問：Scarcely had they settled themselves in their seats in the theatre ________ the curtain went up.
A. than
B. when
C. before
D. as soon as
(研究所考試英語試題, 81 A)
標準答案要求選B(when) 。不知能否選C(before ) ?
答：在這種句型中, hardly 或scarcely 既可與when 連用, 又可與before 連用, 而且都是規範用法, 只是前者用得較為普遍一些而已。請考察下面的實例:
- barely/hardly/scarcely…when / before
- Hardly had I left before the trouble started. 我剛一離開, 麻煩事就開始了。
- We’d hardly arrived before we had to go back . 我們剛到, 就得往回返。
由上面的實例可以證明, 你提問的那道英語試題對於考生掌握豐富的英語表達方式是不利的。因此, 不宜再讓學生在when 與before 之間進行選擇(可把before 換成其他連接詞) 。