first

当序数词用作表语，并表示“第一名”“第二名”……时，通常不加定冠词：

1. John is first in his class. 约翰在他们班是第一名。

2. She was second in her class. 她是班里第二名。

3. He was third. 他是第三名。

从 the first 的定语从句 which...“polonium”来看, the first 指的就是元素“钋”, 因此, 它显然是指“第一个(种)”。另外, 译者们对于上句中介词 of 的用法也存在误解, 见 of $^{3}$ 。

[试译]……1898年她从这些新的放射性矿物中发现了第一种放射性元素。为向她的祖国——波兰表示敬意，她给这种元素取名为“钋”（注：钋的元素符号为 Po，波兰的英文名称为 Poland）。

当 the first time 作表语时,其后的定语从句的动词时态形式通常如下:

A. 当主句为现在时(It/This/That is the first time)时,从句的谓语动词要用现在完成时。

B. 当主句为过去时(It/This/That was the first time)时,从句的谓语动词要用过去完成时。

C. 当主句为将来时(It/This/That will be the first time)时,从句的谓语动词要用将来完成时,但要用现在完成时形式来代替,见 this is the first time。

当 the first time 用作连词时, 引导的是时间状语从句。其用法相当于 the moment, the minute, the second, the instant, 其从句的谓语动词的时态应依句意而定。在试题(2)中 the first time 之后的从句中谓语动词使用过去时 (met) 是符合句意的 [参见 last(adj.) $^{5}$ ]。

大家都知道, 当动词不定式充当后置定语时大都隐含着时态意义或情态意义:

1. I've brought a book to read. (a book to read = a book that I will read) 我带来了一本书来读。

2. Is he really a man to be trusted? (to be trusted = who can be trusted) 他真是一个可信赖的人吗?

3. The procedure to be followed ... [to be followed = that must (should 或者 will) be followed] 下面的程序……

但是, 当先行词含有 first, next, last 或者形容词最高级这样的词语时, 则充当定语的动词不定式通常不含有将来意义或情态意义, 而含有过去时意义(见 infinitive $^{4}$ ):

1. He was the first man to fly across the Atlantic (to fly = who flew). (RBE) 他是第一个飞越大西洋的人。

2. He was the first to be there (to be there = who was there). 他第一个到达那里。

3. They were the last guests to arrive (to arrive = who arrived). (CGEL) 他们是最后到达的客人。

4. He was one of the first to collect Picasso paintings. (LCD) 他是最早收集毕加索画的人之一。

5. I arrived first. The next (one) to arrive was James. (GPU) 我是到达的第一个人。第二个到达的是詹姆斯。

6. Ameria Earhart, the first woman to make a solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean, was born in 1898. (TOEFL) 阿美丽娅·埃尔哈特，第一个单独飞越大西洋的妇女，生于1898年。

7. The great racing driver, Sir Malcolm Campbell, was the first man to drive at over 300 miles per hour. (New Concept English, Book 2, L. 72) 著名的赛车手马尔科姆·康佩尔爵士是驱车时速超过300英里的第一个人。

由此可见，在 the first to be held 这个结构里，to be held 并不是表示“尚未召开”，而是表示“已经召开”，因而上面提到的 China Daily 中的结构 the first to be held 是正确的。请做下面的英语试题：

1. The last man ____ the sinking ship was the captain. A. left B. to be leaving C. to leave D. leaves

2. An innovator, ballerina Augusta Maywood was ____ a traveling company. A. to form the first B. the first to form C. who formed the first D. forming the first(TOEFL)