give

句(a)和句(b)所表达的意思是相同的。如果说它们有什么区别的话，那只是表现在信息切分上(即哪个成分是已知信息，哪个成分是新信息)。一般而论，位于句首充当被动句主语的应当是已知信息：可能是谈话双方已明确具体所指，也可能是前面刚刚谈到的事物，因而可以作为谈话的出发点或讨论的话题，而位于句末的成分则是信息的重心。请看下面的托福题中的对话：

“Where did you get that handsome picture?” “It was given to us by my father.” (TOEFL)

“那幅漂亮的画你们是在哪儿买的？”“它是我父亲送给我们的。”

很容易看出,这里只能用 it (that handsome picture) 作主语,而不能用 we 来作主语(We were given...),就是因为 it 是已知信息(话题),后面的内容是对这个话题的陈述。请比较下列各句(主语为话题,句尾成分为信息重心):

1 George was given the money. 乔治已拿到了钱。

1. {The money was given(to) George.(Leech) 钱已给了乔治。

2. Her sister was given the car. 她姐姐被赠予了那辆汽车。

3. {The car was given to her sister. 那辆汽车给了她姐姐。

4. As automation increases, the problems of unemployment will become progressively more A

serious unless more men and women would be given the training necessary for white-collar positions. (TOEFL) (应将 would be given 改为 are given)

(the training 为句子的信息重心)

4. The words $\frac{\text{old and ugly}}{\text{A}}$ are borrowed $\frac{\text{into}}{\text{B}}$ English from Scandinavian, and French has given us the words nice and cruel. (TOEFL)

本题中的 French has given us the words nice and cruel 应改为 the words nice and cruel aregiven to us by French。为什么要作这种修改呢？是否前一说法不合语法呢？实际上前一说法也是合乎语法的，但是它违反了句子结构平行原则（与前面的 The words old and ugly 不平行对称），进一步说，就是违背了信息分布原则：the words nice and cruel 应作为话题，充当主语，而 by French 是后一分句的信息重心，应搁在句末。

对 send 等动词的两种被动句型也可以作同样的解释：

1. She was sent full details last week. (PEU) 上周给她送去了关于全部细节的资料。

2. “What happened to the contract?” “It was sent the union last week.” (PEU) (it 显然是已知信息) “合同怎么样了?” “它在上周已送交工会。”

该书编者只是从统计学的角度讲了此类被动句的主语问题,而没有触及下列两种被动句型的区别:

(a) George was given the money.

(b) The money was given (to) George.

关于这两种被动句型的区别,请见

上面两个句子都是正确的。也就是说，句(a)中的to是可以省略的。

1. The money was given(to) George. (Leech) 钱已给了乔治。

2. Give it (to) me. (PEU) 把它给我。

3. Where shall I give it you? (Wells) 我在哪里把它给你呢?

4. I gave it her and she thanked me formally. (Greece) 我把它给了她，她很有礼貌地向我道了谢。

要想弄清这个问题,必须从 give 的用法谈起。

在主动语态中：

They gave $\frac{\text{Sam}}{\text{间接宾语}} \frac{\text{a book.}}{\text{直接宾语}}$

变成被动语态时,可以用直接宾语作被动句主语,也可以用间接宾语作被动句主语:

(a) A book was given Sam. (Sam 为保留间接宾语)

(b) Sam was given a book. (a book 为保留直接宾语)

因此,我们有理由把你所提出的被动句的主语 Alice 看作是主动句中的直接宾语,而把 John 看作是间接宾语。同样,我们也有理由把被动句的主语 Alice 看作是主动句中的间接宾语,而把 John 看作是直接宾语。这样看来,上面的句子容许有两种理解:

(a) 人们把艾丽斯给了约翰作伙伴。(Alice was given to John...)

(b) 人们把约翰给了艾丽斯作伙伴。

讨论上面的歧义句,有助于我们深入了解 give 的用法以及给我们带来的理解上的困难。

从下面的托福题我们可以进一步看到，主动句的直接宾语和间接宾语在被动句中都可以作主语。

1. “Where did you get that handsome picture?” “It was given to us by my father.” (TOEFL) “那张漂亮的画你是在哪儿买的?” “它是我父亲送给我们的。”

2. As automation increases, the problems of unemployment will become progressively more serious unless more men and women are given the training necessary for white-collar positions. (TOEFL) 如果不使较多的男女接受白领职位所必须的教育，则失业问题会随着自动化程度的提高而变得日益严重。

当直接宾语由名词(名词短语)充当时,要采用 give + 间接宾语 + 直接宾语(或者 give + 直接宾语 + to + 间接宾语)的语序。但是,当直接宾语由代词充当时,则应当采用 give + 直接宾语 + 间接宾语或者 give + 直接宾语 + to + 间接宾语的语序,这是语法上的强制性要求,而不是语用上的选择。

I gave it her and she thanked me formally. (Greece) 我把它给了她, 她很有礼貌地向我道了谢。

除了 make(leave, produce) an impression on sb. 等用法外, 英语也采用 give sb. an impression 这一表达方式。例如:

1. I didn't want to give you any false impression. (Snow) 我不想给你留下错误的印象。

2. What he saw and heard on his trip gave him a very deep impression. 他此次旅行中的所见所闻,给他留下了深刻的印象。

3. give sb. a good impression 给某人一个好印象(《英语搭配大词典》, p. 933)

give off 与 give out 虽然都译作“发出”或“放出”，但它们的搭配关系是不同的。give off 的宾语通常是气体、液体、烟、雾、气味、放射线、光等等，而 give out 的宾语通常是光、声、电、热、放射线等等：

1. Boiling water gives off steam. 沸水散发蒸汽。

2. The eggs were giving off a bad smell. 这些鸡蛋发出一股难闻的气味。

3. Not long before another scientist had found that uranium gave off rays, so Marie decided to study this area for her doctor's degree. 前不久，另外有位科学家发现过铀元素放出射线的现象，于是玛丽便决定在这方面进行研究，以获取博士学位。

4. The sun gives out light and heat to the earth. 太阳给地球散发光和热。

5. The ship gave out radio signals for help until she sank. 该船沉没以前，一直发出无线电求救信号。

6. This special whistle gives out(gives forth) a sound that only dogs can hear. 这种特殊的口哨发出的声音只有狗才能听见。

[附注]当宾语为 radiation 时,既可用 give out,也可用 give off:

1. In 1898 they declared that they believed there was something in nature which gave out radiation. (旧高中英语课本,3,p.6) 1898年,他们宣布,他们相信在自然界中有某种能发出放射线的物质。

2. A certain scientist had discovered that a metal called uranium gave off a kind of radiation. （同上）有一位科学家发现，有一种叫做铀的金属能放出一种放射线。