one…the other還是one…another

有這樣一道題考題：

Her lecture was hard to follow because she kept jumping from one subject to _____.

A. other                               B. the other

C. the others                        D. another

【陷阱】容易誤選B。選擇依據可能是one … the other …這一常用結構。

【分析】最佳答案為D。使用one … the other … 時，我們通常是針對兩者而言的，即指“兩者中的一個……，另一個……”；如果所談論的情況不是針對兩者而言的，而是針對多者而言的，那么我們就不宜在 one 后使用 the other，而考慮用 another。又如(答案均選D，即選 another)：

(1) Those cakes look delicious. Could I have __________ one?

A. other                              B. the other

C. the others                       D. another

(2) I have many such novels. I’ll bring __________ tomorrow.

A. other                              B. the other

C. the others                       D. another

(3) Saying is one thing and doing is __________.

A. other                              B. the other

C. the others                       D. another

比較以下各例：

(1) Shut _________ eye, Jim.

A. another                           B. some other

C. other                              D. the other

答案選 D，因為人的眼睛只有兩只，故用 one … the other … 結構。

(2) It’s sometimes hard to tell one twin from __________.

A. another                           B. some other

C. other                              D. the other

答案選 D，twin 意為“孿生子之一”、“雙胞胎之一”，即指兩者之一，故用 one … the other … 這一結構。