湖北 杨 武

从高考考点来看冠词复习要点

湖北 杨 武

冠词虽然在高考试卷中所占分值不大，但几乎历届高考均有对它的考查，且主要体现在短文改错题中。根据答卷分析，此类题失分率较高。原因是冠词的使用是英语较大异于汉语的一个语言现象，用法较复杂。中国学生掌握起来有一定的困难。但高考并不是“穷其而考”，除了考查常见的、基本的用法之外，变化性的考题也有其“热”的规律所在，下面我们先来看看高考题。

1.（2015全国卷Ⅱ，短文改错）Tony saw a toy in a shop window....A woman saw him crying and told him to wait outside a shop.

【解析】outside a shop中的a改为the。由上下文可知，此处的“shop”是第二次出现，应用定冠词修饰，故将a改为the。

2.（2015陕西卷，短文改错）My soccer coach retired last week. I wanted to do something special for him at his retirement party....At a party，my coach，with a biscuit in his mouth，asked surprisingly...

【解析】at a party应改为at the party。“party”在本句中不是首次提到，故应将此处的a改为the。

3.（2015浙江卷，短文改错）I was always interested to see the drivers in hurry in the morning.

【解析】“in a hurry”是英语的习惯表达法，故hurry前应加上不定冠词a。

要点归纳：

要点一：不定冠词的用法

1.不定冠词分为a和an两种形式，a用在辅音音素开头的名词前；an用在元音音素开头的名词前，意为“一（个）”“某（个）”或“某一类（人或物）”。如：

an honest merchant/an 800-word essay

注意：a University scholarship/a European country

2. 用于可数名词的单数形式前，指人或事物的种类。如：

A pig is a domestic animal.

Katy is a surgeon.（而不是护士或其他）

【链接高考】

（1）（2014上海卷，语法填空）Peter Fox，who is（33）_______electrical engineer，spent two and a half years working on the project.

【解析】此处的“engineer”指的是Peter Fox的身份，是单数可数名词，且空格后的“electrical”是元音音素开头的单词，故此处应填不定冠词an。

（2）（2014陕西卷，短文改错）That day I didn’t learn much about animals，insects or trees，but I learnt a impressive lesson about gravity!

【解析】根据意思 “一堂课”可知，此处应用不定冠词，且impressive是元音音素开头的单词，故应将a改为an。

（3）（2014辽宁卷，短文改错） Besides，Cleo tends to bark a average of six hours a day.

【解析】average前的a应改为an。average是元音音素开头的单词，an average of 意为“平均”，故应将a改为an。

3. 指某人或某物，但不具体说明何人或何物，用于首次提到的人或事物。如：

An indecisive man could never run the country.

4. 表示某事物的单位，相当于every或per，意为“每一”。如：

Take these tablets three times a day after meals.

5．序数词前加不定冠词a/an，表示“再一个”或“又一个”。如：

I need to have a second test to confirm the diagnosis．

6. 用于某些抽象名词前，使抽象名词具体化。如：

As a poet he is a success，but as a father he is a failure.

7. 表示“同一”，相当于“the same”。如：

Cotton of a kind was stored together in a house．

8. 用于某些固定词组中。如：

（1）have a swim/walk/talk/dance/look=swim/walk/talk/ dance/look

（2）on a large scale，at a distance，at a loss，once upon a time，with a will，in a temper，all of a sudden，it’s a pity that...，keep a diary，do sb. a favor，tell a lie，make a fortune，make a fool of，keep an eye on，put an end to

【链接高考】（2014全国卷Ⅰ，短文改错）As result，the plants are growing everywhere.

【解析】“as a result”是固定短语，意为“结果是”。故应在result之前加a。

（3）what/such/quite/rather +a（n）+单数可数名词；

too/as/so/how/however+adj.+a（n）+单数可数名词；

“many+a（n）+单数可数名词”意为“许多……”

要点二：定冠词的用法

1. 用于可数名词单数前，表类别。如：

In many places in China，the bicycle is still a popular means of transportation.

2. 表示上文提到的人或物。如：

She sent me a brochure. The brochure has all the information you need.

【链接高考】

（1）（2014浙江卷，短文改错）A passenger realized he couldn’t find his ticket...which was eventually found under a seat several rows from the owner. The person who found a ticket smiled with pleasure at his success.

【解析】句中“who found a ticket”中的ticket即是上文提到的“couldn’t find his ticket”中的ticket，故此处应用the而非a。

（2）（2014四川卷，短文改错）Today，I am going to talk about what you should do when a fire alarm goes off....Don’t panic or get out of line，and try to remain quiet and calm. Soon the firefighters will come and put out a fire.

【解析】句末的fire与上文的“when a fire alarm goes off”中的fire是复指，故应将文末的fire前的a改为the。

3. 表示说话人和听话人都知道的人或物。如：

Give me the album，please. I want to add some new pictures to it.

4. 用在表示世界上独一无二的事物前。如：

the sun/the atmosphere/the globe/the earth/the North Pole/ the universe

5. 用在序数词和形容词最高级前。如：

Do you know when the first artificial satellite in the world was launched?

【链接高考】（2015全国卷Ⅱ，语法填空） The adobe dwellings built by the Pueblo Indians of the American Southwest are admired by even_62_most modern of architects and engineers.

【解析】此处“most modern”是形容词最高级，故其前应有定冠词the。

6. 用在由普通名词构成的专有名词前以及江河、海洋、山脉、群岛等名词前。如：

the United States/the Summer Palace/the United Nations/ the Middle Ages/the Qing Dynasty/the Himalayas/the Suez Canal/the Pacific

7. 用在表示方位或乐器的名词前。如：

the southwest/play the piano（violin/guitar）

8. 用在某些形容词或过去分词前，使之名词化，用以表示一类人或事物。如：

the learned/the unemployed/the cautious/the ordinary/the capable

9. 用于姓氏的复数前，表示“夫妇二人”或“全家”。如：

The Greens say they now live a happier life than when they were in the United States.

10. 用在逢十的复数名词前，指世纪的某个年代。如：

in the 1990s/1990’s

in the middle of the 90s/90’s

11. 用于一些固定搭配的短语中：

（1）与时间、地点有关的短语。如：

in the morning/in the end/all the year round/the other day/ in the distance/the next morning/for the time being/at the same time/on the right/go to the cinema/go to the theatre/in the way

【链接高考】（2015全国卷Ⅰ，短文改错）Now I am living in a city，but I miss my home in countryside.

【解析】在countryside前加the。“in the countryside”是固定用法，意为“在乡下（农村）”。

（2）在句型“动词+sb.+介词+the+表身体部位的名词”中。如：

seize sb. by the sleeve/pat sb. on the shoulder/strike sb. in the face/take sb. by the arm（hand）

（3）在其他搭配中。如：

be red in the face/ be lame in the right leg/ be blind in the left eye

要点三：零冠词的用法

1. 零冠词用于不可数名词、物质名词和抽象名词以及复数名词之前。如：

Some people fear that air pollution may bring about changes in the weather around the world.

The visitors here are greatly impressed by the fact that people from all walks of life are working hard for a new Jiangsu.

2. 零冠词使用的口诀是：“月、季、星期、节假、洲；呼语、头衔、职务前；三餐、球类、惯用语；学科、棋类名词前。”如：

What’s this，Father?

3. 系动词“turn，go”表示“变成，成为” ，其后用作表语的单数可数名词前应用零冠词。如：

What made us surprised was that the man turned ambassador.

4. 在某些习语中应使用零冠词。如：

in effect/out of question/by air/under way/give rise to/face to face/by accident/in advance/by coach/on purpose/body and soul/come to light

【练习】观察下列句子中冠词的使用情况，若有错误请改正。

1. In fact no one in the community ever heard of him again. That is，until one evening，almost 20 years later，when Armand opened a American sports magazine and came across the shocking headline“，Millionaire jockey，Stanley Vine，ex-British soldier and 5-time horse riding champion，began life in the North America as a farmhand in Canada.”

2. At an age of 16，Clara Barton was advised to become a teacher since she was quite shy. She taught in Massachusetts for ten years，and was invited to Bordentown，New Jersey to teach in a private school. She saw that these communities needed complimentary education for their citizens，and she took action by creating the free school，one of the first in her state. But later，officials named a male as the head teacher instead of her. Disappointed，she left her job and moved to Washington D.C.，becoming the first woman employed by US Patent Office.

3. As an young girl，Margaret“ Mattie” Knight never played with dolls，preferring to make toys for her brothers instead. In 1849，Knight went to work in a cotton factory where she witnessed a“ shuttle（梭子），” the device that carries thread back and forth across the textile loom（纺织机），fly off the machine when the thread broke，striking and killing a young boy about her own age.

The 12-year-old Knight developed a safety mechanism that made it impossible for the shuttle to leave a loom. The design was so effective，soon virtually every new power loom carried her invention，saving countless workers from injury or death. Being so young，she didnt’ bother to patent device，so she never received the payment.

【参考答案】

1. a American→an American；the shocking headline→a shocking headline；the north America→north America

2. an age→the age；the free school→a free school；by U.S. Patent Office→by the U.S. Patent Office

3. an young girl→a young girl；the device→a device；the textile loom→a textile loom；for the shuttle→for a shuttle；a loom→the loom；to patent device→to patent the device；received the payment→received payment

（作者单位：湖北省麻城市教科院）