ACT 1-3 沒(méi)有中間名字

【故事梗概】

Susan找到了禮物的包裝紙。她走進(jìn)了起居室。 Ellen和Grandpa 在包禮物的時(shí)候，Susan開始在她給Marilyn和Richard買的嬰兒紀(jì)念冊(cè)上填寫一些信息。

Susan: Mom, got it. This will make a nice gift for Marilyn and Richard. They can keep a record of all of the important dates and information about Max’s life here. Let’s see. Name: Max Stewart. Does he have a middle name?

Ellen: No, just Max. I like that. No middle name. No middle initial.

Grandpa: Like me. I’m Malcolm Stewart. Just Malcolm Stewart.

Susan: And Max has your initials, Grandpa: M.S.

Ellen: Uh, it must mean something.

Susan: Weight: eight pounds six ounces.

Grandpa: Eight-six. Big boy! All the Stewart men were big.

Ellen: Well, Robbie was eight pounds two ounces, and Richard was eight pounds three.

Susan: And me?

Ellen: Eight pounds six. You were big, just like Max.

Susan: Eight pounds six, just like me. That’s nice. Length. Length?

Ellen: Richard says Max is twenty-one inches long.

Susan: Twenty-one inches. Is that tall or average or what?

Grandpa: Tall.

【語(yǔ)言點(diǎn)精講】

1. Mom, got it.

got it: 找到了。got it是I’ve got it的省略，這是口語(yǔ)中省略主語(yǔ)的用法。

2. This will make a nice gift for Marilyn and Richard.

This will make a nice gift: 這是一件好禮物。句中的make不是“制作”的意思，而是“成為、構(gòu)成”的意思，屬于非正式用法。

3. They can keep a record of all of the important dates and information about Max’s life here.

他們可以在這里面記下Max生活中一切重要的日期和事情。

keep a record of: 為……作記錄。

4. No middle name. No middle initial.

沒(méi)有中間名字，也沒(méi)有中間名字的第一個(gè)字母。

middle name: 中間名字。美國(guó)人一般有 first name, middle name和 last name。有的沒(méi)有middle name。first name也稱given name, 是名。last name也稱 family name或 surname, 是姓氏。middle name有時(shí)是母親的姓氏，有時(shí)是為了紀(jì)念某位親人而取的。

initial: 名字的第一個(gè)字母。后面Susan說(shuō)的“And Max has your initials, Grandpa: M.S. ”中的initials 是指姓和名的第一個(gè)字母的組合, 如Malcolm Stewart 的initials就是M.S.

5. Weight: eight pounds six ounces. --Eight-six. Big boy!

weight: 重量。

eight pounds and six ounces: 8磅 6盎司, 約 4公斤。美國(guó)人通常用英制計(jì)量單位。雖然美國(guó)政府曾經(jīng)積極推廣采用公制單位, 但人們還是習(xí)慣用英制單位。科技和醫(yī)藥用公制單位。

Eight-six. : 等同于 Eight pounds six ounces（8磅 6盎司）。講重量時(shí), 常常省略單位名稱。

6. Length.

length: 身高, 身長(zhǎng)。length 是形容詞long的名詞形式。在談嬰兒時(shí), 身長(zhǎng)用length, 但在談及年齡稍大的人或成年人時(shí), 身高需用height。

7. Richard says Max is twenty-one inches long.

twenty-one inches long: 21英寸（約53厘米）長(zhǎng)。

表示長(zhǎng)度或?qū)挾葧r(shí), 用be+ 數(shù)字+ 長(zhǎng)度單位+形容詞 long或 wide。例如:The table is five inches long and four inches wide。