原书 PDF 第 824 页
If we had followed his plan, we could have done the job better with ____ money and ____ people.
A. less; less B. fewer; fewer C. less; fewer D. fewer; less(全国高考,90-18)
标准答案为 C, 但我认为也可以选 A, 您的意见如何?
这类试题完全是从概念出发的,命题者没有考虑到目前活生生的语言事实,详细的情形,见 least , less people, less/fewer 。
less/fewer + 形容词 + 复数名词
（1）He smoked fewer expensive cigarettes than he bought.
(2) He smoked less expensive cigarettes than he can afford.
例(1)中的“fewer + 形容词 + 复数名词”与例(2)中的“less + 形容词 + 复数名词”在结构和意义上有无区别？
在“fewer + 形容词 + 复数名词”结构中, fewer 只能作为数量词来说明复数名词 (fewer cigarettes——比……较少的烟), 而在“less + 形容词 + 复数名词”结构中, less 是副词, 修饰形容词 (less expensive——比较便宜的)。因此, 例(1) 和例(2) 应分别译为:
(1)他吸的高价烟比他买的高价烟少。
(2)他吸的烟,较之他的支付能力是比较低廉的。