VOA慢速英语:Christmas Trees Are Not the Only Hot Plants This Time of Year

1.The tree is unusually a pine or fir dressed with lights and other colorful decorations.

dressed with过去分词作后置定语

过去分词短语作定语时,通常放在被修饰的名词之后,它的作用相当于一个定语从句。如:

　　This will be the best novel of its kind ever written (=that has ever been written).

　　这将是这类小说中写得最好的。

　　Who were the so-called guests invited (=who had been invited) to your party last night?

　　昨晚被邀请参加你的晚会的那些所谓的客人是谁呀?

2.Families might buy a cut tree or go to a tree farm and cut one down themselves.

cut down把…砍倒〔割掉〕

例句：He cut the tree down.
      他砍倒了这棵树。

      She cut the grass down.
      她把草割掉。

3.Another popular evergreen this time of year is the mistletoe plant.

the other, others, the others, another 等。它们的用法现归纳如下：

1)other可作形容词或代词，做形容词时，意思是“别的，其他”，泛指“其他的（人或物）”。如：

Do you have any other question(s)?

你还有其他问题吗？

2)the other指两个人或物中的一个时，只能用the other，不能用another，此时的other作代词。如：

He has two daughters. One is a nurse, the other is a worker.

他有两个女儿，一个是护士，另一个是工人。

3)others是other的复数形式，泛指“另外几个”，“其余的”。在句中可作主语、宾语。如：

Some of us like singing and dancing, others go in for sports.

我们一些人喜欢唱歌和跳舞，其余的从事体育活动。

4)the others意思是“其他东西，其余的人”。特指某一范围内的“其他的（人或物）”。是the other的复数形式。如：

Two boys will go to the zoo, and the others will stay at home.

两个男孩将去动物园，其余的留在家里。

the others=the other +复数名词，这在第2条中已经有所介绍。

5)another=an+ other，既可作形容词，也可作代词，只能用于三个或更多的人或物，泛指同类事物中的三者或三者以上的“另一个”，只能代

替或修饰单数可数名词。如：

I don’t like this one. Please show me another.

我不喜欢这一个，请给我看看另一个。

4.They did not become popular in the United States until the eighteen hundreds.

not until直到...才...

例句：I do not discover that until I go to pay.
      我去付钱的时候才发现。