It is generally believed that teaching is ____ it is a science. A. an art much as B. much an art as C. as an art much as D. as much an art as(全国高考,01-28)
《高考英语词典》(华东理工大学出版社, p. 48) 对上题作了如下解答:
“‘as much . . . as’有‘事实上’、‘实际上’、‘几乎等于’这样的含义……故选 D。一般相信教书是门艺术，事实上也是一门科学。”
请问上句中的“as much ... as”果真作“事实上”“实际上”“几乎等于”解吗？
该书作者误解了上题的句子结构,作出了错误的解答并给出了错误的译文。究其原因,是作者把 as much sb./sth. as 同 as much as 这两个不同的结构混为一谈了。
as much sb./sth. as 表示“某人/某物(在程度或数量上)与……相同”，即表示“同等比较”。请注意：后一个 as 引导的是从句或省略型的从句。例如：
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He is as much a stranger in the village today as he was the first summer he arrived. 他今天在村里仍是个陌生人，就像他来到村子的第一个夏天那样。
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She is as much a friend to me as a mother. (CIDE) 她既是我的母亲,又是我的朋友。
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I shall try, with as much patience as is possible, to explain yet again... (CCED) 我将尽可能用最大的耐心设法再解释一次……
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We didn't spend as much time at the museum as I had hoped. (MED) 我们在博物馆花费的时间并不像我原来所希望的那么长。
而 as much as 在作“事实上”“几乎等于”解时, 是一个整体, 中间不能插入任何成分, 一般用作状语。例如:
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By running away he as much as admitted that he had taken the money. 他一跑就几乎等于他承认他拿了这笔钱。
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He as much as (= almost) admitted that it was his fault. 他几乎承认了那是他的错。
[句意]一般认为,教学既是一门科学,也是一门艺术。
[附注]在as much A as B这种句型里，A是语义重点(新信息)，应译为“既是B，又是A”。由此看来，上引《高考英语词典》上的译文，把语义重点给弄颠倒了。