【明報專訊】Pat is writing a letter to her cousin who has flown back to Australia after the summer holidays.

Pat: Hey Dr Panda, (1) can I borrow your glue stick?

Dr Panda: Sure, here you are. What are you doing?

Pat: (2) I am sending my cousin Beatrice a letter. She is studying in Australia and (3) visited me during the summer holidays.

Dr Panda: That was great. What did you do?

Pat: Beatrice and I went to the astronomy museum. (4) She liked it very much and (5) we took a lot of photos. (6) So I am mailing them to her.

Many verbs take a direct object without the need of a preposition. These verbs are called transitive verbs (及物動詞). A noun / noun phrase that follows a verb without a preposition is a direct object.

e.g. We ate hamburgers for lunch today.

■Gear up

Circle the direct objects in Pat's letter below.

(Answers on next text)

Dear Beatrice,

I was so happy to see you and Aunt Bella in the summer! Even though it has only been two days since you left, I have started missing our time together already!

Do you remember our museum visit? I include the photos in this letter so that you can look at them and decorate your room. I would love to visit your family in Australia, and Mom said she will make a plan.

Please send my greetings to Aunt Bella and Uncle Joe for me!

Love,

Pat

■Glossary

glue stick (n phr) 漿糊筆

astronomy (n) 天文學

even though (idiom) 儘管

decorate (v) 裝飾

[Smarties' Power English 第253期]