课文内容：

The plane was late and detectives were waiting at the airport all morning. They were expecting a valuable parcel of diamonds from South Africa. A few hours earlier, someone had told the police that thieves would try to steal the diamonds. When the plane arrived, some of the detectives were waiting inside the main building while others were waiting on the airfield. Two men took the parcel off the plane and carried it into the Customs House. While two detectives were keeping guard at the door, two others opened the parcel. To their surprise, the precious parcel was full of stones and sand!

Notes on the text 课文注释

1 detectives were waiting at the airport all morning,

侦探们在机场等了整整一上午。句中的动词时态是过去进行时。过去进行时常用来表示过去某时正在进行的情况或动作。本课课文中有4个句子使用了过去进行时。参看第1册第117-119等课中的例句。

2 keep guard, 守卫。

3 to their surprise,

使他们吃惊的是。

参考译文

飞机误点了，侦探们在机场等了整整一上午。他们正期待从南非来的一个装着钻石的贵重包裹。数小时以前，有人向警方报告，说有人企图偷走这些钻石。当飞机到达时，一些侦探等候在主楼内，另一些侦探则守候在停机坪上。有两个人把包裹拿下飞机，进了海关。这时两个侦探把住门口，另外两个侦探打开了包裹。令他们吃惊的是，那珍贵的包裹里面装的全是石头和沙子！