詞彙題

10. Residents are told not to dump all household waste straight into the trash can; reusable materials should first be sorted out and recycled.
評析:
──residents若沒有加定冠詞,意思是「全世界的住戶」。這句子的情境顯然沒有涵蓋全世界,所以應該加定冠詞the,表示是「某地區的住戶」。
──兩句之間的分號用法不對,因為第二句並沒有與第一句對等或對立的邏輯關係,僅是細部說明而已。沒有緊密關係的兩句之間應用句點。
──reusable materials should first be sorted out and recycled.有很多語病。首先,sort out是「垃圾分類」,對象應是「所有垃圾」,sort out完所有垃圾後才會得到reusable material「可回收物」。但這句英文把邏輯弄顛倒了,變成去分類「(已分類出來)的可回收物」。
──first(先)是多餘的。英文用字順來說明動作的順序,不必什麼都加上first, then之類的贅字。這種贅字在台式英文算是很常見。
──are told not to dump all household waste是從「被告知不要把所有的垃圾丟…」直譯而來的中式英文。英文的字序是 are told that not all household waste can be dumped into the trash can. 當然,這句話就算是正確的英文,仍嫌囉唆。修改後的精簡版如下:
The residents are told to sort out their trash, in which recyclable materials shouldn’t be thrown away.

11. Kevin had been standing on a ladder trying to reach for a book on the top shelf when he lost his balance and fell to the ground.
評析:本題最大的錯誤是when。同一個主詞Kevin「站在梯子上」與「摔下來」有明顯時間先後之分,所以用when遠不如before來得清楚。再者,stand on a ladder用完成進行式表達是沒有必要的,因為「站著」本來就是靜態動作,用完成式強調其延續性是多餘的。其他一些贅字包括his與fell to the ground. 經過精簡後成為:
Kevin was standing on a ladder trying to reach a book on the top shelf before he lost balance and fell.

12. If student enrollment continues to drop, some programs at the university may be eliminated to reduce the operation costs.
評析:這句是道地中式英文。
──enrollment本來就是「招生人數」的意思,student是贅字。
──programs at the university直接講university programs就可以了。
──to eliminate a program的搭配大多用在電腦的「殺軟體」,大學砍課程通常只用cancel a program。
──operation costs在Google的搜尋結果大概是operating costs的三分之一,所以應該改成operating costs比較親民。話說回來,大學這種學術機構很少用operating costs,感覺好像是工廠,光用cost感覺比較像大學。
──修改後成為:
The college may have to cancel some programs to reduce costs if the enrollment continues to drop.

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