两道语法题

1.Affording strategic proximity to the Strait of Gibraltar, Morocco was also of interest to the French throughout the first half of the twentieth century because they assumed that if they did not hold it, their grip on Algeria was always insecure.

B without it their grip on Algeria would never be secure

E never would their grip on Algeria be secure if they did not hold it.

答案是B，可我不太明白E为什么不对，是不是因为E用了强调句改变了句意。

2. When drive-ins were at the height of their popularity in the late 1950's, some 4,000existed in the united States, but today there are less than one-quarter that many.

A there are less than one-quarter that many

B there are fewer than one-quarter as mny

C.there are fewer than one-quarter of that amount

D the number is less than one-quarter the amount

E it is less than one-quarter of that amount

答案是C，我选D。有没有一种说法是人数比较用fewer，其他都用less？如果是这样的话，C中似乎是fewer people 与amount比，逻辑上说不过去，而且D为什么不对呢？

１．Ｅ不对，assumed 和 if 重复

２．Ｄ中少了of

2中D确实少了of

但C中fewer修饰人吧，也就是fewer people，那后面怎么能根数字呢

就好比fewer people than three，觉得怪怪的

请大家指点

upupupupupuupupupuup

1. according OG11:inverted word order is awkward and confusing; it could refer to either Morocco or Algeria

2. confused.     maybe one-quarter, which normally is "one/a quarter", makes the meaning different.

one-quarter could be Plural??

D:the number is less than one-quarter Of the amount

where are NNs