2024年6月英语四级第2套真题句子解析： Interestingly, they found that men were far more likely to speak in the abstract than were women.

be likely to do sth (固定搭配)

likely to speak

"be likely to do sth" 是表示可能性的标准固定结构,意为"很可能做某事"。这里 "were far more likely to" 通过 "far more" 加强了可能性的对比程度。注意: (1) likely 作形容词时必须与 be 动词连用,不能说 "likely speak"; (2) 主语可以是人也可以是事物,如 "It is likely to rain" 或 "He is likely to succeed"; (3) 在比较结构中常见 "more/less likely to" 的用法; (4) 区别于 "It is likely that..." 句型,后者接从句。

• ✓ Men are likely to succeed. ✗ Men likely succeed. (缺少 be 动词) likely 作形容词时必须与 be 动词搭配使用
• ✓ She is more likely to agree than he is. ✗ She is more likely to agree than him. (比较对象不对等) 比较的是两个主语做某事的可能性,需要补出 be 动词保持对等

speak in the abstract (固定表达)

speak in the abstract

"speak in the abstract" 是学术英语中的固定表达,意为"抽象地表达/谈论抽象概念"。其中 "in the abstract" 是介词短语,意为"抽象地、理论上",与 "in the concrete" (具体地) 相对。这个表达常用于学术写作和研究讨论中,描述某种抽象化的表达方式。注意: (1) "the abstract" 这里不是指"摘要",而是哲学/语言学意义上的"抽象概念"; (2) 类似结构还有 "think in the abstract" (抽象思维); (3) 区别于 "speak abstractly" (副词修饰),"in the abstract" 更强调一种表达模式。

• ✓ Scientists often speak in the abstract when discussing theories. ✗ Scientists often speak abstract when discussing theories. (缺少介词 in 和冠词 the) 这是固定搭配,不能省略介词和冠词
• ✓ speak in the abstract (抽象地表达) ✗ speak in abstract (理解为"在摘要中说") 没有定冠词 the 时意思完全不同,且语法通常也不成立

than were women (比较结构中的完全倒装)

than were women

这是比较结构 "more...than" 中出现的完全倒装。标准语序应为 "than women were",但为了避免句末头重脚轻、或为了强调对比,将系动词 were 提前到主语 women 之前,形成完全倒装。这种倒装在正式书面语中很常见,尤其在比较结构和某些副词位于句首时。注意: (1) 这不是疑问句倒装,而是修辞性倒装; (2) 倒装使得两个比较对象 (men 和 women) 的结构更加对称工整; (3) 不倒装 ("than women were") 也完全正确,只是略显累赘; (4) 类似结构如 "He runs faster than does his brother"。

• ✓ He works harder than does his colleague. / He works harder than his colleague does. ✗ He works harder than his colleague. (在某些语境下可能产生歧义:是比工作努力程度,还是说他比同事本身更努力?) 当比较的是动作程度且可能产生歧义时,保留助动词可使句意更清晰
• ✓ Men were more aggressive than were women. ✗ Men were more aggressive than was women. (主谓不一致) 倒装后仍需保持主谓一致,women 是复数,用 were

far more likely (程度副词 + 比较级)

far more likely

"far" 在这里是程度副词,用于修饰比较级 "more likely",表示"远比...更可能/得多"。"far" 是加强比较级语气的常用副词,其他类似的还有 much, even, still, a lot, a great deal 等。注意: (1) very 不能修饰比较级,这是中国学生的高频错误; (2) "far more" 强调差距显著,比单纯 "more" 语气更强; (3) "far" 也可修饰最高级,如 "by far the best"; (4) 在否定句和疑问句中常用 "any" 来加强比较级,如 "any more likely"。

• ✓ This book is far more interesting than that one. ✗ This book is very more interesting than that one. (very 不能修饰比较级) very 只能修饰原级,不能修饰比较级
• ✓ She is much older than I thought. ✗ She is more older than I thought. (比较级前不能再加 more) older 本身已是比较级,只能用 much/far 等程度副词修饰,不能再加 more

Interestingly (评注性副词)

Interestingly

"Interestingly" 是评注性副词 (sentence adverb / disjunct),位于句首,表达说话人对整句内容的态度或评价,意为"有趣的是"。这类副词不修饰某个具体词语,而是对整个句子进行评论,常用于学术写作引出值得注意的发现或观察。类似的评注性副词还有: surprisingly (令人惊讶的是), unfortunately (不幸的是), obviously (显然), frankly (坦白说) 等。注意: (1) 句首评注性副词后通常用逗号隔开; (2) 与修饰动词的方式副词不同,如 "He spoke interestingly" (他讲得有趣) 中 interestingly 修饰 spoke。

• ✓ Interestingly, the results contradicted our hypothesis. (评注整个句子) ✗ The professor explained the theory interestingly. (理解为修饰动词的方式副词) 句首带逗号的 Interestingly 是评注性副词,评价整句;修饰动词时位置和含义都不同

found that (宾语从句引导)

found that

"found that" 是学术英语中极高频的结构,"find" 作"发现、得出结论"义,后接 that 引导的宾语从句陈述研究发现或结论。在学术写作中,类似结构还包括: show that, indicate that, suggest that, demonstrate that, reveal that 等,都是陈述研究结果的标准表达。注意: (1) that 在口语中常省略,但在正式学术写作中通常保留; (2) "find" 的这个用法是及物动词,与 "find out" (查明) 有区别; (3) 主语通常是研究者 (如 they, we, researchers) 或研究本身 (如 the study, the research)。

men vs. women (学术研究中的性别对比)

men women

在英语学术写作中,讨论性别差异时直接使用 "men" 和 "women" 是标准且中性的表达,指代成年男性和女性群体。这种用法在社会科学、心理学、语言学等研究中极为常见。注意: (1) 这里是泛指整个群体,不是特指某些具体的男性或女性,因此不用 the men, the women; (2) 在学术英语中,避免使用可能带有性别刻板印象或歧视色彩的表达; (3) 比较性别差异的结构常用 "men were more likely to X than were women" 或 "women tended to X more than men did"; (4) 区别于 "male" 和 "female" (更强调生物学性别特征,或作为形容词使用)。

形式对称与学术表达的简洁性

men were far more likely to speak in the abstract than were women

本句通过比较结构和倒装,实现了高度的形式对称: "men were far more likely to..." 与 "than were women" 形成呼应,主语-系动词-补语的结构在 than 前后保持一致。这种对称不仅使句子结构工整,也便于读者快速把握对比的两个对象。在学术写作中,这种简洁、对称的比较结构被广泛使用,能够清晰地呈现研究发现中的对比关系。同时,使用 "far more likely" 而非冗长的解释,体现了学术英语追求精确与简洁的特点。