GMAT问答 - 毕出GMAT

这道题做错了两次，也看了一些解释，有一些自己的心得。总结给自己和有缘人看吧。

这道题最重要的考点是比较，其次还考了句子完整等零散的考点。
个人理解，比较结构永远比的是两个句子：A do B 比 C do B(D)。
例如，I eat more apples than you eat apples (bananas). I am taller than my brother is.
然后，英文为了保持自己concise的风格，会省略C do B（D）这个结构中的某些重复的成分。
例如，I eat more apples than (do) you. I am taller than my brother.

本题的难点就在于：了解每个选项的比较对象，并判断这种比较，是否符合逻辑和作者想要表达的意思。

A选项：
More than 300 rivers drain into Siberia's Lake Baikal, which holds 20 percent of the world's fresh water, more than all the North American Great Lakes combined.
比较结构是which(Siberia's Lake Baikal) holds 20 percent of the world's fresh water和all the North American Great Lakes combined hold the water
核心比较结构是: lake A holds water more than lakes B hold water.
符合作者想要表达的意思。

B选项：
With 20 percent of the world's fresh water, that is more than all the North American Great Lakes combined, Siberia's Lake Baikal has more than 300 rivers that drain into it.
首先不说这种“, that”的用法本身便是错的，应该用“, which”。
本选项的比较结构是20 percent of the world's fresh water is more than all the North American Great Lakes combined are.
核心比较结构是 20 percent of water is more than lakes are. 而water is 和 lakes are本身就是风马牛不相及的东西，比不了。
所以B不对。

C选项：
Siberia's Lake Baikal, with more than 300 rivers draining into it, it holds more of the world's fresh water than all that of the North American Great Lakes combined, 20 percent.
首先句子不完整，没什么可说的，最严格意义上的语法错误。

本选项比较结构是Siberia's Lake Baikal holds more of the world's fresh water than all that of the North American Great Lakes combined
这个that应该是指前面出现的 fresh water
可以有两种理解：
第一，核心比较结构变成Lake A holds more water than A holds water of Lake B. 虽然看上去还可以比较，但 A holds water of lake B与作者想表达的意思已经相差甚远，也根本不符合逻辑——A怎么会有lake B的水呢？
第二，核心比较结构变成Lake A holds more water than water of Lake B holds water.显然也不符合逻辑。

D选项：
While more than 300 rivers drain into it, Siberia's Lake Baikal holds 20 percent of the world's fresh water, which is more than all the North American Great Lakes combined.
首先，while表同时或表转折，无论哪种逻辑关系，都和作者想在本句表达的题意相差甚远。
比较结构：20 percent of the world's fresh water（which） is more than all the North American Great Lakes combined are.
核心比较结构：20 percent of water is more than Lakes are.
同选项B一样，water is 和 Lakes are无法比较。

E选项：
More than all the North American Great Lakes combined, Siberia's Lake Baikal, with more than 300 rivers draining into it, holds 20 percent of the world's fresh water.
本人两次都错选了E。

这里引Ron的原话：
when you have an INITIAL MODIFIER THAT'S NOT A CLAUSE (i.e., it doesn't have its own subject and verb), then it must modify the immediately following noun.
example:
coming home from school, the wind blew me off my bike. --> INCORRECT, because the implication is that the wind itself was "coming home from school".
coming home from school, i was blown off my bike by the wind. --> correct (even though the passive voice is used).
same problem in choice (e), which implies that lake baikal itself is somehow "more than all the North American Great Lakes combined".
that doesn't make sense.
the above rule is completely rigid, too; it doesn't allow for the modifier to be used in any other way.

如果句子开头就是modifier，则该modifier首先应当修饰紧接其的noun。于是本句中More than all the North American Great Lakes combined直接变成修饰Baikal的成分。
比较结构是:Siberia's Lake Baikal is more than all the North American Great Lakes combined are.
核心比较结构是：Lake A is more than Lakes B are.
个人看法，仅从核心比较结构的角度考虑，本选项可以改写成：
Siberia's Lake Baikal，which is more than all the North American Great Lakes combined, with more than 300 rivers draining into it, holds 20 percent of the world's fresh water. （两者实质上在核心比较结构上等价）

又虽然Lake A is和 Lakes B are这两件事情可以比较，比如lake A is bigger than lakes B are. 但两者似乎不能用more作为比较的方面，且也不能传达作者本来想传达的意思。

以上是个人的分析，望有缘人指点一二。

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