A man is not old as long as he is seeking something. A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams (J. Barrymore)
只要一个人还有追求,他就没有老。直到后悔取代了梦想,一个人才算老。(巴里摩尔)
as long as是经常用的连接词,有两个意思。第一种表示既然、由于,同since接近,比如As long as you've offered this sports car, I'll accept it.既然你要给我这辆跑车,我就接受了。第二种意思表示只要,引导条件状语从句,这种意思较第一种常见,也就是格言中的用法。
例如,I'll let her go as long as you give me ten thousand pounds.只要你给我一万英镑,我就放了她。这时,往往可以用provided that替换。I'll let her go provided that you give me ten thousand pounds.但显然,provided that要正式些。
这句话中还有一个词组:take the place of,它的意思是代替,这里的the一定不能省略。例如:The computer is taking the place of TV in our lives.再例如: The word "replace" could take the place of "take the place of" in the above example.是不是有点糊涂了?在上面的例句中,take the place of也可以用replace代替。