I'll buy one at the box office.
對話
Angus: Where are you off to in such a hurry?
Martin: I'm just off to the movie theater to see the latest Nicole Kidman movie.
Angus: I've seen it, it's really good. Have you got a ticket?
Martin: No, I'll buy one at the box office.
Angus: You could have saved yourself a lot of time by buying it on the internet.
Martin: I didn't know you could do that. You must show me how to do it.
安格斯：你這樣匆忙，要去哪里？
馬?。何乙想?看科爾．基曼最新的電影。
安格斯：我看過了，的確是部好電影。你買了入場券沒有？
馬丁：沒有，我會去售票處買。
安格斯：假如你早點在互聯(lián)網(wǎng)上購買，會節(jié)省不少時間。
馬丁：我不知道可以這樣買票。你得教我網(wǎng)上買票的辦法。
‘電*’美式英文叫movie theater、movie house或theater，英式則叫cinema。‘劇院’美式英文也叫theater，這和英式無別，但英式拼法是theatre?！娪啊拿朗浇蟹ㄊ莔ovie，英式是film，所以，同是看電影，美國人go to the theater/the movies，英國人則go to the cinema/the films；‘愛看電影者’也分為美國的moviegoers和英國的filmgoers。‘售票處’美英無別是box office或ticket office。I called the box office to find out if there were any seats left即 ‘我打電話到售票處，看還有沒有剩余座位’。要去售票處買票，則可像馬丁那樣說：I'll buy a ticket at the box office。留意介系詞(preposition)用at，不用in。At和in的一個分別，今天不妨談?wù)劇Ｒ恍┯刑囟ㄓ猛镜慕ㄖ?，用at帶出，是說其用途；用in帶出，是說‘在其內(nèi)’。所以，‘我在售票處買票’是I bought a ticket AT the box office，而‘我看見售票處里有兩個售票員’則是I saw two clerks IN the box office。假如Tom was at the library/supermarket/bank/theater，那么，湯姆是在看書/買東西/辦理財務(wù)/看電影；假如Tom was in the library/supermarket/bank/theater，則他是在圖書館/超級市場/銀行/電*之內(nèi)。當然，I enjoy eating at/in that restaurant這一句，無論用at還是in，意思其實沒有分別：我喜歡在那家餐廳吃飯。此外，在英國，‘上學(xué)’和‘到教堂禮拜’叫做at school/college和at church，但美國人現(xiàn)在多說in school/college，也有說in church。My daughter is in college即‘我女兒是大學(xué)生’。