ear(-)shot

He is within ear(-)shot通常是“他在可以听到的距离以内”。偶尔是“他在可以被听到的距离以内”。He is out of ear(-)shot通常是“他在可以听到的距离以外”。偶尔是“他在可以被听到的距离以外”。比较下面每组里的两句：

• As soon as he came within ear(-)shot, we shouted to him.
  As soon as he came within ear(-)shot, he shouted to us.
• As he was now out of ear(-)shot, we ceased to shout.
  As he was now out of ear(-)shot, he ceased to shout to us.

within ear(-)shot of和out of ear(-)shot of也有两个不同的意思。例如：

• The hall was so crowded that we could not even get within ear(-)shot of the speaker.(因为人多而挤不上去)
  The hall was so crowded that the speaker was even hardly withinear(-)shot of the people in the third row.
• The hall was so crowded that we found ourselves out of ear(-)shot of the speaker.
  The hall was so crowded that the speaker found himself out ofear(-)shot even of the people in the third row.

上面所举的例子都指人的声音，He is within ear(-)shot和He is out of ear(-)shot等句往往兼指可以听和可以被听到，只能发出声音而没有听觉的东西（例如钟和乐队）不可能within ear(-)shot或out of ear(-)shot，如不可说：

• The bell is within ear(-)shot.
• The bell is within ear(-)shot of the class.
• The band is out of ear(-)shot.
• The band is out of ear(-)shot of the people outside the room.

但可以说：

• The class is within ear(-)shot of the bell.
• The people outside the room are out of ear(-)shot of the band.