名人教英文：书籍逾期须罚款
a fine for overdue books
书籍逾期须罚款
alvin: oh no. look what's in this cupboard!
阿尔文﹕啊，不好。你看橱柜里的是什么。
janet: it's only a couple of books. what's the problem?
珍妮特﹕只是几本书而已，有什么不妥当？
alvin: they're library books. i'd forgotten all about them.
阿尔文﹕这是图书馆的书，给我抛诸脑后了。
janet: i still don't see the problem.
珍妮特﹕我还是不知道有什么不妥当。
alvin: i took them out of the library ages ago and they're overdue.
阿尔文﹕这些书，我很久之前从图书馆借回来，现在已过了还书日期。
janet: didn't you get an e-mail from the library to remind you to renew them?
珍妮特﹕你没有收到图书馆的电邮，提醒你续期吗？
alvin: they may have sent one but i've been having problems with my internet connection and maybe it didn't get through.
阿尔文﹕他们也许寄过电邮给我，但最近我的互联网连接有问题，电邮可能因此没有寄到。
janet: well you have to pay a fine for overdue books. you'd better get them down to the library straightaway.
珍妮特﹕嗯，书籍逾期不还，得交罚款。你最好马上拿去归还图书馆。
阿尔文说﹕look what's in this cupboard。句中的what，当然是指从图书馆借来的几本书，但动词仍应用单数形式的is，不用are。
有时，你会读到这样的句子﹕what she saw was several books（她见到的，是几本书）。这和上文一样，用单数动词was配what，是正确用法。不过，由于句中写明what即several books，而several books是复数，有些人觉得用复数形式动词较为自然，所以会说what she saw were several books。这说法没有用was那么正宗，但约定俗成，也不算错。
阿尔文怨自己把借来的书忘了﹕i'd forgotten all about them。to forget about something有两个常见意思，一是「没有及时记起某事」，一是「不再想某事」，例如﹕
(1) i almost forgot about paying the telephone bill
（我几乎忘了付电话费）。
(2) as we have a lot to do this year, we can forget about going on a vacation
（我们今年有很多事要做，不要再想去度假了）。
珍妮特叫阿尔文马上去图书馆还书﹕you'd better get them down to the library straightaway。down作副词（adverb），可用来指离说话人不远的地方，例如﹕
(1) there is an umbrella stand down in the corridor
（走廊不远处有个雨伞架）。
(2) let's walk down to the restaurant
（我们步行前去餐厅吧）。
图书馆在阿尔文居住的地方附近，所以珍妮特说get them down to the library。