发布时间： 2016年05月07日
课文详注 Further notes on the text
1．A slip of the tongue
（标题）说走了嘴，失言
slip在这里表示“不经心的错误”、“失误”、“疏漏”：
You've made some slips (of the pen) in your report.
你的报告中有一些小错（笔误）。
When he was nervous, he would sometimes make a slip of tongue.
当他紧张时，他有时就会发生口误。
Are you sure that it was just a slip of tongue?
你确信那只是一时口误吗？
2．People will do anything to see a free show…
人们总要想尽办法去看不花钱的演出……
anything用于肯定句时表示“不论什么”、“任何事情”，to see a free show表示目的，也可以用for 名词形式：
He will do anything to save his child's life.
他要想尽办法挽救他孩子的生命。
He will do anything for the child.
为了这孩子，他干什么都愿意。
3．When the news got round that a comedy show would be presented at our local cinema by the P. and U. Bird Seed Company…
当“皮尤”鸟食公司将在我们当地影院演出喜剧节目的消息传开后……
（1）when引导的这个时间状语从句中含有一个同位语从句，即the news that…。由于that引导的同位语从句较长，便与它所修饰的news隔开了，放在谓语动词之后，以免句子头重脚轻。同位语从句中用了被动语态的过去将来时形式。
（2）get round在这里表示消息、谣言等“传开”（也可以用get around/about）：
The word soon got round that there was buried treasure in that cave.
那个洞里有宝藏的消息很快便传开了。
Bad news gets round quickly.
坏消息传得快。
4．…there must have been several hundred people present just before the show began．
……在演出开始前场内肯定已有好几百人了。
Those who failed to get in need not have felt disappointed, as many of the artistes who should have appeared did not come.
那些没能进到场内的人没有必要感到失望，因为很多应该出场的专业演员都没有来。
must have 过去分词表示对过去发生的事进行推测（其否定式为can't have 过去分词，cf．第17课语法）；need have 过去分词表示过去不必做但实际已做了的事（cf．第41课语法）；should/ought to have 过去分词表示本来应该做而实际未做的事（cf．第65课语法）：
He had found five empty whisky bottles which the ghost must have drunk the night before.
他发现了5只空的威士忌酒瓶子，这肯定是鬼魂前天晚上喝的。
The examiner must have been pleased with my performance.
主考人对我的表现想必是满意的。
You needn't have said that.
你没必要这么说。（实际已经说了）
You needn't have told him about my plans.
你本不必把我的打算告诉他。（实际上已告诉了他）
He should have gone along a side street.
他应该走一条小街。（实际上他走了主要街道）
5．As soon as he opened his mouth, everyone burst out laughing.
但他刚一开口说话，人们便哄堂大笑起来。
burst out为固定短语，其含义之一为“突然……起来”，后面通常接动名词，也可以接in/into 名词：
At the sight of the drunk, everyone burst out laughing/in laughter.
一看见那醉汉，大家便大笑起来。
When she heard that her father had died in the accident, she burst out crying.
当她听说她父亲在那次事故中丧生时便大哭起来。
6．We all know what the poor man should have said, but what he actually said was…
我们都明白那个可怜的应该说些什么，而他实际说的却是……
用should have 过去分词表示过去应当做而并没有做的事时，它后面经常跟but（actually）以形成对比：
I should have left home before 9 o'clock, but actually I didn't.
我本该在9点以前离开家，但实际上我没有。
You should have written the word ‘too’, but what you actually wrote was ‘to’.
你本该写“too”，但实际上你却写了“to”。
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