a quantity of / quantities of 的用法

 

[新E英语 整理 2008-08-24]

 

先来看一道选择题：

 

Large quantities of cotton ______ shipped all over the world already.
A large quantity of bamboo ______ used for pipes to carry water.
A. has been,are                   B.has been,is
C.have been,is                    D.have been,are

 

这道题主要考查 quantity 与后面谓语动词单、复数搭配(即主谓一致)。但是关于quantity 与谓语单复数搭配，现在说法不统一。主要有两种观点：

 

1、与词形保持一致

 

a quantity of /quantities of 不管后面接复数还是单数(包括不可数)名词，只看quantity 本身。即：a quantity of 中的quantity 是单数，谓语动词就用单数；quantities of 中quantities 是复数，谓语动词则与复数保持一致。例如：

 

Quantities of nuts were on the table.
A quantity of nuts was on the table.
Every day large quantities of waste water are poured into river without being cleaned.

 

2、与意义保持一致

 

这种观点认为，不应该看a quantity of / quantities of 本身，而应该看这个词组后面所接的是什么名词，如果后面的名词是单数(或不可数)，则谓语用单数；如果名词是复数，那么谓语用复数。这一点与a lot of 相同，即遵循意义一致原则。例如：

 

There is only a small quantity of wine left.
Great quantities of sand was washed down the hillside by the rain last night.

 

A large quantity of air conditions have been sold since the summer came.
Huge quantities of oil were shipped to Japan last year.

 

结论：目前，比较倾向于与quantity 的词形保持一致，即 a quantity of 是单数，quantities of 是复数，而不管后面接单数或复数的名词。例如，某省一道高考题如下：

 

With many forests being destroyed, huge quantities of good earth ______ each year.
  A. is washing away          B. is being washed away
 C. are washing away         D. are being washed away

 

它所给的答案是D. 此题中，earth 是不可数名词，但quantities 是复数，所以谓语采用了复数形式D.