be to ¹

be to + 动词原形的最常见的用法是表示计划或安排：

1. The Prime Minister is to visit Budapest. 首相将访问布达佩斯。

2. Their daughter is to be married soon. 他们的女儿很快就要结婚了。

3. Who is to question him? 该由谁来问他?

4. They usually write exact instructions how the music is to be played. 他们通常还要为如何演奏他们的乐曲写出精确的说明。

be to 的过去时 was/were to 则表示过去的计划或安排：

1. It was the last film at the cinema, which was to close the next day. 这是这家电影院上映的最后一部电影，它第二天就要关门了。

2. Then the great day came when he was to march past the palace in the parade(接受检阅的队伍). (全国高考,98-43) 于是那个不平凡的日子到来了,在那一天他要在接受检阅的队伍里通过宫殿。

3. He was to go on stage in the second scene. (同上,91-完形填空) 他应当在第二场登台。

4. On December 27, 1831, a tiny 242-ton ship, the Beagle, left England on a journey that was to last five years. 1831年12月27日，一艘242吨位的小轮船——猎犬号离开英国，开始了将历时5年的航行。

5. After dinner they were to go to a movie. 午饭后他们要去看电影。

be to + 动词原形还可表示指示 (instructions)、命令 (orders) 或要求 (requirements)，通常可译为“应当”“必须”：

1. No one is to leave this building. 谁也不得离开这幢楼房。

2. You are not to smoke in this room. 你不可以在这房间里抽烟。

3. The form is to be filled in and returned within three weeks. (PEU) 请于三周内将表填好并返回。

4. You are to be back by 10 o'clock. (CGEL) (You are required to be..., You must be...) 你必须10点以前回来。

be to + 动词原形亦可用在间接引语中, 表示指示、命令或要求。这时是说话人转述别人的指示、命令或要求。你所提问的句子便属于此种类型。be to 在这里相当于 had to, must, should。

1. The headmaster says you are to come at once. 校长说你必须马上来。

2. The teacher said we had to wait/we were to wait outside. 老师说我们必须/应当在外面

等着。

be to 的过去时形式 was/were to 还可表示纯过去将来时的意义, 见 was/were to do。请分析下面的实例(注意 was/were to have done 表示过去本安排了做某事, 但实际并没有做):

1. This film ____ this Sunday. A. is going to show B. is showing C. is to be shown D. will have been shown

2. The students were told that they ____ at the school gate at 2:00 the following afternoon. A. met B. will meet C. were to meet D. were met

3. The house ____ ready today but as there has been a builders' strike it is still only half finished.

A. is B. was to be C. was D. was to have been

请把下列句子译成中文并指出三个 are to be + v-ed 的含义(参见 some few):

On the subject of reading, Francis Bacon, who lived at about the same time as Shakespeare, wrote these words, “Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested.”