名人教英文：这对新人，留学欧洲时相识
承编辑小姐邀我再作冯妇，为本版撰文「教英文」，每星期一篇，我想，教授形式当不必和其他几位作者统一。现在来个新尝试﹕先撰写一段英文对话，译成中文，然后辅以解说。读者从中或可学到一点英文用法。
the newly weds met while studying in europe
这对新人留学欧洲时相识
lorinda: look, here's the report of gail and mike's wedding in the paper. it's really impressive. two pictures, a report and a list of all the guests.
洛林达﹕看，报纸有盖尔和迈克婚礼的报道。真有气派。两幅相片，一段报道，还列出所有嘉宾姓名。
terence: well it was the society wedding of the year as far as this town was concerned.
特伦斯﹕嗯，这是本市今年最有气派的豪门婚礼。
lorinda: there's a bit about you. it says: "the father of the bride, our community's leading businessman."
洛林达﹕报道有一处还提到你，说「新娘的父亲执本地商界牛耳」。
terence: i think jim bryden maybe wouldn't agree with that.
特伦斯﹕吉姆．布赖登未必同意。
lorinda: oh you are. and the photo of gail and mike is really good. almost better than the official wedding photograph.
洛林达﹕啊，你是当之无愧的。盖尔和迈克那张照片拍得真好，几乎胜过他们正式发布的那一张。
terence: let me see. oh yes, very impressive.
特伦斯﹕给我看看。不错，的确很好看。
lorinda: look, the caption says: "the newly weds met while studying in europe."
洛林达﹕看，照片有一句说明﹕「这对新人留学欧洲时相识。」
现在先谈谈对话里的一句﹕it was the society wedding of the year。什么叫society wedding？按society可指high society或所谓上流社会，用在另一名词之前，则作形容词，例如（1）she belongs to high society（她是富贵社会中人）。（2）he has been invited to a society party（他获邀参加一个豪门派对）。
a society wedding是「豪门婚礼」，而the society wedding of the year则是「全年最盛大的豪门婚礼」。有时，你会看到a society function、a society column等说法，那是指「富贵人家的聚会」和「（报纸上）社交消息专栏」。
请再看另一句﹕the newly weds met while studying in europe。newly wed也作newly-wed或newlywed，多用复数形式newlyweds，指「新婚夫妇」。假如不和newly连用，则wed只可作动词，过去式和完成式是wed或wedded，指「结婚」或「结合」，例如﹕（1）she wed her childhood boyfriend（她和青梅竹马的男朋友结婚）。（2）courage and intelligence were wedded in the plan（这计划结合了勇气和智慧）。婚礼上，新郎给新娘送上结婚指环时，一般会说﹕with this ring, i thee wed（送上指环，与子成亲）。
最后不妨谈谈while一字。while之后，可用一完整子句（clause），但也常用ing动词，例如﹕while waiting (= while i waited), i read a magazine（我等候时，看了一本杂志）。