听播客学英语 253 过去做的事

 　　Used to – we use this expression very often in English when we want to talk about things which happened in the past, not once, but many times, or things which happened continuously¹.

　　For example. “When I was young, we used to go on holiday by the sea.” This means² that we went on holiday by the sea, not once but many times.

　　Or “When my father got home from work, he used to sit down and watch television”. Again, he did not watch television once. He did it many times. It was what he normally³ did when he came home from work.

　　Or “Twenty years ago, there used to be a butcher’s shop on the High Street”. The butcher’s shop wasn’t there once. It was there continuously, over a long time.

　　Here is June. She is going to tell us about some of the things she used to do.

　　Recently I went back to the town of Newport in South Wales⁴ where I used to live when I was a child, until I was 12 years old. I took a bus to the village where I was born. I remember that I used to play in the fields opposite my house. Today there is an industrial estate⁵ where the fields used to be. But to my pleasure, very little else had changed. I went to the house where my father used to have his tailoring business. I remembered how I used to play ball against the wall of my house. I used to roller skate with my friends. But best of all, I used to play with my top and whip⁶ and ride my bike. The street lamp is still there which used to shine through my bedroom window at night. Then I went to see the house where I lived when I was rather older. And last of all, I visited the road where I used to go to secondary⁷ school, but so much had changed that I could no longer recognise the school buildings. It was lovely to bring back into my memory such happy childhood years.

　　Here is Johnny Nicholas. He is having woman trouble, and tells us about the things he used to do.

　　Photograph by Humphrey Spender (1910 – 2005) ‘Playing ‘Top and Whip’ on pavement – chalk marks are for hopscotch’ Copyright Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council

1 continuously   

adv.不断地；持续地

参考例句：

• They are repairing this road continuously.他们一直在修这条路。
• Our foreign trade is continuously expanding.我们的对外贸易不断发展。

2 means   

n.方法，手段，折中点，物质财富

参考例句：

• That man used artful means to find out secrets.那人使用狡猾的手段获取机密。
• We must get it done by some means or other.我们总得想办法把它干完。

3 normally   

adv.正常地，通常地

参考例句：

• I normally do all my shopping on Saturdays.我通常在星期六买东西。
• My pulse beats normally.我脉搏正常。

4 Wales   

n.威尔士(在大不列颠岛西南部)

参考例句：

• The company are opening up a new factory in Wales.公司将在威尔士开一家新工厂。
• She teaches English at the University of Wales.她在威尔士大学教英语。

5 estate   

n.所有地，地产，庄园；住宅区；财产，资产

参考例句：

• My estate lies within a mile.我的地产离那有一英里。
• The great real estate brokers do far more than this.而优秀的房地产经纪人做得可比这多得多。

6 whip   

n.鞭子，鞭打，奶油甜食，车夫，组织秘书；vt.抽出，鞭打，捆扎，搅拌，打败；vi.突然移动，飘浮

参考例句：

• The cruel man lashed the horse with his whip.那个粗暴的人用鞭子抽马。
• The cruel master beat his slaves with a whip.残酷的主人鞭打他的奴隶。

7 secondary   

adj.中级的，中等的，次要的；n.次要位置，副手

参考例句：

• It's a question of secondary importance.这是个次要的问题。
• Secondary school means junior school and high school.中学是指初中和高中。