people, population, human, mankind, humankind, man, person, human being...
可是, 關(guān)于它們的單復(fù)數(shù)性質(zhì)以及一些細(xì)微的差別, 大家有深入的了解嗎?
- people 指一個(gè)群體, 本身就是復(fù)數(shù), 不需要加"s"。
例如: People were not appreciative of his painting when he was living, but they do now.
但是, 當(dāng)people有了民族；族群的意味后, 它后面就可以加"s"了。
例如: Two peoples were fighting to expand their own territories and weaken one another.
- person 是單數(shù), 指一個(gè)人, 但是persons除了一些特定場(chǎng)合, 如在法律場(chǎng)合, 才會(huì)用到。除此之外, person 的復(fù)數(shù)都是people。
- population 指人口, 通常是單數(shù)名詞。
例如: Almost half of the population was against the policy.
The population has shrunk a lot since the war started.
- man 當(dāng)用作單數(shù)形式時(shí), 可以指人類整體。
例如: Man is mortal (終有一死的).
但是由于a man指一個(gè)男人, 人們認(rèn)為用man 表示人類整體有忽略女性的地位。于是, 現(xiàn)在更多用humankind 或 mankind 來替代 man。
它們都是一貫以單數(shù)形式出現(xiàn)。
例如: Humankind is evolved from primates (靈長(zhǎng)類動(dòng)物).
- human/ human being 都是單數(shù), 指一個(gè)人類。
它們的復(fù)數(shù)形式humans/ human beings 類似 humankind。不同的是, humans/ human beings 是復(fù)數(shù)形式。
例如: Human beings have long been used to an omnivorous (雜食的) diet.
(如果大家不認(rèn)識(shí) "omnivorous" 這個(gè)詞, 可以把它記做生詞, 但先把重點(diǎn)放在human beings這個(gè)復(fù)數(shù)形式上哦。)
大家對(duì)這些詞有了解了嗎？做做練習(xí)看看效果吧。
小練習(xí)
I saw ____ sitting there, unmoved. I've always wondered how some ____ can stay in the same posture(姿勢(shì)) for hours.
A. man; humans
B. a man, people
C. a man; mankind
Both ____ and animals tend to react to the change in environment
A. human being
B. humans
C. mankinds
13% of the population ______ in poverty.
A. lives
B. live
C. both are correct
考試真題
來看看真題吧~
Fire was one of the earliest major technological advances for humankind.（CET-4 2014年6月）
There are also rules dealing with interpersonal relationships: Be a responsible human being and do not do evil things to others.（CET-4 2016年6月）
But with low-income students projected to make up an ever-larger share of the college-bound population in coming years, some schools are re-examing whether that aid, typically known as "merit aid", is the most effective use of precious institutional dollars.(CET-4 2017年)
