【问】 Biographers are detailed of a person's life may fill two or more volumes. (TOEFL，90. 9)

我认为as...as与so...as是可以通用的。为什么选择D (so many as)是错误的呢?

【答】 在现代英语里，当句子为否定句时，as... as和so... as一般是可以互换的。例如：

他不象以前那么淘气了。

但是在肯定句里，人们还是用as... as来表示形容词和副词的同级比较。因此，上道试题的D项应改为：as many as。请看下面的实例：

1. Anna is as tall as Bill. (CGEL)

安娜和比尔一样高。

2. John is as polite as Bob. (CGEL)

约翰和鲍勃一样有礼貌。

请做下面的英语试题：

1. Benjamin West was American artist influenced British painters as he did American artists. (TOEFL， 80. 8)

2. The tides of the Indian Ocean greatly， not much as inthe Atlantic or Pacific. (TOEFL，82. 8)

3. for a plane to take from an airport can often take as the trip its (TOEFL， 74.3)

(参见not as... as/not so... as)