PETS－2语法讲解(178)

Go at a steady pace.
　　对话 　　James: Where are you going on the weekend?
　　Harry: I'm going hiking with some classmates.
　　James: Hiking? Isn't that rather strenuous?
　　Harry: Not if you go at a steady pace and take the occasional break.
　　James: Oh, that doesn't sound too bad.
　　Harry: Why don't you join us? You'll have a great time.
　　詹姆斯：你周末会去哪里？
　　哈利：我会和同学一起去徒步旅行。
　　詹姆斯：徒步旅行？那不是很辛苦吗？
　　哈利：只要步伐速度平均，中途休息一下，就不辛苦。
　　詹姆斯：啊，那听起来还不太坏。
　　哈利：你也和我们一起去吧，你一定会喜欢的。
　　哈利说，远足只要步速平均，就不辛苦：Hiking isn't strenuous if you go at a steady pace。Pace本义是‘一步的距离’，The target was about a hundred paces from where the archers stood即‘箭靶距离弓箭手约一百步’。这pace往往引伸解作‘步速’或‘速度’，例如：We were working at a painfully slow pace（我们工作的速度慢得厉害）。
　　以pace为言的三个常用语不可不识：一是keep pace with，即‘赶得上’；一是set the pace，即‘定出步速’，比喻‘做榜样’或‘带头’；一是at a snail's pace，即‘以蜗牛的速度’或‘慢吞吞’，例如：(1) Pay rises never seem to be able to keep pace with inflation（薪水上升的速度，似乎永远赶不上通货膨胀）。(2) He worked very hard, and his sales performance was so good that he set the pace for the other salesmen（他努力工作，销售表现理想，成为其它售货员的模范）。(3) Because of lane closures, the traffic was moving at a snail's pace（由于有些车道封闭，路上车辆像蜗牛一样爬行）。Pace作动词，则是指‘来回踱步’，例如：He anxiously paced the room waiting for the doctor to arrive（他焦虑的在房间里来回踱步，等候医生到来）。哈利邀詹姆斯同行：Why don't you join us?这Why don't you...?句式常用来提出建议，和why not...?相同。哈利大可以说：Why not join us?