在Stewart 家的起居室里，Marilyn 正在设计一件连衣裙。她停下来一会儿，
和Ellen 谈心。她和Richard 将要有孩子了，买自己的房子另住的事提上了议事
日程。就此事她想听听Ellen 的意见。

    Marilyn ： Ellen， I'd like your opinion. Ellen ： About what ？

    Marilyn ： Well ， Richard and I feel that with a baby coming we need
to have our own place to live. Ellen： Oh. Marilyn： Well ， what do you
think about Richard and me looking for a small house or an apartment at
this point in our lives ？

    Ellen ： We love having you here， and there is room and… and when
the baby comes， the baby can stay in your room for a while. Marilyn：
Richard feels we need to find a small house. Ellen： I remember when I
was pregnant with Richard Philip and were living with Grandma and Grandpa.
Philip was a young doctor ， and he kept talking about having a house
of our own. It's natural. Marilyn ： What did you do？

    Ellen ： We looked at a lot of houses. Marilyn： Did you find one ？

    Ellen ： Oh ， not at first. We couldn't afford it. Grandpa wanted
to lend us the money to buy one ， but Philip is too independent. He didn't
want to borrow any money. Marilyn ： Sounds like Richard. Ellen ： They're
all alike. Richard is a real Stewart. He's independent and sometimes just
stubborn.

    「语言点精讲」

    1. I'd like your opinion. 我想听听您的意见。这是一种征求别人的意见，
询问某人的看法的表达方式。

    2. About what ？

    我的什么意见？在这里相当于“My opinion about what ？”

    口语中，当上下文意思比较清楚时，句中可省略重复的部分。

    3. Well ， Richard and I feel that with a baby coming we need to have
our own place to live.哦，Richard 和我觉得，我们快要有孩子了，需要有自
己的房子住。

    with a baby coming：指快要生孩子了。

    our own place ：这里指的是“a house belonging to ourselves”，自己
的房子。

    4. Well ， what do you think about Richard and me looking for a small
house or an apartment at this point in our lives？

    呃，Richard 和我在我们生活中的这个时候找一所小住宅或者一处公寓房子，
你认为怎么样？

    What do you think about …？：你觉得…怎么样？你认为…怎么样？在征
求别人的意见时可以使用这个句型。

    at this point ：在这个时刻。相当于at this time.

    5. We couldn't afford it. 我们买不起。

    afford：买得起，承担得起（费用等）。常接在 can， could或 be able to
后面。

    6. Grandpa wanted to lend us the money to buy one ， but Philip is
too independent. He didn't want to borrow any money.爷爷要想借给我们钱
买一所房子，可是Philip独立性太强了。他不想借钱。

    lend：借出，借给。borrow：借入，借来。

    7. Sounds like Richard. 听起来像 Richard一样。用来表明某人的行为方
式像另一人的。

    8. They're all alike. 他们斯图尔特家的人都是一个样子。

    alike ：在这里作为表语形容词，用于be，look，sound 等系动词或半系动
词后面，表示“一样的，相同的，相似的”。