PETS－2语法讲解(255)

　　They've probably been held up by the traffic.
　　对 话
　　Tom: You're not looking too cheerful.
　　Henry: Well I arranged with Bob and Chris to meet me here for a drink at seven o'clock. It's now a quarter to eight and neither of them has turned up.
　　Tom: I wouldn't give up hope. They've probably been held up by the traffic -
　　it's been very heavy for the past hour.
　　Henry: Even so, they should have turned up by now.
　　Tom: Well, I'd give them another quarter of an hour or so.
　　Henry: OK, but after that I'm going home.
　　汤姆：你看来不很高兴。
　　亨利：我约了巴布和克里斯七点钟在这里见面，喝杯东西。现在七点四十五分了，两人都还未见踪影。
　　汤姆：我想他们会来的，应该只是塞车，过去半小时，交通非常混乱。
　　亨利：即使如此，他们现在也应该到了。
　　汤姆：假如我是你，就会多等十五分钟左右。
　　亨利：好吧，但再过十五分钟，我就要回家去。
　　交通阻塞，往往使人时间上失了预算。要向朋友、同事等解释迟到原因，可以说：I've been held up by the traffic。Hold up是‘阻止’或 ‘延误’，例如：(1) An accident held up the traffic.（一件意外事故，阻碍了交通）。(2) Production was held up by the strike.（生产为罢工所阻）。
　　和以前谈过的make up（化妆）、get (somebody/oneself) up（穿上特别或古怪服装）等动词词组一样，hold up二字连起来也可作名词，例如：There is a traffic hold-up because of road works.（由于道路工程，交通受阻）。
　　此外，hold up还可以指抢劫，多是指持枪打劫银行、店铺、车辆等，例如：(1) Three men held up the bank, and escaped with more than two million dollars.（有三个男人打劫银行，抢去二百多万元）。(2) During the bank hold-up, two cashiers were shot.（在这宗银行劫案中，两名出纳员中枪）。这样的hold up可不止是‘延误’了。
　　留意I wouldn't give up hope、I'd (= I would) give them another quarter of an hour的说法。这其实是If I were you, I wouldn't give up hope和If I were you, I would give them another quarter of an hour的缩略。要给人家意见，即可用这句语法：不是说自己会怎样做，而是说‘假如我是你，就会那样做’。由于‘我是你’是不可能实现的假设，动词和辅助动词就用假设语态过去式were、would等。