语法点：动名词 -ing 形式 (Gerund / -ing Forms)
动名词是动词加 -ing 后当名词用的形式，如 receiving、travelling、writing。它保留动词的意义，可以带宾语，但在句子里充当名词的角色：作主语、作动词的宾语、作介词的宾语。本课最重要的用法是介词后面必须用动名词：dream of receiving、think of it、by putting。此外，一些动词（enjoy、finish、stop、keep、mind 等）后面也只能接动名词，而不能接不定式。
结构
| 用法 | 结构 | 例子 |
|---|---|---|
| 介词 + 动名词 | of / at / in / by / without + doing | dream of receiving a letter |
| 动词 + 动名词 | enjoy / finish / stop / keep + doing | She kept writing to her friend. |
| 动名词作主语 | Doing … + 动词 | Writing letters takes time. |
| 否定 | not + doing | She thought of not answering. |
拼写：write → writing（去 e）；travel → travelling（英式双写 l）；put → putting（双写 t）。
课文中的例句
- [句 1] My daughter, Jane, never dreamed of receiving a letter from a girl of her own age in Holland. — dream of + receiving：介词 of 后用动名词。
- [句 2] Last year, we were travelling across the Channel and Jane put a piece of paper with her name and address on it into a bottle. — travelling 是现在分词构成过去进行时，注意与动名词的区别。
- [句 4] She never thought of it again, but ten months later, she received a letter from a girl in Holland. — think of 后接名词/代词，也可接动名词：think of writing。
- [句 6] However, they have decided to use the post office. — decide 后接不定式而非动名词，与 dream of doing 形成对比。
补充例句
- Jane is fond of writing letters to her new friend. 简喜欢给新朋友写信。
- The girl found the bottle by walking along the beach. 那个女孩是在海滩散步时发现瓶子的。
- Thank you for sending me your address. 谢谢你把地址寄给我。
易错点
- ❌ She never dreamed of receive a letter. → ✅ She never dreamed of receiving a letter. 介词后动词必须用 -ing 形式。
- ❌ She never dreamed to receive a letter. → ✅ She never dreamed of receiving a letter. dream 后要接 of + 动名词，不能直接接不定式。
- ❌ They enjoy to write to each other. → ✅ They enjoy writing to each other. enjoy 后只能接动名词。
- ❌ We were traveling across the Channel. → ✅ We were travelling across the Channel. 英式英语 travel 加 -ing 要双写 l（美式 traveling 也正确，但课文用英式）。