问英语｜英语常见问题解答

问

missing 和 lost 作“丢失的”解时,有无区别?

答

形容词 missing 与形容词 lost 在作“丢失的”解时仅仅有细微的差别: missing 只表示“不见了”“应有而缺少”，而 lost 则含有“遗失”“失而找不到(cannot be found)”的意思。

My purse is missing. Have you seen it? 我的钱包不见了,你看见了吗?
The missing boy was found yesterday. 那个走失的男孩昨天找到了。
His wallet is lost. 他的钱包丢了。
When he left the country, I knew the money I'd lent him was lost forever. 在他出国的时候,我就知道我借给他的那笔钱是永远失去了。
May I use your pen? I've lost mine. 我可以用用你的钢笔吗？我的钢笔我弄丢了。
We couldn't find it; it was lost. 我们没有找到那条项链；它丢失了。
She told me that her camera was ____.

A. missed B. robbed C. lost D. lain(上海会考,96-24)

The key to my bike ____. I have looked for it everywhere, but still ____ it. A. is missing; haven't found B. has lost; don't find C. had missed; haven't found D. has been gone; haven't found
John complained to the bookseller that there were several pages ____ in the dictionary. A. missing B. losing C. dropping D. leaking(全国研考,95-36)

问

Returning to my room, ____. A. my watch was missing B. the watch was missed C. I found my watch missing D. I found my watch disappeared

有一本书对答案 C 作了如下解答：“为现在分词作宾语补足语的用法。”

请问上面的 missing 是现在分词吗？现在分词应具有主动意义，例如：We seem to be missing two chairs. 我们好像丢了两把椅子。所以，我认为上面的 missing 应改为 missed。

答

把所有的具有-ing形式的形容词统统看作是现在分词,这是我国中学英语教学上的一个误区。这种教法常常使我们老师处于不能自圆其说的尴尬境地。实际上,英语里有不少具有-ing形式的词其实是形容词(见interested, disappointing, excited)。上题中的missing便是一个形容词,作“缺少的”“找不到的”“失踪的”解:

I've found those missing papers. 我已找到了所缺的那些文件。
The book had two pages missing/two missing pages. 那本书缺两页。
Are you sure that there are no pages missing, and that it is just like the others, only second-hand? 您能保证这一本没有缺页，和其它的书一样，只不过是二手货吗？
After he left the firm, we found that a lot of important documents were missing. 在他离开公司以后，我们发现许多重要文件不见了。
Hundreds of missing persons are reported to the police every week. 每个星期警方都收到有关数百个失踪者的报告。
About a third of the people who had been chained up below at the beginning of the journey were missing. 旅行开始时被拴在船下面的人大约有三分之一已经不见了。
When some money went missing from the bank, O. Henry was believed to have stolen it. （全国高考，91－阅读 A）当银行丢了一些钱的时候，人们认为是欧·享利偷的。

missed 是 miss 的过去分词,用作定语或表语时,作“错过的”“漏掉的”解。因此,上句中的 missing 不能改为 missed:

An opportunity missed is gone for ever. 丢掉的机会是永不会再来的。

[注意]形容词 missing 可以放在名词之后,如例 2 和例 3。

练习

She went from room to room, checking, and found her camera and spare watch ____.
1. A
  losing
2. B
  missing
3. C
  leaving
4. D
  disappearing(全国高考,92-48)
When she got home, she found the window ____ and something ____.
1. A
  to open; missed
2. B
  opening; losing
3. C
  open; missing
4. D
  opened; disappearing (高考模拟题,96-29)
She returned home from the market only to find the door open and a number of things ____.
1. A
  stole
2. B
  missing
3. C
  missed
4. D
  stealing (全国成人高考,96-23)
He looked rather untidy as there were two buttons ____ from his coat.
1. A
  losing
2. B
  leaving
3. C
  missing
4. D
  missed
The ____ boy was last seen ____ near the East Lake.
1. A
  missing ... playing
2. B
  missing ... play
3. C
  missed ... played
4. D
  missed ... to play(上海高考,00-39)

missing

missing¹

missing²