1. I'd prefer them not to play too loudly at the beginning. 我更愿他们开始时不要演奏得太响。

　　prefer意为"宁愿;更喜欢"。需要记住它的几种习惯用法:①prefer A to B意为"宁愿A而不愿B",其中to是介词,后面须接名词、代词或V-ing形式;②prefer to do...rather than (to) do...意为"宁愿做……而不愿做……"。 ③prefer sb. (not) to do sth. 意为"宁愿某人(不)去做某事";④prefer that one (should) do sth.后接从句,从句中的谓语常由"should + 动词原形"构成,should可以省略。例如:

　　She prefers staying at school to going back home. 她宁愿呆在学校而不愿回家。

　　They preferred the matter to be discussed at the next meeting. 他们希望在下次会议上讨论这个问题。

　　I prefer to stay at home rather than go shopping in my spare time. 在业余时间里我宁愿呆在家里而不愿去购物。

　　Would you prefer that I come on Monday instead of on Tuesday? 你是否更愿意我星期一来,而不是星期二来?

　　2. They usually write exact instructions how the music is to be played. 他们通常还要为如何演奏他们的音乐写出精确的说明。

　　"be + 不定式"结构常用来表示:①按计划、安排将要发生的事情;②要求或命令。意为"某事必须如何做",这时be to相当于情态动词ought to或should;③不可避免地将要发生的事或命中注定的事。例如:

　　We are to begin the work next month. 我们安排下个月开始这项工作。

　　A new TV tower is to be built by the side of the lake. 在湖边将要建一座新电视塔。

　　"You are to finish all your homework before you leave school," said the teacher. 老师说:"你必须做完作业才可以离开学校。"

　　They said goodbye, not knowing that they were never to meet again. 他们道别了,但是他们不知道他们将永别了。

　　3. She understood what I was talking about, even though it was the first time we had spoken together. 她明白我在谈论什么,虽然我们只是第一次谈话。

　　句型"It is the first/second/third...time + that从句"和"It was the first/second/third...time + that从句"表示"某人第一次/第二次/第三次……干某事"。使用时要注意主从句的时态呼应,即如果主句用现在式(is),that从句常用现在完成式;若主句用过去式(was),则从句常用过去完成式。例如:

　　-Do you know our town at all?"你到底了解不了解我们镇的情况?"

　　-No, this is the first time that I have been here. "不了解, 这是我第一次来这里。"

　　I was very lucky because it was the third time that I had visited China. 我非常幸运,因为那是我第三次来中国访问。

　　另外,句型"It's (high/about) time+that+从句"表示"是某人该做某事的时候了",从句中用一般过去时(be的过去时用were)或should + 动词原形。例如:

　　I think it's time you went to bed, and it's time we left. 我想你该睡觉了,我们也该走了。

　　4. Although Lucie married Charles, Sydney promised her that he would always do anything he could for her to make sure of her happiness. 虽然露西嫁给了查尔斯,但是悉尼还是向她许下了诺言,说为了确保她生活幸福,他愿意永远为她做一切可能做的事。

　　表示"尽力做某事"除了do one's best/make every effort to do something以外,常用的句型还有:do all (that) one can/do what (ever) one can/do everything (that) one can to do sth.,其中can后面省略了动词do,后接不定式作目的状语,使用时要加以注意。例如:

　　We have done all we could to save the little bird. 我们已经尽全力挽救那只小鸟了。

　　These wild flowers are so special that I would do whatever I can to save them. 这些野花很特别,我要尽最大努力来挽救它们。

　　5. On reading it, he found that a servant of the family in France had been put in prison, through no fault of his own. 看了信他得知,在法国的家中一个仆人无辜地被关进了监狱。

　　on 可以与带有动词性意义的名词或动名词连用,表示时间,意为"在……的时候"、"一……就",相当于as soon as引导的时间状语从句。例如:

　　On his arrival at the airport, he was arrested by the police. 他一到达机场就被警察逮捕了。

　　On their return from abroad they started their research work at once. 他们刚从国外回来就开始投入到研究工作中。

　　On hearing the news, they jumped with joy. 一听到这个好消息,他们就高兴地跳了起来。

　　另外,the moment, the minute, the instant, immediately, directly, instantly, no sooner...than...,hardly/scarcely...when...等都可表示"一……就……"。例如:

　　I recognized him the moment / immediately he appeared in the street. 他在街上一露面我就认出他来了。

　　No sooner had she reached the school gate than the bell rang. 她刚到学校门口铃就响了。

　　6. When the people in the court heard this, there was no doubt in their minds that the St. Evermonde family had done much wrong. 法庭上的人听到这件事后,他们的脑子里无疑都认为埃弗雷蒙家族实在罪孽深重。

　　同位语从句可以用在某些固定句型中,如:There is some doubt whether...(对于某事是否……持有疑问);There is no doubt that...(毫无疑问……);There is no possibility that ...(没有……的可能性);Word came that..."有消息说(其中word意为"消息",为不可数名词)"等。例如:

　　There is no doubt that your life is in danger. 你的生命有危险这是毫无疑问的。

　　Word came that he was the only one of the students who had won a scholarship for 3 years. 有消息说他是唯一一个获得三年奖学金的学生。

　　7. "It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known." "我所做的,是我所做过的最好、最最好的事情;我所得到的,是我知道的最安详、最最安详的休息。"

　　far和by far可以修饰形容词、副词的比较级,表示程度,意为"……得多"。例如:

　　She has made far greater progress this term than she did last term. 这学期她取得的进步比上学期大得多。

　　His explanation is clearer by far than mine. 他的解释比我的清楚多了。

　　by far也可修饰最高级, 意为"最"。例如:

　　The last novel of his is by far the best he has written. 他写的最后一部小说是他自写作以来写得最好的。

　　比较级前一般不能用very, so, too, quite, little, more 等词修饰,但可根据具体情况,选用下列词语修饰: ①much, a lot, a good deal, far等,表示"比……得多"; ② even, still, yet 等,表示"更加"、"甚至";③any用于一般疑问句,表示"一点,一些";not any 用于否定句中,表示"并不";④a bit, a little, somewhat, slightly, rather 等常用于肯定句中,表示程度,可译为"一点,一些"。例如:

　　The experiment was much easier than we had expected. 实验比我们预计的要容易得多。

　　-Are you feeling any better today?"今天你感觉好点了吗?"

　　-No. I'm feeling even worse."没有,我甚至觉得更厉害了。"

　　(文/王庆光；《 英语通》高二版 03~04学年度第5期；版权归英语辅导报社所有，独家网络合作伙伴新浪教育，未经许可，不得以任何形式进行转载。)