高中英语Unit 1 The world of our senses-Grammar and Usage

Unit 1 The world of our sensesGrammar and UsageStep1: Introduction to noun clauses For reference: Introduction to Noun Clauses A noun clause is a clause which does the work of a noun in a sentence. It is a group of words containing a subject and a verb of its own. It can be used as a subject, predicate nominative, direct object, appositive, indirect object, or object of the preposition.Usually noun clauses begin with that, what, where, when, who, whom, which, whose, how, why, whether, etc.Examples:He said that he would not come.We were all curious to know what he had done.Nobody knows when the registration will begin.We all wanted to find out who the winner was.Whom they were in contact with on the day of the robbery is of great interest to the police.Jane is not sure which university she should apply for.The judges had a hard time deciding whose painting was the best.How the baby fell from the window is a mystery.They asked the boy why he had hit his classmate.Whether you like it or not is not the issue.Uses of Noun ClausesNoun Clauses can be used in the following ways:As the subject of a verbWhy she kept on crying puzzled every one.noun clausemain verbb. As the objectNobodyknows how he got involved in gangland activities verbnoun clausec. As the complement of the verb to be or predicativeWhat we are worried about is that he may have another heart attack.The question is why they could escape through the front door when there were so many guards there.A Note to Students:There are some common errors among many students when they use noun clauses in sentences. Here are some of the errors:1. Inversion structure within the noun clause: Where is the place is still not clear.In the above example, the inversion structure is used in which the subject (the place) is preceded by a verb (is). Mistakes like this reflect the tendency of students to mistake interrogative words like where, when, why, how, etc. when used in noun clauses for those used in questions, as in Where is the wallet?.It should therefore be noted that the structural components of a noun clause are the order of a statement or Subject + Verb as in:What you do is terrible.Whatever you say will interest us all.However, there is an exception to the rule. One should note that a noun clause that begins with what can also be immediately followed by a finite verb, without having a subject, as in the following: : What has been discussed in the meeting will remain a secret. : He asked me what was the matter with me.2. No main verb in the sentenceSince noun clauses very often serve to emphasize a particular idea in a sentence, many students tend to think that their function is to emphasize only and that there are no strict rules to follow when using them. This is a misconception. Look at the following sentence: What they like luxury goods.In the above sentence, the student may have thought that like may function as the main verb of the sentence. Since They like luxury goods is a complete sentence, and that what is only an emphasizer, so the student may think that the sentence is correct. In this case, the student has forgotten that the structural components of a noun clause are Subject + Verb (as in What they say), and mistaken the verb like within the noun clause as the main verb of the whole sentence, thereby producing a sentence that does not have a main verb.It should be noted that all these interrogatives like why, who, when, how, whether.etc, although they serve as emphasizers, begin a clause whose structural components are subject and verb. This means that the verb inside the clause, in this case the verb like, cannot function as the main verb of a sentence. In the following sentence, is is the main verb of the sentence and like is the finite verb within the noun clause. : What they like is luxury goods.3. Mistaking where, when, why, how, etc. for the relative pronoun which. : I live in a building which has 40 storeys .: I live in a building where has 40 storeys.If you really want to use where instead of which in the above sentence, follow the structural rule of noun clause: Subject + verb: : I live in a building where there are 40 storeys.Some students see which and where as equivalent when they are used as relative pronouns. Yet, which and where bear similar meaning and require different structural components when they are used as relative pronouns.1. look at some examples:1) At lunch time, the radio weatherman reported that the mist would become a thick fog in the afternoon.2) She wondered if the buses would still be running.3) The truth is that the fog is too thick for the bus to run that far.4) What surprised me most was that the old man couldnt see anything.As you can see, the function of these underlined sentences are the same as nouns or noun phrases so they are called noun clauses. Read 1-5 on page 8 to learn more about noun clauses.2. From Part 1 on page 8, you may find that a noun clause can be used as the subject of a sentence. And we call it the subject clause. The words used to introduce noun clauses are called conjunctions. The conjunctions are that, whether and why, etc.Pay attention to the sentence in which it is used as an empty subject. Sometimes it is put at the beginning of a sentence and used as the formal subject while the noun clause is put at the end, because in English people usually put long or complicated items towards the end of a sentence. Therefore, it can also be called a preparatory subject. (A) It is clear/certain/likely/true/surprising that(B) It is a pity/shame/good idea/no wonder that(C) It is said/reported/ believed/known/thought/suggested that (D) It seems/happens thate.g.: It happened that I went out last night. It is said that China will win in the World Cup.3. In Part 2, we can see that a noun clause can be used as the object of a verb or a preposition in a sentence. And we call it the object clause. The conjunctions used to introduce the object clauses in the example sentences are that, if/whether, which, who, etc.Read the two sentences in which it is used as an empty object. When an object clause together with an adjective as an object complement is used after the predicate verb, we can use it as an empty object after the verb and put the object clause after the object complement to avoid having a longer and heavier head. Also, the clause coming last in a sentence usually has the highest informative value in any case.4. We know from Part 3 that a noun clause can be used as the predicative after the link verb be. And we call it the predicative clause. The conjunctions used to introduce the predicative clauses are that, whether and how.5. Look at the following examples on the blackboard. Pay attention to the red part in each sentence.Polly, a twenty-year-old young lady, was led home by an old blind man in a heavy fog.The book A Brief History of Time was written by Stephen Hawking, a great scientist.The fact that Polly hasnt asked for the mans name is a pity.The red parts in the three sentences are in apposition. That is to say, a noun, a noun phrase or a noun clause is placed equivalently with another noun as an explanatory part, both having the same syntactic relation to the other elements in the sentence. When a noun clause is used in apposition to a noun, it is called the appositive clause. The conjunction used to introduce the appositive clause in the last sentence is that.From the examples in Part 4, we can see that the noun with an appositive clause is usually an abstract noun, such as news, fact, idea, truth or theory. An appositive clause can strengthen the abstract noun with some definite information.6. From the examples of the five parts, we know what words can be used as conjunctions to introduce noun clauses. Put down the words on your notes book for later retrieval.conjunctions to introduce noun clausesconjunctions: that / whether / ifconjunctive pronouns: what / who/ which / whose / whatever / whoever / whomever / whicheverconjunctive adverbs: where / when / why / how / wherever / whenever7. Read the article on page 9 to identify all the noun clauses, which are the subject, object, predicative or appositive clauses and point out the conjunction in each clause. And then describe the main idea in your own words.Answers (Page9)Paragraph 1The possibility that pleasant smells might reduce pain has recently been suggested by new research. (an appositive clause with that used as the conjunction.)Paragraph 2As people believe that strong smells can affect the senses,.( an object clause with that used as the conjunction.)Paragraph 3Scientists are interested in whether the sense of smell is related to pain and whether men and women have the same senses. (object clauses with whether used as the conjunction.)Now, the study has proved that for women, pleasant smells reduce pain. (an object clause with that used as the conjunction.)Paragraph 4He says that scientists already have data from 40 volunteers. (an object clause with that used as the conjunction.)He adds that this year, scientists will test another 60 volunteers and will be in a better position to explain the results. (an object clause with that used as the conjunction.)Paragraph 5One explanation is that womens sense of small developed long ago, and is linked to recognizing the smell of habits. (a predicative clause with that used as the conjunction.)Scientists used to believe that mothers recognized their children by sight only. (an object clause with that used as the conjunction.)Now they have started to believe that the sense of smell also helps, but why pleasant smells do not reduce pain in men is a question still to be answered by scientists. (The first noun clause is an object clause with that used as the conjunction. The second noun clause is a subject clause with why used as the conjunction)Step 2: Noun clause beginning with that or if/whether1. that can be used to introduce a noun clause of a statement.e.g.: She sensed something. A tall man in a dark coat was staring at her.She sensed that she was being watched by a tall man in a dark coat.In most cases, we cannot use that to begin a noun clause after a preposition. However, we can use that to begin a noun clause after in or except.e.g.: The problem lies in that the mist may become a thick fog.I didnt tell him anything except that I wasnt able to find my way back.We cannot leave out that when it is used to introduce the subject or appositive clause.e.g.: That we couldnt find our way out was really bad news.That they are good at English is known to us all.She expressed the hope that they would come to China one day.We can leave out that in informal English when the noun clause is the object or predicative of a sentence.e.g.: She wished (that) someone would come along to help her.The truth is (that) the buses will not be running.2. We can use if or whether to introduce a noun clause when the clause is a yes/no question. We change the word order in a clause after if or whether into that of a statement.e.g.: She wondered. Would the buses still be running?She wondered if/whether the buses would still be running.We can only use whether, but not if, after a preposition.e.g.: She is not certain about whether she has done anything wrong.It all depends on whether they will come back.We can only use whether, but not if to introduce subject, appositive and predicative clauses.e.g.: Whether it is going to clear up keeps me wondering.Whether the meeting will be put off has not been decided yet.The question is whether they have so much money.We ought to discuss carefully the question whether we can do it or not.We use whether or not, but not if or not.e.g.: I want to know whether or not the train goes to King Street.I didnt know whether or not he had arrived in Wuhan.The question of whether they are male or female is not important. I have not decided whether to go or not.If that or whether/if introduces a noun clause that has two sentences connected by and or but, we add another that or whether/if after and or but.e.g.: He said that he liked rain very much and that he wouldnt use an umbrella when it was raining.No one knows whether it will be fine tomorrow and whether he will come to work.For reference: More about Noun ClausesI. 区别1. that和what的区别。that 引导名词性从句时，在从句中不充当任何句子成分，只起连接作用；而what引导名词性从句时，在主从句中都要充当一定的句子成分，what可以分解成定语从句中的先行词 + 关系代词即常说的先行词 + that。如：Its a shame that he has made such a mistake. Do what (the things that)he says.2. 同位语从句与定语从句中that的区别。同位语从句中的连词that只起连接作用，在从句中不担当任何句子成分；而定语从句中的关系代词that在句中做宾语或主语，宾语与先行词有修饰关系。如果句子是同位语从句，就应用连词that而不能用which.同位语从句一般放在表具体含义的名词后解释名词的含义或内容，如以下名词：news、fact、suggestion、truth、plan、belief、doubt、possibility、idea等，而定语从句只是对先行词的限定和修饰。如：They expressed the hope that they would come to visit China again.(同位语从句)The hope she expressed is that they would come to visit China again.（定语从句） 3. 疑问词 + ever和no matter + 疑问词的区别。疑问词 + ever可引导名词性从句，在主从句中要充当一定的部分。如：Whoever breaks the rule must be punished.You can choose whatever you like in the shop.疑问词 + ever还可引导让步状语从句。如：Whoever breaks the rule, he must be punished,Whatever you do, you must do it well.no matter + 疑问词只能引导让步状语从句。如：No matter what you do, you must do it well.No matter who breaks the rule, he must be punished.4. when和where引导的同位语从句与定语从句的区别。when 和where前面的名词若是表示时间、地点的名词，则when和where引导的是定语从句，否则为同位语从句。如：They put forward the question where they could get the money.This is the place where the accident happened.II. 时态1. 宾语从句中主句和从句的时态保持一致，但如果从句中表示提示的是客观现象，虽然主句是过去时态，从句仍用一般现在时。如：Hello