（1）She isn't any more courageous than he(is).
(2) She is no more courageous than he(is).
请问句(1)和句(2)的意思是否相同?
关于 no more... than 的意义和用法, 我们在 no more(...) than 条中已经讨论过了。应当记住, not any more... than 是 no more... than 的强调形式, 因此, 它们的用法和含义是相同的。下面补充几个 not any more... than 的例句:
-
It's no use asking me. I don't know any more than you. (Du Maurier) 问我没有用。我跟你同样不懂。
-
I could not do that any more than you. = I could no more do that than you. 我和你一样，也不能做这件事。
-
Science is built with facts just as a house is built with bricks, but a collection of facts cannot be called a science any more than a pile of bricks can be called a house. 科学是用事实建立起来的，就像房子是由砖建筑起来的一样；但是，收集到一起的事实并不能称为科学，正如一堆砖不能称为房子一样。
There is no reason they should limit how much vitamin you take, ____ they can limit how much water you drink.
I often have a nightmare vision of a future world in which there are billions of people, all numbered and registered, with not a gleam of genius anywhere, not an original mind, a rich personality, on the whole packed globe. The twin ideals of our time, organization and quantity, will have won for ever. (New Concept English, Book 4, p. 32)
[原译1]我常常想象未来世界的恶梦般的情景，所有登记入册的亿万人民生活在这个熙熙攘攘的世界上，到处都没有一线天才的光芒，没有独创性的头脑，没有丰富多彩的个性。社会组织和人口数量，我们时代的这两个相互关联的观念，将永远存在。（上外教版，p.5）
[原译2]这时我眼前就往往会出现一幅未来世界的恶梦般的景象:亿万个编了号码和注了册、登了记的芸芸众生,在整个人满为患的地球上哪儿也找不到任何天才横溢之士,任何具有创见卓识的才智之士,任何富于个性的慷慨悲歌之士,看来我们时代所向往的双重理想,讲究组织和数量,将终于永远得逞。(上海科技文献出版社版,p.185)查安徽科技出版社和世界图书出版公司的中译本也均将not anywhere译为“到处没有”。不知这种译法是否正确?
首先应当明确,介词短语 with not a gleam of genius anywhere 是名词短语 billions of people 的定语,因此译为“到处没有……”,“哪儿也找不到……”,似乎都不符合这一语法关系。其次应当注意,副词 anywhere 与 not 连用时,有时词义会发生变化:anywhere 不再作“任何地方”解,而是起加强语气的作用,相当于(not) at all [根本(不)]。这里的 with not a gleam of genius anywhere 可以译为“根本没有才华”或“没有一丝一毫的才华”。类例:
He never came anywhere near to knowing what it was. 他根本不懂得这是什么。
not as...as/not so...as