大忙人学社交口语 第50期:谈论书籍

 What's that you're reading?

你在看的那本是什么书?

This? Oh, it's the latest novel by Pam Wheeler.

这本吗?哦，这是帕姆.惠勒最新的小说。

Oh, right. Any good?

原来如此。好看吗?

Yes, it's not bad. It got a gripping¹ plot, and the dialogue is quite witty².

嗯，还不错。它的情节不赖，对白也写得很好。

What's it about?

它在讲什么?

It's about sex and shopping, really. It really gets across the mood of the 1980s.

它其实是在谈两性与购物。很能反映出19世纪80年代的心情。

Yes, I read her first book.

的确，我看过她的第一本书。

Oh, yes, that's a classic³ of its kind. Did you like it?

对啊，它可说是同类的经典之作。你喜欢吗?

It was certainly a page-turner.

它绝对是一本引人入胜的书。

So what are you reading?

那你在看什么?

I'm reading this travel book, about a train journey across Mongolia.

我在看这本旅游书，它谈的是横穿蒙古的火车之旅。

Wow, sounds good.

哇，听起来不错。

Yes, it's really interesting, full of wonderfully vivid descriptions of landscapes.

是啊，有趣得很，里面充满了对景色极为生动的描述。

The only trouble is it's taking me ages to read.

唯一的麻烦是，

Oh, why's that?

我得花很长的时间来看完。

Well, it's a really heavy book, and the binding's broken, so I can't carry it around with me.

哦，为什么会这样?

1 gripping   

adj.吸引注意力的v.抓紧( grip的现在分词 )；吸引；引起；使感兴趣

参考例句：

• a gripping Victorian melodrama 动人心弦的维多利亚时代情节剧
• a gripping narrative of their journey up the Amazon 他们沿亚马孙河而上的扣人心弦的描述

2 witty   

adj.机智的，风趣的

参考例句：

• Her witty remarks added a little salt to the conversation.她的妙语使谈话增添了一些风趣。
• He scored a bull's-eye in their argument with that witty retort.在他们的辩论中他那一句机智的反驳击中了要害。

3 classic   

n.经典作品；adj.经典的，一流的；古典的

参考例句：

• The novel is regarded as one of the classic works.这篇小说被公认为是最优秀的作品之一。
• The football match was a classic.那场足球比赛堪称典范。