L04. An exciting trip

I have just received a letter from my brother, Tim. He is in Australia. He has been there for six months. Tim is an engineer. He is working for a big firm and he has visited a great number of different places in Australia. He has just bought an Australia car and has gone to Alice Springs, a small town in the center of Australia. He will soon visit Darwin. From there, he will fly to Perth. My brother has never been abroad before, so he is finding this trip very exciting.

我刚收到了我的兄弟Tim的来信。他在信中告诉我他已经在澳大利亚待了六个月。他目前为一家大公司工作，已经去过澳大利亚很多的地方。他刚买了一辆澳大利亚小汽车，现在去了澳洲中部的小镇Alice Springs。他不久后将去Darwin市，并从那里飞往Perth。Tim之前从未在去过国外，因此，他觉得这是一次令人兴奋的旅行。

知识点

1. receive a letter from sb. 收到某人的来信。常用说法还有：
   get a letter from sb.
   have a letter from sb.
   hear from sb.
2. a number of + 可数名词的复数，number 前可以接 large， great，small 等形容词来强调数量的大小
   与可数名词连用表数量较多的还有：a great many，quiet a few，a lot of，lots of 等。

语法精析——现在完成时

结构为：have/has + 过去分词

1. 表过去已发生的动作对现在产生的结果，常与表时间的副词连用，如 yet，just，before，recently，lately，ever，never 等。
2. 表从过去开始延续到现在的动作或状态，常与表示一段时间的时间状语连用，如 so far，up till now/ up till present，since，for a long time，in the past few years 等等。
3. 短暂性动词在现在完成时中不能与表示一段时间的状语连用，常见动词有：arrive，leave，go，refuse，finish，buy 等等。
   I have bought the car for half a year. (×)
   I have got this car for half a year. (√)