after/later(after + 时间段/时间段 + later)
(1) Half an hour later she woke up and began to cry.
(2) After a few minutes she started to cry again.
请问 after two days 与 two days later 在意义上有什么区别？
可以把 after two days 和 two days later 看作是同义表达手段,而不必去抠它们之间的区别:
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However, after about two hours, they were able to get close enough and about 70 people escaped from the fire in the helicopters. 大约过了2小时之后，直升机才靠近他们，大约有70人乘直升机从大火中逃了出来。
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The spaceship travelled very fast and after four days the astronauts got to the moon. 宇宙飞船飞得很快，四天后宇航员便到达了月球。
[附注]在与过去时连用时,时间段+after的用法也是正确的,见下条和later 。after
two days later/two days after
Several days ____, he had to leave for another city.
A. ago B. later C. before D. after(安徽省02中考-52)
书上给的答案是 B,能否选 D 呢?
选项 B 固然正确,选项 D 也没有错误。several days later 与 several days after 的意思是相同的。这就是说 after 也可以用作副词(见 later):
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He left on Monday and returned two days after. (《新英汉词典》增补本, p.211) 他星期一离开, 两天后便回来了。
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It happened twenty years after. (DEC) 这事发生在 20 年以后。
three billion years after...
Three billion years after life began, the earth is now the home to many different kinds of living things. (《高中英语教科书》)
after 从句与 three billion years 是什么关系？该书《教师教学用书》(p.150)说 three billion years 是修饰 after 从句中的 began 的。是这样吗？
应当明确,after 从句是个时间状语从句。它前面的名词短语 three billion years 作它的修饰语。为了把时间关系说得更加精确,在 after 从句之前可加上修饰语,诸如 just, right, immediately, some time, a long time, soon, three years, many days 等等。《教师教学用书》的说法值得商榷:如果把“修饰动词 began 的”three billion years 放在 after 从句之中去,这个从句还能成立吗? three billion years 并不是修饰动词 began 的,而是修饰整个 after 从句的。请看下面的实例:
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Come over right after you've finished working. 你干完活后马上过来。
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I found the letter two weeks after he had left. 他离开两周后, 我才发现这封信。
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She went abroad two years after she graduated. 她毕业两年后出国去了。
[句意]在生命开始30亿年后,地球如今是许多不同种类的生物的生息地……