A lost ship

原文

The salvage operation had been a complete failure. The small ship, Elkor, which had been searching the Barents Sea for weeks, was on its way home. A radio message from the mainland had been received by the ship's captain instructing him to give up the search. The captain knew that another attempt would be made later, for the sunken ship he was trying to find had been carrying a precious cargo of gold bullion.

Despite the message, the captain of the Elkor decided to try once more. The sea bed was scoured with powerful nets and there was tremendous excitement on board went a chest was raised from the bottom. Though the crew were at first under the impression that the lost ship had been found, the contents of the chest proved them wrong. What they had in fact found was a ship which had been sunk many years before.

The chest contained the personal belongings of a seaman, Alan Fielding. There were books, clothing and photographs, together with letters which the seaman had once received from his wife. The captain of the Elkor ordered his men to salvage as much as possible from the wreck. Nothing of value was found, but the numerous items which were brought to the surface proved to be of great interest. From a heavy gun that was raised, the captain realized that the ship must have been a cruiser. In another chest, which contained the belongings of a ship's officer, there was an unfinished letter which had been written on March 14th, 1943. The captain learnt from the letter that the name of the lost ship was the Karen. The most valuable find of all was the ship's log book, parts of which it was still possible to read. From this the captain was able to piece together all the information that had come to light. The Karen had been sailing in a convoy to Russia when she was torpedoed by an enemy submarine. This was later confirmed by naval official at the Ministry of Defiance after the Elkor had returned home. All the items that were found were sent to the War Museum.

译文

这次打捞作业完全失败了。那艘名叫Elkor的小船已经在巴伦支海搜寻了几个星期，现在正返航途中。船长收到了来自内陆的无线电消息，指示他放弃搜索。船长知道以后还会再作尝试，因为那艘沉船当时载有贵重的金条货物。

尽管收到了消息，Elkor号的船长还是决定再试一次。他们用强力网扫荡海床，当从海底捞起一个箱子时，船上充满了巨大的兴奋。虽然船员们起初以为找到了失踪的船，但箱子里的东西证明他们错了。他们实际上发现的是一艘多年前就沉没的船。

那个箱子里面是水手Alan Fielding的个人物品。有书籍、衣服、照片，以及水手从妻子那里收到的信件。Elkor号的船长命令他的手下从沉船上打捞尽可能多的东西。没有发现有价值的东西，但是那些被带到水面的众多物品却引起了极大的兴趣。从捞起的一门重炮来看，船长意识到那艘船一定是一艘巡洋舰。在另一个箱子里，装着一位船上军官的物品，还有一封写于1943年3月14日的未完成信件。船长从信中得知那艘失踪船的名字叫Karen。最有价值的发现是船的航海日志，其中部分内容还可以阅读。从中，船长能够把所有浮出水面的信息拼凑起来。Karen当时正在护航队中前往俄罗斯时，被敌方潜艇用鱼雷击中。这一点后来在Elkor返航后，由国防部的海军官员证实。所有发现的物品都被送往战争博物馆。

词汇表

salvage

名词, 动词

英:/ˈsælvɪdʒ/

美:/ˈsælvɪdʒ/

定义

1. 打捞；拯救 - The act of rescuing a ship or its cargo from loss at sea.

例子: The team attempted to salvage the sunken treasure.

例子: Salvage operations can be dangerous in stormy weather.

2. 抢救；回收 - To save or rescue something from damage or loss.

例子: They managed to salvage some items from the fire.

例子: Efforts to salvage the project failed due to lack of funds.

近义词

rescue: 更侧重于从危险中拯救生命或财产，而 salvage 常用于财产或船只的回收。

recover: 强调找回丢失的东西，salvage 则更具体地涉及从破坏中拯救。

retrieve: 常用于数据或信息恢复，salvage 更适用于物理物品或海难场景。

反义词:

abandon, lose, destroy

用法

常用于海事或紧急情况下，搭配如 'salvage operation' 或 'salvage from the wreck'，在正式语境中出现。

形式:

复数: salvages, 过去式: salvaged, 现在分词: salvaging

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

定义

此句型是一种相对从句结构，用于描述过去某个时间点之前已经完成的动作，常以 which had been 加上过去分词形式出现。根据《剑桥英语语法》教材，这种句型结合了相对代词 which 和过去完成时被动语态，表达过去事件的背景或原因。例如，在文章中，"a ship which had been sunk many years before" 表示一艘船在很久以前已经被沉没。它帮助连接主句和从句，提供更多细节，结构为：which + had been + [past participle]。

此句型在叙述历史事件时特别有用，让句子更连贯。

用法

此句型主要用于描述过去完成的事件，常出现在叙述性文章或故事中，强调某个动作在另一个过去动作之前发生。规则：在主句中用 which 引导从句，had been 表示被动且已完成的状态，[past participle] 是动词的过去分词形式。

在语法体系中，它属于相对从句的范畴，与其他从句（如时间状语从句）相关。横向比较：与简单过去时（如 "which was sunk"）相比，此句型强调了事件的先后顺序，更精确地显示时间关系；与现在完成时被动语态（如 "which has been sunk"）相比，它专注于过去完成的动作，不涉及现在影响。跨语法点联系：它常与过去完成时主动语态（如 "which had sunk"）结合，帮助学生理解主动与被动的区别，从而扩展到更复杂的叙述结构。

例如，在历史或新闻报道中，此句型能让描述更生动，如 "the book which had been written by the author"。

注意事项

学生容易犯的错误包括：误用时态，如将 had been 换成 was，导致时间关系模糊（错误示例："a ship which was sunk many years before"，这暗示事件可能还在持续）；或忽略被动语态，使用主动形式（如 "which had sunk it"，但这不准确）。纠正建议：多练习识别过去完成时的被动结构，并注意上下文的时间线。提供具体例句：

错误示例：The old house which was destroyed in the war had many stories.（这可能暗示房子还在被破坏）
正确示例：The old house which had been destroyed in the war had many stories.（清楚表示破坏发生在更早的过去）

另一个常见问题是用错相对代词，如用 that 代替 which，尽管在非正式英语中可行，但 which 更适合非人称事物。

练习

一个原创例子：假设你在讲述一个冒险故事，可以说："The treasure chest which had been buried for centuries was finally discovered by explorers." 学生可以替换 [past participle]，如用 "hidden" 或 "lost"，并改变上下文，例如："The ancient artifact which had been stolen from the museum was returned safely." 这能帮助学生在类似历史或探险场景中应用句型，增强实际表达能力。

通过替换关键词，学生能加深对句型的掌握，并尝试用在自己的写作中。

额外内容

背景知识：这种句型源于英语中对过去事件的复杂描述，常见于19世纪小说，如狄更斯的作品，用于构建叙事深度。对比分析：与汉语类似，这种结构像 "被...的" 短语（如 "被沉没的船"），但英语更强调时态变化。在法语中，类似结构如 "qui avait été coulé"，也使用过去完成时被动，突显了印欧语言的共同特点。通过了解这些，学生能更好地欣赏英语在历史叙述中的表达力，并扩展到其他时态的学习，如未来完成时。

关键句型 "The [subject] had been [verb]ing"

定义

此句型是过去完成进行时的结构，用于表示在过去某个时间点之前的一个持续动作或状态，形式为 The + [subject] + had been + [verb]ing。根据《牛津英语语法》指南，它强调动作的持续性和在过去某一时刻的完成情况。例如，文章中的 "The small ship, Elkor, which had been searching the Barents Sea for weeks" 表明搜索动作在过去某个时间前一直在进行。它结合了过去完成时和进行时，突出事件的背景。

此句型适合描述长期过程或未完成事件，提供时间深度。

用法

此句型常用于故事开头或背景描述，强调一个动作在过去另一个动作之前持续发生。规则：主语后跟 had been 和动词的现在分词形式 [verb]ing，常与时间状语如 for weeks 搭配。

在语法体系中，它属于时态的交叉点，与过去完成时（had + past participle）相关，但添加 been [verb]ing 强调持续性。横向比较：与简单过去进行时（如 "The ship was searching"）相比，此句型突出动作在过去更早时期的延续；与过去完成时（如 "The ship had searched"）相比，它更注重过程而非结果。跨语法点联系：它可与条件句结合，如 "If the ship had been searching longer, they might have found it"，帮助学生链接到虚拟语气或假设情景。

例如，在个人叙述中，用法如 "I had been waiting for hours when the bus finally arrived"。

注意事项

学生常犯的错误是混淆时态，例如用 was [verb]ing 代替 had been [verb]ing，导致时间关系不清（错误示例："The ship was searching for weeks before it stopped"，这不强调在过去另一个事件前的持续）。纠正建议：注意使用 had been 来明确先后顺序，并练习与时间词的搭配。另一个问题是遗漏进行时形式，如说 The ship had searched，这改变了含义。提供例句：

错误示例：The team had working on the project when the deadline came.（语法错误，应为 had been working）
正确示例：The team had been working on the project when the deadline came.（表示持续工作直到截止时间）

还需注意主语的一致性和动词的正确变形。

练习

原创例子：在讲述个人经历时，可以说："By the time I arrived, my friends had been waiting for over an hour." 学生可替换 [subject] 和 [verb]ing]，如 "The students had been studying all night before the exam"，并应用到不同场景，例如日记写作："I had been traveling through Europe when I received the news." 这鼓励学生用句型描述自己的过去经历，增强记忆。

替换练习能让学生灵活运用，体会持续动作的表达。

额外内容

背景知识：过去完成进行时起源于19世纪英语发展，用于更精确的时间表达，在文学如侦探小说中常见。对比分析：与西班牙语的类似结构（如 "había estado buscando"）相比，英语版本更简洁，不需性别变化。在中文中，这种概念常通过 "已经一直在..." 表达，但英语的时态系统提供更结构化的方式。通过学习此句型，学生能更好地处理复杂叙述，提升阅读和写作技能。