3.比较等级的一些特殊用法

3.1两种不同形式

有几个形容词和副词的比较级和最高级有两种的比较等级不同形式，而且意义也不同。
举例说明：
1)Rome is one of the oldest cities in the world. 罗马是世界上最古老的城市之一。
Her eldest daughter is a school teacher.她大女儿是个教员。
My elder brother is in college. He is two years older than I. 我哥哥在上大学，他比我大两岁。
[注]older，oldest说明人的年纪或事物的年代的久远，但在美国英语里也表示长幼。

2)They reached the place later than we.他们到达那儿比我们晚。
Twenty years later he returned to his home village. 二十年后，他回到自己的家乡。

3)Who spoke last?是谁最后发言的?
What is the latest news about the sports meet?关于运动会最近有什么消息?

3.2 as...as；not so. . .as或not as...as

1)表示"相等"用as...as。如：
This knife is as sharp as that one.这把刀跟那把一样快。
Bill is as tall as I. 比尔和我一般高。
Is this bag of soyabeans as heavy as that one?这袋大豆跟那袋一样重吗?
You know as well as I do.你和我一样明白。

[注]注意as后面的形容词如作定语，而被定语修饰的名词有不定冠词a时，冠词a须放在形容词之后，如German is as difficult a language as English.(德语和英语一样难学。)。这样的词序也适用于so，如I have never seen so beautiful a place as Guilin before.(我过去从未见过像桂林这样美丽的地方。)

2)表示"不相等"用not so...as或not as...as。如：
Tian An Men Square was not so big as it is now.天安门广场过去没有现在这样大。
The Atlantic Ocean is not as big as the Pacific ocean.大西洋没有太平洋大。

3.3表示"几倍于"
用twice (两倍)，three times(三倍)等加as...as..
如：
New York is ten times as big as my home town.纽约有我的家乡十个大。
The output of the paper mill is now three times as high as it was in 1966.这家纸厂的生产比一九六六年增加两倍。
This river is twice as long as that one.这条河比那条河长一倍。
Asia is four times as large as Europe.亚洲比欧洲大三倍。

[注]表示"几倍于"也可以用下面的说法，如：

Three times three is nine.三乘三得九。
He is twice my age.他的年龄比我大一倍。
This lake is four times the size of that one.这个湖有那个湖四个大。
The irrigated area in this province is four times bigger than in l978.这个省的灌溉面积比1978年增加三倍。(four times bigger than = four times as big as)
Our county's agricultural output this year is 5 per cent higher than that of last year.我们县今年农业产量比去年增长百分之五。

3.4表示程度
可用much，far，still，even，a 1itt1e，no，any，a great deal等状语来修饰形容词和副词的比较级。如：
The Yellow River is long，but the Changjiang River is even longer.黄河长，长江更长。
We are much better off now.我们的生活比过去好得多。
She sings far better than the others.她唱得比别人好得多。
Wang is taller than Zhang. Li is still than Wang. 王比张高，李比王还高。

[注一]注意下面的一些说法。如：
I couldn't move a step further，我连一步也走不动了。
The meeting lasted two hours longer than usual.会议比平常多开了两个钟头。
He is a head taller than I.他比我高一个头。(也可以说He is taller than me by a head.)
They got there earlier than we by twenty minutes.他们比我们早二十分钟到达那里。
The students of the university have increased by 100 per cent since l978.
这个大学的员工自一九七八年以来增加了一倍。
Do you want any more? -Yes，give me two more.
你还要吗?一是的，再给我两个。
Have you any more tickets? -Sorry，I have no more.
你还有票吗? －对不起，没有了。

[注二]可用形容词最高级 + possible或imaginable等词来强调语气。如：
I think he is the best possible man for the job.我认为他做这工作最合适。(也可以说the best man possible)
Swimming in winter is the best form of exercise imaginable.冬泳是最好的运动方式。(也可以说the best imaginable form)

3.5比较级

1)"比较级 + and + 比较级"
(后面不可接than从句)可用来表示"越来越"。如：
The days are getting longer and longer.白天越来越长了。
He is becoming more and more interested in sports. 他对运动越来越有兴趣了。
The more the more 的用法
意思是"越…，就越…"。如：
The harder you work，the more you Will learn.你越努力，就越学得多。
The greater the mass of a body，the greater is its inertia.物体的质量越大，它的惯性就越大。
The more you eat，the fatter you get.你吃得越多，长得越胖。
The more，the better.越多越好。

2)more than和less than
这两个固定词组分别表示"多于""少于"。如：
There are more than three hundred households in this village.这个村子有三百多户人家。
The finished the Work in less than a year.他们不到一年就完成这项工作。
Our country has established diplomatic relations with more than one hundred countries.我国已经和一百多个国家建立了外交关系。

3)no more than和not more than
no more than的意思是"只不过"，not more than的意思是"不多于"。试比较：
There are no more than ten tickles left. 剩下不到十张票。 (有"票少"的含义)
The experiment was done by not more than 5 persons. 做这个试验的人不到五个。(没有"多"或"少"的含义，只是客观地说明数目)
This room is no bigger than that. 这个房间并不比那个大。 (有"两个房间都不大"的含义)
This room is not bigger than that one.这个房间不比那个大。 (没有"两个房间都不大或都不小"的含义)

[注]注意not …. Any more than或no more...than在下面句子中的用法。如：
They cannot do the impossible any more than we can.他们和我们同样不能做不可能的事情。
He is no more diligent than I am.他和我同样不勤奋

4)no less than和not 1ess than
no less than的意思是"不亚于"，not less than的意思是"不少于"。试比较：
There were no less than a thousand people at the meeting.
到会的有一千人之多。(有"到会人多"的含义)
There were not less than one thousand people at the meeting.
到会的至少有一千人。(没有"到会人多或人少"的含义)
This song is no less popular than that one.这首歌之受欢迎不亚于那首歌。(有"两首歌都受欢迎"的含义)
This song is not less popular than that one.这首歌受欢迎的程度不比那首差。(纯粹比较。不一定有"两首歌都受欢迎"的含义)
All the better和so much the better
这一类的说法都有"因此而更…"的含义。如：
If that is so，all the better.果真如此，那就更好。
If he will come，so much the better.如果他愿意来，那更好。