Q

Henry was sent by his mother to see how old Mrs.Smith was but was scolded by the old lady. Why？
亨利听母亲的话去探望史密斯老太太，却被老太太训斥。这是为什么呢？

A

Old Mrs.Smith thought it was her privacy how old she was.
因为史密斯太太认为年龄属于个人隐私。

点睛一笔

old的意思是“年老的，高龄的”。询问某人身体如何时用“How are you？”询问某人年龄时用“How old are you？”所以“how old Mrs.Smith was”有两种理解：①史密斯老太太身体怎么样（old为形容词作Mrs.Smith的定语）；②史密斯太太有多大年纪（old做be动词的表语）。在西方国家，年龄属于个人隐私，尤其是女士，当然不希望被别人问到啦！