Why were you late for class today, Kevin? 凯文，为什么你今天上课迟到了? “be late for”: …迟到。如：be late for school(上学迟到); be late for the meeting(开会迟到)
My alarm clock didn't go off! 我的闹钟没有响! “go off”: 发出响声； If someone go into the room at night, the alarm will go off. 晚上如果有人进了这个房间，警铃就会想起来。
But before I got to the bus stop, the bus had already left. 但在我到达车站前，汽车已经开走了。这是一个过去完成时的句子，强调汽车在我到达（过去时）之前就做了的动作（过去完成时）。 这是新出现的语法点。
Carl's dad saw me on the street and gave me a lift in his car. 卡尔的父亲看见我在路上，让我搭了他的车。 “give sb. a life”: 让…搭车； 要求搭车是： ask for a lift. 要求搭某人的车是： asked sb. for a lift. 如：On the way, a young man waved to me. I stopped and he asked me for a lift. 在路上，一个年轻人向我挥手，我停下来，他要求搭我的车
by the time you got to school, you were only five minutes late for class. 至少当你到达学校时，上课只迟到了五分钟。 这个句子读起来有点别扭，因by the time常用在过去完成时的句子中。如：By the time you got to school, the class had been on for five minutes. 当你到校时，以上了五分钟的课了。
I was about to go up when I decided to get a coffee first. 我正要上楼，这时我决定先去买一杯咖啡。 “be about to do … whne…” 常译成“刚要…, 这是突然…”。 如： I was about to go out when it began to rain. 我刚要出去，天突然下起雨来了。
We stared in disbelief at the black smoke rising above the burning building. 我们盯着燃烧着的大楼上升起的黑烟，无法相信(这一切)。“stare at” (因疑惑)盯着…看， in disbelief表示不相信眼前发生的事情。
I jumped out of bed and went straight to the airport. 从床上跳起来直奔机场。"go staight to" 直接去..."
I heard about the earthquake in New Zealand the day before. 我听到新西兰头一天发生了地震。 “the day before”是相对于过去某一时间前的一天。意思是 “前一天，头一天”。它不像“昨天，前天”是个固定的时间。
April Fool's Day … is a day when many people play all kinds of tricks and jokes on each other. 愚人节…是一个许多人会互相开各种玩笑或恶作剧的日子。这里是两个短语play tricks on(捉弄) 和 play jokes on(拿…开玩笑)合起来用：
there would be no more spaghetti because the spaghetti farmers in Italy had stopped growing spaghetti. 英国的一位记者宣称因为意大利农民停止种植意大利面条。这是真是一个“愚人节”的句子。因意大利面条不是种出来的。后半句因改为: because the spaghetti farmers in Italy had stopped growing the wheat for spaghetti. 因为意大利农民停止种植生产意大利面条所需的麦子。
One of the world's most famous tricks, however, happened in October rather than April. 然而，世界上最出名的恶作剧之一却发生在十月而不是四月。根据“New Herizon In English” 的听力材料。这大概不算是一个恶作剧。我们把这段材料放在后面的 “课后阅读”中，大家自己去读一下。
重点句子归纳：
But before I got to the bus stop, the bus had already left.
Before I could join the others outside to see what was going on, the first plane had already hit my office building.
by the time I got to the airport, my plane to New Zealand had already taken off.
By the time people realized that the story was a hoax, all of the spaghetti across the country had been sold out.
By the end of the day, more than 10,000 people had phoned the TV station to find out how to get this water.
By the time police officers announced that the story was a hoax, thousands of people had left their homes.
过去完成时常与以下的时间状语连用：
by the end of + 过去的时间；when 当……的时候; by the time 在……之前, 当……的时候。
例如：
We had learned more than 3000 words by the end of last term. 到上学期期末止, 我们已经学习了3000多个英语单词。
The train had already left when they got to the railway station . 当他们到达火车站的时候, 火车已经开走了
I remembered that Peter had taken my English book away . 我记得Peter把我的英语书拿走了.
By the time my parents came home yesterday, I had cooked the dinner . 当我爸妈昨晚回来的时候, 我已经做好了饭菜。
课堂在线小测验
一、课文理解检测
April Fool's Day is a celebration that in different countries around the world. It happens April 1st every year and is a day when many people each other.
Many April Fool's jokes may being not very funny. One of the world's most famous tricks, , happened in October April. In that month in 1938, actor Orson Welles on his radio program that aliens from had landed on the earth. He where they had landed and told how they were the United States. Welles made it so real that hundreds of people the story, and fear spread across the whole country. police officers announced that the story was a hoax, thousands of people their homes.
参考答案：
1.takes place, 2.on, 3.play all kinds of tricks and jokes on, 4.end up, 5.however, 6.rather than, 7.announced, 8.Mars, 9.described, 10.moving across, 11.sound, 12.believed, 13.By the time, 14.had left
课后阅读
Invaders From Mars
In 1938 a play called “The War of the Worlds” was broadcast on the radio. The play started with a new flash about a mysterious explosion on the planet Mars. Then there was report about a burning object falling over a farm in New Jersey. at the same time the play began, America's most popular radios show was ending on another station. Many listeners missed the very beginning of “The War of the Worlds.” When they changed station, they did not know that it was just a play. They thought what they were hearing was really happening. At the play continued, a reporter described the strange object. He said it was shining brightly and hard to look at. Suddenly a door opened. There was a scream, and the reporter was dead. Six thousand soldiers attacked the object, but only 120 lived to tell about it, of the six million or so people who heard the play, more than two million thought it was a true news report. People anxiously telephone the radio station for news. Thousands left their homes to escape the Martian invaders. it was many days before life was back to normal.
