Yesterday afternoon Frank Hawkins was telling me about his experiences as a young man. Before he retired, Frank was the head of a very large business company, but as a boy he used to work in a small shop. It was his job to repair bicycles and at that time he used to work fourteen hours a day. He saved money for years and in 1958 he bought a small workshop of his own. In his twenties Frank used to make spare parts for aeroplanes. At that time he had two helpers. In a few years the small workshop had become a large factory which employed seven hundred and twenty-eight people. Frank smiled when he remembered his hard early years and the long road to success. He was still smiling when the door opened and his wife came in. She wanted him to repair their grandson's bicycle!

　　参考译文

　　昨天下午弗兰克.霍金斯向我讲述了他年轻时的经历。在退休前，弗兰克是一家非常大的商业公司的经理，但他小时候却在一家小铺里做工。他那时的工作是修理自行车，并且通常是一天工作14个小时。他靠多年积蓄，于1958年买下了自己的一个小铺子。20多岁的时候，弗兰克曾生产飞机零配件。那时他有两个帮手。几年之后，小铺子已经发展成了一个雇有728人的大工厂。弗兰克回想着他早年的艰难经历和走过的漫长的成功之路，微笑了。他正笑着的时候门开了，他的妻子走了进来。她叫他去修理孙子的自行车。

　　语法归纳：形式主语

　　一句话总结：在英语表达中，为了避免头重脚轻、保持句子的整体平衡。我们常用形式主语it来代替真正的主语。例：

　　1) To recite the important passage is necessary for English learns.

　　背诵重要的篇章对于英语学习者来说是必要的。

　　to recite the important passage,似乎在句子中所占比重太大，使句子头重脚轻，因此改为：

　　It is necessary for English learners to recite the important passage.

　　2) To talk with you is very funny.和你谈读很有意思

　　to talk with you是主语,但在句子中所占比重太大，使句子头重脚轻，因此改为：

　　It is very funny to talk with you.

　　3) It took me ten minutes to persuade her to ring back later. (Lesson 54)

　　说服她过一会儿再给我打过来花了我十分钟。

（编辑：何莹莹）