求教一道困绕已久的主谓一致题目

qiqi_cola

Three out of every four automobile owners in the United States also own a bicycle.

我觉的这句话是有问题的， 在理解的应该是3/4的有汽车的美国人也有自行车。

这句话用OWN，那我们暂且承认主语是THREE 但后面又是A BICYCLE。  

NN分析一下这个句子的主语和为什么用a  bicycle.

braveMBA

FROM OG：
Furthermore, the plural bicycles detracts from clarity by suggesting that multiple bicycles are owned by each person in question. In E, the phrase beginning Out of every four ... cannot properly modify bicycles, and the passive construction (bicycles are also owned) is awkward and does not contribute meaningfully to the sentence. The plural nouns bicycles and automobiles suggest imprecisely that each person owns more than one of each.

我明白你的问题，我觉得主要还是要看意思的表达，因为其想表达的意思是“拥有一辆自行车”，这是一个特指的概念，但是的确并不一定适用于所有的逻辑意思表达情况。例如：We all have dreams. 和we all have a dream是不同的意思。

dullpen

OGSC 167 应该对你有启发。
Neanderthals had a vocal tract resembling an ape's and so were probably without language, a shortcoming that may explain why they were supplanted by our own species.

注意：单数名词a vocal tract 的物主是复数的Neanderthals。