[已解决]NN请进——代词在句子开头时的指代问题

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代词放在句子开头，如何确定其指代对象？是像verbing和preposition放在开头一样就近指代，还是按照逻辑意思指代？

或许可以按照逻辑意思指代：
今天做大全遇到了这样一道题：

Even though its per capita food supply hardly increased during two decades, stringent rationing and planned distribution have allowed the People’s Republic of China to ensure nutritional levels of 2,000 calories per person per day for its population.

(A) Even though its per capita food supply hardly increased during

(B) Even though its per capita food supply has hardly increased in

(C) Despite its per capita food supply hardly increasing over

(D) Despite there being hardly any increase in its per capita food supply during

(E) Although there is hardly any increase in per capita food supply for

OA是B，its指代的是后面的the People's Republic of China，而不是stringent rationing and planned distribution。

这说明，如果代词放在句子开头，指代考虑逻辑意思。

或许又可以按照就近指代：

看OG的一道题：

The cactus is now heavily plundered in deserts in the southwestern United States, so much that enforcement agencies in five states have created special squads for its protection.

A. The cactus is now heavily plundered in deserts in the southwestern United States, so much that enforcement agencies in five states have created special squads for its protection.

B. The cactus is now heavily plundered in deserts in the southwestern United States, so much so that special squads have been created by law enforcement agencies in five states for protecting them.

C. The cactus is now so heavily plundered in deserts in the southwestern United States that enforcement agencies in five states have created special squads to protect it.

D. Because they are now so heavily plundered in deserts in the southwestern United States, enforcement agencies in five states have created special squads to protect cacti.

E. Because they are now so heavily plundered in the southwestern United States, special squads have been created by enforcement agencies in five states for the protection of cacti.

OA是C，错误答案D和E的解释是一样的：

The phrase they are now so heavily plundered in the southwestern United States is almost certainly intended to refer to cacti, but grammatically it refers to enforcement agencies in five states instead.
其中，D的enforcement agencies in five states对于they来说是就近的。

但问题是，如果按照就近来解释，E中they指代的却不是special squads而是enforcement agencies in five states，这是为什么？因为句式的问题吗？

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敦敦酱 发表于 2022-3-14 20:06
第一道题未划线部分的them必然是指代hazardous substances. 但这道应该至少是2010年之前的题了，它真的在考 ...

同意！               

敦敦酱

第一道题未划线部分的them必然是指代hazardous substances. 但这道应该至少是2010年之前的题了，它真的在考idioms而且只考idioms。。。现在的gmac已经不会要你仅仅只能通过idiom来排除错误选项了。（理论上）
因为英语里有超过25000个idioms组合，没有人能够记住那么多，而且idioms随着英语的进步很多以前不能用的现在也有争议了。think of something to be...和think of something as...很多现代学者就认为两个都能用。所以idioms也是优先级很低的一个排除法。
第二题要注意从句has [it] been established 里面的 it 指代的是整个 "illness is caused by a toxin....conditions"这个clause，这个idea，而不是主句里的quail。这个题没考，但是千万注意。

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谢谢“敦敦酱”的解答，今天整理了代词放在开头，但是并不指代主句主语的例子，分享给大家，可以体会一下！

1.Consumers may not think of household cleaning products to be hazardous substances, but many of them can be harmful to health, especially if they are used improperly.
(A) Consumers may not think of household cleaning products to be
(B) Consumers may not think of household cleaning products being
(C) A consumer may not think of their household cleaning products being
(D) A consumer may not think of household cleaning products as
(E) Household cleaning products may not be thought of, by consumers, as
（我有相信自己选择了E而忽视正确答案的理由是，我认为后面的them应当指代主语，所以把主语调整为household cleaning products。）

2.Europeans have long known that eating quail sometimes makes the eater ill, but only recently has it been established that the illness is caused by a toxin present in the quail’s body only under certain conditions.
(A) Europeans have long known that eating quail sometimes makes
(B) Europeans have long known quail eating is sometimes able to make
(C) Eating quail has long been known to Europeans to sometimes make
(D) It has long been known to Europeans that quail eating will sometimes make
(E) It has long been known to Europeans that quail, when it is eaten, has sometimes made

3.Even though its per capita food supply hardly increased during two decades, stringent rationing and planned distribution have allowed the People’s Republic of China to ensure nutritional levels of 2,000 calories per person per day for its population.
(A) Even though its per capita food supply hardly increased during
(B) Even though its per capita food supply has hardly increased in
(C) Despite its per capita food supply hardly increasing over
(D) Despite there being hardly any increase in its per capita food supply during
(E) Although there is hardly any increase in per capita food supply for

总结：从句的代词虽然优先指代主句主语，但是也可以指代主句的宾语，这是一个不绝对的split，最好不要优先看它。

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敦敦酱 发表于 2022-3-14 10:10
首先代词是否正确和远近基本无关。你这个问题可以从两个方面解答，但是无论哪一种，都要先理解句子想表达的 ...

非常感谢！今天我也整理了大全一些代词指代落在宾语上的正确答案，虽然并不是最佳，但的确是最优而且是GMAC喜欢的考法，我想还有许多preferences是我没发现的，今后继续注意！

敦敦酱

首先代词是否正确和远近基本无关。你这个问题可以从两个方面解答，但是无论哪一种，都要先理解句子想表达的意思。

#1. Just ask yourself, “what does “they” logically stands for? What [are] being plundered in the dessert?” the squads? The agencies? NO! Only the cacti conveys a logical subject. Now, cacti is singular and they is plural.

这是一个典型的mismatch between grammar and logic. They本来应该指代单数的cacti，但很明显单复数形式不匹配。

#2. Whenever we get a modifier in the start of the sentence, it MUST modify the subject, and 95% of the time the subject is the first noun of what follows the comma. 我给你个例子，满足逻辑语法匹配，但是仍然不是很被老头们喜爱的用法。

Because [it] is convenient and palatable, college students categorize [pizza] as the staple of their diet.

这句话里面没有任何的pronoun ambiguity，前面的it肯定是指代pizza，都是单数形式没有问题，逻辑上也没有问题。我不能100%说这句话如果出现在SC中一定是错的，就比如你这个帖子第一个题，那个题其实正确率很低而且在老外的论坛上也有很大争议。。。但如果你看到下面这个选项：

Because it is convenient and palatable, pizza is categorized as the staple of diet among college students.

只要这句话没有其他更严重的问题，一定选这个。

然后另外说一个，千万不要被一些人忽悠什么被动不如主动。我可以很负责任的说主动语气本身并没有比被动语气更好。在2010年之前，GMAC确实有些favor主动语气，但现在不是了。网上很多题目都是0几年的，所以容易错误引导你觉得被动不如主动。。。

建议养成一个好习惯，就是掌握gmac老头对于错误的严重性做一个先后顺序，先把那些最严重的不能被容忍的问题排除掉，剩下的选项或许仍然不是“那么正确”, 但这个就是最能被接受的。大致排序如下：

Context/meaning ambiguity > subject-verb agreement = singular/plural agreement >句子重心被转移> …… > 时态的使用>  …… > pronoun’s grammatical ambiguity = passive vs active tone

是的。。。有那么一小部分题目时态的模糊都可以被容忍，但也是应该在你纠结代词语法之前思考的问题。



Anyway, keep in mind that SC merely tests grammar, and this is especially true nowadays, because grammar errors are just too easy to eliminate. So always go into the meaning/context of the sentence.

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敦敦酱 发表于 2022-3-14 00:06
首先在做sc的时候记住一个非常关键的的rule ：pronoun ambiguity is not an absolute rule.

80%以上的正确 ...

谢谢！我以后努力避免类似的split，但关于上面那道题的OG解释我还是有不理解，D和E的句式其实是类似的，代词在前，指代词在后，指代词一个扮演主语一个扮演宾语，按理来说E指代的应该也是主语special squads，解释说they指代enforcement agencies in five states，朋友可以解释一下吗?

敦敦酱

首先在做sc的时候记住一个非常关键的的rule ：pronoun ambiguity is not an absolute rule.

80%以上的正确答案中的代词都是technically模糊的。如果你试图从代词入手去排除，基本很难提分。in fact, there are almost always worse problems in an option for you to eliminate...
退一步讲，就算你真的想扣代词，代词也和他所处的位置无关，多远和多近都基本不影响代词的正确性。举两个例子你就懂了。

I took the pizza out of the box and put it in the oven.
I took the pizza out of the box and threw it into the recycling bin.
我可以很负责任的告诉你两句话都是对的。两句话都有代词it，而且it用技术上来是模糊的。但是！通过句意我们都知道it在两句话里分别代表什么。the context is obvious and clear.
现在给你举一个代词错误的句子.

I bought a new cellphone and a laptop, and put it onto the shelf.
这个就是错的。因为句意出现了模糊，it通过句意无法判断是指代cellphone还是laptop，因为逻辑上手机和电脑都可以放在架子上。代词是否正确和距离他本来应该指代的名词的距离无关。
再给你一个错误的示范。
I took the pizza out of the box and put them into the oven.
这里代词出现了另一个不能被允许的错误，很明显，them本来应该指代pizza，但是单复数不一致。
总结来说代词的使用要满足两点。（由于英语是母语所以只能用英语准确描述）
1. the context must be obvious and logical.
2. the pronoun is parallel to the intended noun.
但真的真的，只有你实在没办法通过其他方式排除错误答案的时候，才去找代词的问题。因为这些老头真的对代词模糊的容忍度很高。

source: thursday with ron : pronoun amgibuity