台北新竹英文家教

英文大考常考題 – 10 [ the number of ]

克漏字選擇  

The number of students in Taiwan ________ decreasing because many young couples don’t want to bring up children.

(A) were     (B) are    (C) is    (D) was

這題答案是 (C)。 (翰林出版全國高中月考期考試題挖挖哇英文二嘉義高中試題 p.63)

這題的重點在：

1.   如何區分[ the number of ]與[ a number of ] –

      [ the number of students ]是指學生的數量，是單數的名詞，而[ a number of students ]或[ numbers of students ]是指許多學生，是複數的名詞。這題若使用[ a number of students ]，它整句的意思是不通順。

      其他例句：

      1) The number of tourists from China constantly increases these 2 or 3 years.

      2) A number of colleagues are going to his farewell party this Saturday.

      3) A comparatively small number of customers complain to us about our new product.

      4) Substantial numbers of students pass the final exam.