每课一句：新概念第2册第52课
【往期回顾】
今天我们接着来看第52课的“每课一句”。
一、课文原文
Lesson 52 A pretty carpet
We have just moved into a new house and I have been working hard all morning. I have been trying to get my new room in order. This has not been easy because I own over a thousand books. To make matters worse, the room is rather small, so I have temporarily put my books on the floor. At the moment, they cover every inch of floor space and I actually have to walk on them to get in or out of the room. A short while ago, my sister helped me to carry one of my old bookcases up the stairs. She went into my room and got a big surprise when she saw all those books on the floor. 'This is the prettiest carpet I have ever seen,' she said. She gazed at it for some time then added, 'You don't need bookcases at all. You can sit here in your spare time and read the carpet!'
——选自《新概念英语》第二册，外语教学与研究出版社，1997年10月第1版
二、每课一句
A short while ago, my sister helped me to carry one of my old bookcases up the stairs.
注意本句话中的up the stairs从意思上看，可以替换为upstairs。
但是，相比较而言，upstairs是个副词，纯粹表状态，没有了动作含义。而up the stairs则不仅仅可以表示“往楼上”的状态，同时因为up可以表示“沿着...往上”，具有动作含义，所以更能体现要把这么多书搬到楼上的不容易，其含义是要把这些书，沿着楼梯，一个台阶一个台阶的搬到楼上。
所以，读者就能更为充分地体会到把书搬到楼上的艰难。
类似这样的用法，在新二的第1课中也有体现。比如下面这句话：
They were talking loudly. I got very angry.
句中的got very angry如果从意思上看，可以替换为was very angry。
但是，如此一来，was是静态动词，其强调效果就不如got，因为got是动态动词，表示一种变化。
三、更多拓展
To make matters worse, the room is rather small, so I have temporarily put my books on the floor.
注意句中的to make matters worse表示“更糟的是”，一般用作插入语，放在句首，引出下文。要注意其中的matter要用复数形式的matters。
此外，要注意句中的rather的用法，该词用作副词，表示“非常，相当”，主要用来修饰形容词或副词，但是它大多用来修饰具有消极或负面含义的形容词或副词。
与之相对的是副词fairly，它也表示“非常，相当”，但它主要用来修饰具有积极或正面含义的形容词或副词。
如：
The red shirt fits you fairly well.这件红色衬衣挺适合你穿。These shoes are rather too big.这双鞋有点太大了。
