Grandpa 在 John Marchetta 先生的辦公室里接受面試。Marchetta 先生瀏
覽了Grandpa 的簡(jiǎn)歷，給了他很高的評(píng)價(jià)。

    Grandpa ： Hi. I'm Malcolm Stewart. Marchetta ： John Marchetta. Sit
down， sit down. Grandpa： Susan has told me a great deal about you. She
says you're quite a man. Marchetta： She say a lot of wonderful things
about you too ， Mr. Stewart. Grandpa ： That's always nice to hear ，
Mr. Marchetta. Marchetta： Call me John. May I call you Malcolm ？ Let's
talk business. Grandpa： That's music to my ears. Marchetta ： I understand
you used to be in the construction business. Grandpa： Yup. Forty-three
years. Here's a brief description of forty-three years of on-the-job training.
Marchetta ： That is some history ！ You're a valuable asset， Malcolm.
Very valuable. Grandpa： Thank you. Yup. Forty-three years. Half that
time in my own construction company. Big jobs —— factories， shopping
malls. That kind of thing. Marchetta： Then you retired. Grandpa： Yes.
After my wife died， and I felt I should spend more time with my children
and grandchildren. I lived in Florida ， and they lived in New York. Marchetta
： I understand. My daughter， Cami lives in New York. I like being near
her.

    「語(yǔ)言點(diǎn)精講」

    1. Susan has told me a great deal about you. She says you're quite
a man. Susan跟我說(shuō)了不少有關(guān)你的事，她說(shuō)你是個(gè)很了不起的人。

    a great deal：很多。也可以說(shuō) a great deal of sth. ，但后面的名詞只
能是不可數(shù)的。

    You're quite a man. 你真是個(gè)了不起的人。

    2. Call me John.叫我John好了。在對(duì)方稱自己為某先生或用其它尊稱時(shí)，
欲使對(duì)方直呼己名以示親近，常這樣說(shuō)。也可以：“John to you.”

    3. Let's talk business. talk business ：談工作，談生意。這是個(gè)慣用
語(yǔ)，talk在這里用作及物動(dòng)詞。

    類似的不帶介詞，以talk為及物動(dòng)詞的用法還有： talk politics/sport
（談?wù)撜��? 體育），talk shop （說(shuō)行話，談本行業(yè)或本職工作的事），talk
sense/nonsense，talk nonsense/rubbish （說(shuō)胡話，胡說(shuō)八道）等。

    4. That's music to my ears. 正合我意。正是我想聽(tīng)的。

    5. I understand you used to be in the construction business.我聽(tīng)說(shuō)
你過(guò)去是在建筑業(yè)工作的。

    I understand：在這里的意思是“我聽(tīng)說(shuō)，我知道這樣的信息”。

    used to do：過(guò)去曾做過(guò)某事。用來(lái)談?wù)撨^(guò)去的經(jīng)歷。

    6. Here's a brief description of forty-three years of on-the-job training.
這兒有一份材科，簡(jiǎn)短地記錄了我四十三年的工作經(jīng)歷。

    a brief description ：簡(jiǎn)單的敘述。這里指簡(jiǎn)歷。

    on-the-job training ：指工作經(jīng)歷。美國(guó)人很重視實(shí)際工作經(jīng)驗(yàn)，所以他
們把工作經(jīng)歷稱為“工作時(shí)的培訓(xùn)”。

    7. That is some history ！ You're a valuable asset， Malcolm. Very
valuable. 這是很了不起的經(jīng)歷！你是個(gè)很寶貴的人才，Malcolm ，非常寶貴。

    some：了不起的，相當(dāng)于“a wonderful …”。這是一種非正式用法。

    asset ：資產(chǎn)，財(cái)富，人才。

    8. I like being near her. 我喜歡離她近一點(diǎn)。

    這里like后面接-ing形式，表示“經(jīng)�；蚩偸腔蛄�(xí)慣性地”喜歡某事。