📘 新概念英语第二册 / Lesson 7 · Too Late

Lesson 7: Too Late

📖 关键句型：过去进行时 (Past Continuous)  |  📝 第 7 课 / 共 96 课

📜 课文 · Text

Too late

The plane was late and detectives were waiting at the airport all morning. They were expecting a valuable parcel of diamonds from South Africa. A few hours earlier, someone had told the police that thieves would try to steal the diamonds. When the plane arrived, some of the detectives were waiting inside the main building while others were waiting on the airfield. Two men took the parcel off the plane and carried it into the Customs House. While two detectives were keeping guard at the door, two others opened the parcel. To their surprise, the precious parcel was full of stones and sand!

太迟了

飞机晚点了，侦探们在机场等了整整一上午。他们正期待从南非来的一个装着钻石的贵重包裹。几小时前，有人告诉警方说小偷会设法偷走这些钻石。当飞机到达时，一些侦探在主楼里等着，而另一些则停在停机坪上。两个人把包裹从飞机上拿下来，搬进了海关大楼。当两个侦探在门口警戒时，另外两个打开了包裹。令他们吃惊的是，那个珍贵的包裹里装满了石头和沙子！

📝 词汇 · Vocabulary

detective/dɪˈtektɪv/n. 侦探
airport/ˈeəpɔːt/n. 机场
expect/ɪkˈspekt/v. 期待，等待
valuable/ˈvæljuəbəl/adj. 贵重的
parcel/ˈpɑːsəl/n. 包裹
diamond/ˈdaɪəmənd/n. 钻石
steal/stiːl/v. 偷 (stole, stolen)
thief/θiːf/n. 小偷 (pl. thieves)
guard/ɡɑːd/n. 警戒，守卫
precious/ˈpreʃəs/adj. 珍贵的
stone/stəʊn/n. 石头
sand/sænd/n. 沙子

🔑 关键句型：过去进行时 (Past Continuous)

结构

主语 + was/were + 现在分词 (doing)

✅ The detectives were waiting at the airport.
✅ Two detectives were keeping guard at the door.
❌ They were not expecting the parcel yet.
❓ Were they expecting a parcel?

用法 1：过去某一时刻正在进行的动作

课文中的例子——侦探们在机场一直在等：

💡 中文对比：
"侦探们等了" → 一般过去时（只说做了这件事）
"侦探们一直在等" → 过去进行时（强调在那个时间段内持续进行）

用法 2：过去进行时 + 一般过去时（打断）

一个长动作（进行时）被一个短动作（一般过去时）打断：

核心对比

时态用法课文例子
过去进行时背景动作（长）detectives were waiting
一般过去时主要事件（短）the plane arrived
一般过去时事件叙述Two men took the parcel…
过去完成时更早发生someone had told the police

while + 过去进行时

while 常连接两个同时进行的过去动作：

✏️ 练习

练习 1：用过去进行时或一般过去时填空
  1. I _______________ (watch) TV when the phone _______________ (ring).
  2. She _______________ (cook) dinner while her husband _______________ (read) the newspaper.
  3. They _______________ (play) football at 3 o'clock yesterday afternoon.
  4. When I _______________ (arrive), they _______________ (have) lunch.
  5. He _______________ (walk) home when it _______________ (start) to rain.
答案：
1. was watching … rang（看电视是背景，电话响是打断）
2. was cooking … was reading（两个同时持续的动作）
3. were playing（昨天下午3点那个时刻正在做的事）
4. arrived … were having（到达时他们正在吃饭）
5. was walking … started（走路时开始下雨）
练习 2：用 when 或 while 填空
  1. _______ I was walking home, I met an old friend.
  2. She was reading a book _______ the doorbell rang.
  3. _______ he was driving to work, he saw an accident.
  4. They were playing cards _______ a lamp fell down.
  5. _______ I opened the door, the cat ran out.
答案：
1. While（走路是持续背景，遇到是打断）
2. when（门铃响是突然打断）
3. While（开车是持续背景）
4. when（灯掉下来是突然事件）
5. When（动作先后顺序，没有持续背景）
练习 3：中译英
  1. 我正在吃早餐时，电话响了。
  2. 侦探们那天早上一直在机场等。
  3. 他正在看书，这时有人敲门。
  4. 令他们吃惊的是，盒子里装满了石头。
  5. 我在做饭的时候，我女儿在做作业。
参考答案：
1. I was having breakfast when the phone rang.
2. The detectives were waiting at the airport that morning.
3. He was reading a book when someone knocked at the door.
4. To their surprise, the box was full of stones.
5. While I was cooking, my daughter was doing her homework.

🔍 特殊难点

1. when vs while

whenwhile
后跟的时态一般过去时 / 过去进行时过去进行时 / 一般过去时（较少）
强调时间点（突然发生）时间段（持续中）
例子I was reading when he arrived.I was reading while he was cooking.

2. to one's surprise = 令某人吃惊的是

3. take … off = 从…取下 / 脱掉 / 起飞

4. be full of = 充满，装满了

🔗 固定搭配 · Useful Collocations

wait at the airport在机场等候
all morning整个上午
expect a valuable parcel期待一个贵重包裹
a few hours earlier几小时前
try to steal试图偷窃
take sth off the plane从飞机上取下某物
carry into the Customs House搬进海关大楼
keep guard警戒，守卫
to one's surprise令某人吃惊的是
be full of充满，装满了

🎤 口语练习

用英文回答（注意过去进行时！）
  1. What were you doing at 8 o'clock yesterday evening?
  2. What were you doing when I asked this question? 😄
  3. Were you watching TV when your phone last rang?
  4. What was the weather doing when you woke up this morning?

📌 本课要点回顾

📖 继续下一课 Lesson 8: The Best and the Worst（形容词比较级与最高级）
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