Chapter 6 完成进行时态
6.8 过去完成进行时
6.8 过去完成进行时
前几节中我们详细讨论了现在完成进行时的各种意义和用法。掌握了这些用法对于理解过去完成进行时至关重要，因为过去完成进行时与现在完成进行时的用法在本质上是相同的，区别只是将说话的“参照时间”由现在移到过去。这种“时间坐标”发生位移的情况从下面这个例子可以看出：
1 1） Your eyes are red. You’ve been crying, haven’t you?
2） Her eyes were red. It was obvious she had been crying.
妙语点睛 在例句1）中，由are可以知道，这里说话语境的时间是现在，所以后面用现在完成进行时have been crying来表达一个在“现在”说话时刻之前在延续的事件，即“现在刚刚”结束的事件，这一点在6.2.5小节讨论过。在例句2）中，由were可以知道，这里说话语境的时间是过去，此时要表达一个在“过去”说话时刻之前在延续的事件，即“过去刚刚”结束的事件就要用过去完成进行时had been crying。
所以，可以看到，这里的说话时间发生了向过去的位移，即由are变成了were。因此，对应的完成进行时态也要由现在完成进行时have been crying变为过去完成进行时had been crying。
再来看下面这个对话：
2 A: Don’t you think Prof. Morison’s test was too difficult?
B: Well, I must admit I had been expecting more than just a passing grade in biology.
妙语点睛 这个对话里的时态使用较为复杂：有一般现在时think和must admit；有一般过去时was；还有一个时间跳跃较大的过去完成进行时had been expecting。这里能够使用过去完成进行时基于以下两点：
首先，从时间角度来看，这个过去完成进行时是谈论过去时间was之前的事件，具体来说，就是说话人B在回顾自己在上次生物测验之前的心态——在考试之前以为考试不会很难，所以他在考试之前期望成绩不只是及格（more than just a passing grade）就可以了，而是会考出一个更好的分数。但实际上，考试成绩并不理想，因为考试比说话人（Speaker B）料想的要难（The test was harder than he had anticipated.）。这个言外之意就是通过这里的过去完成进行时表达出来的。
其次，从完成进行时的意义角度来看，这里过去完成进行时had been expecting表达的是在was之前一个近期延续事件。
从这个例句我们也看到，过去完成进行时对一般过去时的依赖性。
简单来说，过去完成进行时表示开始于过去某个时刻之前的动作持续到过去这一时刻，并继续持续下去。在意义上，过去完成进行时与现在完成进行时完全类似，可以表示延续事件（包括长期延续、近期延续、说话时刻在延续以及在说话时刻之前在延续的事件）和重复事件。在时间上，过去完成进行时类似于过去完成时，即首先要确立一个过去时间，并以此为坐标时间来谈论在此之前的事件。
6.8.1 过去时刻在延续的事件
过去完成进行时表示开始于过去某个时刻之前的动作持续到过去这一时刻，并继续持续下去。请看例句：
1 When I arrived in Inner Mongolia, it had been snowing for half a month.
妙语点睛 这里的arrived确立了过去的坐标时间，然后谈论在此之前发生的一个延续活动“下雪”，所以用过去完成进行时had been snowing。
2 She had been studying French for one year before she went to France.
妙语点睛 这里的went确立了过去的坐标时间，然后谈论在此之前发生的一个延续活动“学习”，所以用过去完成进行时had been studying。
上述两个例句可以图示如下：
强调在过去的某一活动或时刻之前一直在持续的一项活动。
类似于现在完成进行时，过去完成进行时的延续事件同样包括长期延续、近期延续、说话时刻在延续以及在说话时刻之前在延续的事件。
一、过去的长期延续事件
3 The police had been looking for the murderer for two years before they caught him.
4 I had been looking for jobs for nearly half a year before I finally got a position in this dot-com company.
二、过去的近期延续事件
比如上一小节讨论过的这个例子：
5 A: Don’t you think Prof. Morison’s test was too difficult?
B: Well, I must admit I had been expecting more than just a passing grade in biology.
再比如：
6 He looked so tired. I knew he had been studying for the final exams.
三、过去说话时刻在延续的事件
7 Snowflakes had been falling past my window for several hours when it came time to leave for class. I pulled on two sweaters, a coat, a wool hat and boots, making for the bus stop. In this December storm it was a hard journey. As I tied around my neck the blue scarf that Grandma had knitted for me, I could almost hear her voice,“Why don’t you see if you can find a lift?”
妙语点睛 这里的came表示过去，可知此处谈论在此之前的一直在延续的事件，要用过去完成进行时，所以这里用了had been falling，表示在说话的时刻，窗外的雪依然在下着。
8 He told me he had been working on the report for hours and hadn’t finished it yet. He was still working on it.
9 He told me he had been hunting for a room since noon but with no success.
10 He finally showed up at nine o’clock. I had been waiting for him since six o’clock.
11 When she arrived, I had been waiting in the cold for three hours.
12 The plane, which had been waiting on the runway for hours, finally got clearance for taking off.
四、过去刚刚在延续的事件
13 She answered the door carrying a magazine she had been reading.
妙语点睛 这里的过去完成进行时had been reading用得非常贴切，表示一个过去刚刚在延续的事件，即在有人敲门之前，她一直在看一本杂志。所以，整句话的意思是“她应声去开门，手里还拿着一本刚刚一直在看的杂志”。
如果这里改为过去完成时had read，则表示杂志早已读过，那么整个句子的意思就变成“她拿着一本早已读过的杂志去开门”，这听起来显然有些奇怪，不符合正常的逻辑。
14 When the boys came into the house, their clothes were dirty, their hair was untidy and one of them had a black eye. I knew they had been fighting.
15 There was nobody in the room but there was a smell of cigarettes. Somebody had been smoking in the room.
16 Mary’s eyes were red. She had been crying. 当时玛丽的眼睛红红的，她刚刚哭过。
17 My face was hot and red because I had been lying in the sun.
6.8.2 在过去时刻重复发生的事件
过去完成进行时可表示重复发生的动作。具体来说，就是表示过去某一时刻之前的一段时间内重复发生的活动。
下面这段话讲的是牛顿看到苹果落下，从而发现万有引力的故事，其观点是，科学的发展更多地依赖于科学家头脑的准备而不是科学实验。比如牛顿看到苹果落下就能发现万有引力，那是因为他多年以来一直在研究天体运动的引力问题，即他的头脑已为发现引力做好了准备。而普通人因为头脑里没有这样的准备，所以看到苹果落地可能会很快捡起来吃掉，而不会去想什么引力的问题。
1 Science, in practice, depends far less on the experiments it prepares than on the preparedness of the minds of the men who watch the experiments. Sir Isaac Newton supposedly discovered gravity through the fall of an apple. Apples had been falling in many places for centuries and thousands of people had seen them fall. But Newton for years had been curious about the cause of the orbital motion of the moon and planets. What kept them in place? Why didn’t they fall out of the sky? The fact that the apple fell down toward the earth and not up into the tree answered the question he had been asking himself about those larger fruits of the heavens, the moon and the planets.
妙语点睛 这里的had been falling和had been asking表示一个长期的重复活动，而不是延续事件。另外，这里had seen也是表示重复活动，但由于主语thousands of people表明了具体次数，即动作被分割，所以不能说had been seeing。
2 He had been gambling for two years before his wife found out.
妙语点睛 这里的had been gambling表示一个长期的重复活动，而不是延续事件。
3 I had been trying to get her on the phone. Finally she gave me a call.
同样，这里的重复动作不能说出具体的次数。例如不能这样说：
I had been trying five times to get her on the phone. Finally she gave me a call. *
要表示具体次数，须改为过去完成时：
I had tried five times to get her on the phone before she finally gave me a call.
思维训练 6.8 Key
请用括号中动词的适当形式填空。
Firemen ______ （fight） the forest fire for nearly three weeks before they could get it under control. A short time before, great trees ______ （cover） the countryside for miles around. Now, smoke still rose up from the warm ground over the desolate hills. Winter was coming on and the hills threatened the surrounding villages with destruction, for heavy rain would not only wash away the soil but would cause serious floods as well. When the fire ______ at last ______ （put out）, the forest authorities ordered several tons of a special type of grass-seed which would grow quickly. The seed was sprayed over the ground in huge quantities by airplanes. The planes ______ （plant） seed for nearly a month when it began to rain. By then, however, in many places the grass ______ （already, take root）. In place of the great trees which ______ （grow） there for centuries, patches of green had begun to appear in the blackened soil.