Question

新概念2十四课的问题哦

I had an amusing experience last year. After I had left a small village in the south of France, I drove on to the next town. On the way, a young man waved to me. I stopped and he asked me for a lift. As soon as he had got into the car, I said good morning to him in French and he replied in the same language. Apart from a few words, I do not know any French at all. Neither of us spoke during the journey. I had nearly reached the town, when the young man suddenly said, very slowly, "Do you speak English?' As I soon learnt, he was English himself!'
这个故事从开头就用的是过去式，说明事情都是发生在过去。为啥会有I do not know any French at all.这个一般现在时？难道是因为他到现在也不会？

Answer 1

故事是发生在过去，但是写文章的时候，作者还是不会法语。
所以在这篇文章里用I do not know any French at all.
这说明作者从前一点法语都不会，到他写这篇文章的时候，还是不会。

如果要表明他过去不会，现在会了的话，就要用过去式了。
那就应该是I didn't know .......