PETS－2语法讲解(153)

One of the neighbors had a very fierce dog which scared everyone.
　　对话
　　Dan: The parents of children in our street are a lot less worried these days.
　　Chris: Why's that?
　　Dan: One of the neighbors had a very fierce dog which scared everyone.Last week it bit one of the children so badly, she had to be treated in hospital.
　　Chris: That must have been an awful experience for the little girl. But why did you say they are not so worried now?
　　Dan: Well they complained about the dog to the police and the police forced the owner to put it down.
　　Chris: Oh I see. Well I'm sure that was for the best.
　　丹：我们这条街上的父母们，现在再也没有那么担心了。
　　克里斯：为什么？
　　丹：这里有一家人养了一只很凶的狗，人人见了都害怕。上星期它咬伤了一个小女孩，伤势严重得要送院治疗。
　　克里斯：对那小女孩来说，这一定是个很可怕的经历。但你为什么说他们现在不必那么担心了？
　　丹：他们向警方投诉，警方于是要狗主人把恶狗安乐死了。
　　克里斯：原来如此。我想，那是的安排了。
　　One of the neighbors had a very fierce dog which scared everyone一语的scare是‘惊吓’，和同样解作‘惊吓’的frighten有什么分别？frighten所说的‘惊吓’，含义至广，适用于任何可怕场合；scare和frighten意思差不多，但语气较为随便。此外，scare强调对可怕事物的自然反应，例如逃跑、发呆等。故意吓人，一般也称为scare，例如：(1) You can't scare me with such silly pranks（你这些无聊的恶作剧，吓不倒我的）。(2) Our dog scared the burglar away/off（我们的狗把窃贼吓跑了）。(2) She was scared stiff by the ghostly voice（她被那阴森可怖的声音吓呆了）。稻草人英文叫scarecrow，直译是‘吓乌鸦’，意思明显不过。留意克里斯的一句话：Why did you say they are not so worried now?英文课本的‘直述句(direct speech)变转述句(indirect speech)’章节，都会说直述句的现在式动词，在转述句里要变成过去式，例如："I am worried." he said变成He said he was worried（他说他很担心）。但有时现在式动词其实不必转为过去式：假如直述句说的事情，转述时仍未成为过去，则仍可用现在式动词来说。例如某甲说We are throwing a party on 27 August（我们八月二十七日开派对），你八月二十七日前转述，仍可用现在式动词：He said they are throwing a party on 27 August。Why did you say they are not so worried now?一语，are不改为过去式的were，就是这个道理。