英語中表示“發(fā)生”的詞語有：take place, happen, occur, come about 和 break out，它們的用法各不相同，但都是不及物動詞，都不能用于被動語態(tài)。

happen

（1） 意為“發(fā)生”。

①一般用于表示那些偶然或未能預(yù)見的、無法控制的突發(fā)事件的發(fā)生，通常以不愉快的事情居多。

例1Accidents often happen at busy road junctions.事故通常發(fā)生在繁忙的道路交叉口上。

例2I still remembered the whole thing as if it happened yesterday.我仍然記得整個事情，仿佛它就發(fā)生在昨天一樣。

②也用于sth. happened to sb.的結(jié)構(gòu)，意為“某人身上發(fā)生某事”。

例3What will happen to the children if Peter and Alice break up? 如果彼得和愛麗絲離婚，孩子們將怎么辦?

（2） 意為“碰巧；恰好”。

①用于sb. happened to do sth.的結(jié)構(gòu)，意為“某人碰巧做了某事”。

例4I happened to see an old classmate of mine on the way to the bank yesterday.昨天我去銀行的路上碰巧遇見一位老同學(xué)。

②用于It (so) happened + that...的結(jié)構(gòu)，意為“偶然、碰巧發(fā)生某事”。

例5It so happened that I had no money with me. / I happened to have no money with me.我碰巧身邊沒帶錢。

take place

意為“發(fā)生；舉行；舉辦”。一般用于表示因某種原因而發(fā)生的事件、經(jīng)事先計(jì)劃組織安排的事件、預(yù)想到的事件或作為某一事件的結(jié)果的事件。

例6The pressure becomes so great that an explosion takes place.壓力很大，以至于發(fā)生了爆炸。

例7The sudden attack on the enemy troop took place three hours later.對敵軍的突然進(jìn)攻在三小時后進(jìn)行。

例8The Olympic Games of 2008 will take place in Beijing.2008年奧運(yùn)會將在北京舉行。

occur

意為“發(fā)生（意想不到的事）”，屬正式用語。當(dāng)具體事物、事件作主語時，可與happen 互換。此外，occur還有“想到；突然想起；浮現(xiàn)在某人的腦海中”的含義。

例9If anything should occur, it would have done.要是有什么事發(fā)生的話，早就應(yīng)該發(fā)生了。

例10It is said that the traffic accident occurred / happened at midnight.據(jù)說那起車禍?zhǔn)窃谏钜拱l(fā)生的。

例11A good idea occurred to me when I woke up.我醒來時，突然想到了一個好主意。

come about

意為“發(fā)生；產(chǎn)生”，常用于疑問句和否定句，多用于已經(jīng)發(fā)生但還不被了解的事件。

例1２When mother woke up, she didnt know what had come about.母親醒來的時候不知道發(fā)生了什么事。

例1３Do you know how the air accident came about?你知道這次航空事故是怎樣發(fā)生的嗎？

break out

意為“發(fā)生；爆發(fā)”，常指戰(zhàn)爭、災(zāi)難、疾病或爭吵等突發(fā)事件的發(fā)生。

例1４No one knows whether the Third World War will break out.沒人知道第三次世界大戰(zhàn)是否會爆發(fā)。

例1５A(chǔ) fire broke out in the hospital in the midnight.那家醫(yī)院在半夜里突然起火了。

【練習(xí)題】

1. I got to know that the meeting _______ at 8:00 as planned.

A. happened B. took place

C. occurred D. held

2. New things are _______ all around us every day.

A. taking place

B. coming about

C. happened

D. happening

3. That plane crash _______ only minutes after take-off.

A. occurred B. was occurred

C. broke out D. came about

4. After the flood, diseases

_______ here and there.

A. happened B. took place

C. broke out D. occurred

5. The opening of the film will

_______ at the end of this month.

A. happen B. occur

C. take place D. break out

6. I _______ to be in the market yesterday when a fire ______.

A. happened; broke out

B. took place; broke out

C. happened; took place

D. occurred; took place

7. Ill never understand how it _______ that you made the same mistake for three times.

A. broke out B. happened

C. occurred D. came about

8. Great changes have _______ in China since 1980.

A. been taken place

B. taken place

C. happened

D. broken out

9. Did you hear what _______ to David last night?

A. happened

B. was happened

C. took place

D. broke out

10. It _______ to me that she didnt know I had changed my telephone number, so she was unable to tell me about that immediately.

A. was occurred

B. was happened

C. occurred

D. took place

(Keys: 1~5 BDACC6～10 ADBAC)