2. 职称英语
  3. Despite a growing population, in 1998 the United States used 38 billion fewer ga

Despite a growing population, in 1998 the United States used 38 billion fewer ga

游客2025-02-25  1
问题 Despite a growing population, in 1998 the United States used 38 billion fewer gallons of water a day when comparing it to the period of all-time highest consumption almost 20 years earlier.
选项 A、day when comparing it to the period of all-time highest consumption almost 20 years earlier
B、day than it did during the period of all-time highest consumption almost 20 years earlier
C、day than were used almost 20 years earlier, which had been the all-time high consumption
D、day, compared to almost 20 years earlier, th;it having been the all-time high consumption
E、day, which is in comparison to the period of all-time highest consumption almost 20 years earlier
答案 B
解析 Rhetorical construction; Logical predication
When making a direct comparison (in this case, with fewer), the standard way to express the object of comparison is with than. Here, the sentence uses fewer... when comparing it to, which not only is unidiomatic, but also creates an illogical predication: United States is the only possible subject for the verb comparing (surely the sentence doesn’t mean to say the United States used 38 billion fewer gallons at the time it was making some comparison!). Also, what is the antecedent of it here? Grammatically, there is no clear candidate.
A Instead of using fewer... than, this version uses the unidiomatic fewer... when comparing it to, which also introduces a logical predication problem.
B Correct. Fewer than is correct, and this version of the sentence has no logical predication problems.
C This has a logical predication problem: because the relative clause beginning with which immediately follows almost 20 years earlier, it seems that the time period is being described as having been the all-time high consumption.
D Fewer than is preferable to fewer... compared to; also, there is a logical predication problem: because the phrase beginning with that immediately follows almost 20 years earlier, it seems that the time period is being described as having been the all-time high consumption.
E This is awkwardly and confusingly worded. Rather than comparing the United States’ water usage in 1998 to its water usage nearly 20 years earlier, this appears illogically to compare the United States’water usage in 1998 to a period of time, namely the period of all-time highest consumption almost 20 years earlier.
The correct answer is B.
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