大学英语： In the days of sailing vessels

　　14. In the days of sailing vessels the crew were afraid they would be becalmed here. Sometimes they were.

　　days常常指"时期，时代"，有时也表示"一生；生命"。请看例句：

　　1) In his boyhood days, he often went swimming and fishing with his friends.

　　（在他的童年时代，他常常和伙伴们一起游泳，钓鱼。）

　　2) In the days of Queen Victoria, the British colony expanded rapidly.

　　（在维多利亚女王时代，英国殖民地迅速扩张。）

　　3) He has experienced a lot of hardships in his days.（他一生中吃了许多苦。）

　　crew是一个集合名词，指"全体船员"，后面的谓语动词可以用单数也可以用复数，此句中谓语动词用的是复数were，因为从句子中可以推断出是许多vessels（船）上的船员。Sometimes they were.句子中省略becalmed。