It was Sunday. I never get up early on Sundays. I sometimes stay in bed until lunch time.
Last Sunday I got up very late. I looked out of the window. It was dark outside.
"What a day!" I thought. "It"s raining again." Just then, the telephone rang. It was my aunt Lucy." I"ve just arrived by train," she said. "I"m coming to see you." "But I"m still having breakfast," I said.
"What are you doing?" she asked. ‘I’m having breakfast," I repeated.
"Dear me," she said. "Do you always get up so late? It"s one o"clock!""
一、課文原文
Lesson 2 Breakfast or lunch?
It was Sunday. I never get up early on Sundays. I sometimes stay in bed until lunch time.
Last Sunday I got up very late. I looked out of the window. It was dark outside.
"What a day!" I thought. "It"s raining again." Just then, the telephone rang. It was my aunt Lucy." I"ve just arrived by train," she said. "I"m coming to see you." "But I"m still having breakfast," I said.
"What are you doing?" she asked. ‘I’m having breakfast," I repeated.
"Dear me," she said. "Do you always get up so late? It"s one o"clock!""
——選自《新概念英語》第二冊，外語教學與研究出版社，1997年10月第1版
二、每課一句
What a day!
從語法角度來看，由what引導的感嘆句大家都很熟悉：它主要是用來強調名詞或名詞短語的。其用法為：
What+a/an+單數可數名詞+主謂結構+感嘆號
What+複數可數名詞+主謂結構+感嘆號
What+不可數名詞+主謂結構+感嘆號
如：
What a lovely girl (she is)!
What an honest boy (he is)!
What nice apples (they are)!
What fine weather (it is)!
其中，主謂結構經常會省略，尤其在有上下文的口語中。更多有關感嘆句的用法，大家可參考我之前分享的文章：
感嘆句中到底如何選擇what和how？
但是，從寫作角度來說，要注意感嘆句屬於按句子功能來分的句子種類（句子按其功能分可以分為陳述句、祈使句、疑問句和感嘆句），其主要功能是用來表達強烈情感情緒的。因此，在常見的英語水平考試中，要注意謹慎使用。
這是因為，在大多數考試中，寫作題目的體裁一般都是議論文和說明文居多。在這些體裁的寫作中，一般都不會出現情感情緒色彩過濃的感嘆句，否則會給人感覺作者所要表達的觀點或所要描述的內容過於感性，主觀色彩太濃。
三、相關拓展
在本課中，“What a day!”是用來表達作者對糟糕天氣的抱怨的，所以首先在結構上省略了主謂成分it is，這樣句子會更為簡短，語勢更強，強調效果更大。
此外，在朗讀時，要注意把作者抱怨的情緒讀出來。在發音上，要利用爆破音位於單詞中間和母音前時，會發生不完全爆破的發音特點（聽上去像輕微的濁化），藉以加強語氣。