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

关键句型 "She was thinking that [clause]"

定义

此句型用于表达某人正在思考某事，通常涉及过去进行时加宾语从句。结构为：主语 + was/were thinking + that + 从句。根据《剑桥英语语法》教材，这种句型强调内在想法或心理活动，that 引导一个宾语从句，表示具体内容。举例来说，在文章中，"She was thinking that she must reprimand her home help" 展示了人物的内心独白。

它是一种常见的叙述性表达，帮助故事生动描绘人物心理，非常适合描述性写作或对话。

用法

此句型主要用于叙述过去事件时表达持续的思考过程，常出现在小说、故事或个人叙述中。规则：使用过去进行时 (was thinking) 来表示当时正在进行的想法，that 从句提供细节。语法体系中，它属于复杂句结构，与其他从句（如时间状语从句）相关联。

横向比较：与简单句如 "She thought that..." 相比，此句型 (was thinking) 强调动作的持续性，更生动地显示心理过程；与 "She considered that..." 相比，它更口语化，更适合故事讲述。同时，它与条件句或虚拟语气有联系，例如可以扩展到 "She was thinking that if she had known, she would have acted differently"，从而连接到假设情景。

在实际应用中，此句型常用于日记、回忆或心理描写，帮助学生构建更丰富的叙述。

注意事项

学生容易犯的错误包括：遗漏 that，导致句子不完整（如 "She was thinking she must reprimand"，这可能被误解为并列结构）；或误用时态，如用现在进行时 "She is thinking that" 在过去语境中，显得不连贯。纠正建议：总是检查主句时态的一致性，并练习添加 that 以强化从句的独立性。

另一个常见偏误是让从句过于复杂，造成句子冗长。提供具体例句：

错误示例：She was thinking she must reprimand her help, but forgot the keys.  (缺少 that，句子结构模糊)
正确示例：She was thinking that she must reprimand her home help, but then remembered the truth.

通过反复练习，可以避免这些问题。

练习

一个原创例子：想象一个日常生活场景，比如 "He was thinking that he should call his friend after work." 学生可以替换 [clause] 为自己的想法，例如 "He was thinking that he should buy groceries before dinner." 这可以应用到个人日记中，如写 "I was thinking that I must finish my homework early."

鼓励学生改变主语或从句内容，比如用 "They were thinking that the meeting would be delayed"，并在口头练习中朗读，以加深对时态和从句的掌握。这有助于在实际对话或写作中自然使用。

额外内容

背景知识：这种句型源于英语中对心理描写的传统，在19世纪小说如狄更斯的作品中常见，用于增强叙事深度。对比分析：与中文的 "她在想她必须..." 类似，英语通过 that 从句明确结构，而中文更依赖词汇连接。同时，与法语的 "Elle pensait que..." 相比，英语的过去进行时添加了时间动态感，使表达更生动。

学习此句型能帮助学生更好地理解故事中的人物动机，并扩展到更高级的写作技巧，如结合其他从句创建复杂叙述。

关键句型 "It was as clear as daylight that [clause]"

定义

此句型用于强调某事非常明显或易懂，结构为：It was as clear as daylight + that + 从句。根据《牛津现代英语用法》教材，这是一个习惯用语，as clear as daylight 比喻像白昼一样清晰，引导一个 that 从句来陈述事实或结论。在文章中，如 "It was as clear as daylight then that burglars had forced an entry"，它突出发现的确定性。

此句型常用于正式或文学性描述，帮助强化强调。

用法

此句型主要在叙述或解释中表达显而易见的事实时使用，规则：It was 作为形式主语，as clear as daylight 为形容词短语，that 从句提供具体内容。在语法体系中，它属于强调句型，与其他比喻表达（如 "It is obvious that"）相关联。

横向比较：与 "It was obvious that..." 相比，此句型更生动，使用比喻增强形象性；与 "Clearly, that..." 相比，它更正式，适合书面语。跨语法联系：它可以与过去时态结合，扩展到条件句，如 "It would be as clear as daylight that if you checked, you would find the truth"，从而与虚拟语气连接。

在实际场景中，此句型适用于报告、故事或辩论，帮助学生在写作中添加修辞效果。

注意事项

学生常犯错误是过度使用比喻，导致语言夸张或不自然（如在日常对话中反复用）；或忽略 that，使句子结构松散（如 "It was as clear as daylight burglars had entered"）。纠正建议：只在需要强调时使用，并确保 that 从句完整。提供例句：

错误示例：It was as clear as daylight the door was open.  (缺少 that，句子不完整)
正确示例：It was as clear as daylight that the door was open, so she acted quickly.

另一个问题是文化语境误解，因为 "as clear as daylight" 是英语习语，学生可能不熟悉其含义。

练习

一个原创例子：在一个侦探故事中说 "It was as clear as daylight that the suspect had left clues." 学生可以替换 [clause] 为 "It was as clear as daylight that my friend had forgotten the keys."，并在角色扮演中练习，如模拟调查场景："It was as clear as daylight that someone had been here."

通过替换关键词，学生能将此句型应用到各种情境，如学校生活或新闻报道中，加深记忆。

额外内容

背景知识："As clear as daylight" 源自英语的比喻传统，起源于17世纪的文学，强调视觉清晰度。对比分析：与西班牙语的 "tan claro como el agua"（像水一样清）类似，但英语版本更常见于犯罪或发现主题的叙事中。与中文的 "一清二楚" 相比，英语句型通过结构化表达提供更精确的语法练习。

这能丰富学生的表达力，并鼓励他们在写作中探索更多习语。