你知道cattle的用法嗎?請(qǐng)看這樣一道題：

In fact, _______ one cause that leads to the problem.

A. cattle is B. cattle are

C. cattles are D. the cattles are

【陷阱】此題容易誤選A，想當(dāng)然地認(rèn)為cattle是單數(shù)，并且空格有表單數(shù)的one，自然謂語(yǔ)動(dòng)詞用is。

【陷阱】其實(shí)，正確答案為B cattle(牲畜，牛)為集合名詞，盡管它不帶復(fù)數(shù)詞尾-s，卻永遠(yuǎn)表示復(fù)數(shù)意義，若用作主語(yǔ)，謂語(yǔ)要用復(fù)數(shù)。又如：

For this many cattle were killed. 為此宰了不少牲畜。

The prisoners were herded like cattle. 囚犯像牲口一樣被趕到一起。

類(lèi)似地，police(警察)，people(人)，police(警察)，poultry(家禽)等也具有同樣用法，即只有單數(shù)形式，但卻表示復(fù)數(shù)意義;用作主語(yǔ)時(shí)謂語(yǔ)通常也用復(fù)數(shù);不與 a(n) 連用，但可與the連用(表示總括意義和特指)。如：

The poultry have been fed. 家禽已經(jīng)喂過(guò)飼料了(from www.yygrammar.com)。

In Britain police do not usually carry guns. 在英國(guó)警察通常不帶槍。

It annoys me when people forget to say “thank you”. 遇到有人忘記道謝的時(shí)候，我就不痛快