名師詳解語法易錯題（03）

想當然類錯誤

所謂想當然，即憑主觀推測認為事情大概如此或應該如此。既然是憑主觀作出的推測，自然就難免有出錯的時候。有趣的是，犯想當然錯誤的不僅僅是我們的同學們，有時也可能是教師甚至專家們。

我們首先來看一例專家犯的想當然錯誤：國內不少詞典曾把 eat one’s words 譯為“食言”，但是我們查《現代漢語詞典》,“食言”指不履行諾言或失信，而英語中eat one's words是什么意思呢? 我們查《朗文當代英語詞典》，eat one's words的意思 to admit to having said something wrong (承認說過錯誤的話)；再查《牛津高階英漢雙解詞典》(第四版)，eat one's words 的意思是 to admit that what one said was wrong（承認自己說錯話）。很顯然，將 eat one’s words 譯為漢語的“食言”是不對的，是想當然譯出來的。

筆者曾在一本雜志讀過這樣一個笑話，說的是一位英國著名的翻譯家在翻譯我國的古典名著《水滸傳》時，遇上了這樣一句“放你媽的狗屁”，他竟想當地將其譯為Your mother passes wind like a dog (你媽媽放屁像狗一樣)，真是天大的笑話。

下面我們再來看看同學經常犯的想當然錯誤吧：

◇Every minute should be made full use of _________ the lessons.

A. to study                B. study                    C. studying               D. studied

一看題干，許多同學會想當然地認為此題肯定選C，因為空格前有介詞 of，其后的動詞 study 用作介詞 of 的賓語，當然要用動名詞。你真的這樣認為嗎？那你就錯了。

◇_________ is hard is to do good all one’s life and never do anything bad.

A. He                       B. It                         C. That                     D. What

【分析】此題的最佳答案是B嗎？句首應填一個形式主語 it 嗎？如果你這樣想，又錯了。為什么？

本節為同學們搜集了不少想當然錯誤的典型例題，快快往下讀吧。

1．下面這道題：

If a book is in English, _________ means slow progress for you.

A. as                        B. which                   C. what                    D. that

【分析】此題容易誤選 A或B，想當然地根據空格前的逗號認為這是非限制性定語從句。這樣分析的同學，主要是忽略了前一句句首的 if。其實此題應選D，逗號前是一個條件狀語從句，逗號后是該狀語從句的主句，that 在此代表前文所述的意思，用作主句的主語。同樣地，下面幾題也應選 that，而不選 which：

(1) If he’s only interested in your looks, _________ just shows how shallow he is.

A. as                        B. which                   C. what                    D. that

(2) If you want to go, _________is quite all right with me.

A. that                      B. which                   C. and it                   D. so

(3) When I say two hours, _________ includes time for eating.

A. as                        B. which                   C. what                    D. that

(4) If you want a double room , _________ will cost another ￡15.

A. as                        B. which                   C.  what                  D. that

(5) If you have the money, _________ will be OK.

A. as                        B. which                   C. and it                   D. that

下例也選 that 而不選 which，其中 that 表示“那”：

Unless I’m very much mistaken, _________ is my watch you’re wearing!

A. as                        B. which                   C. what                    D. that

2. _________ is hard is to do good all one’s life and never do anything bad.

A. He                       B. It                         C. That                    D. What

【分析】此題容易誤選B，認為這是考查形式主語。其實，此題的正確答案是D，句首的 What is hard 是主語從句，注意 what is hard 后的謂語動詞 is。假若沒有此 is，則應選B，即說成 It is hard to do good all one's life and never do anything bad. 請做以下類似試題(答案均為C)：

(1)  a. _________ is difficult to persuade her to stay.

b. _________ is difficult is to persuade her to stay.

A. It, It                     B. What, What          C. It, What               D. What, It

(2)  a. _________ is interesting to watch children play games.

b. _________ is interesting is to watch children play games.

A. It, It                     B. What, What          C. It, What               D. What, It

(3)  a. _________ is dangerous to play with fire.

b. _________ is dangerous is to play with fire.

A. It, It                     B. What, What          C. It, What               D. What, It

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