紫皮OG的第59题
Neanderthals had a vocal tract that resembled those of the apes and so were probably without language, a shortcoming that may explain why they were supplanted by our own species.

A Neanderthals had a vocal tract that resembled those of the apes

B Neaderthals had a vocal tract resembling an ape's

C The vocal tracts of  Neaderthals resembled an ape's

D The Neaderthal's vocal tracts resembled the apes'

E The vocal tracts of the Neanderthals resembled those of the apes

答案为B。可是我不明白为什么主语是Neanderthals 而他说had a vocal tract？这个不是单数吗？为什么解释说an ape's  agrees with a vocal tract?这道题的对应到底是怎么回事呢？什么意思呢？谢谢大家指点。问的问题可能比较弱，请大家见谅。谢谢大家。

用排除法吧

首先，因为后面有and were probably without language, 这句话的主语只能是Neandathals, 所以排除CDE
A中，those of the apes和a tract不对应，
所以选B

这里可以这样理解，Neandathal作为一个群体有共同的vocal tract, 如果用复数vocal tracts，则会让人误会他们的vocal tract是各不相同的，当然这个不是绝对的，但也不能说用a vocal tract就是错。所以选B是相对好的

多谢。

Neanderthals had a vocal tract resembling an ape's 这里用 a vocal tract 而不用 vocal tracts 是因为 Neanderthals 是群名，而这里是说每个 Neanderthal 的声带。如果用 vocal tracts 就会让人误会一个 Neanderthal 有一个以上的发声系统。

我问过我的改稿人，他说这句是错的。前面是 Neanderthals，后面就不能用 an ape。应该是：Neanderthals had a vocal tract resembling apes'. 更好的是：Neanderthals had a vocal tract similar to that of apes.  我说 Neanderthals 用单数舒服些。他说那就应该是这样的：The Neanderthal had a vocal tract similar to that of an ape.

[ 本帖最后由 Asrgbf 于 2008-6-19 20:09 编辑 ]