核心问题
《英语正误辨析词典》(上海外语教育出版社,1995年版,p.56)提出:
“busy 后如接‘介词 + 动名词’，这个介词应该是 in 而不是 with”。
但是，《最常见的错误》(中国对外翻译公司、香港教育图书公司，1996年版，p.6)却指出 busy in doing sth. 也是错误的：
“[误]My brother has been busy in preparing for his final examination.
[正]My brother has been busy preparing for his final examination.
弟弟一直忙于温习，准备应付期末考试。
[分析]busy 这个形容词的结构基本上有以下两个：
a. busy + ing form b. busy + with + noun.
要切记的是,若用‘ing form’便无须用任何介词,如跟名词,则要用 with。”
这两种说法简直使我无所适从。
词典解答
根据英语惯用法,busy doing sth., busy with doing sth. 和 busy in doing sth. 都是正确的。请看下面的实例：
-
Two of them were busy making artificial flowers. (Davies) 他们之中有两个人忙着做假花。
-
We are busy(in) preparing for the examination. (《英语惯用法大词典》) 我们正忙着准备考试。
-
I'm busy(with) getting the house redecorated. (CGEL) 我正忙着重新装饰房屋。