ChaseDream

标题: 请教og-252 [打印本页]

作者: kathy8446    时间: 2005-11-6 01:12
标题: 请教og-252

OG-252



   Three out of every four automobile owners in the United States also own a bicycle.


(A)  Three out of every four automobile owners in the United States also own a bicycle.


(B)   Out of every four, three automobile owners in the United States also owns a bicycle.


(C)  Bicycles are owned by three out of every four owners of automobiles in the United States.


(D)  In the United States, three out of every four automobile owners owns bicycles.


(E)   Out of every four owners of automobiles in the United States, bicycles are also owned by three.



A, the best choice, is concise, idiomatic, and maintains subject-verb agreement. In B, Out of every four, three is unidiomatic. The singular verb owns does not agree with its plural subject, three ... owners. The passive construction in C (Bicycles are owned by) is cumbersome and does not contribute meaningfully to the sentence. The shift to plural Bicycles detracts from clarity by suggesting that multiple bicycles are owned by each person in question. In D, the singular owns does not agree with its plural subject three... owners. Furthermore, the plural bicycles detracts from clarity by suggesting that multiple bicycles are owned by each person in question. In E, the phrase beginning Out of every four ... cannot properly modify bicycles, and the passive construction (bicycles are also owned) is awkward and does not contribute meaningfully to the sentence. The plural nouns bicycles and automobiles suggest imprecisely that each person owns more than one of each.




黄色部分提到用复数会存在是不是每人只拥有一辆车的问题。但是句子简化下就是:Three out of four owners own a bicycle. 这样会否产生3个人只有1辆车的歧义?


作者: harlequin    时间: 2005-12-8 21:07
UP!
作者: running    时间: 2005-12-8 23:47

out of :From among:表示从…中:
那么:Three out of four owners own a bicycle


就是说四个人中就有有三人拥有一辆自行车。我们汉语这么说也没有问题吧!?






欢迎光临 ChaseDream (https://forum.chasedream.com/) Powered by Discuz! X3.3