precede
/ prɪˈsiːd; prɪˋsid/ v 1. [I, Tn] come or go before (sth) in time, order, rank, etc
（在时间﹑ 顺序﹑ 行列等上）在（某事物）之前; 先於（某事物）:
The Mayor entered,
preceded by members of the council.
市政会的委员们入场後, 市长也入场了.
* This point has been dealt with in the preceding paragraph.
这一点在前面一段里已经交代过了.
* the days that preceded the
final catastrophe
大祸即将临头的那些日子. 2. [Tn.pr] ~ sth with sth say sth before sth 在讲某话之前先讲某话;
在讲…前加上…:
She preceded her speech with a vote of thanks
to the committee.
她发表讲话以前先提议向全体委员表示感谢.
be preceded by
前面是， 以…为先导（直译的话好像应该是 “被…领先”？）
eg:
1. His resignation was preceded by weeks of speculation.
在他辞职前，有关的猜测已持续了几个星期。
2. We were preceded by our guide.
我们跟着向导走。
