Unit 1

The written word

Grammar and usage

Negative words and negative

statements

Look at the following sentences, Are these

sentences true? If not, how to correct

them?Money can buy happiness.Money can not buy

happiness.

Shanghai is not the capital

city of China. Beijing is

the capital city of China.

Shanghai is the capital

city of China.

Read the guidelines and answer.

1. Why are negative statements used?

2. What are the most commonly used

negative words?

To correct a mistaken idea.

The most commonly used negative

words are no, not, never, and neither.

3. What are the kinds of negative

statements?

(1) auxiliary verb + not

(2) not paired with other words

(3) other expressions: hardly, far fro

m, seldom, unless, would rather…th

an…and free from.

(4) Complete negation: using no,

neither, none or nothing to from

complete negation

(5) partial negation: words like all, both,

everyone and everything are used in

negative sentences

You might not (mightn’t) have been

written last week.Conclusion 1:

1) auxiliary verb + not

It’s the simplest kind and basic form

of negative statements, in which not or

n’t usually comes after the auxiliary ve

rb.

观察下面的例子，总结否定陈述的构成：

It’s not uncommon to find her reading

the newspaper. i.e.

(It’s quite common to find her

reading the newspaper.)

Conclusion 2:

2) not paired with other words

When used before a word with a neg

ative prefix (e.g. un-, dis-, or in-), the

meaning becomes positive, though n

ot as strong as a direct positive state

ment.

Tip ：A negative statement may sometimes

have a positive meaning.

e.g. He didn’t leave anything to his son

but a big library of books.

Students are not discouraged to

discuss things with their classmates.

Your actions were not inexcusable, but

they were certainly not appropriate.

i.e. Your actions were excusable, but

certainly not appropriate.

It is not uncommon for him to be late.

Not many people heard the speech.

i.e. Very few people heard the speech.

When not used before a phrase of

time, distance or a noun phrase

including quantities, it serves to

emphasize the negative meaning of the

phrase.

Conclusion 3:Conclusion 3:

More examples:More examples:

1. It is not a long distance from the city

centre to the new railway station.

2. It will not be long before most people

around the world know how to use the

computer.

3. There were not many people present at

the meeting.

I wonder whether/ if I shouldn’t bring it.

i.e. I wonder whether/ if I should bring it.

I wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t

move soon.

i.e. I wouldn’t be surprised if they

moved soon.

3) extra negative in if-clauses

Sometimes we use negative expressions

with the words whether and if to show

our doubt about a situation. These are

more casual and are usually used in

spoken English.

Conclusion 4:Conclusion 4:

Tip:Tip:

1. “I wonder whether/ if… ”is used when

considering something, concerning

oneself.

2. “I wouldn’t be surprised if…” is

used when considering something,

concerning people other than

oneself.

More examples:More examples:

1. I wonder whether/ if I shouldn’t get a

haircut.

2. I wonder whether/ if I shouldn’t buy a

new suit.

• Pip can hardly wait to begin his new life.

• The classics are far from disappearing.

• Pip’s sister seldom has a kind word to

say.

• Unless you read the novel yourself, you

will never know what happens at the end.

• Joe would rather die than see any harm

come to Pip.

Conclusion 5:Conclusion 5:

4) Using some negative words and

expressions.

Some common negative expressions are:

hardly, far from, seldom, unless, free

from, and would rather… than.

More examples:More examples:

1. The fortune sets him free from

financial worries.

2. You will not catch the early bus unless

you leave right now.

5) When words like all, both, everyone

and everything are used in negative

sentences, they form partial

negation.

Conclusion 6:Conclusion 6:

All that you find on the Internet is not

useful.

I didn’t take everything with me.

More examples:More examples:

总结：陈述句的否定形式主要有以下几种形式：1. not 加在情态动词、 be 动词等的后面e.g. She could not answer the question.

She is not a teacher.

2. 若谓语动词是行为动词，前面又没有 助动词或情态动词，需在谓语动词

之前加上助动词再加否定词 not 。e.g. She doesn’t want to go to the park.

I haven’t finished my homework. 　

3. 用带有否定意义的词来表示否定。 这类词有： no, none, nobody, nothin

g,

nowhere, neither, never, hardly, little,

few, seldom, barely, dislike, disagree,

useless, unimportant, out of ..., far

from..., too ... to 等。

e.g. No one is in the room.

He never tell lies.

He is anything but a writer.

This is a sentence free from

mistakes.

He is too ill to have been anywhere

but in bed.

另外要注意以下几种特殊情况：1. 1. 否定前移。否定前移。这类词有 think, believe, ex

pect 等 e.g. I don’t think he has time to play with

me.

I don’t believe he is right.

2. 2. 部分否定和完全否定。部分否定和完全否定。　表示部分否定常见的有 : not both ， no

t all ， not each / every 等。

e.g. Not both of the students are right. 　表示完全否定常见的有： neither, none,

no 等。e.g. Neither of them is right.

No boy is absent.

Read the book report in part A and

circle any negative statements used in

this report.

For example:

1. … , experiences a childhood

without any parents.

2. …

Read the sentences in part B and

complete them using the given words.

Change the form where necessary.

not uncommon can’t…to…

would rather…than… not many

1. Many students ___________ read

contemporary novels ____ classics.

2. It is _____________ for students to

have difficulty understanding classics.

would rather

than

not uncommon

3. _________ students in my class

have read Oliver Twist, so I told them

the story.

4. You _____ be ____careful when

collecting these statistics.

Not many

can’t too

He pities Oliver, takes him home, and

tries to reform him.

The word reform here means ‘becom

e or make better by removing or putt

ing right faults, errors’.

变好，改善，改革

Language points

e.g. The law needs to be reformed.

法律需要进行改革。 She thought she could reform him.

她觉得她可以使他洗心革面。

考点考例

1. auxiliary verb + not (P8)

[ 考例 1]

There’s no light on — they _____ b

e at home.

A. can’t B. mustn’t

C. needn’t D. shouldn’t

选 A 。此处要用情态动词表推测，且用于否定句表示“肯定不……”，故 can’t 符合要求。 must 表推测时不用于否定句， mustn’t 表示“禁止，不许”； needn’t 不需要； sho

uldn’t 不应当。

[ 考例 2]

— My cat’s really fat.

— You ___ have given her so much

food.

A. wouldn’t B. couldn’t

C. shouldn’t D. mustn’t

选 C 。句意为：“我的猫真胖。” “你本不应该给她这么多的食物。” shouldn’t have done s

th. 本不应该做某事 ( 暗含做了 ) 。

[ 考例 3]

— What do you think we can do for our

aged parents?

— You _____ do anything except to be

with them and be yourself.

A. don’t have to B. oughtn’t to

C. mustn’t D. can’t

选 A 。 don’t have to 不必； ought

n’t to 不应当； mustn’t 禁止，不允许； can’t 不可能，不可以，不能。答语句意为：除了与父母呆在一起、做真实的你以外，你不必做任何事情，所以 don’t have to 为最佳选项。

[ 考例 4]

The biggest problem for most plants, w

hich __________ just get up and run a

way when threatened, is that animals li

ke to eat them.

A. shan’t B. can’t

C. needn’t D. mustn’t

选 B 。 can’t 表示“不能”。 A 项表将来； C 项意为“不必”； D 项意为“禁止”，都不正确。句意为：对于绝大多数受到威胁时不能站起来就跑的植物来说最大的问题是动物喜欢吃它们。

[ 考例 5]

We _____ have proved great adventur

ers, but we have done the greatest mar

ch ever made in the past ten years.

A. needn’t B. may not

C. shouldn’t D. mustn’t

选Ｂ。句意为：或许我们还没有证明是伟大的探险者，但我们已经取得了在过去的十年里最伟大的进展。 may

not have done sth. 或许还没做过某事；needn’t have done sth. 本没有必要做但做了某事； shouldn’t have done sth.

本不应该做但做了某事。

[ 考例 6]

I’m sure you’d rather she went to sch

ool by bus, _____?

A. hadn’t you B. wouldn’t you

C. aren’t I D. didn’t she

选 B 。在反意疑问句中，如果主句的谓语动词是 think, suppose, believe, ima

gine, be sure 等，且主语为第一人称时，反意疑问句要与后面的宾语从句一致。

2. There are many other negative

expressions. Some common ones are

hardly, far from, seldom, unless, free

from, and would rather ... than.

(P8)

[ 考例 ]

Never in my wildest dreams _____ these

people are living in such poor condition

s.

A.I could imagine B. could I imagine

C. I couldn’t imagine

D. couldn’t I imagine

选 B 。表示否定意义的词或短语，如 nev

er , hardly, seldom, little, few, by no mean

s, at no time 等位于句首时，主句部分使用倒装语序。

1. But for their help, we ____ the

program in time ． A. can not finish

B. will not finish

C. had not finished

D. could not have finished

2. I can ________ be a teacher. I’m not

a very patient person.

A. seldom B. ever

C. never D. always

3. You and I could hardly work

together, ________?

A. could you B. couldn’t I

C. couldn’t we D. could we

4. Little ____ about her own safety, though

she was in great danger herself.

A. did Rose care B. Rose did care

C. Rose does care D. does Rose care

5. － Do you want another drink?

－ ________.

A. I don’t think so B. No way

C. Not at all D. I wouldn’t say no

6. A small car is big enough for a family

of three ________ you need more

space

for baggage.

A. once B. because

C. if D. unless

7. It is often said that the joy of

traveling is _____ in arriving at your

destination______ in the journey itself.

A. 不填 ; but B. 不填 ; or

C. not; or D. not; but

8. It was hard for him to learn

English in a family, in which _____

of the parents spoke the language.

A. none B. neither

C. both D. each

9. He has made a lot of films, but

______ good ones.

A. any B. some

C. few D. many

10. The book is of great value. ____

can be enjoyed unless you digest it.

A. Nothing B. Something

C. Everything D. Anything

Homework

1. Go over the grammar and make

more negative statements.

2. Finish Part C1 and C2 on page

100 of the workbook.

3. Learn the useful words and

expressions by heart.