Everything except the weather

　　唯独没有考虑到天气

　　My old friend, Harrison, had lived in the Mediterranean for many years before he returned to England. He had often dreamed of retiring in England and had planned to settle down in the country. He had no sooner returned than he bought a house and went to live there. Almost immediately he began to complain about the weather, for even though it was still summer, it rained continually and it was often bitterly cold. After so many years of sunshine, Harrison got a shock. He acted as if he had never lived in England before. In the end, it was more than he could bear. He had hardly had time to settle down when he sold the house and left the country. The dream he had had for so many years ended there. Harrison had thought of everything except the weather.

　　参考译文

　　我的老朋友哈里森在回到英国以前曾多年居住在地中海地区。过去他常幻想退休后到英国，并计划在乡间安顿下来。他刚一回到英国便买下了一幢房子住了进去。但紧接着他就开始抱怨那里的天气了。因为即使那时仍为夏季，但雨总是下个不停，而且常常冷得厉害。在阳光下生活了那么多年的哈里森对此感到惊奇。他的举动就好像他从未在英国生活过一样。最后，他再也忍受不住，还没等安顿下来就卖掉了房子，离开了这个国家。他多年来的幻想从此破灭。哈里森把每件事情都考虑到了，唯独没想到天气。

　　精讲笔记：

　　1. My old friend, Harrison, had lived in the Mediterranean for many years before he returned to England.

　　我的老朋友哈里森在回到英国之前曾多年居住在地中海地区。

　　语言点1 Harrison为my old friend的同位语。

　　语言点2 had lived in...意为“过去在……居住”;对于live的总结学习：

　　两个重要谚语：

　　Live and learn.活到老，学到老。

　　The rich live while the poor die.适者生存。

　　2) 一个重要短语：

　　live by...意为“靠……维生”

　　He lives by stealing.他靠偷窃生存。

　　语言点3 return = come back / give back 返回;归还

　　2. He had often dreamed of retiring in England and had planned to settle down in the country.

　　过去他常幻想在英国退休并计划在乡间安顿下来。

　　语言点1 retire in England在英国退休

　　语言点2 关于settle的短语：

　　1) settle down (live somewhere permanently) 定居

　　2) settle sth. on sb. 转让(钱财);(尤指在遗嘱中)赠与

　　3) settle up 结账,还清债务

　　3. He had no sooner returned than he bought a house and went to live there.

　　他刚一到英国就买了一幢房子住了进去。

　　表达“一……就……”

　　用在句首：1) as soon as;2) the moment / minute/ second/ instant;3) on doing

　　用在句中：1) no sooner...than...; 2) hardly…when…

　　I had no sooner entered the door than I shouted asking my mother for food

　　我一进门就嚷着跟妈妈要吃的。

　　The little boy had hardly seen the snake when he fainted.

　　这个小男孩一看见蛇就晕倒了。

　　4. Almost immediately he began to complain about the weather, for even though it was still summer, it rained continually and it was often bitterly cold.

　　但紧接着，他就开始抱怨英国的天气了，因为即使那时仍为夏季，但雨总是下个不停，而且经常冷得厉害。

　　语言点 比较学习：continual，continuous, constant, perpetual

　　continual意为“持续不断的，频繁的”，指一段时间内多次发生(如雨季下雨);continuous意为“连续的”，一般为不间断的(如水流);

　　constant意为“忠实不变的”;

　　perpetual 意为“永久的”。

（编辑：何莹莹）