名人教英文：那是父母包办的婚姻
it's an arranged marriage
那是父母包办的婚姻
lola : where's rajiv?
洛拉﹕拉吉夫哪里去了？
franco : haven't you heard? he's gone on a very important trip to india.
佛朗哥﹕你没听说吗？他去了印度，此行十分重要。
lola : you mean on business?
洛拉﹕你是说他去了公干？
franco : oh no. he's gone to get married. it's all been arranged by his parents.
佛朗哥﹕啊，不是。他去结婚。婚事都由父母安排好了。
lola : arranged? you mean it's an arranged marriage? i didn't think that indians here had arranged marriages any more.
洛拉﹕安排好？你是说那是父母包办的婚姻？我从来没想过本地印度人的婚姻，还会由父母包办。
franco : they certainly do. apparently his bride-to-be is from a family his parents have known for years. they were first introduced last summer and got on very well together.
佛朗哥﹕但的确还有这样一回事。据说，拉吉夫的父母和他未婚妻的家人，相识多年。两人上个夏天初次获介绍相识，很合得来。
lola : well, they do say that arranged marriages can be very successful. i'll be fascinated to meet his new bride when he brings her back.
洛拉﹕嗯，有人说，父母包办的婚姻，有些十分圆满。拉吉夫携新娘回来后，我真想见见她。
洛拉说﹕i didn't think that indians here had arranged marriages any more。这一句的any more可不可改为anymore？
答案是「可以」。美式英文可用 anymore 或 any more 说时间，但说数量，则只可用 any more，例如﹕(1) he doesn't work here anymore / any more（他不在这里工作了）。(2) is there any more bread?（还有没有面包？）第二句的 any more不可改为 anymore。
arranged marriage是父母或其他长辈安排的婚姻，和free marriage或自由选择的婚姻相对。异族相配的婚姻则叫mixed marriage。此外，十分匹配的婚姻，是well-assorted marriage；不匹配的，则是ill-assorted marriage，例如﹕arranged marriages can be well-assorted marriages, while free marriages often end in divorces（父母安排的婚姻，可以十分匹配；自由选择的婚姻，则往往以离婚收场）。
佛朗哥说﹕apparently his bride-to-be is from a family his parents have known for years。apparently一字，往往解作「显然」或「看来」，但也可解作「听说」或「据我所知」，例如﹕(1) he left upon his ex-wife's arrival. apparently, he wanted to avoid her（他前妻一到，他就离去，显然是不想相见）。(2) apparently, gu kailai poisoned the englishman（据说，谷开来把那英国人毒死）。
留意名词之后的-to-be，表示「将来的」或「将成为的」，例如a father-to-be是「将为人父者」。这类名词的复数形式，是fathers-to-be、brides-to-be等，那s不加在-to-be之后。
专研中英文，着有时事评论、英语学习、散文等书籍。