英语四六级冠词用法讲练

（三）定冠词 (Definite Article)
1) 定冠词的基本特性
实际上所有名词（专有名词将另行讨论）前都可能用定冠词the。究竟用不用定冠词，主要取决于我们所表达的思想。如果我们要给予某个名词以明确的、限定的、特指的意义，就用the；反之，就不用the。请看下列句子：
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) 一般用于带有修饰语的名词词组前，但并非所有带修饰语的名词都需要the。例如：
Don’t you think Georgian houses are absolutely lovely?
Stainless steel (不锈钢器皿) has many uses.
I can’t say I care for modern art.
上面三句中斜体部分的名词虽然都有修饰语，因没有明确限定而是泛指一类事物，故不用the。下面三句斜体部分的名词则表示提到过的，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) 也用于有后置修饰语的名词词组前。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（超过）．
上面三句中的形容词从句和介词短语明确了是什么样的房子（what houses），什么样的钢（what steel）和什么样的艺术 （what art），故用the。下面三句同样有形容词从句和介词短语修饰名词，但是它们只指这些名词属于某一类事物，并非特指，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 （灵感，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（科幻小说）.
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（计算）.
In mathematics accuracy is essential.

2) 定冠词的主要用法
a) 用于单数名词前，表示“某一类人或物”，以区别于其他人或物。例如：
The tiger is a fierce（凶猛的） animal. （相当于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.
下面三句中的斜体部分不能互换：
Who invented the radio? （指类别）
Who had a radio? （指同类中的任何一个）
Who manufactured radios?（指这一类中的所有个体）
man 指“人类”时，不用the。例如：
Man will conquer nature.
b) 用于指世上独一无二的东西，如 the moon，the sun，the world等。
c) 用于表示“乐器”的名词前，但一般不用于表示“体育运动”的名词前。例如：
Can you play the guitar?
I play football every day.
d) 用于某些形容词前，可表示“一类人”。例如：
The young are impatient；they want changes.
e) 一般不用于表示“疾病”的名词前。例如：
I’m just recovering from rheumatism（风湿病）.
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.
特指时需要用the。例如：
Jim has never really got over the malaria（疟疾）he caught in the East.
f) 一般不用于表示“膳食”的名词前，但有形容词修饰时用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等名词用来指有关活动时，一般不用冠词。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）
注：在美国英语中，通常用a／the hospital，a university。
出于其他目的，如去参观、访问这些地方或谈到这些地方时，根据情况用 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 单独使用时，无冠词；有修饰语时，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) 当cinema, theatre, radio等名词用于表示“看电影、看戏、听无线电”时，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“看电视”时不用 the。例如：
I watched the news on television.
指“电视机”时用the。例如：
Can you turn off the television, please?(=the television set)
注：许多固定词组中的名词前通常没有冠词，需要熟记，如day after day，husband and wife，father and son，lock and key，heaven and hell等。