The death of a ghost

原文

For years, villagers believed that Endley Farm was hunted. The farm was owned by two brothers, Joe and Bob Cox. They employed a few farmhands, but no one was willing to work there long. Every time a worker gave up his job, he told the same story. Farm labourers said that they always woke up to find that work had been done overnight. Hay had been cut and cowsheds had been cleaned. A farm worker, who stayed up all night claimed to have seen a figure cutting corn in the moonlight. In time, it became an accepted fact the Cox brothers employed a conscientious ghost that did most of their work for them.

No one suspected that there might be someone else on the farm who had never been seen. This was indeed the case. A short time ago, villagers were astonished to learn that the ghost of Endley had died. Everyone went to the funeral, for the 'ghost' was none other than Eric Cox, a third brother who was supposed to have died as a young man. After the funeral, Joe and Bob revealed a secret which they had kept for over fifty years.

Eric had been the eldest son of the family, very much older than his two brothers. He had been obliged to join the army during the Second World War. As he hated army life, he decided to desert his regiment. When he learnt that he would be sent abroad, he returned to the farm and his father hid him until the end of the war. Fearing the authorities, Eric remained in hiding after the war as well. His father told everybody that Eric had been killed in action. The only other people who knew the secret were Joe and Bob. They did not even tell their wives. When their father died, they thought it their duty to keep Eric in hiding. All these years, Eric had lived as a recluse. He used to sleep during the day and work at night, quite unaware of the fact that he had become the ghost of Endley. When he died, however, his brothers found it impossible to keep the secret any longer.

译文

多年来，村民们一直相信恩德利农场闹鬼。农场由乔和鲍勃·考克斯两兄弟拥有。他们雇了几个农场工人，但没有人愿意在那里干长。每次一个工人辞职时，他都讲同一个故事。农场工人说，他们总是醒来发现夜间有人干了活。干草已被割掉，牛棚已被打扫干净。一个整夜未睡的农场工人声称在月光下看见一个身影在割谷物。渐渐地，人们公认考克斯兄弟雇了一个尽职的鬼魂，为他们做了大部分工作。

没有人怀疑农场里可能还有一个从未露面的人。这的确是事实。不久前，村民们惊奇地得知恩德利的“鬼魂”已经死了。大家都去参加了葬礼，因为这个“鬼魂”不是别人，正是埃里克·考克斯，三兄弟中的老三，据说他在青年时代就死了。葬礼之后，乔和鲍勃透露了一个他们保守了五十多年的秘密。

埃里克是家里的长子，比他的两个兄弟大很多。在第二次世界大战期间，他被迫参军。由于他痛恨军旅生活，他决定开小差。当他得知将被派往国外时，他逃回了农场，他的父亲把他藏起来直到战争结束。战后，由于害怕当局，埃里克继续藏匿。他的父亲告诉大家埃里克已阵亡。知道这个秘密的只有乔和鲍勃。他们甚至没有告诉他们的妻子。当他们的父亲去世后，他们认为有责任继续把埃里克藏起来。这些年来，埃里克一直过着隐居的生活。他常常白天睡觉，晚上干活，完全不知道自己已成为恩德利的“鬼魂”。然而，当他死后，他的兄弟们发现再也无法保守这个秘密了。

词汇表

haunted

形容词

英:/ˈhɔːntɪd/

美:/ˈhɔːntɪd/

定义

1. 闹鬼的；幽灵出没的 - Frequented or inhabited by ghosts or spirits.

例子: The old house was haunted, and no one dared to live there.

例子: People avoided the haunted farm after hearing the stories.

2. 萦绕心头的；困扰的 - Preoccupied or troubled by persistent thoughts or memories.

例子: He was haunted by memories of the war.

例子: The accident left her haunted for years.

近义词

ghostly: 强调更神秘或超自然的氛围，与 'haunted' 类似，但更侧重于鬼魂般的样子。

eerie: 暗示一种诡异或不舒服的感觉，'haunted' 更具体地涉及鬼魂，而 'eerie' 更泛指氛围。

spooky: 更口语化，常用于非正式语境，'haunted' 更正式地描述实际的鬼魂存在。

反义词:

peaceful, serene, untroubled

用法

常用于描述被鬼魂或回忆困扰的地方或人，常见于故事或超自然语境中，如 'a haunted house'，在正式和非正式场合均可使用。

形式:

过去分词: haunted, 副词形式: hauntingly

关键句型 "used to + verb"

定义

这个句型用于描述过去经常发生的习惯或状态，但现在已经不再存在。结构是：used to（过去常常）+ verb（动词原形）。根据《剑桥英语语法手册》，它表示过去的一种重复性行为或情况，与现在形成对比，帮助表达时间的改变。例如，文章中的 "He used to sleep during the day and work at night" 展示了过去的习惯。

这个句型简单易学，适合描述个人经历或历史事件。

用法

"used to + verb" 主要用于叙述过去的生活方式、习惯或事实，常出现在故事、回忆或历史描述中。规则是：主语 + used to + 动词原形，不需要时态变化。它的位置在语法体系中属于表示过去习惯的表达，与一般过去时（simple past）相关，但更强调习惯性的重复。

横向比较：与一般过去时（如 "He slept during the day"）相比，used to 专门突出过去的习惯性，而非一次性事件；与现在习惯的表达（如 "I usually + verb"）相比，它强调变化（过去有，现在没有）。跨语法联系：它可以与过去完成时结合，如 "He had used to live alone"，帮助学生理解时间线的复杂性。另外，与 "would + verb" 类似（如 "He would sleep during the day"），二者都表示过去习惯，但 used to 更适合状态或事实，而 would 常用于动作。

在实际场景中，如分享童年回忆时，你可以说 "I used to play outside every day"，这能建立与听众的共鸣。

注意事项

学生常犯的错误包括将 used to 误用为 use to（在疑问句或否定句中正确为 "Did you use to...?" 或 "I didn’t use to..."），导致语法不准。另一个常见偏误是混淆与一般过去时的区别，例如说 "I used to went to school" 而非 "I used to go to school"，因为 used to 后必须是动词原形。纠正建议：练习时注意否定和疑问形式，并用例句比较正确与错误。

例如：

错误示例：He used to sleeps late.  （错误：动词应为原形）
正确示例：He used to sleep late, but now he wakes up early.

记住，used to 不用于未来或现在习惯，以免混淆时态。

练习

一个原创例子：假设你在讲述自己的过去生活，你可以说："I used to ride my bike to school every morning, but now I take the bus." 学生可以替换关键词，比如把 "ride my bike" 换成 "play football" 或 "eat breakfast late"，并想象一个新场景，如 "She used to live in a big city, but now she prefers the countryside."

通过这种替换练习，学生能将句型应用到个人故事中，加深记忆和实际使用。

额外内容

背景知识："used to" 起源于中古英语，强调过去与现在的对比，在英语文学中常用于人物描述，如狄更斯的作品。文化背景上，它反映了英语中对时间变化的敏感，对比其他语言如中文的 "过去常常..."，英语通过语法结构（如助动词）更精确地表达。学习这个句型能帮助学生在叙述中增加深度，例如在对比分析中，与法语的 "je faisais" 类似，但英语更直接无须变位。

总之，这个句型能让你的英语故事更生动，鼓励学生多练习以提升表达力。

关键句型 "[subject] had been [past participle]"

定义

这个句型是过去完成时的被动语态形式，用于表示在过去某个时间点之前发生的动作或状态，并强调动作的承受者。结构为：subject（主语）+ had been（had是助动词，been是be的过去分词）+ [past participle]（过去分词）。如文章中的 "work had been done overnight"，根据《牛津现代英语语法》，它描述了过去的动作已完成，并与另一个过去事件相关联，突出被动关系。

这个句型常用于叙述历史或故事，强调事件的影响。

用法

此句型主要用于描述过去事件的顺序和被动关系，常在故事、报告或历史叙述中出现。规则：主语是动作的承受者，had been 表示时间在过去完成时，使用过去分词。在语法体系中，它结合了过去完成时（表示时间顺序）和被动语态（强调动作对象）。

横向比较：与主动语态的过去完成时（如 "Someone had done the work"）相比，这个句型不强调执行者，而是焦点在结果；与一般过去时的被动语态（如 "The work was done"）相比，它添加了更早的过去时间线，帮助连接多个事件。跨语法联系：它可与条件句结合，如 "If the work had been done earlier, things would have been different"，或与其他时态对比，如现在完成时的被动语态 "has been done"，以突出时间差异。

在实际场景中，如讲述历史事件，你可以说 "The letter had been sent before the meeting started"，这能清晰表达事件顺序。

注意事项

学生易犯错误包括忽略助动词had，导致说成 "The work been done"，或混淆与现在完成时的被动语态（如用 "has been done" 表示过去事件）。另一个偏误是错误使用过去分词形式，例如 "The work had been do" 而非 "done"。纠正建议：多练习时态转换，并用时间状语如 "by then" 或 "before that" 来强化语境。

例如：

错误示例：The farm had been clean overnight.  （错误：缺少过去分词的正确形式）
正确示例：The farm had been cleaned overnight, so everything looked neat.

注意，避免过度使用以免句子复杂化。

练习

一个原创例子：想象一个侦探故事，你可以说："By the time the police arrived, the evidence had been hidden by the thief." 学生可以替换关键词，比如把 "hidden" 换成 "destroyed" 或 "moved"，并扩展场景，如 "The documents had been stolen before the alarm went off."

这种练习能帮助学生在叙事中自然应用句型，提升故事讲述能力。

额外内容

背景知识：这个句型源于英语中被动语态的演变，常见于19世纪文学，如狄更斯的小说，用于创建悬念。对比分析，与西班牙语的类似结构（如 "había sido hecho"）相比，英语更依赖助动词系统；与中文的被动表达（如 "被...了"）不同，英语强调时间顺序。学习它能丰富学生在阅读历史或 mystery 故事时的理解，并为高级写作铺路。