A spot of bother

原文

The old lady was glad to be back at the block of flats where she lived. Her shopping had tired her and her basket ad grown heavier with every step of the way home. In the life her thoughts were on lunch and a good rest; but when she got out at her own floor, both were forgotten in her sudden discovery that her front door was open. She was thinking that she must reprimand her home help the next morning for such a monstrous piece of negligence, when she remembered that she had gone shopping after the home help had left and she knew that she had turned both keys in their locks, She walked slowly into the hall and at once noticed that all the room doors were open, yet following her regular practice she had shut them before going out. Looking into the drawing room, she saw a scene of confusion over by her writing desk. It was as clear as daylight then that burglars had forced an entry during her absence. Her first impulse was to go round all the rooms looking for the thieves, but then she decided that at her age it might be more prudent to have someone with her, so she went to fetch the porter from his basement. By this time her legs were beginning to tremble, so she sat down and accepted a cup of very strong tea, while he telephoned the police. Then, her composure regained, she was ready to set off with the porter's assistance to search for nay intruders who might still be lurking in her flat.

They went through the rooms, being careful to touch nothing, as they did not want to hinder the police in their search for fingerprints. The chaos was inconceivable. She had lived in the flat for thirty years and was a veritable magpie at hoarding; and it seemed as though everything she possessed had been tossed out and turned over and over. At least sorting out the things she should have discarded years ago was now being made easier for her. Then a police inspector arrived with a constable and she told them of her discovery of the ransacked flat. The inspector began to look for fingerprints, while the constable checked that the front door locks had not been forced, thereby proving that the burglars had either used skeleton keys or entered over the balcony. There was no trace of fingerprints, but the inspector found a dirty red bundle that contained jewellery which the old lady said was not hers. So their entry into this flat was apparently not the burglars' first job that day and they must have been disturbed. The inspector then asked the old lady to try to check what was missing by the next day and advised her not to stay alone in the flat for a few nights. The old lady though the was a fussy creature, but since the porter agreed with him, she rang up her daughter and asked for her help in what she described as a little spot of bother.

译文

那位老妇人很高兴回到她住的那座公寓大楼。她的购物使她感到疲倦，而且她的篮子在回家的每一步都变得越来越重。在电梯里，她的思想都集中在午餐和好好休息上；可是，当她到达自己的楼层时，这两件事都因她突然发现前门开着而被忘掉了。她本想第二天早上责备她的家庭帮手犯下这样骇人听闻的疏忽，但接着她记起自己是在家庭帮手离开后出去购物的，而且她知道自己已经转动了门锁上的两把钥匙。她慢慢地走进门厅，立刻注意到所有的房间门都开着，然而按照她的习惯，她在出门前是关上了它们的。望进客厅，她看到写字台附近一片混乱。这时候，一切都清清楚楚：窃贼在她外出期间破门而入。她的第一 impulse 是到所有的房间里去搜寻窃贼，但随后她认为，以她的年龄，有个人陪着或许更谨慎些，因此她去地下室叫门房。这时，她的双腿开始发抖，于是她坐下来，接受了一杯很浓的茶，同时他打电话给警察。然后，她恢复了镇静，准备在门房的帮助下出发，去搜寻任何可能还潜伏在她公寓里的入侵者。

他们检查了各个房间，小心不碰任何东西，因为他们不想妨碍警察搜寻指纹。混乱的情景难以想象。她在那套公寓里住了三十年，而且是个地道的收藏迷；看起来，似乎她所有的东西都给翻了出来，反复翻动过。至少，现在给她丢掉那些多年前就该扔掉的东西提供了方便。这时，一位巡官带着一名警员赶到了，她把这套被洗劫一空的公寓的发现告诉了他们。巡官开始搜寻指纹，而警员检查前门锁是否被撬开，从而证明窃贼要么用了万能钥匙，要么是从阳台爬进来的。没有发现指纹的痕迹，但是巡官找到一个脏兮兮的红布包，里面装着珠宝，那位老妇人说这些珠宝不是她的。因此，他们闯入这套公寓显然不是当天的第一宗盗窃案，而且他们一定是被惊动了。巡官于是请那位老妇人设法在次日检查一下丢失了什么东西，并劝她今后几个晚上不要单独待在公寓里。老妇人虽认为他是个爱管闲事的人，但既然门房也同意他的意见，她就打电话给女儿，请她帮忙，形容这是一件小小的麻烦事。

词汇表

glad

形容词

英:/ɡlæd/

美:/ɡlæd/

定义

1. 高兴的；愉快的 - Feeling pleasure or happiness.

例子: She was glad to see her family after a long trip.

例子: I'm glad you could join us for dinner.

2. 乐意的；情愿的 - Willing or eager to do something.

例子: He was glad to help with the chores.

例子: The teacher was glad to answer the students' questions.

近义词

happy: 强调整体的快乐情绪，而 'glad' 更侧重于特定事件带来的满意。

pleased: 更正式，常用于对某事满意，而 'glad' 更口语化，表达积极的情感。

delighted: 更强烈，传达更深层的喜悦，比 'glad' 更热情。

反义词:

sad, unhappy, disappointed

用法

常用于表达对某事或某人的积极情感，常见于日常对话中，如 'glad to meet you'，但在正式语境中可能显得较为随意。

形式:

比较级: gladder, 最高级: gladdest, 副词形式: gladly

深入解析：关键句型 "She was thinking that she must reprimand... when she remembered..."

定义

这个句型是一种结合过去进行时和时间从句的结构，用于描述过去发生的一个动作被另一个突然事件打断。基本结构为：主句（过去进行时） + when + 从句（过去简单时或过去完成时）。例如，在文章中，“She was thinking that she must reprimand her home help... when she remembered...” 表示一种正在进行的想法被另一个回忆所中断。这种句型在权威教材如《新概念英语》或《剑桥英语语法》中被定义为时间状语从句的典型用法，强调事件的先后关系和转折。

用法

此句型常用于叙述故事或描述过去事件的动态过程，特别是在小说或叙述性文章中。规则是：主句使用过去进行时（was/were + verb-ing）来表示一个持续的动作，然后用 when 引导一个从句，表示一个突然插入的事件。从句通常用过去简单时或过去完成时，以突出时间的精确性。在语法体系中，它与时间状语从句（如 after, before, while）相关联，帮助学生理解过去事件的逻辑顺序。例如，它可以链接到叙述性写作中，连接到其他时间状语如 "after" 或 "before"，从而建立更复杂的句子结构。跨语法点联系：这个句型涉及过去时态的结合（如过去进行时与过去完成时），有助于学生从简单过去时过渡到更高级的叙述技巧，在英语故事讲述中非常实用。

注意事项

学生易犯的错误包括：混淆主句和从句的时态，例如用过去简单时代替过去进行时（如说 "She thought that... when she remembered..."，这会失去持续性的含义）；或者遗漏 when 而直接连接句子，导致句子不清晰。另一个常见偏误是时态不一致，如在从句中使用现在时。纠正建议：学生应练习区分过去进行时和过去简单时的用法，通过反复朗读文章中的例子。同时，注意在写作中保持句子平衡，避免从句过长而使主句显得次要。还需警惕文化语境，因为英语中这种句型常用于 suspenseful 叙述，如果不恰当使用，可能让故事缺乏张力。

练习

一个额外的例子："I was walking to the store when I saw an old friend." 在这个句子中，学生可以尝试替换动词和情境，例如 "He was reading a book when the phone rang." 通过这个练习，学生能应用句型来描述自己的经历，增强对时间关系的理解。

额外内容

背景知识：这个句型源于英语叙述文学的传统，如狄更斯的作品中常见，用于创建戏剧性效果。对比分析：与中文的叙述不同，英语更强调时态的精确（如 "was thinking" 而非简单描述），这有助于培养学生的时态敏感度。补充信息：在现代英语中，这种结构常用于电影脚本或新闻报道中，学生可以通过观看英语视频练习识别和使用，丰富他们的语言表达能力。

深入解析：关键句型 "It was as clear as daylight that burglars had forced an entry..."

定义

这个句型是一种强调句型，使用比喻表达来突出某事物的明显性，结构为：It was as [adjective] as [noun] that [clause]。在文章中，“It was as clear as daylight that...” 表示某事非常明显，就如白昼般清晰。它在权威教材如《牛津英语语法》中被定义为比较结构与强调句的结合，用于加强描述的生动性，核心含义是强调事实的确定性。

用法

此句型常用于正式或文学性描述中，来表达推论或显而易见的结论。规则是：使用 as... as 结构来比较两个事物，其中 [adjective] 如 "clear"，[noun] 如 "daylight" 是一个习语，然后跟一个 that 从句解释内容。在语法体系中，它链接到比较级和强调句型，帮助学生从基本形容词比较过渡到高级表达。例如，它与其他强调句如 "It is obvious that..." 相关，构建更丰富的句子。跨语法点联系：这个句型涉及形容词的比较形式和从句使用（如 that 从句），可以与条件句结合使用，增强语言的说服力和描述性。

注意事项

学生易犯的错误包括：错误使用比较结构，如说 "It was clear as daylight that..." 而省略第二个 "as"，导致语法错误；或者曲解习语含义，将 "as clear as daylight" 误用为字面意思。另一个偏误是过度使用这种句型，使写作显得夸张。纠正建议：学生应记忆常见习语列表，并通过练习句子来确保 as... as 的完整性。同时，在口语中注意语调，以强调比较的力度，避免在学术写作中滥用，以免显得不正式。

练习

一个额外的例子："It was as easy as pie that she had solved the problem." 学生可以尝试修改为自己的情境，如 "It was as hot as fire that the argument escalated." 通过这个练习，学生能学会替换形容词和名词，应用到日常对话中。

额外内容

背景知识："As clear as daylight" 是一个源自英语习语的表达，起源于古代照明工具的比喻。对比分析：与其他语言如中文的比喻（如 "一目了然"）类似，但英语版本更注重结构化，这有助于学生理解文化差异。补充信息：掌握此句型后，学生可以扩展到其他习语如 "as busy as a bee"，从而提高语言的生动性和表达多样性。