當(dāng)晚，Robbie和Philip進(jìn)行了一次長(zhǎng)談。他坦誠(chéng)的講出了自己對(duì)申請(qǐng)大學(xué)這
一問題的想法。Philip表示理解他做的決定。

    Philip： Hi ， Son. Is everything all right ？

    Robbie： Hi ， Dad. Everything's fine. I was just waiting for you
to get home so we could talk. Philip： Anything special you want to talk
about ？

    Robbie： There is ， Dad. Philip： I'm listening. Robbie： Well ，
I know you and Mom have given up a lot to save money for my college tuition.
Philip： We want you to go to college ， Robbie. Robbie ： I know. I do.
Philip： But？

    Robbie： Well ， I've thought a lot about which college ， and one
of them is Columbia. Philip ： Columbia ？ Why Columbia ？

    Robbie： First， they have an excellent School of Journalism. Philip
： They do. And your friends are planning to go to Columbia ？

    Robbie： That's only part of it. It's complicated. I'll try to explain.
Mike and I had a hamburger this afternoon ， and we talked. Philip： Yes？

    Robbie： Well ， we talked about a lot of things. He applied to Columbia，
and his interview was very successful. He thinks he'll be accepted， and
he really wants to go there. Philip ： Dean Rafer called me today. He
told me he was very impressed with you. Robbie： He's a nice man. He was
very kind. Philip ： He told me you had some doubts about wanting to go
to Michigan. Robbie ： Yes. I do. I'm just not sure about what I want
to do. Philip ： That's OK. Robbie： You understand ？

    「語言點(diǎn)精講」

    1. Well ， I know you and Mom have given up a lot to save money for
my college tuition. 嗯，爸爸，我知道你和媽媽為攢錢供我上大學(xué)，做出不少
犧牲。

    give up ：放棄，犧牲（享受）。

    tuition ：這里指學(xué)費(fèi)。

    2. I know. I do.我知道。我真的知道。

    “I do. ”是“I do know.”的簡(jiǎn)略，do表強(qiáng)調(diào)。

    3. But？

    然而？這里相當(dāng)于But what's on your mind ， anyway ？（知道歸知道，
不過你是想說……？）

    4. Well ， I've thought a lot about which college ， and one of them
is Columbia.嗯，我想了很久上哪所大學(xué)好，其中有一所就是哥倫比亞大學(xué)。

    I've thought a lot about…：關(guān)于…我想了很久。這里用現(xiàn)在完成時(shí)，表
示一個(gè)在過去開始而延續(xù)到現(xiàn)在，或可能延續(xù)到將來的動(dòng)作或情況，一般表示延
續(xù)的時(shí)間較長(zhǎng)。

    5. That's only part of it. It's complicated. I'll try to explain.
這只不過是一部分理由。事情很復(fù)雜，我會(huì)盡力解釋一下。

    complicated ：難以理解的，難以說清楚的，復(fù)雜的。

    explain ：解釋，說明…的含義（或原因、理由）；

    6. He thinks he'll be accepted他認(rèn)為他會(huì)被錄取入學(xué)的。

    be accepted ：這里指被大學(xué)錄取，相當(dāng)于be permitted to enter.

    7. He told me he was very impressed with you. 他對(duì)我說他對(duì)你的印象
很不錯(cuò)。

    He told me（that）…：他告訴我…，后面接的是間接引語，用來轉(zhuǎn)述別人
的話。又如Philip說的：He told me you had some doubts about wanting to
go to Michigan. （他告訴我說你對(duì)于是否上密歇根大學(xué)還拿不定主意。）

    be impressed with you ：對(duì)你留有好印象，對(duì)你印象很深。