The article began: 'Hundreds of steps lead to the high wall which surrounds the president's palace'. The editor at once sent the journalist a fax instructing him find out the exact number of steps and the height of the wall.

　　The journalist immediately set out to obtain these important facts, but he took a long time to send them.

　　4. The article began: 'Hundreds of steps lead to the high wall which surrounds the president's palace'.

　　文章的开头是这样的:“几百级台阶通向总统府的高墙。”

　　语言点1:句子结构分析:这是一个直接引语的句式，用数字作主语非常大气的描述了总统府的庞大规模。Which引导定语从句，修饰wall,强调是怎样的高墙。

　　语言点2:hundreds of 表示“成百上千的”。

　　下面是与数字有关的表达总结:

　　Tens of 几十

　　Dozens of 几十

　　Thousands of 成千上万的

　　Tens of thousands of 数十万的

　　Millions of 数百万的

　　Tens of millions of数千万的

　　Hundreds of millions of 数亿的

　　Billions of 数十亿的

　　例句支持:

　　Hundreds of millions of people are living in harmful environment in the world. 全世界有数亿人仍然生活在有害的环境当中。

　　5. The editor at once sent the journalist a fax instructing him find out the exact number of steps and the height of the wall.

　　编辑立即给那位记者发去传真，要求他核实一下台阶的确切数字和围墙的高度。

　　语言点1:句子结构分析: instructing him find out… 为现在分词短语，作目的状语。And并列连接台阶数量和围墙高度。

　　语言点2:at once表示“立刻，立即”。

　　6. The journalist immediately set out to obtain these important facts, but he took a long time to send them.

　　记者立即出发去核实这些重要的事实，但过了好长时间不见他把数字寄来。

　　语言点1:句子结构分析: to obtain these important facts为动词不定式短语，作目的状语。But连接两个并列句，表示转折，说明接下来的情况。

　　语言点2:注意区别以下重要的写作短语:开始做某事

　　(1) st out to do sth. 带着某种特殊目的

　　(2) begin to do sth. 描述某种状态的开始，反义词end

　　(3) start to do sth. 强调动作，反义词为stop

　　例句支持:

　　They set out to write a book on Chinese history. 他们开始着手写一部关于中国历史的书。

　　I begin to recover confidence. 我开始渐渐恢复了信心。

　　语言点3:sb. take + 时间 + to do sth.=it takes sb.+ 时间 + to do sth.，意思是“某人花费多少时间做某事”。

　　例句支持:

　　I took five hours to do my home work.(=It took me five hours to do my homework.) 我花了5个小时做家庭作业。