Mary Alice Young: Of the many suburban1 rituals, none is quite so cherished as the neighborhood yard sale. The shoppers come to sift2 through the discarded belongings3 of someone they don t really know, in the hopes of finding bargains they don t really need, each so determined4 to save a few pennies, they often miss hidden treasures.
Susan: Hey, Paul.
Paul: Hi, Susan.
Susan: I got to say, I was a little surprised to see Mary Alice s award for sale. She got it for doing charity work, from the Chamber5 of Commerce.
Paul: Zach and I are moving. We don t need to carry any more with us than is absolutely necessary.
Susan: That makes sense. Still, I just want to make sure you didn t want to keep it, for Zach, something to remember his mother by.
Paul: Zach doesn t need a piece of glass to remember his mother. I m out of newspaper. Here, let s call it ten bucks6 for everything.
Susan: Great. Speaking of Zach, I haven t seen him around lately.
Paul: He s been a bit depressed7. I thought he could use a change of scenery, so I sent him to stay with relatives.
Susan: Oh, which ones?
Paul: You don t know them.
Susan: So, how d you get the fat lip?
Paul: The usual way. Asking too many questions.
Gabrielle: Find out where Zach is?
Susan: No, but I can tell you this much. He s not staying with relatives.
Carlos: It s driving me crazy, mama. It could be any one of these guys she s having the affair with.
Mama Solis: No worry about it. I m not letting her out of my sight.
Carlos: Now, who the hell is that? And look at the way she s touching8 him. You think that s the guy she s having the affair with?
Mama Solis: Carlos, don t be stupid. A guy she talks to in public isn t someone you re gonna worry about.
Carlos: So it s someone that she doesn t talk to. What do I have to do? Beat up every guy in town?
Mama Solis: Marriage takes work!
Lynette: I m not surprised that he s playing it close to the vest. Paul knows we re on to him.
Bree: Zach said Mary Alice killed herself because of something that he had done, something bad. Is there anyone else who d know what he was talking about?
Susan: No. That s why we have to find him. It s the only way we ll know the truth.
Bree: It just doesn t make any sense. Zach is such a sweet kid. I can t imagine him doing anything that terrible.
Gabrielle: Well, he did break into your house. I mean, the kid is obviously troubled in some way.
妙语佳句,活学活用
1. Make sense
是口语中常常出现的片语。Make sense 有两种意思,一种是“可理解的,合理的”,通常用否定形式,例如:This explanation doesn t make sense. 这个解释不合理。
另一个意思是“可行,说得通,合理的”,比如:It makes sense to find out first how many will attend the conference. 先确定一下有多少人会参加会议比较可行。
在片断中,That makes sense.的意思是“有道理”。
2. Have an affair with
常用来形容“韵事”、“关系不长久的恋情”,在文中可理解为“与……有染”、“婚外性关系”。如:Joni feels that her husband has an affair with some woman. 琼尼感觉到丈夫和别的女人有染。
3. Play close to the vest
“把守秘密”的意思。
比如:The thief plays close to the vest no matter how hard the police threaten him. 不管警察怎么威胁,小偷就是不肯把秘密说出来。
4. Be on to
有两种意思,一种是be aware of or have information about,比如:You ll never deceive us again; we re on to you. 你再也不能欺骗我们了。我们知道你的伎俩。另一个意思是 discover something important or profitable,比如:The researchers claim they are really on to something big. 研究者们声称他们发现了一些重要的东西。