什么是英语句子的一致性(龚学众)

屈联西

   英语“表形”的特点要求句子(人称、时态、固定搭配等)特别注意“外观”整齐和一致性，这一点是广大考生最容易忽略的一个问题。看两个例子：

岁月莫从闲中过，成功须向勤中求。                                    
Years   are not   to be whiled away   in idleness.     
Success  is  to   be  gained        in diligence.
    这是我为学生办板报翻译的一个对联，尽力做到了押韵、工整。这种例子是极端个别的，但是下列的例子却很常见：
Such administrative overheads in a business are analogous to the cost of government in a nation：in a business 和in a nation前边各有一个名词(中心词)，显示了英语句子的工整和严谨。又如：
The instrument has been welcomed by users because of its stability in serviceability, reliability in operation and simplicity in maintenance. 这样的句子，简直就像古汉语的“赋”，严谨、工整、有韵。要实现英语句子的“美”、保证不犯错误，就要牢记下列具体要求。
  一致性的若干具体要求
先看几个例子：
例1．I am in favor of equal rights for women, especially the right to compete with men for jobs on equal terms, the right to get the same pay as men for the same job, and the right to equal opportunities for promotion.
本句的三个right都是equal rights的同位语，由于它们各自后边都带了一个后置定语、构成一个排比结构，那么每个right都不能省略。
例2．The nationwide controversy over the current reforms will test the courage of our people and the determination of our government.
本句里的and不可以少，因为它引导一个并列的成分。有的考生在此用逗号，是错误的。         
例3．Galileo was imprisoned for popularizing the Copernican theory and for his other contributions to scientific thought.
本句里，两个for的后一个可以省略。但是，如果for后边的宾语较长，还是保留较好，这样显得严谨、规范。
例4．…he had to draw on the best of all previous dictionaries and to make his work one of heroic synthesis.
本句里，两个to都不能少。
例5．If participation and the culture are incongruous, employees are likely to perceive the participation process as manipulative and be negatively affected by it.
本句里，are likely to后边跟了原形动词perceive，相应地，negatively affected by it前边就绝对应该用原形系动词be。
                          下列这些规定，你应该背诵：
1)主语和谓语的一致
(1) 集体名词做主语，如果指整体概念，谓语动词用单数；如果指具体成员，谓语动词用复数形式。例如：
例1．The class has been organized.
例2．The class were lining up in front of the building.
(2) 有些有生命的集体名词做主语时，谓语动词只能用复数形式；这些词如cattle、folk、people、police、poultry、militia、youth、mankind、vermin、personnel等。例如：
例1．The mankind long for peace.
例2．The police have not made any arrests.
(3) 无生命的集体名词做主语时，谓语动词用单数。这些词例如scenery、weaponry、clothing、machinery、poetry、jewllery、millinery、cutlery、stationary、crockery、hosiery、footwaer、underwear、glasswear、hardwear、merchandise、foliage等。例如：
The merchandise has gone through the examination.
    (4) 单复数同形的名词做主语时，谓语动词的形式要根据句义来确定。常见的这类词
aircraft、deer、fish、means、sheep、species、series、works、crossroads、headquarters、antelope、carp、salmon、trout、flounder等。例如：
例1．The species of fish are numerous.
例2．This species of rose is vey curious.
(5) 用做书名、剧名、报纸名、国名等的复数名词做主语时，谓语动词用单数形式；如果是山脉、群岛、瀑布的名称，谓语动词用复数形式。例如：
例1．The New York Times still has a wide circulation.
例2．The Philippines lie to the southeast of China.
(6) 动词不定式、动名词、从句或其他短语做主语时，谓语动词用单数形式。例如：
例1．To work hard is necessary.
例2．Whether she comes or not is of no matter.
(7) 一些常用做复数或只有复数形式的名词做主语时，谓语动词用复数形式。常用词有
clothes、scissors、trousers、shorts、scales、spectacles、effects、goods、papers、arms、greens、tongs、riches、suburbs、wages、stockings、tweezers、customs、gloves、compasses、binoculars、jeans、shades、caliers、flares、forceps、suspenders、belongs、bookings、clippings、diggings、earnings、fillings、lodgings、sweepings、takings、surroundings、doings、tidings等。
(8) 表示时间、距离、价格、度量衡等的复数名词或短语作为一个整体看待时，谓语动词一般用单数形式。例如：
Fifty years is not a long time.
但是，如果强调这类词组的复数意义时，谓语动词也用复数形式。例如：
200 tons of water were used last month.
(9) 算式中表示数字的主语一般视为单数，谓语动词多用单数形式。
(10) 学科名词或疾病名词是单数名词，动词用单数。
(11) “the+形容词”做主语，谓语动词用复数形式。
(12) 以-s结尾的游戏名词(如billards)做主语时，谓语动词一般用单数形式。
(13) “a lot of (lots of、plenty of、a heap of、heaps of、loads of、a world of、a flood of、 a store of、a mass of) +名词”的短语以及“分数(百分数)+名词”的短语做主语时，谓语动词形式要根据短语中名词的数来决定(这时，短语中的名词是中心词，名词前的量词则是修饰语)。例如：
例1．Three-fourths of the people present are against the plan.
例2．There is heaps of coal.
(14) “a number of+复数名词”的中心词是短语中的名词，因此谓语动词用复数形式；而“the number of +名词”的中心词是number故谓语动词用单数形式。比较下列：
例1．A number of students were absent yesterday.
例2．The number of pares in this book is two hundred.
(15) 表示数量的one and a half后边要接复数名词，做主语时，动词要用单数形式。如：
One and a half bananas is left on the table.
(16) a herd of、a pack of、a flock of、a school of、a swarm of、a drove of等表示数量的集体名词短语，如果指的是一个整体(一群人或动物)，谓语动词用单数；如果侧重于群体中的每一个成员，用复数。例如：
例1．A flock of sheep were running into the road and causing confusion among the traffic.
例2．A pack of wolves was following them closely.
(17)“a kind of、a series of、a portion of、a species of、a group of、a piece of等+名词(单数或复数)”做主语时，谓语动词用单数形式。例如：
A series of lectures on psychology is said to be given by Mr.Stone.
This kind of men is dangerous. (比较：Men of this kind are dangerous.)
(18) little、much、a little、only a little、quite a little、much more、a great deal of、an amount of、a quantity of只能修饰不可数名词，谓语动词用单数。
(19)用and连接的两个名词做主语，指同一人或物或通常由两个部件配成的物品时用单数谓语动词，指不同的人或物或分开的东西时用复数谓语动词。例如：
例1．The secretary and manager  was present at the meeting.(书记兼经理=同一人)
例2．My neighbour and colleague is watering flowers.(邻居和同事=同一人)
例3．The iron and steel industry is of great importance to the national economy.(钢铁工业=同一事)
例4．Egg and rice is her usual breakfast. (蛋炒饭=不同事物构成的同一个事物)
例5．Such loss of dignity and descent into childish behaviour on the part fo their parents deeply shocks the adolescents, and makes them resolve that in future they will not talk to their parents about the place or people they visit. (Such loss of dignity and descent into childish behaviour=两个事物构成同一个事物，所以谓语动词用shocks、makes)
例6．Your and my husband were present.(你和我的丈夫=两个人)
(20) 用and连接的两个单数名词做主语，如果前面用each,every,no等修饰，谓语动词用单数形式。例如：
例1．Every girl and every boy has the right to receive education.
例2．No teacher and no student is admitted.
(21) 单数名词做主语，后面紧跟as well as、no less than、rather than、more than、but、except、desides、with、accompanied by、along with、together with、like、including、in addition to、combined with等时，谓语动词用单数。例如：
The teacher as well the students likes this painting.
(22) 用or、either…or、neither…nor、not only…but also…等连接的名词或代词做主语时，谓语动词的形式要与最近的主语保持一致。例如：
One or two friends  are coming this evening.
(23)“all(of)、half(of)、some (of)、remainder(of)、the rest (of)、plenty (of)、a part of、enough of、a proportion of等+名词”做主语时，谓语动词的单复数取决于of后的名词是单数还是复数，或者视具体的上下文而定。例如：
例1．Most of his spare time was spent in reading.
例2．Most of the houses in this town are new.
(24) 在“one of+the+复数名词+定语从句”结构中，定语从句一般视为修饰复数名词，因此谓语动词用复数形式。例如：
This is one of the laboratories that have been built this year in our institute.
(25) 由what引导的主语从句，谓语动词一般用单数形式，但是如果从句谓语或从句后的表语是复数形式，则谓语动词用复数形式。例如：
例1．What you said is quite to the point.
例2．What we need are qualified teachers.
(26) none+不可数名词接单数动词，none+复数名词接复数动词。None单独使用时：如果代表不可数名词时动词用单数；如果代表复数名词时动词用复数，也可用单数。例如：
例1．None of the money in the pocket is his.
例2．None of the pens are mine.
例3．None of them there is his sister.  (sister是单数，所以前边用is)
(27) 几个名词并列做主语，如果最后一个名词起着归纳和顶点的作用，谓语动词用单数。例如：
His property, his family, his life was in danger.
(28) 同位语并列做主语时，谓语动词要与第一个词(中心词)一致。例如：
All his property, the books, the pictures and the house, was consumed by the fire.
(29) the following 做主语时，谓语动词可用单数也可以用复数。如果表语是单数名词或上下文表示的是单数概念，谓语动词用单数；如果表语是复数名词或上下文表示的是复数概念，则谓语动词用复数。例如：
例1．The following is the correct answer.
例2．The following are the alternatives we shall discuss.
(30) 代词代替相临最近的名词
例如一个学生的习作的一句
Nowadays, an increasing number of people choose to study abroad. Attitudes toward it differ widely. I hold the opinion that it is not only an opportunity, but also a challenge.      
分析：it指代不明确。It有两个功能，代替某个词或某个句子。它的前面有opinion、attitudes和number of people，it指的是哪一个呢？看句子的意思，猜测it指的是study abroad。但是，靠读者或考官猜测你的意思可不行，你要自己写清楚。
更正：Nowadays, an increasing number of people choose to study abroad. Attitudes toward it differ widely. I hold the opinion that studying abroad is not only an opportunity but also a challenge.
                     2)其他要求
(1) 代词与其所代替或修饰的名词应在人称和性别上保持一致。例如：
例1．For the first time in history Chinese citizens held such power in their own hands. In the past they have never been allowed such vigorous and unrestrained debate on politics.  
例2．I am in favor of equal rights for women. I think women should especially have the right to compete with men for jobs on equal terms. They should get the same pay as men for the same job. They should also have equal opportunities for promotion.            

(2) 分词逻辑主语的一致：用分词结构代替状语从句时，分词结构的逻辑主语应该与主句的主语一致。例如：

Translated into English, the sentence was found to have an entirely different word order. Hearing the bad news, she burst into tears.

(3) 一个谓语动词引导了两个宾语从句，每一个宾语从句前都要各有一个引导词that。

例1．The adolescent, with his passion for sincerity, always respects a parent who admits  that he is wrong, or ignorant, or even that he has been unfair or unjust.

例2．One’s first inclination might be to argue that there must be some sort of built-in animal aggression instinct that was activated by the experiment, and that Milgram’s teacher-subjects were just following a genetic need to discharge this pent-up primal urge onto the pupil by administering the electrical shock.

例3．…employees had to prove that their injuries directly resulted from employer negligence

and that they themselves were ignorant about potential hazards in the workplace.

例4．Our enormously produvtive economy…demands that we make consumption our way of

life, that we convert the buying and use of goods into rituals, that we seek our spiritual satisfaction, our ego satisfaction, in consumption.

    (4) 一个动词做被动语态，如果这个动作的实施者有两个以上，那么，每一个动作实

施者前都要有一个by。

例1．And it is widely accepted that people’s income is determined more by talent, hard work, and willingness to take risks than solely by certain qualifications such as college education.

例2．And finally, most forms of environmental pollution either appear to have been exaggerated, or are transient-associated with the early phases of industrialization and therefore best cured not by restricting economic growth, but by accelerating it.

本句里，这个not by和but by是一个反比的固定搭配，一个都不能少。

例3．The problem, however, is complicated by the existence of dozens of inputs and outcomes and by the fact that employee groups place different degrees of importance on them.

(5) 排比的结构，要重复被排比的部分。例如：

Never before in history have Chinese citizens held such power in theirown hands. Never before in history have they been allowed such vigorous and unrestrained debate on politics.

(6) 一个中心词后如果跟了两个以上的同位语从句，则每个同位语从句前都要有一个that。例如：
They have developed a hit-list of our main fears: that natural resources are running our; that the population is ever growing, leaving less and less to eat; that species are becoming extinct in vast numbers, and that the planet’s air and water are becoming ever more polluted.
(7) 介词后的词性要始终一致。例如：
This climate phenomenon was accused of wrecking tourism, causing allergies, melting the ski-slopes and causing 22 deaths.
本句里，四个动词wrecking，causing，melting，causing都是跟在of后边的，必须都用动名词形式。
(8) 固定搭配的词组，多次重复时，每次重复时只保留介词部分。例如：
例1. We would lay less stress on ‘facts and figures’ and more on a good memory, on applied psychology, and on the capacity of a man to get along with his fellow-citizens.
本句的后三个on前边都省略了lay…stress，但是，on却不能省略，如果省略了on，那么，原来的词义就不存在了。                                                     
例2. I am not good at maths, but English.  
改为：I am good not at maths but at English
例3. Doing a second or even a third job, also known as moonlighting, is gaining popularity nowadays with career people, especially with those who look for an outlet for their extra energy or ambitions.
本句的优点在于：后半句的with与前边的gain population with保持了一致。
    (9) 同一句里，有现在进行时、又有表语结构时，be不能省略。例如：
The governments now are having more funds in hands and are able to offer free college education to the young generation。
本句前一个are与having一起构成现在进行时，后一个与able一起构成表语。两个are形式一样，但内涵和语法功能绝对不一样，一个都不能省略。
(10) 同一个句子里，一个中心词带两个定语从句，每个定语从句前都应该有一个关
系代词或关系副词。例如：
The four-year pilot study included 380 families who were about to have their first child and who represented a cross-section of socio-economic status, age and family configurations.
(11) 代词需与最临近的原词一致。例如一位学生写的作文的第一段：
In recent year, increasingly growing number of people pay attention to the reasons why some person have some several jobs. Different people have different opinion. But as far as I am concerned, there are three reason from them to do this. 从代词在句子里的位置看，本段的最后一个词 this是指Different people have different opinion ，但是，作者的本意肯定是指some person have some several jobs。

如媛

英语也还有这么多要求