原书主词条 · 2 个连续词条

scarcely... when/before

原书 PDF 第 1322—1323 页

scarcely... when/before¹

问

Scarcely had they settled themselves in their seats in the theatre ____ the curtain went up. A. than B. when C. before D. as soon as(全国研考) 标准答案要求选 B(when)。不知能否选 C(before)?

答

在这种句型中, hardly 或 scarcely 既可与 when 连用, 又可与 before 连用, 而且都是规范用法, 只是前者用得较为普遍一些而已。请考察下面的实例:

barely/hardly/scarcely... when/before (CGEL)

scarcely . . . when/before $^{2}$

Hardly had I left before the trouble started. (Leech) 我刚一离开,麻烦事就开始了。
We'd hardly arrived before we had to go back. (LDCE) 我们刚到,就得往回返。

由上面的实例可以证明,你提问的那道英语试题对于考生掌握丰富的英语表达方式是不利的。因此,不宜再让学生在 when 与 before 之间进行选择(可把 before 换成其他连词)。

scarcely... when/before²

问

下面是全国英语专业四级考试中的范例(从1992年至今):

Scarcely had they settled themselves in their seats in the theatre ____ the curtain went up. A. then B. when C. before D. than

The sentence should read “Scarcely had they settled themselves in their seats in the theatre when the curtain went up.” Therefore, you should choose B.

请问您也认为此题只能选 B 吗?

答

上面的范例有失误之处:除选项 B 之外,选项 C 也是正确的,见上条。让我们再补充一个实例:

Hardly had a moment passed before the door creaked open. (CIDE) 刚过一会儿,门就咯吱打开了。