so²

这是英语的一个常见的句型：

so + 形容词(或副词) + $\$left\{\begin{aligned}& 助动词 + 主语 + 实义动词 \\& be + 主语\end{aligned}\right\} + that 从句(结果状语从句)

1. $\$left\{ \begin{array}{l}\text{So absurd was his manner that everyone stared.}\\ \text{So absurd had been his manner that everyone stared. (CGEL)} \end{array} \right. 他的举止非常可笑，使每个人都盯盯地瞧着他。

2. So vigorously did he protest that the authorities reconsidered his case. (CGEL) 他的抗议如此强烈有力，以致于当局重新考虑了他的案件。

3. So absurd did he look that everyone stared at him. (GCE) 他显得很可笑,大家都注视他。

4. So great was his discomfort that he almost forgot to take a last glimpse of number four, Privet

Drive. (J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows) 他感到十分不舒服以致于他都没有好好地再看女贞路四号最后一眼。(《哈利·波特与死亡圣徒》)

应当注意，这种句型只用于正式语体，而且是极富情感的场合。

上述句型是各类考题考核的一个内容：

1. ____ at conveying her underlying message through topical plots and contemporary characters that by 1940 her book had sold some three million copies. A. So successful, Grace L. Hill B. So successful was Grace L. Hill C. Grace L. Hill, so successful D. Because Grace L. Hill was so successful (TOEFL)

2. ____ that they may eventually reduce the amount of labor needed on construction sites by 90 percent. A. So clever are the construction robots B. So clever the construction robots are C. Such construction robots are clever D. Such clever construction robots are(全国六级,91.6-65)

3. So confused ____ that he didn't know how to start his lecture. A. since he became B. would he become C. that he became D. did he become(全国六级,95.1-58)

4. So involved with their computers ____ that leaders at summer computer camps often have to force them to break for sports and games. A. became the children B. become the children C. had the children become D. do the children become(全国研考,01-6)

5. So badly ____ in the car accident that he had to stay in hospital for a few months. A. did he injure B. injured him C. was he injured D. he was injured(全国英语专业四级,94-56)

(参见 word order $^{6}$ )

在上面的句子里，主语(the echo-sounding apparatus)是信息焦点(语义重心)，故放在句尾。这是符合英语的句尾信息焦点原则的。这种强调主语的方法，与汉语是很相似的：这样，就产生了回声探测仪，在船舶上得到了普遍应用。参见 end-focus, inversion, word order $^{3}$ 。对下面的句子也可以作同样的解释： I believe what my husband did was morally wrong. So was lying to me and misleading the American people about it. (Hillary, Living History) 我认为，我丈夫做的事情是有违道德的。他在这件事上对我说谎并误导美国人民，也是有违道德的。