Question

Is there a difference in meaning between "It's too late to telephone. Mary is asleep now." and "It's too late to telephone. Mary will be asleep now."？

Yes. The difference is in the reason given for it being too late to telephone. In the first sentence "Mary is asleep now", the speaker is stating（陈述） a fact. In the second sentence "Mary will be asleep now", the speaker is saying what Mary usually does. In fact, it's possible that Mary isn't asleep, but she is usually asleep at this time.

So let's take two situations. In the first case, imagine Mary's mother answers the telephone.

You: "May I speak to Mary, please?"

  Mother: "No. It's too late. Mary is asleep now."

You: "Are you sure? It's only 10 0'clock."

Mother: "Yes. I went to her room and she was asleep."

The mother knows that Mary is asleep because she went into her room and saw her.

Here is another case. Two friends decide to telephone Mary.

Jack: "Let's telephone Mary. It's 10 0'clock."

Jill: "No. It's too late. She will be asleep now."

Jill knows that Mary always goes to bed before 10 o'clock, so now she'll probably be asleep. But it is also possible that she is staying up late.

1. In the first situation. Mary's mother _______.

A. is afraid to wake up Mary

B. wants to tell you that she knows Mary is asleep

C. knows that Mary wants to sleep at this time

D. wants to know if she can take a message for Mary

2.In the second situation, Jill _______.

A. knows that Mary has gone to bed

B. doesn't know whether Mary is asleep

C. is sure that Mary cannot answer the telephone

D. thinks it's possible that Mary cannot answer the telephone

3.In which situation do you think the word "will" is used in the same way Jill uses it?

A. Will you please lend me a hand?

B. It's too heavy, I think. I'll help you.

C. Don't get into his office. He will be angry now.

D. You won't have to come to my office. I will send it to you.

Answer

1.B

2.D

3.C

【解析】

试题分析：本文区分了两个英文句子："It's too late to telephone. Mary is asleep now."和 "It's too late to telephone. Mary will be asleep now." 告诉我们讲英语一定要得体。

1.B 细节理解题。在第一种情况下，玛丽的妈妈：A. is afraid to wake up Mary 害怕叫醒玛丽； B. wants to tell you that she knows Mary is asleep 想告诉你她知道玛丽睡着了；C. knows that Mary wants to sleep at this time，知道玛丽那时想睡觉了；D. wants to know if she can take a message for Mary想知道她是否可以给玛丽捎个信。第一种情形："It's too late to telephone. Mary is asleep now."太晚了，不能打电话了。玛丽现在睡着了。妈妈知道女儿现在睡了。故选B。

2.2】D 细节理解题。在第二种情况下，吉尔A. knows that Mary has gone to bed 知道玛丽已经上床睡觉；B. doesn't know whether Mary is asleep，不知道玛丽是否睡着了；C. is sure that Mary cannot answer the telephone 肯定玛丽不能接电话了；D. thinks it's possible that Mary cannot answer the telephone，认为玛丽可能不能接电话了。第二咱情形："It's too late to telephone. Mary will be asleep now."太晚了，不能打电话了。玛丽现在要睡了。这是就通常情况下，玛丽在这个时间就要睡觉了。但是今天此时是否已睡，不清楚。故选D。

3.3】C 归纳推断题。你认为哪种情况用的will和吉尔用的是一种方式？A. Will you please lend me a hand?你愿意帮助我吗？will表示“意愿”；B. It's too heavy, I think. I'll help you.，太重了，我要帮助你。Will表示“将要”；C. Don't get into his office. He will be angry now. 不要进入他的办公室，现在他会生气。Will表示“惯于、经常”D. You won't have to come to my office. I will send it to you. 你不必来我的办公室，我会把它发给你。Will表示将来。吉尔说："It's too late to telephone. Mary will be asleep now."太晚了，不能打电话了。玛丽现在睡了。是对玛丽的生活习惯的一种说明，will表示经常，习惯于，故，正确选C。

考点：文化类短文阅读。