4. I understand you used to spend a lot of time together back when Christina was younger.

据我所知当克里思蒂娜小的时候你和她一起度过很多时光。

I understand是访谈节目和外交场合中一个常用的辞令，它比I know, I hear, I guess更灵活，对所提及信息的来源和可信度都没有明确的说法，可以根据上下文译成“据我所知、我听说、我猜、我个人的理解是…等”, 也可以说My understanding is…….。

Back= in the past, 常出现在口语当中。

5. Many people in families become upset with each other over small problems.

许多家庭成员之间因为一些小问题彼此不愉快。

Upset 作vt/ vi 时重音在第二个音节上，过去式和过去分词同形，表示“弄翻、倾覆、扰乱、使不安”。也可作名词，重音在前。本句话里upset是过去分词，become的表语。

表示纷争的起因，用介词over. 例如：

The two countries often fight over border disputes.

They are always quarreling over minor differences.

6. Small problems become big ones, however, if they are not discussed and dealt with early on.

然而，如果不尽早商讨解决，小问题就会变成大问题。

Deal: n. 数量，a (good/ great) deal of +不可数名词，交易，如： It’s a deal(成交);v.分配、经营。词组deal with 有 和….做生意、与…有来往、对待、对付、相关、处理等意思。它作“处理”讲时，要和do with区分清楚。deal with作“处理”讲时是指“怎样对付或解决”，提问时用how; do with作“处理”讲时是指“使用、处置”，提问时用what。例如：

How did you deal with pollution in the river?—We tried to treat the city’s sewage before it poured into the river.

What did you do with the sewage?-- We treated it and recycled it for industrial use.

Early on：near the beginning“在早期、刚开始的时候”，多用于口语中。

7. Recently he has been refusing to do his homework, and instead insists on wasting his time watching DVDs and listening to foreign music.

近来他一直拒绝做他的家庭作业，固执地把时间浪费在看DVD和听外国音乐上。

Have/has been doing是现在完成进行时，指说话前一段时间一直进行或多次重复的动作。

Insist on+n/doing sth: 坚持、坚决主张(做某事);或insist+从句 “that sb (should) do sth”。

要注意persist in+n/doing sth也是“坚持”，但insist on坚持的是看法或主张,竭力主张去做某事;persist in坚持的是行为和做法，即不放弃正在进行的事情。例如:

He persisted in doing that experiment though the smell in the lab was getting worse and worse.

She insisted on going out for a picnic though the sky looked ominously dark.

8. What am I to do?

我该怎么办?

相当于What shall I do? Be动词+不定式表示按计划和情理将要或应该发生的事。例如：

The president elect is to make his inaugural speech on Monday.

You are to follow his instructions to the word.

9. When I refuse to listen to him, he shouts at me and the two of us fight like crazy.

要是我拒不听从，他就对我大喊大叫，我们俩就会象疯了一样争吵。

“the two of us”我们俩，us仅指我们两人; “two of us”我们中的两个, us 所包含的人数大于二。

like crazy象疯了一样，英语口语中的习惯用法，相当于“as if we were crazy”。还可以说：like cats and dogs。

【英语语调】

语调(intonation)是一句话里声调(pitch)高低抑扬轻重的配制和变化。英语有五种基本语调：升调(↗)、的降调(↙)、的升降调(∧)、降升调(∨)以及平调(→)。一句话除了词汇意义(lexical meaning)还有语调意义(intonation meaning)。所谓词汇意义就是话中所用词的意义，而语调意义就是说话人用语调所表示的态度或口气。一句话的词汇意义加上语调意义才算是完全的意义。同样的句子，语调不同，意思就会不同，请看下例：

1)A：Jean，can you bring me the newspaper?

B：Sorry?(↗)

Jean用升调说“Sorry”，其意思是“I didn't hear you.Could you say that again，please?”

2)A：Jean，can you bring me the newspaper?

B：Sorry.(↙)