新概念英语第三册课文及详解第2课

Lesson 2 Thirteen equals one 十三等于一

Our vicar is always raising money for one cause or another, but he has never managed to get enough money to have the church clock repaired. The big clock which used to strike the hours day and night was damaged many years ago and has been silent ever since.

One night, however, our vicar woke up with a start: the clock was striking the hours! Looking at his watch, he saw that it was one o'clock, but the bell struck thirteen times before it stopped. Armed with a torch, the vicar went up into the clock tower to see what was going on. In the torchlight, he caught sight of a figure whom he immediately recognized as Bill Wilkins, our local grocer.

'Whatever are you doing up here Bill ?' asked the vicar in surprise.

' I'm trying to repair the bell,' answered Bill.' I've been coming up here night after night for weeks now. You see, I was hoping to give you a surprise.'

'You certainly did give me a surprise!' said the vicar. 'You've probably woken up everyone in the village as well. Still, I'm glad the bell is working again.'

'That's the trouble, vicar,' answered Bill. 'It's working all right, but I'm afraid that at one o'clock it will strike thirteen times and there's nothing I can do about it.'

'We'll get used to that, Bill,' said the vicar. 'Thirteen is not as good as one, but it's better than nothing. Now let's go downstairs and have a cup of tea.'

Language points

Attention: The points here are not covered by the mp3. It is better for you to listen to the mp3 first and try to take notes on your own.

1, Our vicar is always raising money for one cause or another, but he has never managed to get enough money to have the church clock repaired.

现在进行时和always 等频度副词的搭配--表示说话人带有的情感色彩

Tom is always doing homework.

He is always making noises.

one or another 表示某种、这样或那样

get enough money 筹集足够的资金来做某事

have sth. done 找某人来做某事

e.g. have the plane repaired 修飞机

have hair cut 剪头发

tip: 在翻译中，不一定要把"找人"这两个字翻译出来，但是读者可以据常理推断这件事不是句中的主语做出的。

让我们来下下面这两句话：

His wallet was stolen.

He had his wallet stolen.

某人所遭受到的意外某种情况-----主语必须是发出动作的人

2, The big clock which used to strike the hours day and night was damaged many years ago and has been silent ever since.

used to:过去常常做，而现在不再发生的事情了

e.g. He used to smoke every day.

3, One night, however, our vicar woke up with a start.

however 用于口语，主要用于句首；用于作文中时，最好用在句中、句尾，要用逗号分隔开来

e.g. I know his story, however, I wouldn't like to tell you.

I know his story, I, however, wouldn't like to tell you.

however 可用nevertheless, nonetheless 替换

start: 惊跳、惊奇

Eg: The voice made him start. 那声音吓了他一跳。

What a start you give me.你真吓了我一跳

4, The bell struck thirteen times before it stopped.

before ...才

e.g. Nearly a week past before he could explain what had happen to him.

文中的例句，我们也可以这么表达：

The bell did not stop until it struck thirteen times.

It was not until the thirteenth stroke that the bell stopped.

tip: 体会用不同的搭配表达同种意思, not... until...\It was not until...that... 知道...才...

5, Looking at his watch, he saw that it was one o'clock.

Armed with a torch, the vicar went up into the clock tower to see what was going on.

分词做状语时，一定要注意它和逻辑主语要呼应一致。

第一个句子中，动作look和主语he之间是主动关系，因而用了现在分词。

第二个句子中，动作arm和主语the vicar之间是被动关系，所以用了过去分词。我们可以将状语还原成句子：The vicar was armed with a torch then he went up into the clock tower.