Lesson 87     A perfect alibi

     'At the time the murder was committed, I was travelling on the 8 o'clock train to London,' said the man.

     'Do you always catch such an early train?' asked the inspector.

     'Of course I do,' answered the man. 'I must be at work at 10 o'clock. My employer will confirm that I was there on time.'

     'Would a later train get you to work on time?' asked the inspector.

     'I suppose it would, but I never catch a later train.'

     'At what time did you arrive at the station?'

     'At ten to eight. I bought a paper and waited for the train.'

     'And you didn't notice anything unusual?'

     'Of course not.'

     'I suggest,' said the inspector, 'that you are not telling the truth. I suggest that you did not catch the 8 o'clock train, but that you caught the 8.25 which would still get you to work on time. You see, on the morning of the murder, the 8 o'clock train did not run at all. It broke down at Ferngreen station and was taken off the line.'

“在凶杀发生的时候，我正坐在8点钟开往伦敦的火车上。”那人说。

“您总是赶这样早的火车？”探长问。

“当然是的，”那人回答。“我必须在10点钟上班，我的雇主会证明我是按时到了那儿的。”

“晚一点儿的车也能送您按时上班吗？”

“我认为可以，但我从来不乘晚一点儿的车。”

“您几点钟到的火车站？”

 “7点50分。我买了张报纸，等着车来。”

 “您没有注意到有什么异常情况发生吗？”

“当然没有。”

“我提醒您，”探长说，“您讲的不是实话。您乘的不是8点钟的火车，而是8点25分的，这次车同样能使您按时上班。您看，在凶杀发生的那天早晨，8点钟的那次车根本没有发。它在芬格林车站出了故障而被取消了。”

Grammar

本课复习直接引语转间接引语（宾语从句），该知识点为中考从句中的重难点之一。重点需要掌握人称、时态、语序的变化以及连接词的使用。

如果直接引语是陈述句则使用that作为连接词；一般疑问句则使用“whether/if”作为连接词;特殊疑问句则使用特殊疑问词作为连接词，语序皆为陈述句。

Exercises.

1. I’m not sure __________.

A. what is his name.                   B. what his name is  

C. his name is what                    D. what’s his name

2.  He asked, “How are you getting along?”  

He asked __________.

A. how am I getting along                  B. how are you getting along

C. how I was getting along                 D. how was I getting along

1. 解析：本题考查特殊疑问句的直接引语转为间接引语，语序需为陈述句，故答案为B。

2. 解析：本题考查特殊疑问句的直接引语转为间接引语，语序需为陈述句,且主句为过去时，间接引语需要退格成过去进行时，故答案为C。