原书 PDF 第 1157 页
people 是复数名词,怎么能说 a people 呢?
当 people 指“人、人们”“家里人”的时候是无标记的复数名词，无单数形式。例如：
Who are these people? 那些人是谁?
There are ten people present. 有 10 个人出席。
My wife's people are staying with us now. 我妻子娘家的人目前跟我们住在一起。
但是当 people 作“民族”“种族”解时,就变成了规则的可数名词(people peoples):
The Chinese are a great people. 中国人民是伟大的民族。
The Japanese are an industrious people. 日本人民是勤劳的民族。
因此可以说：
the peoples of Europe, the English-speaking peoples.
(参见 people )
1. More than a hundred persons were present. 一百多人出席了。
More than a hundred persons were present. 一百多人出席了。
No more than 3 people came to my class, unfortunately. (LDCE) 真遗憾, 只有三个人来上我的课。
下面两种说法倒是颇有助于我们正确理解 people 与 persons 的异同。
A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language(p.303):
"Persons is often used instead of people, especially in official style..."
(persons 常常用来代替 people, 尤其是在正式语体中……)
The Random House Handbook(p.254):
"The real distinction to observe is that persons makes us think of the individual members who go to make up the people. Thus, three persons were arrested at the rock concert attended by 80,000 people."
[“能够观察到的真正的区别，仅在于 persons 使我们想到构成 people 的单个成员。例如 Three persons were arrested at the rock concert attended by 80,000 people.（在一次有 8 万人参加的摇滚乐音乐会上逮捕了 3 个人。）”]