在Stewart 家的起居室里，Marilyn 正在設計一件連衣裙。她停下來一會兒，
和Ellen 談心。她和Richard 將要有孩子了，買自己的房子另住的事提上了議事
日程。就此事她想聽聽Ellen 的意見。

    Marilyn ： Ellen， I'd like your opinion. Ellen ： About what ？

    Marilyn ： Well ， Richard and I feel that with a baby coming we need
to have our own place to live. Ellen： Oh. Marilyn： Well ， what do you
think about Richard and me looking for a small house or an apartment at
this point in our lives ？

    Ellen ： We love having you here， and there is room and… and when
the baby comes， the baby can stay in your room for a while. Marilyn：
Richard feels we need to find a small house. Ellen： I remember when I
was pregnant with Richard Philip and were living with Grandma and Grandpa.
Philip was a young doctor ， and he kept talking about having a house
of our own. It's natural. Marilyn ： What did you do？

    Ellen ： We looked at a lot of houses. Marilyn： Did you find one ？

    Ellen ： Oh ， not at first. We couldn't afford it. Grandpa wanted
to lend us the money to buy one ， but Philip is too independent. He didn't
want to borrow any money. Marilyn ： Sounds like Richard. Ellen ： They're
all alike. Richard is a real Stewart. He's independent and sometimes just
stubborn.

    「語言點精講」

    1. I'd like your opinion. 我想聽聽您的意見。這是一種征求別人的意見，
詢問某人的看法的表達方式。

    2. About what ？

    我的什么意見？在這里相當于“My opinion about what ？”

    口語中，當上下文意思比較清楚時，句中可省略重復的部分。

    3. Well ， Richard and I feel that with a baby coming we need to have
our own place to live.哦，Richard 和我覺得，我們快要有孩子了，需要有自
己的房子住。

    with a baby coming：指快要生孩子了。

    our own place ：這里指的是“a house belonging to ourselves”，自己
的房子。

    4. Well ， what do you think about Richard and me looking for a small
house or an apartment at this point in our lives？

    呃，Richard 和我在我們生活中的這個時候找一所小住宅或者一處公寓房子，
你認為怎么樣？

    What do you think about …？：你覺得…怎么樣？你認為…怎么樣？在征
求別人的意見時可以使用這個句型。

    at this point ：在這個時刻。相當于at this time.

    5. We couldn't afford it. 我們買不起。

    afford：買得起，承擔得起（費用等）。常接在 can， could或 be able to
后面。

    6. Grandpa wanted to lend us the money to buy one ， but Philip is
too independent. He didn't want to borrow any money.爺爺要想借給我們錢
買一所房子，可是Philip獨立性太強了。他不想借錢。

    lend：借出，借給。borrow：借入，借來。

    7. Sounds like Richard. 聽起來像 Richard一樣。用來表明某人的行為方
式像另一人的。

    8. They're all alike. 他們斯圖爾特家的人都是一個樣子。

    alike ：在這里作為表語形容詞，用于be，look，sound 等系動詞或半系動
詞后面，表示“一樣的，相同的，相似的”。