Success story

原文

Yesterday afternoon Frank Hawkins was telling me about his experiences as a young man.

Before he retired, Frank was the head of a very large business company, but as a boy he used to work in a small shop. It was his job to repair bicycles and at that time he used to work fourteen hours a day.

He saved money for years and in 1958 he bought a small workshop of his own. In his twenties Frank used to make spare parts for aeroplanes. At that time he had two helpers. In a few years the small workshop had become a large factory which employed seven hundred and twenty-eight people.

Frank smiled when he remembered his hard early years and the long road to success. He was still smiling when the door opened and his wife came in. She wanted him to repair their grandson's bicycle!

译文

昨天下午弗兰克·霍金斯正在给我讲述他年轻时的经历。

在他退休之前,弗兰克是一家非常大的商业公司的负责人,但是当他还是个男孩时,他曾经在一家小店里工作。他的工作是修理自行车,那时他每天工作十四小时。

他存了多年的钱,并在1958年买了一个属于自己的小作坊。在他二十多岁的时候,弗兰克曾经为飞机制造备件。那时他有两个助手。几年后,这个小作坊变成了一个雇用七百二十八个人的大工厂。

当弗兰克回想起他艰辛的早年和通往成功的漫长道路时,他笑了。当门打开,他的妻子走进来时,他还在笑。她要他修理他们孙子的自行车!

词汇表

retired

形容词, 动词
英:/rɪˈtaɪəd/
美:/rɪˈtaɪrd/
定义
1. 退休的 - No longer working in one's job, especially after reaching a certain age.

例子: After 40 years in teaching, he finally retired.

例子: Many retired people enjoy traveling around the world.

2. 退役的 - To withdraw from a position or activity.

例子: The athlete retired from professional sports due to injury.

例子: She retired from the company after a long career.

近义词
resigned: 强调主动辞职,常用于工作或职位,而 'retired' 更侧重于年龄或服务年限结束。
withdrawn: 更泛指从社会或活动中退出,语气较为正式,且不一定涉及职业。
pensioned: 特指获得养老金后退休,侧重经济方面,与 'retired' 的全面含义相比更具体。
反义词:
employed, active, working
用法
常用于描述职业生涯结束的语境,常见搭配如 'retired from'(从...退休),在正式和非正式场合均适用,文化背景中常与养老金或休闲生活相关。
形式:
复数: N/A (形容词), 过去式: retired (动词), 其他形式: retiring (现在分词)

关键句型 "used to + verb"

定义

此句型用于描述过去经常发生的习惯、状态或行为,但现在已经不再存在。结构为:used to(过去常常)+ verb(动词原形)。根据《剑桥英语语法》教材,这种句型主要表达过去与现在的对比,强调一种曾经的常规性,而非一次性事件。它类似于过去时的表达,但更侧重于习惯性动作。

例如,在文章中:“he used to work in a small shop”,这里 used to 表示过去的一种习惯性工作状态。现在,这种句型是英语中常见的时间表达方式,帮助学习者描述个人经历或历史变化。

用法

此句型常用于叙述个人过去的生活经历、童年回忆或历史事实,特别是在自传式故事中。规则:主语 + used to + 动词原形,通常用于肯定句、否定句和疑问句(例如,"Did you used to live here?")。在语法体系中,它属于表示过去习惯的结构,与过去进行时(was/were + verb-ing)或过去简单时(verb-ed)相关联。

横向比较:与过去简单时(如 "worked")相比,used to + verb 更强调重复性或习惯性,而非具体时间点;与现在习惯的表达(如 "usually + verb")相比,它突出过去与现在的变化。例如,与 would + verb(用于描述过去习惯,但更适合重复动作)不同,used to 可以用于状态(如 "I used to be shy"),而 would 更常用于动作(如 "I would play football every day")。这种横向联系帮助学生理解英语中时间表达的细微差别,构建更全面的时态知识框架。

在实际应用中,此句型常出现在故事、回忆录或访谈中,链接到其他语法点如时间状语(例如,"In his twenties, he used to make spare parts"),让学生看到其在叙述中的位置。

注意事项

学生容易犯的错误包括:将 used touse to 混淆,尤其在疑问句或否定句中(如错误地说 "I use to go" 而非 "I used to go");或者误用为进行时(如 "I used to working",应为 "I used to work")。纠正建议:记住 used to 后直接跟动词原形,并练习否定形式("didn't use to")和疑问形式("Did you use to...?")。

另一个常见偏误是将其与 be used to + noun/gerund 混淆,后者表示习惯于某事(如 "I am used to living in the city",意思是已经适应)。提供具体例句:

错误示例:He use to work long hours every day. (应为 He used to work...)
正确示例:He used to work fourteen hours a day, but now he doesn't.

通过比较这些例子,学生可以避免将过去习惯与当前适应混淆。

练习

一个原创的贴近实际场景的例子:在分享个人故事时,你可以说:"When I was a child, I used to play soccer every weekend." 学生可以替换关键词,如将 "play soccer" 换成 "read books" 或 "ride a bike",并扩展到不同语境,例如在工作面试中说:"I used to work in a small shop before I started my own business."

这种替换练习鼓励学生应用句型到日常生活回忆中,增强记忆并提高表达自信。通过修改动词和添加时间状语,学生能更好地掌握如何构建完整句子。

额外内容

背景知识:used to + verb 起源于古英语,演变自表示习惯的表达方式,在现代英语中常用于文学和口头叙述中,反映了英语对过去与现在的对比关注。对比分析:与中文的 "过去常常..." 类似,但英语通过 used to 的固定结构更精确地传达变化感。而在法语中,类似结构是 "j'avais l'habitude de + verb",这需要动词变位,相比之下,英语的 used to 更简单易学。

了解此句型还能帮助学生探索英语中其他表示过去习惯的表达,如 would,从而丰富他们的叙述技巧。