五、冠詞用法講練
(一)冠詞的位置
1) 在名詞片語中，冠詞一般放在最前面。例如：
the last few days a really good concert
2) 名詞片語裏如果有all, both, exactly, just, many, quite, rather, such, what等詞，這類詞可以放在冠詞之前。例如：
all the time both (the) brothers
exactly the wrong colour just the right place
quite a nice day rather a mess
such a funny story
3) 和as, how/however, so, too連用時, 形容詞放在冠詞之前。例如：
He’s not so big a fool as you think.
She’s as clever a girl as you’re ever likely to meet.
This is too heavy a bag for me to carry.
How large an armchair did he have?
However tiring a day she may have, she never loses her good humour.
(二)不定冠詞 (Indefinite Article)
1) a/an表示“任何一個(類)”，隻能用于單數可數名詞前。例如：
We are having a committee meeting this afternoon.
a/an不用于不可數名詞前。例如：
There will be discussion and argument at the meeting.
He drinks milk every day.
2) 不可數名詞用作可數名詞時，可用a/an。例如：
I’ve just bought a lovely big Danish cheese.
I don’t like cheese.
She was inspired with a new courage.
She showed great courage.
3) 用于表示價格、速度、比率等名詞前，如five pence a kilo, sixty kilometers an hour, four times a day等。
4) 用于下列這樣的固定短語中。如a couple, a dozen, half a dozen, a hundred, a lot of, a great many, a great deal of, a large amount/quantity of, a good number of 等。
I’ve done a great deal of work today. (不可數)
What a large number of books you have! (可數)
It’s a good five miles(=at least five miles, perhaps mote) to the station.
5) 以母音開頭的單詞前不定冠詞用an, 如：an apple, an egg, an item, an old man, an umbrella, an hour; 以輔音開頭的單詞前不定冠詞用a university student, a humorous man。
EXERCISE l
A. Put a or an before each of the following:
1. motel (汽車遊客旅館) 2. unusual approach
3. honest boy 4. awkward situation
5. exit (出口) 6. urgent message
7. unique opportunity 8. extremely exciting film
B.Translate the following into English：
1.一座新辦公樓 2.一位旅行社代理人
3.一位美國科學家 4.一天的郊遊
5.一張印度郵票 6.一次心髒病發作
7.一個先進國家 8.一個有意思的劇本
EXERCISE 2
Fill in the blanks with a or an where necessary:
1. Telephone is very important means of communication.
2. Mothers often tell small children stories before bedtime.
3. I"ll pay you thousand year. It’s not enormous salary but after all you are completely unskilled worker.
4. —You’11 get shock if you touch live wire with that screwdriver(螺絲起子). Why don’t you get screwdriver with insulated(絕緣的)handle?
5. — I’m not wage-earner; I’m self-employed man. I have business of my own.
—Then you’re not worker; You’re capitalist!
6. —I have hour and half for lunch.
—I only have half hour — barely time for smoke and cup of coffee.
7. It travels at just under thousand miles hour.
8. I have never known such hot weather.
EXERCISE 3
Insert a or an where necessary:
A.
1. I had very bad night; I didn’t sleep wink (眨眼;打盹).
2. This man has honesty that we all appreciated.
3. Mr. Brown had vision of new and happier Europe.
4. It’s time you had holiday. You haven’t had day off for month.
5. There is hourly service of buses in this route.
6. It is great honour to be invited to such gathering.
7. 1 wouldn’t climb mountain for $ 1, 000! I have horror of heights.
8. Children usually learn the difference between right and wrong at early age.
9. I can’t tell you definitely yet. I"ll have word with my wife about it and tell you our decision tomorrow.
10. If boy is not making satisfactory progress at school, his parents should seek advice from his teacher.
B.
1. This is big problem, but not too big problem for us to solve.
2. He had square nose, grey hair and brown skin. She had never seen so handsome man.
3. However great disaster he suffered, John never gave up.
4. Many shipwrecked sailor has been rescued by our brave coastguards(海岸警衛隊).
5. Such urgent need requires prompt action.
6. So urgent need requires prompt action.
7. This is as lovely picture as I have ever seen.
8. I don’t think you realize what serious crisis this is.
9. You can hardly hope to succeed where many greater man has failed.
10. How serious crime had been committed was not realized until much later.
(三)定冠詞 (Definite Article)
1) 定冠詞的基本特徵
實際上所有名詞(專有名詞將另行討論)前都可能用定冠詞the。究竟用不用定冠詞，主要取決于我們所表達的思想。如果我們要給予某個名詞以明確的、限定的、特指的意義，就用the;反之，就不用the。請看下列句子：
1 2
I love books. Put the books on the shelf.
Butter is not cheap. The butter I bought is not cheap.
He went to work by car. He rode to work in the new car.
He has gained strength. He has regained the strength he lost.
I like music. I like the music composed by the young man.
a) 一般用于帶有修飾語的名詞片語前，但並非所有帶修飾語的名詞都需要the。例如：
Don’t you think Georgian houses are absolutely lovely?
Stainless steel (不銹鋼器皿) has many uses.
I can’t say I care for modern art.
上面三句中斜體部分的名詞雖然都有修飾語，因沒有明確限定而是泛指一類事物，故不用the。下面三句斜體部分的名詞則表示提到過的，特指的事物，要用the：
The Georgian houses have been sold.
The stainless steel was beautiful, but I thought most of the glass (玻璃器皿) they exhibited was rather unimaginative.
They showed a wonderful selection of the impressionists, but the modern art was too limited in its range.
b) 也用于有後置修飾語的名詞片語前。例如：
The old houses which are most worth visiting are in the Imperial City.
The steel of the gun barrels has gone rusty.
The art of the eighteenth century has never been surpassed(超過).
上面三句中的形容詞從句和介詞短語明確了是什麽樣的房子(what houses)，什麽樣的鋼(what steel)和什麽樣的藝術 (what art)，故用the。下面三句同樣有形容詞從句和介詞短語修飾名詞，但是它們隻指這些名詞屬于某一類事物，並非特指，故不用the。例如：
Houses which fail to satisfy these minimum requirements are to be pulled down.
Steel of great strength is needed for the manufacture of guns.
Art in the eighteenth century probably played a more important part in people’s lives than it does today.
EXERCISE 4
Fill in the blanks with the where necessary:
1. The engineers found that steel was of insufficiently high quality. Steel, I suppose, is the most important single product of the modern industrial world.
2. Large forests can have an important influence on climate.
Forests have all been cut down.
3. Nature was probably his chief source of inspiration (靈感，鼓舞).
Nature of the problem was such as to arouse his interest.
4. Education of little children has been greatly neglected.
Public education must be greatly extended.
5. The exploration(探索)of space has become one of the chief topics of science fiction(科幻小說).
Space between the table and the wall was just big enough for a small bed.
6. I prefer classical music to pop music.
Film wasn’t very good but I liked music.
7. My favourite subject at school was history.
All students should know something about history of their own country.
8. I cannot judge accuracy of your calculations(計算).
In mathematics accuracy is essential.
2) 定冠詞的主要用法
a) 用于單數名詞前，表示“某一類人或物”，以區別于其他人或物。例如：
The tiger is a fierce(凶猛的) animal. (相當于A tiger is a fierce animal.或Tigers are fierce animals.)
In this tribe the woman goes out hunting and the man stays at home to look after the children.
下面三句中的斜體部分不能互換：
Who invented the radio? (指類別)
Who had a radio? (指同類中的任何一個)
Who manufactured radios?(指這一類中的所有個體)
man 指“人類”時，不用the。例如：
Man will conquer nature.
b) 用于指世上獨一無二的東西，如 the moon，the sun，the world等。
c) 用于表示“樂器”的名詞前，但一般不用于表示“體育運動”的名詞前。例如：
Can you play the guitar?
I play football every day.
d) 用于某些形容詞前，可表示“一類人”。例如：
The young are impatient;they want changes.
e) 一般不用于表示“疾病”的名詞前。例如：
I’m just recovering from rheumatism(風濕病).
下列病名前一般用a/an：
I have an ache in my head (a pain in the neck).
He has a cold/a fever.
特指時需要用the。例如：
Jim has never really got over the malaria(瘧疾)he caught in the East.
f) 一般不用于表示“膳食”的名詞前，但有形容詞修飾時用the。例如：
Breakfast is served at eight.
The wedding breakfast was held in her father’s house.
如果泛指，用a/an。例如：
He gave us a good breakfast.
g) bed, church, college, court, hospital, market, prison, school, sea和work等名詞用來指有關活動時，一般不用冠詞。例如：
It’s time for children to go to bed. (指to sleep)
He goes to church every Sunday. (指to pray)
After the crash，seven people were taken to hospital. (指to be cured)
He spent six months in prison. (指to be punished)
After I leave school, I want to go to (a) university. (指to study)
Ken is a seaman. He spends most of his life at sea. (指to sail)
註：在美國英語中，通常用a/the hospital，a university。
出于其他目的，如去參觀、訪問這些地方或談到這些地方時，根據情況用 a 或 the。
例如：
There is a bed in the room.
She was putting clean sheets on the bed.
The workmen went to the church to repair the roof.
Tom went to the prison to visit his brother.
I would love to live near the sea.
home 單獨使用時，無冠詞;有修飾語時，用 the 或 a。例如：
She left home.
We went to the bride"s home.
I don’t have a home to go to in this city.
h) 當cinema, theatre, radio等名詞用于表示“看電影、看戲、聽無線電”時，一般要用 the。例如：
We went to the cinema last night.
Do you often go to the theatre?
I heard the news on the radio.
television 用于表示“看電視”時不用 the。例如：
I watched the news on television.
指“電視機”時用the。例如：
Can you turn off the television, please?(=the television set)
註：許多固定片語中的名詞前通常沒有冠詞，需要熟記，如day after day，husband and wife，father and son，lock and key，heaven and hell等。
EXERCISE 5
A.Fill in the blanks with a or the where necessary:
1. After lunch, we went for walk by sea.
2. Steam-engine was invented before internal combustion engine(內燃機).
3. Bat, they say, judges distances by kind of echo-location.
4. He goes to church every Sunday; church he usually goes to has seats for over thousand.
5. This is most useful reference book I have on this subject.
6. We have good market in town where we buy our fruit and _______ vegetables.
7. Prison in this town is grim-looking building.
8. Youngest boy has just started going to school; eldest boy is at college.
9. Dead no longer need help. We must concern ourselves with living.
10. John became manager and secretary of the company same time.
B.Insert a or the where necessary:
1. Horse is noble animal and faithful servant of man.
2. Chess is game which requires great skill and patience.
3. The stranger went to school to complain about behaviour(行為)of one of pupils.
4. Dinner was good, but I did not enjoy speeches that came after it.
5. An important aspect in developing motivation(動力，促動因素)is setting of goals.
6. —He got bronchitis(支氣管炎) and was taken to hospital. I expect they’ll send him home at end of week.
—Have you rung hospital to ask how he is?
7. Didn’t you hear that news over radio this morning?
8. Flute(長笛) is my favourite instrument.
9. We have very good train service from here to city center and most people go to work by train. You can go by bus, too, of course, but you can’t get season ticket on bus.
10. Everywhere man has cut down forests in order to cultivate ground, or to use wood as fuel or as building material.
3) 專用名詞前定冠詞的主要用法
a) 一般不用于單數人名前，但特指或強調時需用the。例如：
He’s the Mr. Smith I saw yesterday.
也可說：
A Mr. Smith has come here. (=A man called Smith has come here.)
復數人名前需用the，如the Johnsons, the Coopers。
b) 不用于“頭銜+人名”前，但有頭銜無人名時需用the，以表示特指。例如：
I saw Queen Elizabeth when l was in London。
I saw the Queen when I was in London.
c) 不用于國家、省市等名詞前，但由短語組成的國名，或以s結尾的國名前需要用the。例如：
the Philippines the Netherlands
the United States the United Kingdom
註：the Ukraine, the Congo, the Sudan, the Hague為例外。
d) 用于表示國籍、民族的名詞前。例如：
the British the Chinese
the Dutch the English
下列名詞常用復數形式：
(the) Russians (the) Italians
(the) Arabs (the) Scots
c) 用于表示地區的名詞前。例如：
the Middle East the Far East
the north of England (但是：northern England)
f) 不用于街道、建築等名詞前，但有 of 介詞短語修飾時，需用the。例如：
Broadway Red Square
the Tower of London the Great Wall of China
Sam lives on l2th Street.
They changed the name of Sixth Avenue to the Avenue of Americas.
g) 用于河流、海洋、群島、山脈、海峽、海灣名詞前。例如：
the Mississippi the Atlantic
the Philippine Islands the Andes
the English Channel the Persian Gulf
但不用于單個島嶼、山峰前。例如：
Sicily (Mount)Etna
h) 不用于大學名稱前，但有 of 介詞短語修飾時，需用the。例如：
Yale University Oxford University
the University of North Carolina
i) 不用于雜志名詞前，但用于報紙名詞前。例如：
Newsweek Natural History
the Daily News the Washington Post
EXERCISE 6
A.Fill in the blanks with the where necessary:
1. Thames, Seine and Rhine are famous rivers.
2. Samuel Johnson who was a professor of Columbia University was not Samuel Johnson who was a famous English writer.
3. Andes are in South America, and Alps are in Europe.
4. Wool of which this suit is made comes from Australian sheep.
5. Wool is one of chief exports from Australia.
6. He remembers London of past and says it was gayer than London of today.
7. Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea are really part of Atlantic Ocean.
8. Macy’s (商店名) is on 34th Street between Broadway and Seventh Avenue.
9. Mr Jenkins reads Daily Telegraph but his wife reads Times.
10. Frank is a student at Liverpool University.
B.Translate the following into English:
1.大英博物館 2.蘇伊士運河 3.這兩個詞的區別
4.威爾遜一家 5.在第一排 6.1949年 7.在1935年秋天
EXERCISE 7
Cross out articles that are unnecessary in the following passage:
The people everywhere in the world might say, “When the strangers do not understand the customs that we follow, they are confused and do not understand what is happening.” The good manners are different in the different parts of the world. In many places, for example, accepting the gifts or anything important with the left hand shows the bad manners and even the rudeness. People with the good manners accept the important things with the both hands or at least with the right hand. Using the left hand to accept the important things shows not only the discourtesy (無禮，失禮) but also shows that the person who is accepting thinks the thing being given is worthless. In the Europe and the North America, however, the people do not follow this custom and give and receive with either hand without thinking about the meaning of what they are doing.