【问】 请谈一谈英语表语(主语补语)倒装的问题。 【答】 关于英语表语的倒装,我国出版的英语语法著作和英语教科书大都采纳了“强调表语论”。例如,清华大学编的《英语教程》是这样解释的: “强调表语而将表语提前: 1. More insidious in scientific work is a tendency for observations to be tainted with a desirefor a problem to ‘come out right’. 2. Of special interest are the laws dealing with the effects of forces upon the form and mo-tion of objects. 特别令人感兴趣的是论述力对物体形式和运动的影响的那些定律。 3. Einstein concluded that,‘In error are those theorists who believe that theory comes in-ductively from experience’. 爱因斯坦得出结论说:‘错误的是那些相信理论是由经验归纳出来的理论家。’”(清华大学《英语教程》,第四册,P.123) 我们认为这种提法是不符合英语书面语的实际的。 在英语的SVC句型里,S是陈述的对象,谈话的出发点,表示已知信息,而C则是对陈述对象的陈述,是交际的中心,表示未知信息。但是,当主语包含未知信息,具有较大的信息载荷时,就需要将表语提到句首,并实行主谓倒装,构成CVS句型,使S占据句末这一重要位置,以实现句尾信息核心的原则。这时所强调的不是表语,而是倒装的主语。 1. [in the first place,many of these highly technical words are fairly international; and inthe second place,they usually have very specialised meanings...] Much more difficultare the semi-scientific or semi-technical words... [首先,许多专业性很强的词汇是国际上通用的;其次,这些词汇的意义非常专业化……]较难掌握的倒是那些半科技词汇…… 2. Very important in the farmer’s life is the radio report. 农民生活中很重要的一件事,就是无线电天气预报。 3. Related to the concept of work is that of power,power is the work done in unit time. 与功这个概念有联系的是功率的概念,功率就是单位时间内做的功。 4. Perhaps even more remarkable than that is radar’s ability to “see” in the dark or thro-ugh heavy clouds. 也许比这更令人惊奇的是雷达在黑暗中或穿过浓厚的云层“看到”东西的能力。 5. Closely related to the principles of magnetism are the principles of electricity. 与磁学原理有密切关系的是电学原理。 6. Equally strange was his behaviour to his son. (Leech) 同样奇怪的是他对他儿子的行为。 请做下面的英语试题: Typical of the grassland dwellers of the continent____,or pronghorn. A. it is the American antelope B. the American antelope is C. is the American antelope D. the American antelop e(TOEFL,89.1) (本条主要内容曾在《现代外语》1983年第3期和《高校英语教学》1985年第4期上发表 过)