Friends,中文译名为《六人行》或《老友记》是美国正在热播的一个sitcom (即situation comedy)也就是我们所说的情景喜剧。它之所以这么受欢迎，是因为其内容轻松，语言幽默，每每令人捧腹不已。对于英语学习者来说，我们更能从中学到不少地道的口语。现在就请大家和我一起感受其中的乐趣吧！

　　Monica的母亲Mrs.Geller向女儿谈起了自己的母亲，也就是Monica刚刚去世的外婆：

　　语音讲解：
　　　(点击右键“另存为”可下载语音)

　　Mrs. Geller: Do you know what it's like to grow up with someone who is critical of every single thing you say?

　　Monica: ...I can imagine.

　　Mrs. Geller: I'm telling you, it's a wonder your mother turned out to be the positive, life-affirming person that she is.

　　Monica: That is a wonder. So tell me something, Mom. If you had to do it all over again, I mean, if she was here right now, would you tell her?

　　Mrs. Geller: Tell her what?

　　Monica: How she drove you crazy, picking on every little detail, like your hair... for example.

　　Mrs. Geller: I'm not sure I know what you're getting at.

　　Monica: Do you think things would have been better if you'd just told her the truth?

　　Mrs. Geller: ...No. I think some things are better left unsaid. I think it's nicer when people just get along.

　　Monica: Huh.

　　【世博视角】

　　Mrs. Geller对自己的女儿Monica总是很挑剔，可她居然还问Monica：“你能体会在你成长过程中，总有个人会批评你所说的每句话是啥滋味吗？(Do you know what it's like to grow up with someone who is critical of every single thing you say? )这里的someone指的就是Monica的外婆。“对……持批评的态度,”我们可以用be critical of sth来表示，比如：He is critical of my work. critical也可以直接用来修饰人，譬如Mrs.Geller也可以这样对Monica说:“Your grandmother was a very critical woman.”

　　真是有其母必有其女( Like mother, like daughter), Mrs. Geller比起自己的母亲来可是有过之而无不及，每次看到女儿Monica都要挑她的毛病，用Monica自己的话来说就是picking on every little detail (吹毛求疵)，pick on其实就当相于先前所说的critical的动词形式criticize,如果说criticize还能被人接受的话，那pick on绝对是让人难以忍受的，因为批评有时还带有一定的合理性，而pick on就是在鸡蛋里挑骨头了。万一你很不幸碰上这种人，你不妨吼上一句：Why do you always pick on me?

　　Monica可没有这么直接，她旁敲侧击地问她妈妈：“So tell me something, Mom. If you had to do it all over again, I mean, if she was here right now, would you tell her? (妈妈，告诉我如果你能重新来过，我是说如果外婆就在这里的话，你会告诉她吗？)”all over again这个词组不仅仅表达again的意思，还强调从头开始重做某事，又比如：If the teacher doesn’t’t like your essay, you have to do it all over again.

　　Mrs. Geller应该不会不明白女儿的意思，可她却说：“I'm not sure I know what you're getting at.”这句话真不错，当别人说话隐隐约约的时候，我们就可以如法泡制地用这句话来一探虚实。到这个时候Monica只能再把话说透一点：“Do you think things would have been better if you'd just told her the truth?”,她的言下之意就是问:我不是也该对你实话实话，好让你知道我的感受。Monica满怀希望地等了老半天，却听到她母亲说No,而且还巧妙地表示说：“I think some things are better left unsaid.”这就是我们所说的有些事情可以看穿却不可以说穿。

　　话都说倒这份上了，可怜的Monica除了万般无奈地“哈”一声外还能怎么样呢？

　　最后我们再来看一下本篇讲到的一些地道表达法：

　　be critical of sth

　　pick on every little detail / pick on someone

　　all over again

　　what are you getting at?

　　some things are better left unsaid

　　(本栏目是由世博英语(360abc.com)Starry_Night原创编写！让我们通过电影轻松学英语！未经书面授权，请勿转载!)