| 单词 | 集合名词 |
| 释义 | 〔people〕Used as a pluralpeople is a form with no exactly corresponding singular. (English is not odd in this respect:the equivalent word is anomalous in Spanish, Italian, Russian, and many other languages.)In the past, grammarians have sometimes insisted thatpeople is a collective noun that should not be used as a substitute forpersons when referring to a specific number of individuals, as inSix people were arrested. Butpeople has always been used in such contexts, and the distinction is now so widely ignored in general writingthat it seems pedantic to insist on it.Persons is still preferred in quasilegal contexts, however, as inVehicles containing fewer than three persons may not use the left lane during rush hours. Only the singularperson is used in compounds involving a specific numeral: People 用做复数时无确切的单数形式。 （在此方面英语是不固定的：在西班牙语、意大利语和许多其它语言中相应的词是不规则的。）过去，语法学家曾坚持说people 是集合名词， 不能替代描述特定数量个体的persons ， 如在六个人被捕了 中。 但是people 常用在这样的上下文中， 其区别在一般的书面语中被大大忽略了，再坚持其区别则显得多余。Persons 仍多被用在法律性的语境中， 例如在交通高峰期容纳少于三个人的汽车不允许使用左单行道。 只有单数person 用在与具体数目有关的复合词中： 〔number〕As a collective nounnumber may take either a singular or a plural verb. It takes a singular verb when it is preceded by the definite articlethe : 作为一个集合名词，number 既可以跟动词单数形式也可以跟动词复数形式。 当它前面是定冠词the 时，后跟单数动词： 〔underemployed〕Underemployed persons considered as a group. Used withthe. 失业者：未充分就业者，集合名词，与the 连用 〔group〕Group as a collective noun can be followed by a singular or plural verb. It takes a singular verb when the persons or things that make up the group are considered collectively: Group 做为一个集合名词后面跟单数或复数动词均可。 当组成该群体的人或物体被看做一个集合时，后面跟动词单数： 〔shrapnel〕Henry Shrapnel received no compensation for the invention named after him other than having his name live on in connection with it.This deadly artillery shell, invented by Shrapnel, a British artillery officer, in his spare time and at his own expense,was given its first test in South America during the British seizure of part of Suriname (1799-1802),but shrapnel came into its own during the Peninsular War (1808-1814) between Great Britain, Spanish guerrillas, Portugal, and Napoleonic France.Shrapnel's shell was first officially called thespherical case shot, but it seems that early on it was called theshrapnel shell as well (first recorded in 1806), and this was the name eventually adopted by the British army.The wordshrapnel came to be used by itself as a collective noun, and even though the shrapnel shell is no longer used,people have for some time (first recorded in 1940) called the fragments from a shell, mine, or bombshrapnel, thus ensuring the continued existence, if not the immortality, of Henry Shrapnel's name.亨利·宣普纳因这种以其名字命名的发明，除了他的名字跟这种发明联系在一起以外他一无所获。宣普纳是一位英国炮兵军官，这种致命的武器是他在闲暇时间自筹经费发明的。它的首次试用是在南美洲英国占领部分苏里南领土期间（1799-1802年）进行的，但在大布列颠、西班牙游击队、葡萄牙及拿破仑统治下的法国几方之间进行的半岛战争期间（1804-1814年），榴霰弹开始使用。一开始宣普纳的这种炮弹被官方称作霰弹 。 但这之前似乎被称为shrapnel shell （最早记录于1806年）。 这一名字最终被英国陆军采用。shrapnel 一词被用作一集合名词， 虽然榴霰弹已不再使用了，但有一段时期人们把弹丸、地雷或炸弹的碎片也称为shrapnel （最早记录于1940年）， 这样就确保了亨利·宣普纳的名字得以继续存在，即使不能永存的话〔tubing〕Tubes considered as a group.管道：管类，集合名词〔government〕In American usagegovernment always takes a singular verb. In British usagegovernment, in the sense of a governing group of officials, is usually construed as a plural collectiveand therefore takes a plural verb: 在美国用法中，government 总是跟单数动词。 在英国用法里，当government 作统治团体解释时， 通常被定义成集合名词的复数，因此后面跟复数动词： 〔railing〕Rails considered as a group.栏杆：横档的集合名词〔medium〕The etymologically plural formmedia is often used as a singular to refer to a particular means of communication,as inThis is the most exciting new media since television. This usage is widely regarded as incorrect;medium is preferred. A stronger case can be made in defense of the use ofmedia as a collective term, as inThe media has not shown much interest in covering the issue. As with the analogous wordsdata and agenda, the originally plural form has begun to acquire a sense that departs from that of the singular: used as a collective term,media denotes an industry or community. Thus the example sentence given here would not be appropriately paraphrased asNo medium has shown much interest in covering the issue, which suggests that the disinclination abides in the means of communication itselfrather than in its practitioners.Ifmedia follows the pattern of data and agenda, this singular use may become entirely acceptable someday.But despite its utility,many people still regard it as a grammatical error.语源复数形式media 常用作单数， 用来指传播手段中的某一种，例如在下面这是自电视出现以来最激动人心的新式传媒 的句子中。 许多人都认为这一用法是不正确的；他们还是喜欢用medium 这一单数形式。 我们能提出更为有力的例子来为media 作为集合名词的用法进行辩护， 如下面的句子：大众传媒对于报道这一事件没有表现出多大兴趣 。 正如类似于原为复数形式的其他两个词data 和 agenda 已经开始具有其单数形式的含义： 用作集合名词的media 现在则可以指传播工业或共同体。 这样的话，我们刚才给出的例句就不能改成如下形式：没有传媒对报道这一事件表现出很大兴趣 ， 因为这样改动后，这句话所表示的是传播工具本身的不愿意，而不是业者的不愿意。如果media 也象 data 和 agenda 那样， 那么它作为单数形式的用法总有一天会被完全接受的。但是不管它的实用性大小，许多人仍将其视为一个语法错误 |
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