2.3过去完成时的三种用法
现在完成时表示一个开始于现在之前(即过去)并且现在仍持续或刚刚结束的动作。同理类推,过去完成时也可以用来表示在过去某一时刻之前(即过去的过去)就已开始的动作,这一动作1)在该过去时刻仍然在继续,或在该过
去时刻刚刚结束;2)在该过去时刻之前的某一时刻结束;3)在该过去时刻之前的一段时间内重复。
[例句] A:It’s already 10 o’clock. I guess Bob and Amy won’t be coming to the party.
B:They called at nine to say that they’d been held up.
[解析] 这里called是过去发生的动作,而 held up显然是在called之前发生的, 表示“过去的过去”,故用过去完成时。
[译文] A:现在都已经1O点钟了,我猜想Bob和Amy可能不来参加聚会了。
B:他们9点钟打来电话说他们有事被耽搁了。
[例句] I had just poured myself a cup of tea when the phone rang. When I came back from answering it,the cup was empty. Somebody had drunk the tea or thrown it away.
[解析] 这里 rang是过去时间,而 poured在rang之前刚刚发生,即“过去的过去”,故用过去完成时。同理, drunk和 thrown都是发生在过去动作came之前的一系列更远过去的动作,故也用过去完成时态。
[译文] 我刚刚给自己倒了杯茶,这时候电话铃响了。而等我接完了电话回来,发现杯子已经是空的了,一定是有人把茶喝了或是倒掉了。
真题再现
[例句] Between 1897 and 1919, at least 29 motion pictures had been produced in which artificial beings were portrayed.(1995年语法)
[译文] 在1987~1919年期间,制作的电影里至少有29部描写了人工智能。
[例句] She felt suitably humble just as she had when he had first taken a good look at her,hair waved and golden,nails red and pointed. (2001年语法)
[译文] 她举止谦逊、得体,就像他当初见到她时她所表规的那样:金黄色的卷发,尖尖的红指甲。
[例句] I apologize if I had offended you,but I assure you it was unintentional. (1998年语法)
[译文] 如果我当时冒犯你了,那我很抱歉,不过我可以向你保证,我完全是无意的。
2.4将来完成时
在考研英语中,将来完成时常与by引导的时间状语连用。介词by后面接一个将来时间状语或by the time后接一个从句(从句谓语用一般现在时表示将来),对应的句子则用将来完成时。
[例句] By the year 2000,scientists probably will be discovered a cure for cancer. (1991年语法)
[译文] 将来到了2000年的时候,科学家们可能已经能够治愈癌症了。
[例句] By the time you arrive in London, we will have stayed in Europe for two weeks. (1994年语法)
[译文] 等他到伦敦时,我们将已经在伦敦待了两个星期了。
2.5完成进行时
完成进行时与完成时态密切相关,完成进行时更强调延续性。比如上述5.1.2中讨论的现在完成时态用法(二),其谓语动词一般是短暂动词,不表示延续,故而不能与表示持续时间的状语连用。但是短暂动词的完成进行时(如 have been going),就可以与表示一段时间的状语连用,表示不断重复的活动。
真题再现
[例句] Americans have been migrating south and west in larger number
since World War Ⅱ,and the pattern still prevails. (1998年阅读第四篇)
[解析] 这里migrate是一个短暂动词,用现在完成进行时表示重复活动。这里就不能说have migrated...since World War Ⅱ。
[译文] 二战以来,美国人口一直在向南部和西部大量流动。这个趋势现在仍然在继续。
[例句] Koreans have been marrying US soldiers stationed here since the 1950s. The peak years were during the l970s, when more than 4,000 Koreans married US soldiers each year.
[解析] 这里marry是一个短暂动词,用现在完成进行时表示重复活动,即“不断有人many”。因此不能说 have married...since the 1950s。
[译文] 20世纪50年代以来,就不断有韩国人与当地的美国驻军成婚,20世纪70年代达到了高峰,每年有4,000多韩国人嫁给美国大兵。
[例句] In recent years, railroads have been combining with each other,merging into super systems, causing heightened concerns about monopoly. (2003年阅读第三篇)
[解析] 这里combine是一个短暂动词,用现在完成进行时表示重复活动。
[译文] 近些年来,铁路公司相互合并,成为超大型集团,这引起人们对垄断的日益关注。
同上述讨论的短暂动词用于现在完成进行时态表示重复活动一样,短暂动词用于过去完成进行时也表示重复。我们来看下列这段短文。
真题再现
[例文] Science,in practice,depends far less on the experiments it prepares than on the preparedness of the minds of the men who watch the experiments. Sir Isaac Newton stupidly discovered gravity through the fall of an apple. Apples had been falling
in many places for centuries and thousands of people had seen them fall. But Newton for years yard been curious about the cause of the orbital motion of the moon and planets. What kept them in place? Why didn’t they fall out of the sky? The fact that the apple fell down toward the earth and not up into the tree answered the question he had been asking himself about those larger fruits of the heavens, the moon and the planets.(1999年阅读第五篇)
[解析] 这里动词fall和ask是短暂动词,用完成进行时表示重复活动。使用过去完成进行时而不是现在完成进行时,是因为这里谈的是在牛顿之前的情况,而不是说一直重复到现在。
[译文] 在实践中,科学与其说依赖于事先准备的实验,不如说更多地依赖于实验观察者有所准备的头脑。比如,据传,艾萨克·牛顿爵士通过苹果坠落发现了地球引力。多少个世纪以来苹果一直在许多地方落到地面,成千上万人看到苹果落地。但牛顿多年以来一直对月球和行星沿轨道运行的原因特别好奇。什么使它们处于固定的位置?它们为什么不从天上掉下来?苹果坠落到地面而不是向上落入树中,这一事实解答了他一直在思考的有关天体——那些巨大水果——即月球及行星的问题。
[例句] The school board listened quietly as John read the demands that his followers had been demonstrating for. (1993年语法)
[译文] 约翰和他的拥护者们一直通过抗议游行向校方提出各种要求,当约翰宣读这些要求时,校董们在默默地听。
2.6情态动词
英文中的情态动词用法复杂而奇妙,在这里就不详细讨论了,只借助考研真题来简单介绍。
真题再现
[例句] My pain must have been apparent the moment I walked into the room, for the first man I met asked sympathetically:
“Are you feeling all right?”(1996年语法)
[译文] 当时我走进房间那一刻,痛苦一定表现得非常明显,因为我见到的第一个人就很关心地问道:“你感觉不舒服了?”
[例句] From the tears in Nerd’s eyes we can deduce that something sad must have occurred.(1993年语法)
[译文] 从Nerd眼中的泪水我们就能推断他一定是遇到伤心事了。
[例句] As it turned out to be a small house party, we needn’t have dressed up so formally. (1998年语法)
[译文] 后来发现这只不过是一个小型的家庭聚会,因此我们本大可不必穿得那么正式。