急死偶了，越看问题越多：比较比较

zcx

8.     Today’s technology allows manufacturers to make small cars more fuel-efficient now than at any time in their production history.

(A) small cars more fuel-efficient now than at any time in their

(B) small cars that are more fuel-efficient than they were at any time in their

(C) small cars that are more fuel-efficient than those at any other time in

(D) more fuel-efficient small cars than those at any other time in their（C）

(E) more fuel-efficient small cars now than at any time in

答案C没有问题，但是偶觉得C很累赘，反而A更简洁。首先C 是有典型的THAT ARE多于成分，再说，表比较不同时间状语时，是可以省略的，请看OG一个例子，情形和A很吻合啊？偶实在糊涂了，晕！

251. The gyrfalcon, an Arctic bird of prey, has survived a close brush with extinction; its numbers are now five times greater than when the use of DDT was sharply restricted in the early 1970’s.

(A) extinction; its numbers are now five times greater than

(B) extinction; its numbers are now five times more than

(C) extinction, their numbers now fivefold what they were

(D) extinction, now with fivefold the numbers they had（A）

(E) extinction, now with numbers five times greater than

A, the best choice, uses a singular pronoun, its, to refer to the singular antecedent The gyrfalcon, and it properly uses the construction its numbers are now... greater than. In B, the construction its numbers are... more is not idiomatic: there are more birds, but not more numbers. Choices C and D use a plural pronoun, their or they, to refer to a grammatically singular antecedent, The gyrfalcon. Choices D and E wrongly use a phrase introduced by now with to modify The gyrfalcon. In both choices, the phrase confusingly seems to parallel with extinction; a new clause with a present tense verb is needed to state what the gyrfalcon’s numbers are now.

tianwan

Today’s technology allows manufacturers to make small cars more fuel-efficient now than at any time in their production history.

A's flaws lie in the vagueness of comparison resulting from an excessive ellipsis.   It is hard to know whether the intended meaning is small cars more fuel-efficient now than (the cars) at any time in their or "to make small cars more fuel-efficient now than (they did) at any time in their ". Furthermore, the "their" can refer to manufacturers or cars.

C utilizes the relative pronoun to seperate "make" and "fuel-efficient" so that the comparison is a clear one. Besides, "those" can only refers to cars grammatically, in that the relative noun "that" also isolate the "those" from "manufactures".

[此贴子已经被作者于2004-6-19 23:02:45编辑过]

zcx

以下是引用tianwan在2004-6-19 22:45:00的发言：

Today’s technology allows manufacturers to make small cars more fuel-efficient now than at any time in their production history.

A's flaws lie in the vagueness of comparison resulting from an excessive ellipsis.   It is hard to know whether the intended meaning is small cars more fuel-efficient now than (the cars) at any time in their or "to make small cars more fuel-efficient now than (they did) at any time in their ". Furthermore, the "their" can refer to manufacturers or cars.

C utilizes the relative pronoun to seperate "make" and "fuel-efficient" so that the comparison is a clear one. Besides, "those" can only refers to cars grammatically, in that the relative noun "that" also isolate the "those" from "manufactures".

强！偶只想到这个词！这是偶上语法区请教以来，最convincing的一个解释！谢谢！偶的功夫不到家呀！歧义，是致命伤！