02_Thirteen_Equals_One
02 Thirteen Equals One¶
Our vicar is always raising money for one cause or another, but he has never managed to get enough money to have the church clock repaired. The big clock (which used to strike the hours day and night) was damaged many years ago and has been silent ever since.
One night, however, our vicar woke up with a start: the clock was striking the hours! Looking at his watch, he saw that it was one o'clock, but the bell struck thirteen times before it stopped. Armed with a torch, the vicar went up into the clock tower to see what was going on. In the torchlight, he caught sight of a figure whom he immediately recognized as Bill Wilkins, our local grocer.
'Whatever are you doing up here Bill?' asked the vicar in surprise.
'I'm trying to repair the bell, ' answered Bill.'I've been coming up here night after night for weeks now.You see, I was hoping to give you a surprise.'
'You certainly did give me a surprise!' said the vicar. 'You've probably woken up everyone in the village as well. Still, I'm glad the bell is working again.'
'That's the trouble, vicar, 'answered Bill. 'It's working all right, but I'm afraid that at one o'clock it will strike thirteen times and there's nothing I can do about it.'
'We'll get used to that, Bill, 'said the vicar. 'Thirteen is not as good as one, but it's better than nothing. Now let's go downstairs and have a cup of tea.'
Words¶
- vicar /ˈvɪkɚ/ 牧师
- raising /ˈrezɪŋ/ money /ˈmʌni/ 筹钱
- Armed /ɑrmd/ with /wɪð/ a /ə/ torch /tɔrtʃ/ 手电筒
- caught /kɑt/ sight /saɪt/ of /ʌv/ a /ə/ figure /ˈfɪɡjɚ/ 人影
- grocer /ˈɡrosɚ/ 杂货商
Expressions¶
- be equal to sth. 胜任
- for one cause or another 因为诸多原因
- wake up with a start 惊醒
- catch sight of sb./sth. 瞥见
- get enough money to do sth. 有足够的钱做某事
- sb. be armed with sth. 某人装备某物
- recognize A as B 认出 A 是 B
- give sb. a surprise 给某人一个惊喜
- What’s going on? 发生什么事了？
- I’m glad that + 句子 我很高兴……
- get used to sth. 习惯
- be always doing sth. be+doing: 与always连⽤时，表示频率过⾼，令说话者⼼烦，⽣厌(⾮绝地)。常⽤肯定。
whatever¶
ever here is not necessary in the sentence but is added to emphasize the speaker's surprise/astonishment/anger/irritation/dismay. It has the same meaning as on earth/in the world.
do/does/did 表强调¶
肯定句表强调: 确实(v.换原型)
was/were doing 表礼貌¶
I was hoping to give you a surprise.
过去时态，⽤于现在/将来，更加有礼貌
We can use the past continuous to make sentences and requests seem more polite. This is because they sound less de nite, more temporary and more gentle.