mary was friendly to my sister because she wanted her to be her bridesmaid.
(玛丽和我姐姐很要好,因为她要她做她的伴娘。)
读完上面这一句话,读者无法明确地判断两位姑娘中谁将结婚,谁将当伴娘。如果我们把易于引起误解的代词的所指对象加以明确,意思就一目了然了。这个句子可改为:
mary was friendly to my sister because she wanted my sister to be her bridesmaid.
例1. and we can also know the society by serving it yourself.
剖析:句中人称代词we 和反身代词yourself指代不一致。改为:
we can also know society by serving it ourselves.
七. 不间断句子(run-on sentences)
什么叫run-on sentence?请看下面的例句。
例1. there are many ways we get to know the outside world.
剖析:这个句子包含了两层完整的意思:“there are many ways.” 以及“we get to know the outside world.”。简单地把它们连在一起就不妥当了。
改为:
there are many ways for us to learn about the outside world. 或:
there are many ways through which we can become acquainted with the outside
world
八. 措词毛病(troubles in diction)
diction 是指在特定的句子中如何适当地选用词语的问题,囿于教学时间紧迫,教师平时在这方面花的时间往往极其有限,影响了学生在写作中没有养成良好的推敲,斟酌的习惯。他们往往随心所欲,拿来就用。所以作文中用词不当的错误比比皆是。
例1. the increasing use of chemical obstacles in agriculture also makes pollution.
(农业方面化学物质使用的不断增加也造成了污染。)
剖析:显然,考生把obstacles“障碍”,“障碍物”误作substance“物质”了。另外“the increasing use (不断增加的使用)” 应改为“abusive use (滥用)”。
改为:
the abusive use of chemical substances in agriculture also causes/leads to pollution.
九. 累赘(redundancy)
言以简洁为贵。写句子没有一个多余的词;写段落没有一个无必要的句子。能用单词的不用词组;能用词组的不用从句或句子。如:
in spite of the fact that he is lazy, i like him.
本句的“the fact that he is lazy”系同谓语从句,我们按照上述“能用词组的不用从句”可以改为:in spite of his laziness, i like him.
例1. for the people who are diligent and kind, money is just the thing to be used to buy the thing they need.
剖析:整个句子可以大大简化。
改为:
diligent, caring people use money only to buy what they need.
十. 不连贯(incoherence)
不连贯是指一个句子前言不对后语,或是结构上不畅通。这也是考生常犯的毛病。
例1. the fresh water, it is the most important things of the earth.
剖析:the fresh water 与逗号后的it 不连贯。it 与things 在数方面不一致。
改为:
fresh water is the most important thing in the world.
十一. 综合性语言错误(comprehensive misusage)
所谓“综合性语言错误”,是指除了上述十种错误以外,还有诸如时态,语态,标点符号,大小写等方面的错误。
例1.today, money to everybody is very importance, our’s eat, cloth, live, go etc.