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關(guān)于《牛津英語(yǔ)辭典》(Oxford English Dictionary)的編輯故事，有文為證：
One of the greatest contributions to the first Oxford English Dictionary was also one of its most unusual. In 1879, Oxford University in England asked Prof. James Murray to serve as editor for what was to be the most ambitious dictionary in the history of the English language. It would include every English word possible and would give not only the definition but also the history of the word and quotations (引文) showing how it was used.
This was a huge task. So Murrary had to find volunteers from Britain, the United States, and the British colonies to search every newspaper, magazine, and book ever written in English. Hundreds of volunteers responded, including William Chester Minor. Dr. Minor was an American Surgeon who had served in the Civil War and was now living in England. He gave his address as “Broadmoor, Crowthorne, Berkshire,” 50 miles from Oxford.
Minor joined the army of volunteers sending words and quotations to Murray. Over the next years, he became one of the staff’s most valued contributors.
But he was also a mystery. In spite of many invitations, he would always decline to visit Oxford. So in 1897, Murray finally decided to travel to Crowthorne himself. When he arrived, he found Minor locked in a book-lined cell at the Broadmoor Asylum for the Criminally insane.
Murray and Minor became friends, sharing their love of words. Minor continued contributing to the dictionary, sending in more than 10,000 submissions in 20 years. Murray continued to visit Minor regularly, sometimes taking walks with him around the asylum grounds.
In 1910, Minor left Broadmoor for an asylum in his native America. Murray was at the port to wave goodbye to his remarkable friend.
Minor died in 1920, seven years before the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary was completed. The 12 volumes defined 414,825 words, and thousands of them were contributions from a very scholarly and devoted asylum patient.
下面，我們有必要重溫一下“過(guò)去完成時(shí)”的用法：
過(guò)去完成時(shí)表示“過(guò)去的過(guò)去”，有兩重意思：①表示在過(guò)去某一時(shí)間或某一動(dòng)作之前已經(jīng)發(fā)生的動(dòng)作；②表示由過(guò)去某一時(shí)間開始，延續(xù)到過(guò)去另一時(shí)間的動(dòng)作。可圖示為：
(1) 表示過(guò)去某一時(shí)間之前已經(jīng)完成的動(dòng)作
表示在過(guò)去某一時(shí)刻或動(dòng)作之前已完成的動(dòng)作，即“過(guò)去的過(guò)去”。這個(gè)過(guò)去的時(shí)刻常用by, before等介詞短語(yǔ)或時(shí)間狀語(yǔ)從句來(lái)表示，也可以從一個(gè)表示過(guò)去的動(dòng)作或上下文中得到提示。
She had learned English before she came to Britain. 她在來(lái)英國(guó)以前已學(xué)過(guò)英文了。
By the end of last month, we had finished half of the project. 到上個(gè)月底為止，我們已經(jīng)完成了一半的工程。
She said she had lost her purse on her way to the station. 她說(shuō)她在去火車站的路上丟了錢包。
The children ran away because they had broken the window. 孩子們跑掉了，因?yàn)樗麄兇蚱屏瞬ＡА?/SPAN>
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