人生沒有用不到的經歷

在美國，我逐漸習慣使用某些現在進行式 (續 Spoken English – 4)。
打電話預訂汽車旅館：
A: This is Holiday Inn. May I help you? 
B: I am calling to make a reservation. What kind of vacancy do you have? (我想訂位，你們有哪些空房?)

寫文章時的開頭語：I am writing to thank you for the kind invitation.

別人聽不懂自己的話時，回答他時的口頭語：What I am saying is you need to upgrade your Microsoft Word.

I am telling you the world is flat. 我想(要)告訴你，地球是平的。(The world is flat 是 Thomas Frideman 的著作，值得一看。)

A: I have to say Ralph should not leave his boss's lab. 我真想說，Ralph不該離開他老闆的實驗室。
B: You are telling me ! 你不正在說嗎？我也這麼想。意思是，I agree with you.

A: What courses do you take this semester?
B: I am taking Advanced Biochemistry, Biostatistics, and Immunology.
(I take Advanced Biochemistry, Biostatistics, and Immunology. 這樣答是對的，但少了 "正在修課" 的味道。)
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另外，「come back」也很適合當口語。
A: How’s your paper going? (你的 paper下落如何?)
B: Stop saying it. It comes back with very negative comments (別提了，它回來了，得到非常差的評語。)
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I came down with high fever yesterday. My mom drove me to see a doctor. He did a flu test. It came back positive. The doctor sent me home with Tamiflu.
我昨天發高燒，媽咪載我去看醫生。醫生做了流感測試，結果(回來come back)是陽性，他開了克流感 (Tamiflu) 給我回家。

Come down with 一般而言，較常用於需要臥床休息的病。
The doctor sent me home with Tamiflu. 並不是說醫生送我回去，而是要我帶著克流感回家(有一點點打發的意思)。
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I upgraded my old computer. You know? It came back like new.  
我把我的老電腦升級，你知道嗎？回來以後像新的一樣。

I was too optimistic to upgrade my computer. It came back as nothing happened. You know！
我滿心樂觀想把我的電腦升級，結果，唉，回來以後一點也沒變！
P.S. : It came back like nothing happened. 比較口語，但不合文法。
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I renovated my old car. Oh, It came back great！
我把舊車翻新，回來以後真的太棒了！