每课一句：新概念第2册第81课
【往期回顾】
每课一句：新概念第2册第80课
今天我们接着来看第81课的“每课一句”。
一、课文原文
Lesson 81 Escape
When he had killed the guard, the prisoner of war quickly dragged him into the bushes. Working rapidly in the darkness, he soon changed into the dead man's clothes. Now, dressed in a blue uniform and with a rifle over his shoulder, the prisoner marched boldly up and down in front of the camp. He could hear shouting in the camp itself. Lights were blazing and men were running here and there: they had just discovered that a prisoner had escaped. At that moment, a large black car with four officers inside it, stopped at the camp gates. The officers got out and the prisoner stood to attention and saluted as they passed. When they had gone, the driver of the car came towards him. The man obviously wanted to talk. He was rather elderly with grey hair and clear blue eyes. The prisoner felt sorry for him, but there was nothing else he could do. As the man came near, the prisoner knocked him to the ground with a sharp blow. Then, jumping into the car, he drove off as quickly as he could.
——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
Lights were blazing and men were running here and there: they had just discovered that a prisoner had escaped.
注意这句话中的冒号的运用。在这里，冒号用来补充说明前句的内容，也就是说，作者通过冒号后面的这句话“they had just discovered that a prisoner had escaped”来说明前一句所说的“灯火通明，人们东奔西跑”的原因。
关于冒号的常见用法，大家可以参考笔者之前分享的文章：
英语标点符号用法大全之冒号（Colon）
【注意】
与汉语不同的是，直接引语前一般都不用冒号，而是采用逗号；只有在正式文体中，才会在直接引语前采用冒号。
三、更多拓展
He was rather elderly with grey hair and clear blue eyes.
注意这句话中的rather elderly、grey hair、clear blue eyes的描述，其实是为了凸显人们对这位年长的而又无辜的司机的同情之心，从而为后一句话“The prisoner felt sorry for him”做好铺垫。
但是，剧情并未按此逻辑发展，而是直接反转，这位越狱犯为了逃跑活命，根本顾不上对这位司机的同情，而是毫不犹豫地选择把他打昏了。
这一前一后的对比描述，颇有点突降法（Anticlimax）的味儿，从而形成了一定的诙谐效果。
【补注】
何谓“突降法”？
韦伯斯特在线词典（https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/anticlimax）是这样解释的：
the usually sudden transition in discourse from a significant idea to a trivial or ludicrous idea
也就是说，作者把重要的事情放在前面叙述．使读者产生较高的心理预期，但随后却笔锋一转，描述起相对来说无足轻重的事情，由此使人产生心理期待的巨大反差。
比如，《傲慢与偏见》中的开篇名句：
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.
凡是有钱的单身汉，总想娶位太太，这已经成了一条举世公认的真理。
这句话首先采用了形式主语it，把逻辑主语that从句放到句末。如此处理，既可以起到避免整个句子头重脚轻的问题，同时又把逻辑主语予以了凸显。当然，句中的逗号也起到了更好的强调逻辑主语的作用。
此外，that从句本身就采用了突降的手法：
当我们看到“a single man in possession of a good fortune"，我们大多会想，这样的男人应该会去干一番事业。但是，作者却笔锋急转，说这样的男人需要个老婆，完全出乎读者意料之外。
当然，等读者看完之后，再仔细想来，单身男子想娶个老婆，也是天经地义的事儿。也正因为如此，才有了小说中的男女们的爱情故事和家庭纠葛。
由此，成就了这句著名的开篇妙句。