At first
起初───at first;地───land
At first, neither man could speak.───开始两个人都不能说。
At first I scoffed at the notion.───刚开始时我对那种想法嗤之以鼻。
I didn't like the job much at first.───起初我并不很喜欢这个工作。
This disease later came to be known as AIDS, but at first it had no name and puzzled everyone, including the doctors.───后来，这种疾病开始被称为爱滋病（AIDS），但是起初它没有名字而且困扰著每一个人，包括医生也迷惑不解。
He wondered if she had been afraid at first, going up in that little wicker basket with the hills falling away.───他猜想她起初应该很害怕吧，毕竟，他们站在藤条制的狭小篮子里看着群山渐渐缩小。
That might be fine at first, but eventually he's going to have to understand that adulthood doesn't come with an allowance.───这种方法起初看起来很好，但他最终不得不明白成人以后是没人给他零用钱的。
At first, he was really scared.
He was cross at first, but later he relented.
At first I scoffed at the notion.
The children, at first shy, soon lost their inhibitions.
Under interrogation, he refused to say anything at first.