The end of a dream

原文

Tired of sleeping on the floor, a young man in Teheran saved up for years to buy a real bed. For the first time in his life, he became the proud owner of a bed which had springs and a mattress.

Because the weather was very hot, he carried the bed on to the roof of his house. He slept very well for the first two nights, but on the third night, a storm blew up. A gust of wind swept the bed off the roof and sent it crashing into the courtyard below.

The young man did not wake up until the bed had struck the ground. Although the bed was smashed to pieces, the man was miraculously unhurt.

When he woke up, he was still on the mattress. Glancing at the bits of wood and metal that lay around him, the man sadly picked up the mattress and carried it into his house. After he had put it on the floor, he promptly went to sleep again.

译文

厌倦了睡在地板上,德黑兰的一个年轻人积蓄了多年才买到一张真正的床。他生平第一次成为一张有弹簧和床垫的床的主人。

由于天气很热,他把床搬到房顶上。头两天他睡得很好,但第三天晚上,一场风暴突然来临。一阵大风把床从屋顶上吹下来,摔到下面的院子里。

那个年轻人直到床撞到地上才醒来。尽管床被摔得粉碎,那人却奇迹般地没有受伤。

当他醒来时,他还在床垫上。望着散落在周围的木头和金属碎片,那人伤心地捡起床垫,搬进屋里。放好后,他马上又睡着了。

词汇表

tired

形容词
英:/ˈtaɪəd/
美:/ˈtaɪrd/
定义
1. 疲倦的 - Feeling in need of rest or sleep, often due to exertion.

例子: After working all day, he felt tired and went to bed early.

例子: The young man was tired of sleeping on the floor for years.

2. 厌倦的 - Bored or fed up with something.

例子: She grew tired of the same routine every day.

例子: Tired of the heat, he decided to move the bed.

近义词
exhausted: 强调完全耗尽精力,常用于身体上,比 'tired' 更强烈。
weary: 带有情感上的疲惫感,常用于长期的心理或身体疲劳,比 'tired' 更诗意。
fatigued: 更正式,常用于医疗或科学语境,强调生理原因导致的疲劳。
反义词:
energetic, refreshed, vigorous
用法
常用于描述身体或精神上的疲劳,常见搭配如 'tired of something' 表示厌倦,适用于日常口语和书面语。
形式:
比较级: more tired, 最高级: most tired

关键句型 "Until [clause]"

定义

此句型用于表示某事直到某个时间或条件发生才发生,结构通常为:Until + 从句([clause]),主句描述后续动作。举例来说,在文章中 "The young man did not wake up until the bed had struck the ground",Until 引导一个时间从句,强调主句动作的延迟。根据《剑桥英语语法》教材,这种句型常用于表达等待或延后的情景,帮助描述过去事件的顺序。

它是一种常见的连接词句型,适合表达因果或时间关系,让句子更连贯。

用法

"Until [clause]" 主要用于时间状语从句,表示一个动作持续到另一个动作发生为止。在语法体系中,它属于从句结构的一部分,与其他时间状语如 "before"、"after" 相关,常用于叙述故事或描述事件序列。

使用场景包括日常生活叙述、故事讲述或正式写作。例如,在文章中,它解释了年轻人直到床落地才醒来,突出事件的戏剧性。规则:主句通常用过去时或完成时,Until 从句可以是简单过去时或过去完成时。横向比较:与 "Before [clause]" 相比,Until 强调持续性(如等待),而 "Before" 强调提前;与 "As soon as [clause]" 相比,Until 表示延后,而 "As soon as" 表示立即。跨语法联系:它常与过去完成时结合(如文章中的例子),帮助学生理解时态的层次关系,例如与简单过去时的区别,能让句子更精确地表达时间线。

在实际应用中,这个句型可以扩展到条件句或未来计划中,比如 "I won't leave until you arrive",建立起与情态动词或未来时的联系。

注意事项

学生容易犯的错误包括:忽略主句和从句的时态一致性,例如说 "I didn't eat until I eat dinner"(错误,应为 "until I had eaten" 如果需要强调先后);或将 UntilTill 混淆,虽然二者相似,但 Till 更口语化。纠正建议:练习时注意时态搭配,并使用时间线图来可视化事件顺序。具体例句:

错误示例:He didn't finish his work until the meeting starts.  (错误,因为从句应使用更合适的时态)
正确示例:He didn't finish his work until the meeting had started.

另一个常见偏误是过度使用,导致句子冗长;建议在写作中适度结合其他连接词以保持平衡。

练习

一个原创例子:假设你在等待朋友,可以说 "I won't start the movie until my friend arrives." 学生可以替换 [clause] 为其他场景,如 "until the rain stops",变成 "I won't go out until the rain stops." 这能帮助学生应用到日常生活中,比如计划旅行或工作。

通过替换关键词,学生可以创建自己的故事,例如 "She didn't speak until the teacher called her name.",这不仅加深了对句型的掌握,还鼓励在口语对话中自然使用。

额外内容

背景知识:"Until" 一词源自古英语,历史悠久,常用于英语叙事文学中,如经典小说里描述事件转折。对比分析:与中文的 "直到…才…" 类似,英语的 "Until" 通过结构体现时间顺序,而中文更多依赖词汇;在法语中,类似结构是 "jusqu'à ce que",但英语版本更简洁易学。了解这个句型能丰富学生的叙述技巧,并为学习更复杂的从句(如时间从句的各种类型)奠定基础。