40_Food_and_Talk

40 Food and Talk¶

Last week at a dinner party, the hostess asked me to sit next to Mrs. Rumbold. Mrs. Rumbold was a large, unsmiling lady in a tight black dress. She did not even look up when I took my seat beside her. Her eyes were fixed on her plate and in a short time, she was busy eating. I tried to make conversation. 'A new play is coming to "The Globe" soon,' I said. 'Will you be seeing it?' 'No,' she answered. 'Will you be spending your holidays abroad this year?' I asked. 'No,' she answered. 'Will you be staying in England?' I asked. 'No,' she answered. In despair, I asked her whether she was enjoying her dinner. 'Young man,' she answered, 'if you ate more and talked less, we would both enjoy our dinner!'

Words¶

tight /taɪt/ 紧的
fixed /fɪkst/ 凝视
plate /plet/ 盘子
despair /dɪˈspɛr/ 绝望

虚拟语气¶

结构：If +did/were，主 + would/should/could/might do.

did 并非表示过去

If I were you, I wouldn’t do that.

If I knew them better, I might invite them to dinner.

含义:

if从句中v.与现在事实相反
说话人认为，if从句中v.发生的几率非常低 If I were you, I wouldn’t do that. If I knew them better, I might invite them to dinner. It’s cold. If I were you, I would put my coat on.

Expressions¶

take my seat 就座；坐到我的座位
be busy doing sth. 忙于做某事
Will you be doing sth? 你（到时候）会在做某事吗？