ACT 3-2 这有可能是任何东西

【故事梗概】

Grandpa在和Arnold和Peggy聊天，他们都对Pete提到的那个“惊喜”感到好奇。这时Pete回来了，他带来了另一位他们的老朋友Lillian Winters女士。

Arnold: How’s your family? Oh, I was sorry to hear about your wife having passed away.

Grandpa: Yes. About four years ago.

Peggy: And you’re living with your children now? In New York? Pete wrote us and told us.

Grandpa: Yup. Retired and moved to New York to live with my son and his family.

Peggy: By the way, what do you think this big surprise is?

Arnold: It could be most anything, knowing Pete.

[Another car arrives. ]

Grandpa: Hey, that must be Pete! Now we’ll find out about the surprise.

[They go to meet the car.]

Pete: So good to see you all!

Peggy: Oh, Pete, Pete! Oh, it’s so good to see you!

Pete: Remember Lillian?

Lillian: I remember all of you. You haven’t changed a bit.

Peggy: Lillian! Oh, my gosh!

Arnold: Lillian Winters. We were together in the Thursday night drama society.

【语言点精讲】

1. Oh, I was sorry to hear about your wife having passed away.

噢，我听说你夫人已经故去了，感到很难过。

hear about: 听说；得知。

pass away: 死去，去逝，逝世。pass away是 die的委婉说法。类似的说法还有“pass on”以及“no longer with us”。

2. Yup.

这是Yes的口语表达方式。

3. By the way, what do you think this big surprise is?

我问一下，你认为这叫人意想不到的事是什么？

by the way: 顺便说说，顺便问一下。by the way是常用的插入语，在提到临时想到的事，与当时所说的话题无关的事，或对已说的话添加一些说明时使用。

4. It could be most anything, knowing Pete．

知道Pete这个人（的脾气），就知道这有可能是任何东西。意思是说，Pete这个人点子多，他说的惊喜到底是什么，这很难猜准了。

knowing Pete: 这里的动词现在分词短语起状语作用，表示原因。

5. Oh, my gosh!

啊呀，天哪。

这句话用来表示惊奇。gosh是为了避免直接说God而转的音。

6. You haven’t changed a bit.

你们一点也没有变。这也是久别重逢时常用的寒暄语。

7. We were together in the Thursday night drama society.

我们当年一起参加周四晚上的戏剧社。

society: 这里指的是社团，团体。