毒活动。

　　其实，engaged这个词最常用的还是下面这种情况：

　　We're engaged. 我們訂婚了。

　　与某人订婚，要说be engaged to sb.比如：

　　He was engaged to Lucy ten days ago.
　　（十天前他與露西訂了婚。）

　　最后，在吃完了爆米花，喝光了两瓶可乐，（that I ate the popcorn myself and downed both Cokes）在黑暗中碰碰撞撞了很久以后，（after bumping about in the dark so long）我终于找到了我的车。（I found the car）卡伦瞥了我一眼，（Karen glanced over at me）目光冰冷。（her eyes icy）“我的饮料呢？”她问。我把M&M豆扔给她，（I tossed her the M&Ms）“他们只有这个。”我悄悄地移到座位上，（I slid into my seat）我们在沉默中看完了剩下的电影。（and we watched the rest of the movie in silence）

　　我再没和卡伦约会过，尽管有一次她问我借车。（我说不。）下次去“免下车”剧场约会，我给自己另外准备了一份M&M豆，（I took an extra pack of M&Ms with me）把它们扔在去货摊的路上，（dropped them all the way to the concession stand）这样我就能找到回来的路了。（just so I could find my way back）

　　「句型留言板」

　　今天的句型来自原文中的Aisle after aisle. Dead end after dead end.

　　Sth. after sth. 在句中作状语，表示动作的连续重复。

　　比如高中课本Disland里面有句话说：

　　Day after day the mouse came back and was given more bread．
　　老鼠天天都回来，而迪斯尼也天天给老鼠吃面包。

　　这里的day after day; = for a number of days; continuously 天天地，日复一日地。把day换成其他词，就有：week after week; month after month; year after year; generation after generation等许多表达法。

　　来看几个例子：

　　We used to go to the seaside for a holiday year after year.
　　过去我们每年都去海边度假。

　　Some folk songs are passed on generation after generation.
　　有些民歌被一代接一代地传唱。

　　有一个用法和sth. after sth.很类似，就是sth. by sth.我们通过一个例句来看看它们的区别：

　　day by day 一天天地，逐渐地．

　　My hair is becoming gray day by day.
　　我的头发一天比一天白了。

　　也就是说，这种用法更强调动作的变化过程。

　　今天的基础英语里，我们讲了一个短语be engaged in的用法，一个句型sth. after sth.表示“动作的连续重复”。

　　我们下次再见！