每课一句：新概念第2册第85课
【往期回顾】
今天我们接着来看第85课的“每课一句”。
一、课文原文
Lesson 85 Never too old to learn
I have just received a letter from my old school informing me that my former headmaster, Mr. Stuart Page, will be retiring next week. Pupils of the school, old and new, will be sending him a present to mark the occasion. All those who have contributed towards the gift will sign their names in a large album which will be sent to the headmaster's home. We shall all remember Mr. Page for his patience and understanding and for the kindly encouragement he gave us when we went so unwillingly to school. A great many former pupils will be attending a farewell dinner in his honour next Thursday. It is a curious coincidence that the day before his retirement, Mr. Page will have been teaching for a total of forty years. After he has retired, he will devote himself to gardening. For him, this will be an entirely new hobby. But this does not matter, for, as he has often remarked, one is never too old to learn.
——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
We shall all remember Mr. Page for his patience and understanding and for the kindly encouragement he gave us when we went so unwillingly to school.
注意这句话的主干是：
We shall all remember Mr. Page for ...
意思是：
我们都要牢记佩奇先生对我们的...
这句话中的两个“for...”通过and连接起来，起到了很好的强调作用，突出了佩奇先生曾经对我们的那些“好”。
其中，第一个for的结构是：
for his patience and understanding
for后面接的两个并列的成分patience和understanding，表达出了佩奇先生当面对我们的耐心和理解。
而第二个for的结构是：
for the kindly encouragement he gave us when we went so unwillingly to school
这个for后面的成分比较长，所以从结构上被安排在了后面，因为英语的句子强调“头轻尾重”，即：
短的成分放前面，长的成分放后面
此外，要注意第二个for的结构中，核心成分是the kindly encouragement，用来表达当年佩奇先生对我们的亲切的鼓励。
在encouragement之后还有两个成分，即he gave us和when we went so unwillingly to school：
1）he gave us是用作encouragement的定语，中间省略了that或which，表示“他所给予我们的...”；
2）when we went so unwillingly to school是用作时间状语，用来表示佩奇先生在什么时候给予我们鼓励。
需要注意的是when引导的时间状语从句中的so unwillingly的位置：so unwillingly是用作went的方式状语，表示当初我们相当不愿意上学。其实，根据句子写作的“尾重原理（End weight）”，也可以把so unwillingly放到句末，用以突出unwillingly，从而更好地强调出当我们不愿意上学的程度之大。
三、更多拓展
It is a curious coincidence that the day before his retirement, Mr. Page will have been teaching for a total of forty years.
注意这句话的结构是：
It is a curious coincidence that ...
其中，it是形式主语，that从句是逻辑主语，即真正的主语。
之所以要采用形式主语it来引导，是因为主语从句过长，放到句首会显得整个句子头重脚轻。
此外，同样根据句子写作的“尾重原理（End weight）”，把逻辑主语放到后面也可以更好地强调主语本身。
还要注意的是，that引导的主语从句中的时间状语“the day before his retirement”被放到了句首，这也同样是出于句子写作的“尾重原理（End weight）”，因为作者想要强调的是a total of forty years，所以把它放到句末。