BBC news 2009-10-31 加文本

1. It's not clear who is likely to pay. Relatives say the Chandlers, who have both retired in their 50s, are not wealthy.

年龄的表示方法

(1) 一般直接用基数词表示，如：

Her daughter is eighteen. 她的女儿18岁。

(2) 用“基数词 + years old”表示，有时可将years old 换成years of age。如：

Her daughter is eighteen years old. / Her daughter is eighteen years of age. 她的女儿18岁。

(3) 用“at the age of +基数词”表示。如：

Her daughter got married at the age of eighteen. 她的女儿18岁就结了婚。

(4) 用“基数词-year-old”表示，此结构常做(前置)定语。如：

Her 18-year-old daughter is now in the university. 他18岁的女儿现在上大学。

(5) 用“of + 基数词”表示，此结构常做后置定语。如：

Her daughter is now a pretty girl of 18. 她女儿现在一个18岁的美少女了。

(6)  用“aged +基数词”表示，此结构常做后置定语。如：

Lying on the floor was a boy aged about seventeen. 躺在地板上的是一个约莫十七岁的男孩。

(7)  用“be in one’s +几十的复数形式”表示某人大概的年龄。如：

He went to the United States in his fifties. 他五十多岁时去了美国。

2.Laura Dekker wants to become the youngest person to sail solo around the world, but the judge ruled she was too young to make the trip even though her parents had given their support.

even though引导状语从句

3.The pirates have been holding discussions for several hours in Harardhere on the Somali coast.

have been holding现在完成进行时

现在完成进行时和现在完成时有相同之处，也有不同之处。

(1) 现在完成时强调动作的完成，而现在完成进行时强调动作的延续，因此，表示动作的完成，只能用现在完成时，而不能用现在完成进行时。如：He has changed his idea. 他改变了想法。

(2) 在表示动作的延续时，虽然既可用现在完成时，也可用现在完成进行时，但现在完成进行时强调动作的进行。因此在需要明确表示动作还要持续下去时，应用现在完成进行时。如：

We have been studying here for two years. 我们在这儿已经学习了两年了。

(3) 有些延续性动词(如 keep, learn, live, stay, study, work等)，用于现在完成时或现在完成进行时的区别不大。如：

I have lived here for many years.=I have been living here for many years. 我在这儿住了多年了。