當晚，Robbie和Philip進行了一次長談。他坦誠的講出了自己對申請大學這
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，做出不少
犧牲。

    give up ：放棄，犧牲（享受）。

    tuition ：這里指學費。

    2. I know. I do.我知道。我真的知道。

    “I do. ”是“I do know.”的簡略，do表強調(diào)。

    3. But？

    然而？這里相當于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好，其中有一所就是哥倫比亞大學。

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

    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。事情很復雜，我會盡力解釋一下。

    complicated ：難以理解的，難以說清楚的，復雜的。

    explain ：解釋，說明…的含義（或原因、理由）；

    6. He thinks he'll be accepted他認為他會被錄取入學的。

    be accepted ：這里指被大學錄取，相當于be permitted to enter.

    7. He told me he was very impressed with you. 他對我說他對你的印象
很不錯。

    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. （他告訴我說你對于是否上密歇根大學還拿不定主意。）

    be impressed with you ：對你留有好印象，對你印象很深。