prep1-24关于lower和less的选择求教！版主来看看啊

Employment costs rose 2.8 percent in the 12 months that ended in September, slightly less than they did in the year that ended in the previous quarter.

(A) less than they did

(B) less than it did

(C) less than they were

(D) lower than

(E) lower than they were

答案是A.解释说less做副词修饰rose.

可是如果理解成lower修饰costs，语义上讲也是可以的啊。

所以把E改为lower that they did是不是就对了。

NN来给讲讲吧。

1. 如果你理解为lower修饰costs，那么lower就是形容词性，只能跟系动词搭配做表语，而不能跟did或者说其对应的rose搭配。

2. 其实细究起来lower其实也有副词性，但只能指“更低”的状态。比如可以说

The costs are lower. （adj.) 或者 I bent lower.  I speak lower. (adv.)

但不能说 The costs rose low. （逻辑含义上动词和low矛盾。）