Why did Elizabeth tell Negel that she was going to the dentist?
I crossed the street to avoid meeting him, but he saw me and came running towards me. It was no use pretending that I had not seen him, so I waved to him. I never enjoy meeting Nigel Dykes. He never has anything to do. No matter how busy you are, he always insists on coming with you. I had to think of a way of preventing him from following me around all morning.
'Hello, Nigel,' I said, 'Fancy meeting you here!'
'Hi, Elizabeth,' Nigel answered. 'I was just wondering how to spend the morning-until I saw you. You are not busy doing anything, are you?'
'No, not at all,' I answered. 'I am going to ...'
'Would you mind my coming with you?' he asked, before I had finished speaking.
'Not at all,' I lied, 'but I'm going to the dentist.'
'Then I'll come with you,' he answered. 'There's always plenty of to read in the waiting room!'
New words and expressions 生词和短语
persistent adj.坚持的，固执的
avoid v.避开
insist v.坚持做
Notes on the text 课文注释
1 to avoid meeting him,避免碰上他，这是动词后面用动名词作宾语的结构。本课下文中出现的enjoy,fancy,mind,finish等动词，也是只接动名鸟词作宾语的动词。
2 came running towards me,向我跑来，running 是现在分词，作状语，表示状况。
3 It was no use pretending,装作 ...... 是没有用了。在这句话中， it 是先行词，实际上主语是动名词短语pretending that I had not seen him.
4 No matter how busy you are.不管你有多忙。这是一个让步状语从句，no matter 常与how, when, where, what, who等引导的从句相连，可译成“无论”。
5 prevent sb. from doing sth.是“阻止某人做某事”，介词from可以省略。
6 Fancy meeting you here!想不到在这里见到你!fancy + ing 是表示对后面的-ing 所表示的动作感到惊奇。
7 You are not busy doing anything, are you?你不忙，是吧？