原书主词条 · 2 个连续词条

fire

原书 PDF 第 540 页

fire¹

2. “We won’t be finished until tonight.” “And they \_\_\_\_.”

说明

“We won’t be finished until tonight.” “And they ____.” A. will, either B. won’t, too C. will, neither D. won’t, either(TOEFL)

问

At last firemen have put out a big forest fire in California. (New Concept English, Book2, L.53) fire 为不可数名词, 如 There is no smoke without fire. 为什么上面句子里的 fire 与不定冠词连用?

答

当 fire 作“火”“火焰”解时是个不可数名词。但是，当 fire 作“具体的火灾”和“炉火”解时，它是个可数名词，例如 forest fires(森林火灾)。

There was a fire in the next street last night. (Palmer) 昨天夜里邻街着火了。
A single spark can start a prairie fire. (Mis) 星星之火可以燎原。

fire²

catch fire/take fire

问

He was standing by an electric heater, and his nightdress ____ fire.

A. took B. caught

C. started D. set(《大学英语三级水平测试试题集》, 上外教社, p.23)

书上给的答案是 B。请问能否选 A 呢？

答

除 B 之外,亦可选 A。请看下面的例证:

take/catch fire 着火(ALD)
The paper took fire. 纸着火了。
The building was very old and took fire when the lamp was overturned. 房屋很陈旧，灯打翻以后就着火了。