问
This is a big house. I think the rent must be ____ that of the smaller one.
A. four times more than B. four times as many as
C. four times as much as D. four times as
《英语结构难题解析》(复旦大学出版社, p.290) 对上题的解答如下:
“比较
Your house is three times the size of mine.
Your house is three times as large as mine.
Your house is three times larger than mine.
第一句与第二句意思相同:你的房子是我房子的三倍大小。第三句与前两句意思不同:你的房子比我的房子大三倍,也就是我的房子的四倍大小。所以,在 A 项中 four times 后面用 more than 不对; B 项的 as many as 错误,因为房租是不可数的,故 C 项正确。”
我对上面的解答有两点质疑：
-
第二句与第三句意思真的有区别吗？
-
该书说：“four times 后面用 more than 不对”。真的不对吗？
答
第二句与第三句的意思完全相同。A is n times more than B 是英语的常见句型，也是完全正确的。因此上面的试题既可选 C，亦可选 A。更详细的情形，请见 more (n times more than) 和 much (as much as)。