I tried to persuade him not to smoke, but he ____ listen to me.
A. wouldn't B. couldn't C. had better not D. used to
《海淀名题·高中英语语法完全解题》(东北师大出版社, p.389) 给的答案是 A, 并作了如下解答:
“深度讲解: would do 和 used to do 都可以表示过去的习惯动作, 常可互换。”
请问上句中的 he wouldn't listen to me 可以改为 he usedn't to listen to me 吗?
该书作者误解了 would 在这里的意义和用法。由于 try 是非持续性动词，上句中的 would 不可能表示过去习惯性动作。would 在这里是表示“执意”“坚持”。例如：
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He reasoned with them, and tried to persuade them to set him free. But they would not listen to him. 他跟这些人讲道理，试图说服他们把他放了，但是他们不听。
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Wait! Shylock would not take the money earlier. 等一等！夏洛克先前是坚决不要这笔钱的。
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You know me. I wouldn't kill anyone. (Dan Brown, The Da Vinci Code) 你是了解我的。我绝对不会杀人。(《达·芬奇密码》)
上面的实例以及 would 中的实例充分证明,上列试题中的 would do 与 used to do(见 used to/would) 毫不相干,因此,wouldn't listen 是绝不可以用 usedn't to listen 来替换的。