核心问题
There's ____ those bottles there. A. much beer on B. much beer in C. a lot of beer in D. a lot of beer on(Nelson, 100C)
规定答案为 C(a lot of beer in)。我不明白为什么不能选 B(much beer in)。much 与不可数名词连用,不是完全符合英语惯用法的吗?
词典解答
much不带修饰语时，具有非断定的意义，通常用于否定句和疑问句中。1. I don't have much time. (CGEL) 我没有很多时间。
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Is there much water in the bottle? (Nelson, 100A) 瓶子里有很多水吗？在断定语境中，大都使用 plenty of, a lot of 来代替。
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We have a lot (plenty) of time. 我们有很多时间。
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The room contained a lot of (plenty of) furniture. (CGEL) 房间里有许多家具。
应当指出,当 much 带有修饰语时,即可用在肯定句中:
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I have eaten too much of the food. (CGEL) 我吃的食物太多了。
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I have got too much work to do. (LDCE) 我要干的工作太多。
我们前面说过,much 通常用于否定句和疑问句中,而并没有说 much 永远不能用于肯定句中。还是 CGEL 的作者们说得严密:“结果是 many 和 much 不含某种否定或疑问含义,就极少使用”。因此,much 用于肯定句的例子(尤其是用在句首的例子)肯定是能查到的:
- Much has been said about the cost of medicine. (CGEL) 关于医药费的事,已经谈了许多了。
- I have much to talk over with him. (Yeats) 我有许多事要和他谈。