independent of/from 的区别是

以下是引用gemj在2003-9-24 15:52:00的发言：
B中的a type developed independently from a common ancestor of mammals意思是这个type的演化与a common ancestor of mammals完全没有关系，完全是两回事。
C中的a type whose development was independent of a common ancestor 的意思正好相反。C是说这个type的演化独立于the main stem of mammalian evolution（developed independently of the main stem of mammalian evolution，注意这里ETS用的是developed independently of），但未必就与a common ancestor完全没有关系，相反，这个句子的隐含之意是它（TYPE）是从这个共同的祖先演化而来（descended from a common ancestor）。总之，independent of表达的意思是A与B兄弟俩本是同根生，而后，就各奔东西，各自发展去了。

BTW，descended作动词时后面跟from。而其名词descendent后面跟of。LZM对这个词的解释是错误的。

关于independently from与independently of的区别，再请看下面的例子，细心体会！

18. The author mentions the results of flotation experiments on plant seeds (lines 10-12) most probably in order to
(A) support the claim that the distribution of plants in Hawaii is the result of the long-distance dispersal of seeds
(B) lend credibility to the thesis that air currents provide a method of transport for plant seeds to Hawaii
(C) suggest that the long-distance dispersal of seeds is a process that requires long periods of time
(D) challenge the claim that ocean currents are responsible for the transport of plant seeds to Hawaii
(E) refute the claim that Hawaiian flora evolved independently from flora in other parts of the world
23. Which one of the following statements, if true, lends the most support to the view that language has an essential correspondence to things it describes?
(A) The categories of physical objects employed by one language correspond remarkably to the categories employed by another language that developed independently of the first.
(B) The categories of physical objects employed by one language correspond remarkably to the categories employed by another language that derives from the first.
(C) The categories of physical objects employed by speakers of a language correspond remarkably to the categories employed by other speakers of the same language.
(D) The sentence structures of languages in scientifically sophisticated societies vary little from language to language.
(E) Native speakers of many languages believe that the categories of physical objects employed by their language correspond to natural categories of objects in the world.