【问】 “I thought Bob was going to join the navy. ” “Didn’t you hear? He failed____the phys-ical examination.”

A. passing B. to pass

C. in passing D. to have passed (TOEFL，70.3)

答案为B(to pass)。但我认为C(in passing)也是正确的。

【答】 fail to+动词不定式，是一个没有争议的最常见的用法。一般考生知道这一点就足够了。英语教师则应了解：对于fail+in+动名词这一用法，语言学家是有争议的。例如，有的语言学家指出，He failed in doing it.是错误的，应改为He failed to do it.但是，实际上，我们有时也会遇到fail in doing的用法：

1. The chairman failed in trying to persuade the committee to share his opinion.(LDPV)

主席未能说服委员会同意他的观点。

2. I failed in understanding what they meant.

我未能理解他们的意思。

请做下面的英语试题：

We city dwellers often fail taking advantage of our many opportunities for cultural enjoy-ment. (TOEFL，71.1;75.9)