Food and talk

　　进餐与交谈

　　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!"

　　参考译文

　　在上星期的一次宴会上，女主人安排我坐在兰伯尔德夫人的身旁。兰伯尔德夫人是一位身材高大、表情严肃的女人，穿一件紧身的黑衣服。当我在她身旁坐下来的时候，她甚至连头都没有抬一下。她的眼睛盯着自己的盘子，不一会儿就忙着吃起来了。我试图找个话题和她聊聊。

　　“一出新剧要来‘环球剧场’上演了，”我说，“您去看吗?”

　　“不，”她回答。

　　“您今年去国外度假吗?”我又问。

　　“不，”她回答。

　　“您就呆在英国吗?”我问。

　　“不，”她回答。

　　失望之中我问她饭是否吃得满意。

　　“年轻人，”她回答说，“如果你多吃点，少说点，我们两个都会吃得好的!”

　　语法归纳：虚拟语气

　　一句话总结：虚拟语气只用于非真实条件句中，表达假设的或实现可能性不大的情况，通常表达的只是一种愿望、假设、怀疑或是推测。

　　条件从句时态→ 主句时态

　　与现在事实相反：一般过去时→ should / would / could / might + 动词原形

　　与将来事实相反：should.动词原形→ should / would / could / might + 动词原形

　　与过去事实相反：过去完成时→ should / would / could / might + have + 过去分词

　　If we left now, we should arrive at the Capital Airport on time.

　　如果我们现在就走，我们应该可以准时到达首都机场。

　　If it should rain tomorrow, we would call off the game.

　　明天万一下雨，我们就取消比赛。

（编辑：何莹莹）