三道疑惑语法(gwd-12-20, 32, 34)

tianwan

"The little girl, who just lost her grand-parents, is in deep sorrow"是一个context里的，所以有个预先的假定，大家知道这个the指的是哪个girl。

如果不是在一个context里，没有大家的共识，as is often the situation in GMAT SC, 不强调，或者不接最高级，一般情况下，the要有所指。一种情况时有不定冠词a/an或零冠词接的该名词事先出现过，或者是有限制性修饰语指出。

我的理解不是the用作特指用法的全部，最好你查一下《新编英语语法》章振邦 P228-P233，the还可以用作类指，有兴趣的话也可以研究一下。

weiyu

以下是引用mariezhu在2004-6-14 13:28:00的发言：

I disagree.

first, squint modifier refers to a modifier that can either govern something before or behind it. However, in this sentence, the two modifiers can only be related to act of congress.

Approved April 24, 1800, making provision for the removal of the government of the United States to the new federal city, Washington, D.C., the act of Congress also established

MarieMM. I have a different opinion. the participle phrase "making.." can modify the precedent phrase Approved April 24, 1800 in syntatic rule, or govern the the main clause with logical subject of "the act of Congress"; I do not think participle phrase, participle phrase, main clause can eliminate the ambiguity.

For the article "the", I agree with Tianwan.

You may refer to OG258

258. The British sociologist and activist Barbara Wootton once noted as a humorous example of income maldistribution that the elephant that gave rides to children at the Whipsnade Zoo was earning annually exactly what she then earned as director of adult education for London.

(A) that the elephant that gave rides to children at the Whipsnade Zoo was earning

(B) that the elephant, giving rides to children at the Whipsnade Zoo, had been earning

(C) that there was an elephant giving rides to children at the Whipsnade Zoo, and it earned

(D) the elephant that gave rides to children at the Whipsnade Zoo and was earning（A）

(E) the elephant giving rides to children at the Whipsnade Zoo and that it earned

Following lists my understanding on article "the"

the sth, non-restrictive clause;  the sth restrictive clause;

B的the elephant无限制性修饰成分，the只能特指前面的东西。A有限制性修饰成分that gave rides to children at the Whipsnade Zoo ，所以A没有B的问题，A的the可以特指限制性定语从句所表示的对象。

Your comments will be welcomed.

bon

Prospecting for gold during the California gold rush was a relatively easy task, because of erosion, prehistoric glacier movement, and ancient, gold-bearing riverbeds thrust to the surface by volcanic activity put gold literally within reach for anybody with a pan or shovel.

1. because of erosion, prehistoric glacier movement, and ancient, gold-bearing riverbeds thrust to the surface by volcanic activity put gold literally within reach for
2. because of erosion, prehistoric glacier movement, and volcanic activity that thrust ancient, gold-bearing riverbeds to the surface, and putting gold literally within reach of

3. owing to erosion, prehistoric glacier movement, and volcanic activity that had thrust ancient, gold-bearing riverbeds to the surface, and putting gold literally within reach of
4. since erosion, prehistoric glacier movement, and volcanic activity that thrust ancient, gold-bearing riverbeds to the surface, putting gold literally within reach for

5. since erosion, prehistoric glacier movement, and ancient, gold-bearing riverbeds thrust to the surface by volcanic activity put gold literally within reach of

这题是选e吗？疑问一下

mariezhu

hehe, Weiyu GG, I would have kept silence if you  hadn't ask me to make a further comment, because I really think myself pretty confused at this time.

However, I don't really understand what you mean by saying that the phrae "making..." can actually govern "Approved April 24". In my opinion, the latter element cannot be governed by a present participle. In other words, in this case, the present participle can only be related to a noun, the act of congress.

For the article "the", if you really want to know my opinion, I would tell you that I am still not convinced. If in the little girl sentence, it may be assumed that the little girl is somebody that readers already know while nothing in the sentence explicitly indicates so. Why in the act of congress sentence, the act of congress, which was already approved on a specifically indicated date,(attention, not in a certain year, I never say so) cannot be an act of congress already known by the readers? Furthermore, can't we say " Lanced on Sept 1st, the electronic portal, which provided ordinary customer with enormous detailed information about XX products, gave some professional clients great opportunities to do sth..."? Nobody can insure that on the specific day, there is only one portal opened, can he? Nor can anybody assume that the very portal is the only one in the world or the word portal is actually the name. But we still need such a structure to demonstrate that the electronic portal gave professional clients opportunities to do sth, and if you wanna know, the very portal is also beneficial to ordinary customer, since it provided...

However for the time being, I didn't succeed to find enough written materials to be cited as theoretic support. What I can do is to strongly suggest openning the discussion to he who wants to participate in it. Meanwhile, don't be too hasty to try to make a conclusion. Sometimes, if you have the patience to let a question unresolved, you will find it's easier to get a clearer mind when one day you look back.

By the way, in regard to the question No.258, the approach is a littile bit different. First of all, nothing is already mentioned about the elephant,  so you absolutely need a restrictive clause to define it, as do choice A. (while, I'm obliged to reiterate, the act of congress is already defined as sth approved on a specific day) Besides, the first approach to eliminate choice B immediately is the inappropriate verb tense.

[此贴子已经被作者于2004-6-14 22:59:52编辑过]

LES

哈哈，大家讨论的好激烈啊！偶本来不想再参和了，不过想到pumpkin mm的号召“知无不言，言无不尽”，再讲两句。

D. Approved April 24, 1800, making provision for the removal of the government of the United States to the new federal city, Washington, D.C., the act of Congress also established

偶这里要斗胆说一句，看到类似D的选项，永远第一个将它排除，两条简单的理由：

1.不符合就近修饰原则：多个修饰成分修饰同一个中心词时，为明确修饰对象及平衡句子结构，尽量将修饰成分分布于被修饰对象的两侧；

2. 不符合简洁原则：若一个主语很简单，而修饰成分很长，请问大家通常是怎么处理的？是不是应该把冗长的修饰成分放到后面去，既简洁又平衡句子？哪有将所有修饰成分通通放在前面的？

再豁出去说一句，大家要是在大全里（因为目前只有大全的答案是公认的）找到类似D的答案为正确选项，来找偶好啦！

mariezhu

以下是引用LES在2004-6-14 23:27:00的发言：

哈哈，大家讨论的好激烈啊！偶本来不想再参和了，不过想到pumpkin mm的号召“知无不言，言无不尽”，再讲两句。

D. Approved April 24, 1800, making provision for the removal of the government of the United States to the new federal city, Washington, D.C., the act of Congress also established

偶这里要斗胆说一句，看到类似D的选项，永远第一个将它排除，两条简单的理由：

1.不符合就近修饰原则：多个修饰成分修饰同一个中心词时，为明确修饰对象及平衡句子结构，尽量将修饰成分分布于被修饰对象的两侧；

2. 不符合简洁原则：若一个主语很简单，而修饰成分很长，请问大家通常是怎么处理的？是不是应该把冗长的修饰成分放到后面去，既简洁又平衡句子？哪有将所有修饰成分通通放在前面的？

再豁出去说一句，大家要是在大全里（因为目前只有大全的答案是公认的）找到类似D的答案为正确选项，来找偶好啦！

呵呵,lesMM,言论自由,这里又没有高压统治,用不着"斗胆说一句"吧,搞得我都不太好意思了....正是要大家踊跃参加讨论,讨论才有意义啊

不过,要是你不介意的话,你说的第二点我好像不能同意,如果主语很简单,主语修饰成分又很长,怎么能够把成分放在主语后面,让它和谓语宾语隔得老远呢,这种情况下,正是应该把主语修饰语放在主语前面啊, Sorry, I am even more confused, do correct me if i were wrong.

再者,我对你的第一条完全同意,不过这并不是一条公理,只要违背这一点就是错误选项.那样SC就好对付多了. 问题的关键是选项是比出来的.而我对A的限定性定语从句一直解不开心结,总是看了就觉得用which等非限定行的好些,而tianwanGG又跟我说了the的问题,以及是不是唯一,或者这个act是不是名字,我的脑子彻底糊涂了.

所以我说要来点时间想一想,因为我自己的经验,我搞不懂的东西往往搁几天再回头看看,突然就明白了.

要不是weiyuGG给我发了短信,我确实就贯彻我放几天的想法了.不过既然回复WeiyuGG,所以就把我的想法又说了一遍.希望没有冒犯大家,否则那就是我所不欲了.

rt316

Whether D:

Approved April 24, 1800, making provision for the removal of the government of the United States to the new federal city, Washington, D.C., the act of Congress also established

need 'and' between 'Approved April 24, 1800' and 'making ...' rather than ','

mjiehu

俺回来了

第一题 C

解法：看头看屁股

根据上下文any companies 显然最好，排除A, D, E，B中the disclosing of 不佳，因为disclose有名词disclosure。

mjiehu

第二题

E。解法：还是看头看屁股，within reach "of"，排除A, D。B, C中"and putting"不正确。

mjiehu

第三题比较麻烦，先看approved April 24, 1800，结果各个选项都没有发现"on"，郁闷。

从句子含义上看，不是the act of congress去establish那个library，也就是说，the act of congress不是establish的主语，establish应该和provision发生关系，现在简单了，回到题目，一旦the act of congress和establish构成主谓结构马上排除。

1. Approved April 24, 1800, the act of Congress that made provision for the removal of the government of the United States to the new federal city, Washington, D.C., also established  (X)
2. The act of Congress, which was approved April 24, 1800, making provision for the removal of the government of the United States to the new federal city, Washington, D.C., also established  (X)
3. The act of Congress approved April 24, 1800, which made provision for the removal of the government of the United States to the new federal city, Washington, D.C., and established (X)
4. Approved April 24, 1800, making provision for the removal of the government of the United States to the new federal city, Washington, D.C., the act of Congress also established (X)
5. Approved April 24, 1800, the act of Congress made provision for the removal of the government of the United States to the new federal city, Washington, D.C., also establishing

选E，但是E，也不是最佳，因为establishing有名词形式establishment。如果我来写，这句话，就是：

Approved "on" April 24, 1800, the act of Congress made provision for the removal of the government of the United States to the new federal city, Washington, D.C. "and the establishment" of the Library of Congress.