OG 43

43. In the minds of many people living in England, before Australia was Australia, it was the antipodes, the opposite pole to civilization, an obscure and unimagin-able place that was considered the end of the world.
(A) before Australia was Australia, it was the antipodes
(B) before there was Australia, it was the antipodes
(C) it was the antipodes that was Australia
(D) Australia was what was the antipodes
(E) Australia was what had been known as the antipodes

Choice A is best, for A alone makes clear that the land now known as Australia was considered the antipodes before it was developed. In B, it has no logical referent, because the previous clause describes a time when there was no Australia. Nor does it have a referent in C: substituting Australia for it produces a nonsensical statement. D is wordy, with the unnecessary what was, and imprecise in suggesting that Australia was considered the antipodes after it became Australia. E similarly distorts the original meaning, and the past perfect had been is inconsistent with the past tense used to establish a time frame for the rest of the sentence.

我对一个时间概念有些困惑。OG说 for A alone makes clear that the land now known as Australia was considered the antipodes before it was developed，既然说before it was developed，就已经明确了过去的一个时间点，比如Australia was developed in 1800，那么被认为是antipodes肯定在1800年前，岂不是过去的过去，要用完成时么？当然后面的未划线部分暗示了一般过去时，我只想知道，如果没有后面的暗示，前面可以用完成时么？

谢谢

不知石兄对这题自己提出的是否有好的解释.....呵呵......

PS: 我当时还真没看到这题..... 这题被LZM算成怪题了.....cc

这道题目是很怪，当时XDF老师讲解的时候让我们记住这样的表达before Australia was Australia；意思是在澳大利亚建国之前，所以后面就用了这个一般过去时，偶就把这个表达记下来了。

In the minds of many people living in England, before Australia was Australia, it had been the antipodes, the opposite pole to civilization, an obscure and unimagin-able place that had been considered the end of the world.

Both sentences seem to be logical to me. The latter makes it clear that Australia wasn't considered the end of the world after it became Australia.

刚刚翻阅了Tianwan上传的那本语法书，将相关内容摘录：

当before分句动词为一般过去时，主句动词可用过去完成体，也可用一般过去时；例如：

The concert had started before we got to the hall(=The concert started before we got to the hall.)

过去完成体与一般过去时都可以和确定的时间状语连用，但是侧重点不同；例如：

I had done the work at six o'clock.

I did the work at six o'clock.

第一句说明工作在6时已经完成，却未说工作是什么时候做的；第二句明确告诉我们作这个工作的时间是6点。

Thanks Leeon! Now it's very clear.