核心问题
Salmon spend most of their adult lives in salt water, despite they return to their fresh-water bir-thplaces to spawn and die. (TOEFL)
我看不出上面的句子有什么错误。
词典解答
你没有看出句子的错误,是因为你只知道 despite 作“虽然”“尽管”解,而不知道或者忽略了它是个介词。它后面只能接名词性词项,而不能接从句(从句有自己的主语和谓语)。因此,必须把 despite 改为 though 或 although。
练习题
请做下面的英语试题：
Scientists recently found some lotus seeds that they were able to germinate ____ they had been dormant for about 10,000 years.
though it be
A. nevertheless B. in spite of C. despite D. even though (TOEFL)