在火車上，祖父Malcolm 同Elsa女士談到了各自去紐約市的原因。Elsa是要
去拜訪朋友，而Malcolm 則要是搬去和自己的兒孫同住。Malcolm 還沒有決定是
不是要永久住下來，他既不喜歡獨自一人生活，又不想失去獨立性。

    Grandpa ： Do you have family in New York ？

    Elsa： No ， no. But I do have very close friends in New York City.
We like to go to the theater together. You said you have family in New
York. Grandpa ： Yes， indeed. A son and his wife and their three children
- my grandchildren. Elsa： You must be excited. Grandpa ： I can't wait
to see them ！

    Elsa： Are you going to live with them？

    Grandpa ： Yes. Elsa： Permanently？

    Grandpa ： Well …they want me to ， but it's too early to know for
sure. I'm pretty independent. I tried to teach my kids the importance
of independence ， but I'm not sure I want to be alone. Some people don't
mind being alone. I do. Elsa： I understand. But tell me. Why did you
stop working？

    Grandpa ： I retired because…I wanted to be with my family. I didn't
want to be alone anymore！

    「語言點精講」

    1. But I do have very close friends in New York City. 可我確實有很
親密的朋友在紐約市。句中的 do 表示強調(diào)，說話時要重讀。

    2. Yes，indeed. 對，沒錯。indeed用來強調(diào)肯定的語氣。

    3. You must be excited. 你現(xiàn)在一定很激動。

    這里情態(tài)動詞 must 加上be，用來表示一種比較肯定的推測，“想必，一定”，
而不作“必須”講。

    4. I can't wait to see them ！

    我迫不及待想見到他們。

    "can't wait to do sth." 表示“急于做某事，迫不及待要做某事”，也可
以說"can hardly wait to do sth."

    5. Well …they want me to ， but it's too early to know for sure.
嗯…他們要我這樣，但是現(xiàn)在還太早，難以肯定知道。

    "too……to……" 的意思是“太……以至于不能……”

    6. Some people don't mind being alone. I do.有些人不在乎一個人過。

    我不行。

    這里的"mind"表示“介意，不喜歡，討厭，反對”等意思，后面如接動詞，
要用動名詞形式。這里的"I do"是"I do mind being alone" 的縮略，表示“我
介意，我討厭（一個人生活）”

    7. Why did you stop working ？

    你為什么停止工作了？

    "stop doing"表示停止做某事，即不再做下去。