58.at last, in time, finally與in the end
　　這幾個詞語都有“終于”或“最后”的意思。at last 強調久等之后 例: a. When the fire had at last been put out, the forest authorities ordered several tons of special type of grass seed which would grow quickly.在火終于被撲滅的時候，森林管理局訂購了好幾噸特殊速生草籽。b. When the dentist at last removed the cotton wool from my mouth, I was able to tell him that he had pulled out the wrong tooth.在牙科醫生終于把藥棉從我嘴中取出時，我才勉強地告訴他說，他把牙拔錯了。c. At last firemen have put out a big forest fire in California.消防隊員終于撲滅了加利福尼亞州的一場森林大火。in time 表示經過一段不定的時間之后例: a. In time, all Sam?s money was paid back in this way.山姆所有的錢終于都用這種辦法歸還了。b. You will learn how to do it in time.這項工作你最終總能學會做的。注:in time 還有“及時”的意思。finally 也表示久等之后，但有時表示在一系列因素的最后一個之后。例: a. After putting it off three times, we finally managed to have a holiday in Greece.推遲了三次度假之后，我們終于在希臘度了假。b. We need to increase productivity. We need to reduce unemployment. And finally, we need to make our exports competitive on world markets.我們需要增加生產率，減少失業率，最后我們需要使我們的出口產品在國際市場上具有競爭力。in the end 和 finally 同義，但 finally 一般位于謂語前。這些詞除 finally 之外，其他三個都可以用在謂語前，也可位于謂語后。例: a. In the end, we stay at home and look after everything.最后，我們還是呆在家里照看著一切。b. He tried many ways of earning, in the end he became a farm labourer.他試過許多謀生之道，最后他做了農場工人。

　　59.delay, postpone與put off
　　均含“推遲”、“延期”、“延緩”的意思。delay 指“暫時阻撓或阻擋, 稍后可再繼續進行”例:The steamer was delayed by bad weather.汽輪因天氣不佳而延期。postpone是正式用語, 語義較強, 指“有意識地延至將來某一特定時間”, 在多數情況下, 后面說明改在何時進行 例:The meeting has been postponed to Friday.會議推遲到星期五舉行。put off與postpone大致同義, 但較通俗口語化 例:Let's put this off till some other time.我們還是把這擱一擱, 以后再說吧。

　　60.attempt與try
　　它們的一般含義是致力于可能成功也可能失敗的某件事。attempt 的含義是去做自己希望會成功的事，常常包含冒險的意義。例：a. It will be a long time before any landing on Mars can be attempted
　　試圖在火星上著陸是一件遙遠的事。b. Over a year passed before the first attempt was made. 一年多的時間過去之后，才作了首次嘗試。try 比 attempt 普通得多。在口語中使用 try 比使用 attempt 顯得淺近通俗。但這兩個詞有著明顯的差異。try 表示試一試，意即欲證明或檢驗某件事，這是attempt 所不能表達的。在表示致力于某事時，try 并不包含冒險的意思。例：a. You can try on the new coat. 這件新上衣，你可以試一試。b. I tried to say something, but my mouth was full of cotton wool.我想說句話，但我嘴里塞滿了藥棉。