涉及省略的几类典型陷阱

省略是为了避免重复、突出新信息而省略句中的一个或者几个句子成分并使上下文紧密连接的一种语法修辞手段。在语言应用中，尤其在对话中，是一种十分普遍的现象。在英语考试中，也经常会采用微型语境的方法，使用省略手段来设计考试陷阱，增加考试的难度。在考试陷阱中，所涉及的省略情况一般有：词的省略、句子成分的省略、多个成分的同时省略等。

一、承前省略陷阱

所谓承前省略指的是当前后两句结构相同时，通常可将后一结构与前一结构相同的部分省略，从而使句子更简洁。一般说来，这种省略考生是可以根据上下文的语境作出正确理解的，但是，当这种省略与其他英语句型相似并很容易发生混淆时，就可能让张冠李戴，步入误区。如果命题者刚好抓住这一点来巧妙设题，就很可能构成有一定难度的陷阱题。如：

1.—What should I do with this passage?

— _________ the main idea of each paragraph.

A. Finding out          B. Found out              C. Find out       D. To find out

【分析】答案选C。很容易误选A或D，误认为这是考查非谓语动词。根据问句可知，完整的答语应是You should find out…，此处是承前省略了You should，所以就是Find out。

2. My friend Mary is _________ beautiful girl and _________ girl everyone likes to work with.

A. a, a                     B. a, the                    C. the, a                  D. the, the

【分析】此题很容易误选B，认为第一次提到 girl 用不定冠词，第二次提到就应该用定冠词。但其实最佳答案是A。句中第二次提到 girl 时并不是特指的，此句实为一省略句，补充完整为 My friend Mary is a beautiful girl and she is a girl everyone likes to work with. 请再看两道题(答案选A)：

(1) Jim is _________ brave boy and _________ boy never fearing anything.

A. a, a                     B. a, the                    C. the, a                  D. the, the

(2) It is really _________ useful dictionary and _________ dictionary every one of us needs.

A. a, a                     B. a, the                    C. the, a                  D. the, the

3. “What made her struggle to become an artist so hard?” “_________ she was a woman.”

A. /                         B. When                   C. That                    D. What

【分析】此题最佳答案选C。that用以引导主语从句(此that不可省略)，其后的谓语和宾语等被省略，若补充完整，即为 That she was a woman made her struggle to become an artist so hard. 下面两题答案选A，理由同上：

(1) “What made her so happy?” “_________ her son passed driving test.”

A. That                    B. 不填                   C. Since                    D. For

(2) “What were you trying to prove to the police?” “_________ I was last night.”

A. Where                 B. When                  C. That                     D. What

4. If the weather is fine, we’ll go. If _________, _________.

A. not, not               B. no, no                 C. not, no                  D. no, not

【分析】此题应选A。If not, not. 为 If the weather is NOT fine, we will NOT go 之省略。全句意为“如果天气好，我们就去；如果天气不好，我们就不去”。该句的特点是：后句与前句的用词和句式完全相同, 只是前句为肯定，后句为否定，为了简洁起见, 于是将后句与前句相同部分省略，只保留否定词 not。又如：

If it is cheap, I’ll buy it. If not, not. 如果这东西便宜，我就买；如果不便宜，我就不买。

If you study hard, you’ll succeed. If not, not. 你若努力，你就会成功；你若不努力，你就不会成功。