《大学英语同义词词典》(p.428)说：“people——人，人们，人类。单复同形”。我怀疑这种说法的正确性。
这种说法是不正确的。people 应当分三种情况来讨论。
A. 当 people 指“人(persons),”或者泛指“人们”,或者指特定场合的人以及家里人时,它是个无标记的复数名词(unmarked plural nouns),无单数形式,根本谈不上什么“单复同形”:
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There are ten people present. 有 10 个人出席。
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The streets were crowded with people. 街上挤满了人。
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People will laugh at you. 人们会嘲笑你的。
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All my people are in India. 我家里人都在印度。
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Altogether Dateline is the most exciting social advance for single people since the granting of the vote. (Reader's Digest) 总而言之,征婚热线对于单身汉来说,是自从授予公民选举权以来最激动人心的社会进步。(读者文摘)(译文引自《现代英语报刊阅读词典》)
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By the laws of probability there are certainly people in the world who are physically and mentally right for you, just as there are stars in the universe similar to ours. (Reader's Digest) 根据概率法则，世界上一定有在身体上和精神上都适合你的人，这与宇宙中有和我们这颗星球相似的星星是一个道理。(读者文摘)(译文引同上)
B. people 作“民族”解时, 其复数形式为 peoples。在这里也谈不上什么“单复同形”:
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The Chinese are a hard-working people. 中华民族是一个勤劳的民族。
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Ireland was inhabited by two peoples. 爱尔兰居住着两个民族。
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A people is all the men, women, and children of a particular country or race. (EED) 一个民族是指一个国家或种族的所有的男人、女人和儿童。
C. the people 是指一个国家的人民或全世界的人民或者与统治阶级相对的“人民”，它在形式上仍是单数，但是它的谓语动词，根据概念一致原则，要使用复数：
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He lived for the people and died for the people. (Mis) 他为人民而生,又为人民而死。
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The French nobles oppressed the people. 法国的贵族压迫人民。请做下面的英语试题：
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People has always felt the need to express themselves through movement. (TOEFL)
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Many people who live in New York City thinks that life in a large city offers special advantages. A B C D
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The total labor force in the United States numbered more than one hundred million peoples for the first time in 1977. (TOEFL)
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Never before people in our country been interested in athletic sports. (全国研考)