十三个等于一个 · 学习笔记
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."
我们教区的牧师总是为了各种事情筹款，但一直没能筹够钱把教堂的大钟修好。那座大钟以前不分白天黑夜每小时都敲响报时，可惜很多年前坏了，从那以后就再也没响过。
然而有一天夜里，牧师突然惊醒——大钟居然又在报时了！他看了一眼手表，才一点钟，可那钟一直敲了十三下才停。牧师拿上手电筒，爬上钟楼想看看究竟怎么回事。在手电光下，他看见一个人，立刻认出那是本地杂货店的老板比尔·威尔金斯。
"比尔，你在这儿干什么呢？"牧师吃惊地问。
"我想把钟修好，"比尔回答。"我已经连续好几个星期每晚都上来了。你知道，我是想给你一个惊喜。"
"你确实让我大吃一惊！"牧师说，"不过恐怕你把全村人也一起吵醒了。但不管怎样，钟又能响了，我还是挺高兴的。"
"问题就在这儿，牧师，"比尔说。"钟倒是能正常工作了，可问题是，每到一点钟它就会敲十三下，这个我也没办法。"
"大家慢慢会习惯的，比尔，"牧师说。"十三下虽然不如一下好，但总比不响强。来吧，咱们下楼喝杯茶。"
课文中 Armed with a torch, the vicar went up... 中的 Armed with... 是过去分词短语作伴随状语，表示"带着……"。类似结构：Looking at his watch, he saw... 中的 Looking at... 是现在分词短语作时间状语。
to have the church clock repaired 表示"请人修教堂的钟"。这是一种重要的使役结构：have something done 表示"让某事被（别人）做"，宾语和补语之间是被动关系。
例：I had my hair cut.（我理发了。）We need to have the car repaired.（我们需要把车修一下。）
课文中 which used to strike the hours 表示"过去常常敲钟报时"。used to do 表示过去经常做但现已停止的习惯或状态。
注意对比：get used to doing（课文中 We'll get used to that）表示"习惯于做某事"。
has been silent ever since — 现在完成时，表示从过去某个时间点持续到现在的状态。
I've been coming up here night after night for weeks now. — 现在完成进行时，强调动作反复发生且可能持续。
课文中 You certainly did give me a surprise! 中的 did 是强调助动词，用于肯定句中对谓语动词进行强调，表示"确实"、"的确"。
例：I do believe you.（我确实相信你。）She did finish the work.（她确实完成了工作。）
点击题目显示答案，再次点击收起。
答案： Our vicar is always raising money for one cause or another.
答案： He has never managed to get enough money to have the church clock repaired.
答案： The big clock used to strike the hours day and night.
答案： The clock was damaged many years ago and has been silent ever since.
答案： One night, the vicar woke up with a start.
答案： Looking at his watch, he saw that it was one o'clock.
答案： The bell struck thirteen times before it stopped.
答案： Armed with a torch, he went up into the clock tower to see what was going on.
答案： In the torchlight, he caught sight of a figure.
答案： He immediately recognized the figure as Bill Wilkins, the local grocer.
答案： "Whatever are you doing up here Bill?" asked the vicar in surprise.
答案： I've been coming up here night after night for weeks now.
答案： I was hoping to give you a surprise.
答案： You certainly did give me a surprise!
答案： Still, I'm glad the bell is working again.
答案： I'm afraid that at one o'clock it will strike thirteen times.
答案： There's nothing I can do about it.
答案： We'll get used to that.
答案： Thirteen is not as good as one, but it's better than nothing.
答案： Let's go downstairs and have a cup of tea.
运用本课学到的词汇和表达完成下列句子。点击题目查看参考译文。
参考： She is always raising money for one charity or another.
参考： He finally managed to finish his homework on time.
参考： You will soon get used to the life here.
参考： That old clock has been damaged for many years.
参考： He caught sight of a familiar figure in the crowd.
参考： I immediately recognized my old classmate.
参考： She looked at me in surprise and said nothing.
参考： He studied night after night for weeks.
参考： Armed with an umbrella, I went out of the door.
参考： This answer is not perfect, but it's better than nothing.
参考： He managed to get to the station in the heavy rain.
参考： I was hoping to call you, but my phone ran out of power.
参考： The clock downstairs strikes five o'clock every afternoon.
参考： The child practices the piano night after night.
参考： Can you tell me what was going on?
参考： The noise woke me up with a start.
参考： He has got used to getting up at six every morning.
参考： There's nothing we can do about it.
参考： Armed with a notebook, she walked into the meeting room.
参考： One person's strength is not much, but it's better than doing nothing.