名人教英文：在第十四通路
in aisle number 14
在第十四通路
dorita: could you tell me where the spices are please?
多丽塔﹕可以告诉我香料在哪里吗？
assistant: sure. they're in aisle 14, at the end on the right. i'll show you. just follow me.
店员﹕当然可以，在第十四通路，即右边最远处。我带你去看，跟着我走吧。
dorita: oh thank you... it's cumin i'm looking for.
多丽塔﹕啊，谢谢……我要买的是小茴香。
assistant: it's there on the top shelf, on the left.
店员﹕小茴香在货架最高一格的左边。
dorita: ah yes. i can see it. thank you very much.
多丽塔﹕哈，看到了，谢谢你。
assistant: is there anything else i can help you with?
店员﹕还有什么要我效劳吗？
dorita: well, i also need some pitta bread.
多丽塔﹕嗯，我还想买些空心圆面包。
assistant: oh, that's easy. it's just around the corner in aisle 12.
店员﹕啊，那很容易找到，就在转个角的第十二号通路。
多丽塔想买香料，问店员可不可以帮忙，店员说﹕sure。这个sure，作副词（adverb）用，有几点值得谈谈。
第一，回答问题，用sure一字，是表示「好啊」或「没问题」，等于certainly，例如﹕"will you come with me?" "sure / certainly."（「你会和我一起去吗？」「当然会。」）
第二，sure也可以指「的确」或「一定」，有加强语气作用，改为certainly也可以，例如﹕i sure /certainly will be there（我一定会在那里）。
第三，surely同样是副词，含义却和certainly不同。surely带点疑问语气，certainly则表示毫无疑问，例如﹕(1) surely he was there?（他应该在那里吧？）(2) he certainly was there（他一定在那里）。
今天，香港店员常向顾客说﹕「我有什么可以帮到你？」这根本不是中文，而是硬译英文is there anything i can help you with?，那样下流的翻译，听了令人作三日呕。中文应说的是「有什么要我效劳吗？」
除了is there anything i can help you with?，店员招呼顾客，英文还可说can i help you?（要我效劳吗？）are you looking for something/anything in particular?（是不是要找一些东西？）为顾客做了某事之后，还可以问﹕what else can i do for you?或is there anything else i can help you with? 留意第二句末尾的with不要略去。to help someone with something指「帮助某人做某事」，例如﹕he helped his mother with the housework（他帮母亲做家务）。