新东方蓝皮p40第10题

vincentberyl

Because natural gas is composed mostly of methane, a simple hydrocarbon, vehicles powered by natural gas emit less of certain pollutants than the burning of gasoline or diesel fuel.
(A) less of certain pollutants than the burning of gasoline or diesel fuel
(B) fewer of certain pollutants than burning gasoline or diesel fuel do
(C) less of certain pollutants than gasoline or diesel fuel
(D) fewer of certain pollutants than does burning gasoline or diesel fuel
(E) less of certain pollutants than those burning gasoline or diesel fuel
答案为E
我知道只有E的比较对象对等，但是对于pollutants，为什么用less呢？

sayysong

这里指的是量，看作 less amount of certain pollutants，而不是污染物的种类 fewer certain pollutants.
另外，less可以做名词, less of, 好像没见过 fewer of 的用法，对于 fewer of 的用法持保留态度。