1．…a large crowd of people had gathered under the Town Hall clock. 　

had gathered為過去完成時，表示過去某個時刻之前已經完成的動作。

2．It would strike twelve in twenty minutes'  time. 　

這句話的時態為過去將來時。

in+表示時間長度的短語可譯為“……時間之后”，一般與將來時連用：Please wait a moment here. Jack will be back in a few minutes.

strike的基本含義是“打”、“擊”：She struck the man in the face.

當用于鐘、樂器等東西時，它有“敲”、“彈”的含義：When I entered the room, the clock struck five.

3．We waited and waited, but nothing happened.　

動詞 happen作“發生”、“出現”講時，主語是物：Have you heard what happened to Sam this morning?

An interesting thing happened last night.

4．The big clock refused to welcome the New Year.   　

這句話中的兩個動詞 refuse和welcome在一般情況下主語都是人。我們可以說：Susan's friends welcomed her with flowers when she returned from abroad.

在書上的這句話中，用大鐘作主語是一種擬人手法。

1．引導時間狀語的介詞 in, on, at, during, till與 until

用in的時間短語有：A、表示一天中的某段時間：in the morning 　in the afternoon/ evening 　

B、表示月份或年份:in March in September 　in 1984 　

C、表示季節：in spring 　in winter 　

in+ 一段時間有兩種含義。它可以表示“在某段時間之內”，這時它可以與現在時、過去時或將來時連用，一般與完成某個動作有關：I always eat my breakfast in ten minutes.

I finished the examination in two hours.

另外，它還可以表示“……時間之后”，與將來時連用：Mother will be back in ten days.

用on的時間短語有：A、表示星期：on Monday   on Friday on Monday morning/evening  on June 1st  on 23rd March  

B、表示星期+日期：on Monday, June 1st  

C、表示具體時間：on that day    on that evening    

My brother's birthday is on August 12th.

用at的時間短語有：A、表示確切的時間：at 10 o'clock    at 5 'clock    

B、表示用餐時間：at lunch/ dinner time   at teatime   

C、表示其他時刻：at noon/ night/ midnight    at this time  

Liz came to see me at ten/ teatime.

during后必須跟一個名詞，可以指整個一段時間。它有時可以用in替代：It was very hot during the summer.

He has phoned four times during the last half hour.

但在下面的例句中則不可用in替代during:

I met him sometime during the week.

During the whole winter it never snowed.

from…till…指一段明確的時間：The tourist season runs from June till October.

當所用動詞只表示一個短暫的動作時，則只能在否定句中用till/ until:I won't leave till/ until Monday.

2．否定句的兩種形式：not any與 no

對于一般疑問句，可以有兩種否定的回答：--Did you buy books?

--No, I didn't buy any books./No, I bought no books.

否定詞no比not any的語氣要強，但這兩種否定的意義是相同的。no可構成復合詞nobody, none, nothing, nowhere; any可構成復合詞anybody, anything和anywhere。

在一個句子中通常只能有一個否定詞：It seems that nobody understands me.

I hardly go to school these days.

而除黑人英語外一般不說"I can't get no eggs."