一道真题供讨论

tianwan

以下是引用philikittist在2004-5-29 20:23:00的发言：

嗯？咱俩不矛盾呀？我也是说resolution＝决心时不可数。偶用的是Contemporary American English, 小字典，有个例句 a resolution to the problems

不好意思，偶说错了，resolution=solution和determination时 不可数，作decision和promise时可数。

tony的意思很有见地。那么在这一句里，resolution的意思应该是什么？是解决方法，还是决议？

X_TonY_X

我认为这里如果要翻的苛一点的话, 对于court 对应的resolution在题目里应该作"判决", "决议"不好, 因为通常用于立法机构, 比如国会adopt a resolution; 而对于mediator, 可能翻作"解决方案"更好. 当然, "判决"本身就给出了一个解决方案.

X_TonY_X

实际上这道题就是在比较court 和 mediator的各个方面:

法庭可能要公开庭审, mediator 在自己家里接见各老大.

法庭收3%手续费裁判费, mediator 收2%保护费就好.

法庭的老头判决慢又烦, mediator把大家拉到一起猜个拳就好.

tianwan

Corporations have found a resonably quick resolution of disputes, confidentiality, and dramatically reduced costs are the advantages of settling differences privately by using mediators rather than the courts.
(C)that dramatically reduced costs, confidentiality, and resonably quick resolution of disputes
(D)that confidentiality, dramatically reduced costs, and a resonably quick resolution of disputes
从并列角度看，D比C好，没有dramatically reduced 的范围波及confidentiality的歧义。这个resolution如果做解决方案讲只能是不可数，看起来是不能用a的。

刚才又查了语法书，发现不可数抽象名词也可以与（a加定语）连用，在有些时候是可以的。如a great significance, a good digestion，a willingness to learn.等等 《高级英语语法》 薄冰 P32。

所以我所纠缠的这个a，嘿嘿，只不过是ETS的一个陷阱。可这种语法点谁会去注意啊？

[此贴子已经被作者于2004-5-29 22:22:59编辑过]

Snazzy

B

1, Discard A and E.

2, C is no good as there is no reason why 'a' is used, considering parallelism.

3, B has perfect parallelism: A of B//C of D; reduction// resoluation; costs/disputes

X_TonY_X

晕, 前面写成CD有歧义了, D应该没有的, 就是这个a 是大家争议的焦点.

Snazzy

A is the first choice which should be eliminated as an object clause has to have 'that' in GMAT.

LES

以下是引用mariezhu在2004-5-28 18:43:00的发言：

关于这一点lesMM请看看这个帖子里的这段话:

A second point is to make sure that once you have chosen the kind of grammatical forms you want to make parallel, you structure them symmetrically. Remember that an initial article, preposition, auxiliary verb, or modifier will tend to govern all elements in the series unless it is repeated for each element. For example, if you set up a series of nouns with the first modified by an adjective, the reader will expect the adjective to modify the rest of the series as well. Thus you should say The building has new lighting, plumbing, and carpeting but not The building has new lighting, plumbing, and different carpeting. The same is true for articles: He brought the rod, reel, and bait. If you want to restrict a modifier to only one noun, repeat the article for each noun: He brought the light rod, the reel, and the bait.

marie mm，又研读了一遍红字部分，发现偶们的理解可能有偏差，先说说偶的理解：

如果你想将一个修饰语限制修饰某一个名词，那么所有名词前都要重复加冠词。
即：He brought the light rod, the reel, and the bait. 这里light 只修饰 rod。

如果将句子改成：
He brought the light rod, reel, and bait. 这里light同时修饰 rod, reel 和bait.

这一点可以从你那篇权威文章中得到印证。或者也可以看看下面这个例子：

107.       Downzoning, zoning that typically results in the reduction of housing density, allows for more open space in areas where little water or services exist.

(A) little water or services exist
(B) little water or services exists
(C) few services and little water exists
(D) there is little water or services available（E）
(E) there are few services and little available water

The adjective little modifies “mass nouns” (e.g., water), which refer to some undifferentiated quantity; the adjective few modifies “count nouns” (e.g., services), which refer to groups made up of distinct members that can be considered individually. Hence, choices A, B, and D are incorrect because little cannot properly modify services. Also, since water and services are being discussed as a pair, they should logically be treated as a compound subject requiring a plural verb; thus, the singular verbs exists (in B and C) and is (in D) are wrong. Choice E is best: the plural verb are is used, and few correctly modifies services.

hightligh部分说明 little 也是作用于services上的，但是由于services本身不可以被little修饰所以错。换句话话如果改成：little water or air就对了。

mariezhu

对啊,形容词的modifier是默认为修饰后面说有的elements的, 如果事实上不能修饰(如本题water和service一个可数一个不可数),就要给每个词分别指派一个modifier,所以就成了E, few services and little available water

weiyu

以下是引用mariezhu在2004-5-30 10:45:00的发言：
对啊,形容词的modifier是默认为修饰后面说有的elements的, 如果事实上不能修饰(如本题water和service一个可数一个不可数),就要给每个词分别指派一个modifier,所以就成了E, few services and little available water

在补充一道OG

19.   The commission acknowledged that no amount of money or staff members can ensure the safety of people who live in the vicinity of a nuclear plant, but it approved the installation because it believed that all reasonable precautions had been taken.

(A) no amount of money or staff members

(B) neither vast amounts of money nor staff members

(C) neither vast amounts of money nor numbers of staff members

(D) neither vast amounts of money nor a large staff（D）

(E) no matter how large the staff or how vast the amount of money

In choice A, amount of … staff members is incorrect; amount properly refers to an undifferentiated mass, as in the case of money. Choice B does not make clear whether vast amounts is supposed to describe money only or money and staff members, and in choice C it is not certain whether vast modifies amounts only or amounts and numbers. Choice D is best. Choice E cannot fit grammatically into the original sentence because it supplies no noun that can function as a subject for the verb can. This question is a little more difficult than the average.