BBC news 2010-01-21 加文本

1.President Obama has said his proposed health care legislation won't be debated in the Senate until the newly elected Republican senator from Massachusetts has taken his seat.

not until直到……才

例句：We were warned not to leave our shelter until tomorrow.
      我们收到警告明天之前不要离开庇护所。

当Not until位于句首时,句子要倒装。其结构为:Not until+从句/表时间的词+助动词+(主句)主语+谓语+...。如:

　　①Not until the teacher came in did the students stop talking.直到老师进来学生们才停止讲话。

　　②Not until next week will the sports meet be held.直到下周才开运动会。

not until的强调结构为:It is / was not until+从句/表时间的词+that+...。上面两句改为强调句为:

　　③It was not until the teacher came in that the students stopped talking.

　　④It is not until next week that the sports meet will be held.

2.The Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said essentials were reaching Haiti despite difficulties.

despite in spite of

Despite用作介词时，与 in spite of同义，都表示“尽管”、“虽然”、“不顾”之意，但程度有所不同。

一般说来，in spite of的语气较强，使用范围也较广； despite的语气较弱，多用于诗歌或正式的文体中。Despite可以写作despite of，也可以写作 in despite of；in spite of则可以写作 spite of，但这些写法已少用了。例：

Despite his advanced years，he is learning to drive．

虽然年事已高，他现在在学驾驶汽车。

Despite the drought，we expect a good crop．

尽管天旱，丰收依然在望。

In spite of the police brandishing their clubs and pistols，people showed not the slightest fear．

尽管警方挥动着短棍及手枪，但人们毫不畏惧。

We arrived at the station in spite of the storm．

虽然有暴风雨，我们依旧准点到达火车站。

应当在此指出的是，在现代英语里，despite和in spite of的差距已日渐缩小，很多人已将它们互换使用。