what引导的从句的谓语的单复数怎么决定？

flywood

UPUP

wanze

211. The period when the great painted caves at Lascaux and Altamira were occupied by Upper Paleolithic people has been established by carbon-14 dating, but what is much more difficult to determine are the reason for their decoration, the use to which primitive people put the caves, and the meaning of the magnificently depicted animals.

(A)  has been established by carbon-14 dating, but what is much more difficult to determine are

(B)  has been established by carbon-14 dating, but what is much more difficult to determine is

应用上面的理论,无法理解答案为什么是B不是A,the reason for their decoration, the use to which primitive people put the caves, and the meaning of the magnificently depicted animals.三个并列做主语,很显然主语用复数啊,NN们解答一下,看了一个小时,越看越糊涂.

i choose b, why not b???

flywood

怎么没有人告诉我,再UPUP

gmat700+

是很令人费解，帮你顶！

buddyk

以下是引用flywood在2004-7-28 3:39:00的发言：
怎么没有人告诉我,再UPUP

[此贴子已经被作者于2004-9-15 23:39:40编辑过]

wwwweng

省略？？

what is much more difficult ( one) to determine is

高手赐教

gmat700+

以下是引用wanze在2004-7-27 13:12:00的发言：

211. The period when the great painted caves at Lascaux and Altamira were occupied by Upper Paleolithic people has been established by carbon-14 dating, but what is much more difficult to determine are the reason for their decoration, the use to which primitive people put the caves, and the meaning of the magnificently depicted animals.

(A)  has been established by carbon-14 dating, but what is much more difficult to determine are

(B)  has been established by carbon-14 dating, but what is much more difficult to determine is

应用上面的理论,无法理解答案为什么是B不是A,the reason for their decoration, the use to which primitive people put the caves, and the meaning of the magnificently depicted animals.三个并列做主语,很显然主语用复数啊,NN们解答一下,看了一个小时,越看越糊涂.

i choose b, why not b???

哈，好像有点明白了。这道题要用排除法。A违背了LES说的 What is ……is…… 、What are……are的规则，what主语从句里面的谓语动词和整个句子的谓语动词单复数形式不一致，所以错。B就没这个问题。虽然我觉得两个谓语动词都用are会好一点，但是没有这个选项，只好选B了。

不知道能不能这样理解？为了想通这个问题，自己胡乱推测的。请NN们指教！

umclaire

When  what is the subject of a clause, it may be construed as singular or plural, depending on the sense. It is singular when taken as the equivalent of  that which or  the thing which,  as in  I see what seems  to be a dead tree;  and it is plural when it is taken as the equivalent of  those which or  the things which,  as in  He sometimes makes what seem  to be gestures of aloofness. ?  When a  what clause is itself the subject of a sentence, it may be construed as singular or plural, but the conditions governing this choice are somewhat more complicated. In general, a  what clause will be taken as a plural when the clause contains an explicit indication of its own plurality. There are two principal cases. First, the clause is plural if  what is the subject of the clause and the verb of the clause is itself plural:  What seem  to be two dead trees are  blocking the road. What most surprise  me are  the inflammatory remarks at the end of his article. If the verb in the  what clause does not anticipate the plural sense of the predicate in this way, a singular verb is generally used in the main clause as well, though the plural is sometimes found:  What truly commands  respect is (sometimes  are)  a large navy and a resolute foreign policy. Second, the  what clause is treated as plural when its predicate contains a plural noun phrase that unambiguously establishes the plurality of the clause as a whole, as in  What traditional grammarians called “predicates” are  called “verb phrases” by modern linguists. What the Romans established as military outposts were  later to become important trading centers. In the absence of explicit plural marking of either of these types in a subject  what clause, the clause is usually treated as singular for the purposes of agreement, regardless of the sense:  What she held in her lap was  four kittens. What the apparent diamonds turned out to be was  paste. In some cases, however, a clause with  what as the subject may be treated as singular or plural, depending on a subtle distinction of sense. In  What excite  him most are  money and power, the implication is that money and power are distinct elements; in  What excites  him most is  money and power, the implication is that money and power are taken as constituting a single entity.
当 what作为从句中的主语时，它既可被当作单数也可以为复数，这取决于词义。当被看作是 that which或 the thing which时它就是单数，如在 I see whatseems to be a dead tree（我看到个象棵死树的物体）”这句话中；当它被用作 those which或 the things which的对应词时它是复数，如在 He sometimes makes whatseem to be gestures of aloofness（他有时做一些似乎很超然的手势）中。当 what从句本身是句子的主语时，它可被当作单数或复数，但决定这种选择的条件略为复杂些。总体上说， what从句的含有对其数性明确指示时，它就可以将当作复数。这有两种最主要的情况：首先，如果 what是从句的主语而该从句的谓语动词本身是复数，从句就是复数： Whatseem to be two dead treesare blocking the road.（象两棵死树的物体挡着路）；What mostsurprise  meare the inflammatory remarks at the end of his article.（最令我吃惊的是他文章结尾处的煽动性言词）。如果 what从句的谓语动词并不预示谓语是复数，主句中通常也用单数动词，尽管有时也可以发现有复数： What trulycommands respectis（有时 are)  a large navy and a resolute foreign policy（真正博得尊敬的是强大的海军和坚定的外交政策）；其次 what从句在其谓语含有复数名词短语，并且其明显可建立整个从句的复数性时是被当作复数的，如在 What traditional grammarians called "predicates"are called "verb phrases" by modern linguists.（那些传统语法家所称为“谓语”的则被现代语言学家称作“动词短语”） What the Romans established as military outpostswere later to become important trading centers.（那些罗马人设为军事前哨基地的地方后来成为了重要的贸易中心）。当 what从句主语缺乏这两类明确表示复数性的标记时，从句通常为了一致性而不顾及词义地被当作单数： What she held in her lapwas four kittens.（她抱在膝盖上的是四只小猫）。What the apparent diamonds turned out to bewas paste.（那些看上去象真的钻石结果却是人造宝石）。然而，在一些情况下，以 what作主语的从句可被当单数或复数，取决于语义上微妙的差异。在 Whatexcite him mostare money and power（最让他兴奋的是金钱和权力），这句话中暗含着金钱和权力是不同的成分；在 Whatexcites him mostis money and power（最让他兴奋的是金钱和权力），这句话中暗含着金钱和权力是作为构成一个单一整体的成分

umclaire

When  what is the subject of a clause, it may be construed as singular or plural, depending on the sense. It is singular when taken as the equivalent of  that which or  the thing which,  as in  I see what seems  to be a dead tree;  and it is plural when it is taken as the equivalent of  those which or  the things which,  as in  He sometimes makes what seem  to be gestures of aloofness. ?  When a  what clause is itself the subject of a sentence, it may be construed as singular or plural, but the conditions governing this choice are somewhat more complicated. In general, a  what clause will be taken as a plural when the clause contains an explicit indication of its own plurality. There are two principal cases. First, the clause is plural if  what is the subject of the clause and the verb of the clause is itself plural:  What seem  to be two dead trees are  blocking the road. What most surprise  me are  the inflammatory remarks at the end of his article. If the verb in the  what clause does not anticipate the plural sense of the predicate in this way, a singular verb is generally used in the main clause as well, though the plural is sometimes found:  What truly commands  respect is (sometimes  are)  a large navy and a resolute foreign policy. Second, the  what clause is treated as plural when its predicate contains a plural noun phrase that unambiguously establishes the plurality of the clause as a whole, as in  What traditional grammarians called “predicates” are  called “verb phrases” by modern linguists. What the Romans established as military outposts were  later to become important trading centers. In the absence of explicit plural marking of either of these types in a subject  what clause, the clause is usually treated as singular for the purposes of agreement, regardless of the sense:  What she held in her lap was  four kittens. What the apparent diamonds turned out to be was  paste. In some cases, however, a clause with  what as the subject may be treated as singular or plural, depending on a subtle distinction of sense. In  What excite  him most are  money and power, the implication is that money and power are distinct elements; in  What excites  him most is  money and power, the implication is that money and power are taken as constituting a single entity.
当 what作为从句中的主语时，它既可被当作单数也可以为复数，这取决于词义。当被看作是 that which或 the thing which时它就是单数，如在 I see whatseems to be a dead tree（我看到个象棵死树的物体）”这句话中；当它被用作 those which或 the things which的对应词时它是复数，如在 He sometimes makes whatseem to be gestures of aloofness（他有时做一些似乎很超然的手势）中。当 what从句本身是句子的主语时，它可被当作单数或复数，但决定这种选择的条件略为复杂些。总体上说， what从句的含有对其数性明确指示时，它就可以将当作复数。这有两种最主要的情况：首先，如果 what是从句的主语而该从句的谓语动词本身是复数，从句就是复数： Whatseem to be two dead treesare blocking the road.（象两棵死树的物体挡着路）；What mostsurprise  meare the inflammatory remarks at the end of his article.（最令我吃惊的是他文章结尾处的煽动性言词）。如果 what从句的谓语动词并不预示谓语是复数，主句中通常也用单数动词，尽管有时也可以发现有复数： What trulycommands respectis（有时 are)  a large navy and a resolute foreign policy（真正博得尊敬的是强大的海军和坚定的外交政策）；其次 what从句在其谓语含有复数名词短语，并且其明显可建立整个从句的复数性时是被当作复数的，如在 What traditional grammarians called "predicates"are called "verb phrases" by modern linguists.（那些传统语法家所称为“谓语”的则被现代语言学家称作“动词短语”） What the Romans established as military outpostswere later to become important trading centers.（那些罗马人设为军事前哨基地的地方后来成为了重要的贸易中心）。当 what从句主语缺乏这两类明确表示复数性的标记时，从句通常为了一致性而不顾及词义地被当作单数： What she held in her lapwas four kittens.（她抱在膝盖上的是四只小猫）。What the apparent diamonds turned out to bewas paste.（那些看上去象真的钻石结果却是人造宝石）。然而，在一些情况下，以 what作主语的从句可被当单数或复数，取决于语义上微妙的差异。在 Whatexcite him mostare money and power（最让他兴奋的是金钱和权力），这句话中暗含着金钱和权力是不同的成分；在 Whatexcites him mostis money and power（最让他兴奋的是金钱和权力），这句话中暗含着金钱和权力是作为构成一个单一整体的成分