Susan 在自己的老板John Marchetta的办公室里，鼓足勇气请老板给Grandpa
一个工作的机会。另她有些出乎意料的是，John Marchetta先生立即就答应让Grandpa
明天来面试。

    Marchetta ： Now， how's the Stewart family ？

    Susan ： Fine ， thank you， Mr. Marchetta. Except for my grandfather.
Marchetta ： What's wrong ， Susan？ What's wrong with him？

    Susan ： He needs to work. In fact， that is the reason why I'm here
to see you. I know you're building a new factory， and I thought…maybe
…my grandfather is so experienced in the construction trade， he could
be so valuable. Marchetta ： Tel him to come and see me at ten o'clock
tomorrow morning. I have an idea that may solve the problem for him and
help a lot of other people. Susan ： Really ， Mr. Marchetta？ Can I tell
him that？

    Marchetta ： Sure can. Ten o'clock in the morning. Here. Susan： Oh
，thank you！

    「语言点精讲」

    1. How's the Stewart family ？

    Stewart 全家人还好吗？这里动词用单数is，因为family是集体名词，表示
全家人作为一个整体。

    2. Except for my grandfather. 这句话是“Everyone is fine except for
my grandfather. ”的省略。

    except for：除……之外。指若不计被除掉的这一点，其它方面都符合主句
的断言。

    3. What's wrong ， Susan？ What's wrong with him？

    怎么了，Susan ？他怎么了？

    向对方表示关怀，询问对方遇到什么麻烦了、有什么困难，可以有多种表达
方式。如：What's wrong？

    What's the problem？

    There is something on your mind. Something's bothering you. What's
the matter？

    Is anything/something wrong ？

    4. In fact， that is the reason why I'm here to see you.事实上，我
就是为这事来见你的。

    the reason why…：…的原因，…的理由。也可以说the reason that 或者
the reason for.

    5. My grandfather is so experienced in the construction trade ， he
could be so valuable. so experienced in the construction trade：在建筑
行业很有经验。trade 除“贸易，交换”以外，还有“行业，手艺”的意思，因
此有 the construction trade 的说法。

    valuable：有价值的，有用的。注意以下几个词的意思： invaluable （无
价的；非常贵重的），valueless （无价值的；不值钱的），unvalued（不受重
视的）， valued （重要的；宝贵的）。

    6. Sure can.当然可以。是一种非正式用法。