Last week at a dinner party, the hostess asked me to sit next to Mrs.Rumbold. Mrs. Rumbold was a large, unsmiling lady in a tight black dress. She did not even look up when I took my seat beside her. Her eyes were fixed on her plate and in a short time, she was busy eating. I tried to make conversation.
‘A new play is coming to“The Globe”soon,’I said. ‘Will you be seeing it?’
‘No,’she answered.
‘Will you be spending your holidays abroad this year?’I asked.
‘NO,’she answered.
‘Will you be staying in England?’I asked.
“No,’she answered.
In despair, I asked her whether she was enjoying her dinner.
‘Young man, ’she answered,‘if you ate more and talked less, we would both enjoy our dinner!’
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New words and expressions 生词和短语
hostess (1.1) /'həustis/n. 女主人
fix (1.4)/fiks/v. 凝视
unsmiling(1.2)/ʌn'smailiŋ/adj. 不笑的，严肃的
globe(1.6) /gləub/n. 地球
tight(1.2)/tait/adj.紧身的
despair (1.13)/di'speə/n. 绝望
Notes on the text 课文注释
1 next to，挨着。
2 She did not even look up when I took my seat beside her. 当我在她身旁坐下来的时候，她甚至连头都没有抬一下。
3 she was busy eating，她忙着吃饭。be busy doing sth．是“忙于做某事”的意思。
4 The Globe，环球剧场，伦敦著名的剧场之一。
5 Will you be seeing it？用将来进行时来提问，尤其是提出问题但又不想迫使对方作出明确答复时，将来进行时可以显得比一般将来时will更委婉客气。