Dialogue
Anne: Hey, Den, what’s up?
Den: I’ve been busy lately.
Anne: Doing what?
Den: I’ve been spending a lot of time on-line.
Anne: On-line?
Den: On the Internet, talking to people in chat rooms.
Anne: So have you met someone yet?
Den: Lots of people! Yesterday over one hundred people wanted to talk to me!
Anne: About what?
Den: About anything and everything.
Anne: Really?
Den: One even said that I was his dream girlfriend.
Anne: What? Wait a minute. Don’t you mean dream boyfriend?
Den: Oh, I forgot to tell you I pretendedto be a 16-year-old girl.
Anne: Are you nuts?
Den: I had to. Nobody wants to talk to me as a guy.
Anne: I don’t know about this, Den.
Den: But now I have a new Internet friend.
Anne: You mean the guy who thinks you’re Ms. Right?
Den: Yeah, we’re meeting on Friday night.
Anne: You are what? Have you lost it?
Den: I gave up on looking for a girlfriend and now I’m making friends!
Anne: But he thinks you’re a girl. He’ll want to be more than friends!
Den: I know, so I need your advice.
Anne: If I were you, I’d get a good psychiatrist.
Notes
1. 对话中Den在网上聊天的时候假装成一个16岁的女孩子, 并且还要和新认识的网友约会。他在聊天室里跟很多人聊天，Anne问他都聊些什么，Den说About anything and everything. 就是无所不谈。
2. 注意两个人见面打招呼时Anne说what’s up? 最近如何? 在口语当中很常用。
3. Den说最近一直很忙, I’ve been busy lately. Anne又问到Doing what? 这里就包含了一个词组, be busy doing something, 忙于做某事。例如：I was busy doing my laundrywhen he called last night. 他昨晚给我打电话的时候，我正忙着洗衣服呢。be busy with something or someone，忙于做某事，忙于应付某人。例如：I’m busy with my papers. 我忙着写论文。She’s busy with the client. 她忙着接待客户。
4. Den回答I’ve been spending a lot of time on-line. 这里用了现在完成进行时态，表示从过去到现在一直在做某事。例如：She has been writing to me since last year. 从去年开始，她就一直在给我写信。
5. 当Anne知道Den在网上装成一个16岁的女孩子的时候，很惊讶，问Are you nuts? 你疯了？nut是干果的意思，做“发疯”解释是一种俚语用法。
6. Den说I had to. Nobody wants to talk to me as a guy. 我必须这样，因为如果知道我是男的就没有人愿意跟我聊天了。Anne却不同意，说I don’t know about this, Den. I don’t know about this. 表示“我不怎么同意这件事”。当你无法同意别人所说的话，又不想跟他争吵时，就可以用这句话结束讨论，改变话题。
7. Ms. Right和Mr. Right都是表示理想的伴侣, 也就是公主或白马王子。上面的dream girlfriend和dream boyfriend表示梦中情人。
8. give up on doing something放弃做某事，对话中原句是I gave up on looking for a girlfriend and now I’m making friends! 我不想找女朋友了，我只要交朋友。make friends with someone这个短语是“和某人交朋友”的意思。
9. 当Anne知道Den周五要跟一个男网友见面时，更惊讶了，Have you lost it? 你疯了？跟上面的Are you nuts?是一样的。
10. 最后Den想问问Anne对此事有什么建议，Anne的回答是If I were you, I’d get a good psychiatrist. 如果我是你，我就要去找一个好的心理医生看看了。If I were you, I would...是个虚拟语气句式，表示“如果我是你，我就会……”。给别人建议时，若要强调自己和对方是站在同一战线的，就可以使用这个句式。
