number, numbers: 492,530,550,709,712,764,829,908,924, - ChaseDream

492,Los Angeles has a higher number of family dwellings per capita than any large city.

(D) higher numbers of family dwellings per capita than do other large cities

(E) a high per capita number of family dwellings, more than does any other large city

我们可以说B的any前面少了一个does，但是D为什么错？从后面的例子看来,high numbers of sth应该是可以的,那么higher numbers也应该可以.

530, New Jersey’s is one of the five highest number of reported cases of Lyme disease in the United States.

550, Once common throughout the Western plains, black-footed ferrets are thought to have declined in number as a result of the poisoning of prairie dogs, their prey.

(A) black-footed ferrets are thought to have declined in number as==〉为什么不用number？

(D) that black-footed ferrets have declined in their numbers is thought to be

这里也是符合常识,有numbers的选项是错的。但和764，908对比,又迷糊了。

709, The Coast Guard recently redesigned channel markers in the Chesapeake Bay to accommodate large numbers of ospreys, whose huge nests formerly obstructed the lights.

712, The commission acknowledged that no amount of money or staff members can ensure the safety of people who live in the vicinity of a nuclear plant, but it approved the installation because it believed that all reasonable precautions had been taken.

这个numbers为什么不行？C如果改为large numbers of staff members行不行？

764, The gyrfalcon, an Arctic bird of prey, has survived a close brush with extinction; its numbers are now five times greater than when the use of DDT was sharply restricted in the early 1970’s.

829, The speculative fever of the Roaring Twenties infected rich and poor alike; vast quantities of people were dangerously overextended, credit was absurdly easy to obtain, and most brokerage houses required only ten percent cash for stocks bought on “margin.”

(A) rich and poor alike; vast quantities of people were dangerously overextended

(B) both rich and poor alike; large amounts of people dangerously overextended themselves

(D) both rich and poor alike; vast amounts of people dangerously overextended themselves

(E) both rich and poor; great quantities of people were dangerously overextended

(A) the possibility of adding worker incentives was raised by the board of directors at its quarterly meeting

(B) the addition of worker incentives was raised as a possibility by the board of directors at its quarterly meeting

(D) the board of directors raised at its quarterly meeting the possibility of worker incentives being added

(E) the board of directors, at its quarterly meeting, raised the possibility of adding worker incentives

924 , When the technique known as gene-splicing was invented in the early 1970’s, it was feared that scientists might inadvertently create an “Andromeda strain,” a microbe never before seen on Earth that might escape from the laboratory and it would kill vast numbers of humans who would have no natural defenses against it.

(A) it would kill vast numbers of humans who would have no natural defenses against it

(B) it might kill vast numbers of humans with no natural defenses against it

(D) kill vast numbers of humans who have no natural defenses against them

492,709,829,924: a high/large/great/vast number of+sth或high/large/great/vast numbers of +sth

我认为：550 decline in number/numbers; 712 numbers of staff; 764 it numbers/number 908 in production numbers/number都可以

改正一下：550 decline in number我认为这里number是不可数名词，不能用numbers

492,Los Angeles has a higher number of family dwellings per capita than any large city.

(D) higher numbers of family dwellings per capita than do other large cities（C）

(E) a high per capita number of family dwellings, more than does any other large city

D为什么错？从后面的例子看来,high numbers of sth应该是可以的,那么higher numbers也应该可以.

550, Once common throughout the Western plains, black-footed ferrets are thought to have declined in number as a result of the poisoning of prairie dogs, their prey.

(A) black-footed ferrets are thought to have declined in number as==〉为什么不用number？

(D) that black-footed ferrets have declined in their numbers is thought to be（A）

这里也是符合常识,有numbers的选项是错的。但和764，908对比,又迷糊了。longman的例句也有：They were printed in limited numbers

908, Upset by the recent downturn in production numbers during the first half of the year, the possibility of adding worker incentives was raised by the board of directors at its quarterly meeting.
(A) the possibility of adding worker incentives was raised by the board of directors at its quarterly meeting
(B) the addition of worker incentives was raised as a possibility by the board of directors at its quarterly meeting
(C) added worker incentives was raised by the board of directors at its quarterly meeting as a possibility
(D) the board of directors raised at its quarterly meeting the possibility of worker incentives being added（E）
(E) the board of directors, at its quarterly meeting, raised the possibility of adding worker incentives
为什么这里用numbers而不用number？什么意思？

以下是引用tianwan在2004-4-4 0:27:00的发言：

把4个有问题的放在一起：

492,Los Angeles has a higher number of family dwellings per capita than any large city.

(A) a higher number of family dwellings per capita than any large city

(B) higher numbers of family dwellings per capita than any other large city

(D) higher numbers of family dwellings per capita than do other large cities（C）

(E) a high per capita number of family dwellings, more than does any other large city

D为什么错？从后面的例子看来,high numbers of sth应该是可以的,那么higher numbers也应该可以.

492还有问题吗？？D的问题是any other city和other cities的范围不一样．

550, Once common throughout the Western plains, black-footed ferrets are thought to have declined in number as a result of the poisoning of prairie dogs, their prey.

(A) black-footed ferrets are thought to have declined in number as==〉为什么不用number？

(B) it is thought that the decline in number of black-footed ferrets is

(D) that black-footed ferrets have declined in their numbers is thought to be（A）

(E) the numbers of the black-footed ferret are thought to have declined as

这里也是符合常识,有numbers的选项是错的。但和764，908对比,又迷糊了。longman的例句也有：They were printed in limited numbers

这个题的问题是逻辑主语；觉得numbers没错

(A) extinction; its numbers are now five times greater than

(B) extinction; its numbers are now five times more than

(D) extinction, now with fivefold the numbers they had（A）

(E) extinction, now with numbers five times greater than

为什么这里用numbers，而不是number。

我觉得都可以

908, Upset by the recent downturn in production numbers during the first half of the year, the possibility of adding worker incentives was raised by the board of directors at its quarterly meeting.(A) the possibility of adding worker incentives was raised by the board of directors at its quarterly meeting(B) the addition of worker incentives was raised as a possibility by the board of directors at its quarterly meeting(C) added worker incentives was raised by the board of directors at its quarterly meeting as a possibility(D) the board of directors raised at its quarterly meeting the possibility of worker incentives being added（E）
(E) the board of directors, at its quarterly meeting, raised the possibility of adding worker incentives
为什么这里用numbers而不用number？什么意思？

530, New Jersey’s is one of the five highest number of reported cases of Lyme disease in the United States.

这里的five highest numbers of reported cases 中的numbers 是什么意思?为什么不用number呢? 这题具体怎么翻译呢?看过以前的帖子,不是很明白.....

Los Angeles has a higher number of family dwellings per capita than any large city.

(D) higher numbers of family dwellings per capita than do other large cities（C）

(E) a high per capita number of family dwellings, more than does any other large city

Choice A is illogical because it implies that Los Angeles is not a large city. Choice B emends this problem by specifying any other large city, but the plural numbers is incorrect in that there is only a single number of such dwellings. Choice C is best. The plural numbers is again wrong in choice D, which in addition fails to establish that Los Angeles exceeds all other large cities in family dwellings per capita. Choice E is wordy and very awkward. This question is of middle difficulty.

这题答案我明白。就是看不懂红线部分ETS的解释是什么意思？有人能帮忙解释一下吗？谢谢。

16. Los Angeles has a higher number of family dwellings per capita than any large city.

(C) a higher number of family dwellings per capita than does any other large city----比较 / a number of family dwellings 一个family dwellings的数目 /a large number of , a smaller number of

(D) higher numbers of family dwellings per capita than do other large cities（C）

(E) a high per capita number of family dwellings, more than does any other large city

这里a higher number of family dwellings的比较,是理解成 LA 比其他城市有更多的dwellings,还是理解成LA的dwellings的数目比其他城市的高? 不知道我有没有表述清楚意思.

我原先作题时一直是理解成 a number of family dwellings(很多family dwellings), number前加个higher,表示更多…..可看了OG红线的解释后,OG这里好象不是把a number of family dwellings理解成很多family dwellings,而是理解成一个关于family dwellings的数目.那么是不是这里的比较是在比较number的高低? 那么这里可能有歧义吗? A number of dwellings可能是很多dwellings,也可能是一个关于dwellings的数目? 晕了……

我还有一个问题,以前说a number of people中心词是people, 那是因为我们把它理解成"很多 people". 可如果理解成"一个关于people的数目"的话,那中心词就该是number了.不是吗? 这该怎么区分呢?

可我还是困惑..我原来也一直是向你那么理解a number of people的.

16. Los Angeles has a higher number of family dwellings per capita than any large city.

(D) higher numbers of family dwellings per capita than do other large cities（C）

(E) a high per capita number of family dwellings, more than does any other large city

我觉得这里ETS显然是把a higher number of family dwellings解释成一个关于dwellings的number了(a single number of such dwellings).ETS并没把它解释成是很多的dwellings呀.

a higher number of family dwellings 的含义应该是:更多的family dwellings还是family dwellings的数目更高呢?这两个含义的中心词应该是不同的吧? 我是不是在钻牛角尖了?

我觉得中心词是family dwellings, 表示数量时用 a large number of dwellings。这一题的解释看起来有道理，但是你看看我在这个帖子里的9个例子，好像ETS在用力扇自己耳光。因为ETS也用large numbers, vast numbers表示大量的。所以按照这9个例子， a large number of 和large numbers of 都应该可以。可是这个解释又粉碎了这个结论。疑惑啊！

你没有在钻牛角尖，说明你看到了问题。实际上我提这个关于number和numbers的问题就是觉得ETS的用法不清楚，但是我查不到numbers的用法说明。请NN帮助解答。

the numbers
a) information about something that is shown using numbers
Chris, have you got the numbers yet?
b) an illegal game in the US in which people risk money on the appearance of a combination of numbers in a newspaper
playing the numbers
14
by numbers
if you do something by numbers, you do it in a basic way by following a set of simple instructions - used to show disapproval
The last thing we want is teaching by numbers

▶AMOUNT◀
[uncountable and countable]an amount of something that can be counted
ￚsynonym quantity
the number of something
The number of cars on our roads rose dramatically last year.
a number of something
We have been friends for a number of years.
a large/small/significant/growing etc number of something Doctors believe only a tiny number of people are at risk.The lake produces a good number of (=a lot of) salmon each season.There was an unusually high number of entries in the competition.They were printed in limited numbers .Young people have been leaving the countryside in large numbers for urban areas.Today’s case brings the number of successful prosecutions in the region to (=makes the number rise to) thirty-four.There could be any number of (=many) reasons why she's late.The condors have dwindled to an estimated sixty in number .

呵呵,我也不是很肯定,只是觉得说某物的数量应该是number, 像los angeles这题, a larger numer of ... than..其实是两个number的比较, 基本指的还是 a number (this number is larger/greater than the other number..) 还有另一题decline in number

至于这一题908, Upset by the recent downturn in production numbers during the first half of the year, the possibility of adding worker incentives was raised by the board of directors at its quarterly meeting. 我想first half of the year里的production number大概不止一个, 因为只有多个才可以看出recent downturn, 所以用复数

arctic bird那题, 我觉得理由可能是arctic bird的分布不止一处, 考虑到DDT使用前后各处的数量,所以用了numbers. 但是这个解释我自己不很肯定,确切的说是在默认ets认真考虑了number和numbers区别而选择了后者的前提上的, (好在这题从解题角度比较好说,因为反正都用numbers. 不好意思,偶比较赖,包涵

1. a higher number of family dwellings per capita than does any other large city
2. black-footed ferrets are thought to have declined in number as
这里正如ETS所说:只有一个关于family dwellings 的数量,一个black-footed ferrets 的数量,此时应把number看为一个整体概念

3. large numbers of ospreys, whose huge nests formerly obstructed the lights.
6 rich and poor alike; great numbers of people were dangerously overextended
8. kill vast numbers of humans who would have no natural defenses against it
这里的几句是一个用法,但large numbers /great numbers / vast numbers 并不是表many的含义,表many时只用
a high/ large/great/vast number
这里只能说重在强调很大的数量

4. neither vast amounts of money nor a large staff
改为large numbers of staff members是可以说通的,但太复杂,而且表达不准确,这里重心还是应该落在money 和staff上

7. Upset by the recent downturn in production numbers during the first half of the year
5. extinction; its numbers are now five times greater than
这里区别与1.2. 应将number细化,从downturn可以看出是不只一个的生产量

谢谢各位的精彩论述。numbers可以用于表示多种类或多群，这个偶现在明白了。

1，large/high/vast numbers of和a large/high/vast number of是不是意思不一样？有什么区别，可不可以互相代替。不都是许多，大量的意思吗？

2，在《新英汉词典》上有：“numbers(或a large number of) people 很多人”，说明numbers of和a large number of可以互相替换。又晕了。

不过我同样困惑着上面tianwan提出的a large number of 和high numbers of 能否替换的问题。

不过我又看了一遍所有的题,确实如pumpkin mm说的,每题都可以从别的角度去选出正确答案的.只是总结到这个语法点的时候晕了......

tianwan兄，我觉得那些字典不是ETS出的，可能未必针对ETS的题目

好象从没遇见什么理解上的困难。。。（学而不究的典型，惭愧）

同样疑惑的一个问题，OG中有这样的用法：虽然选项是可以选出，但是numbers的用法不是特别明白。顶这个帖子，请教大家，对number/numbers是否有新说法？

48. The golden crab of the Gulf of Mexico has not been fished commercially in great numbers, primarily on account of living at great depths-- 2,500 to 3,000 feet down.

As used in choices A, B, and D, the phrases on account
of and because of are unidiomatic; because, which appears in C and E, is preferable here since because can introduce a complete subordinate clause explaining the reason why the golden crab has not been fished extensively.
B and E also produce agreement errors by using the plural pronouns their and they to refer to the singular noun crab. Choice D, like A, fails to provide a noun or pronoun to perform the action of living, but even with its the phrases would be more awkward and less clear than it lives. C, which uses because and it as the singular subject of a clause, is the best choice

251. The gyrfalcon, an Arctic bird of prey, has survived a close brush with extinction; its numbers are now five times greater than when the use of DDT was sharply restricted in the early 1970's. .

A, the best choice, uses a singular pronoun, its, to refer to the singular antecedent The gyrfalcon, and it properly uses the construction its numbers are now ... greater than.
In B, the construction its numbers are ... more is not idiomatic: there are more birds, but not more numbers. Choices C and D use a plural pronoun, their or they, to refer to a grammatically singular antecedent, The gyrfalcon. Choices D and E wrongly use a phrase introduced by now with to modify The gyrfalcon. In both choices, the phrase confusingly seems to parallel with extinction; a new clause with a present tense verb is needed to state what the gyrfalcon's numbers are now