定语从句作为英语中最基本的语法项目之一,在初中教材中就已经出现,并且贯穿整个高中教材的始终,是每年高考的必考内容。因此,如何熟练掌握和运用这一语法项目是高中英语学习的一个关键。

　　我这里有一些方法和建议,供同学们参考。

　　一、理解定语从句出现的意义和汉语一样,英语的句子成分中也有定语,即修饰某一名词或代词的句子成分。

　　如:

　　(1)That is a small round Chinese pan.

　　(2)He saw an old man with a white beard.

　　(3)We need something different.上述划线部分的单词和短语都作定语,这一点大家容易接受。

　　然而,有时候仅仅用单词和短语无法清晰地表达一个定语的含义,特别是当一个定语中包含类似于句子的含义时,这就用到了定语从句。请观察下列句子:

　　(4)我放进嘴里的那个手指不是我原来伸进杯子里的那一个。

　　The finger that I put into my mouth is not the one that I had dipped into the cup.对比这两组句子可以得出下列结论:

　　(一)定语从句的出现是表达的需要,它作定语,同时又具备句子的特征,这一点不同于单词和短语作定语。

　　(二)单词、短语作定语可以放到它们所修饰的词的前或后,但是定语从句必须置于它所修饰的词,即先行词的后面。

　　二、从感性认识到理性认识知道什么是定语从句后,不要急于去做语法题,而要进一步加强感性认识,因为理性认识的形成需要大量的感性材料。

　　大家可以做下列工作以强化对定语从句的感性认识:

　　1.从高一册定语从句的相关课文中找出所有的定语从句并分类。

　　2.从《英语通》杂志等报刊文章中挑选定语从句并分类。

　　3.做一些定语从句的相关练习,从训练中掌握规律。

　　三、从一般到特殊定语从句中关于关系代词和关系副词的用法,最基本的理论是:which指代物,who,whom,whose指代人,that既可以指代物,也可以指代人;where指代地点,when指代时间, why指代原因等等。

　　但是,在实际运用中却有很多特殊情况,而且考试经常考查的就是那些特殊用法。

　　请大家熟记下列句子,每个句子都代表了一种情况。

　　(一)用that不用which。如: All that glitters isn't gold. Have you got anything that belongs to me? It's the very book that I am looking for. Chatting is the only thing that interests her. This is the best film that we have seen recently. Who is the person that is standing there? They talked about the peo-ple and things that they remem-bered at school.

　　(二)as和which引导的定语从句。如: As we all know,the earth is round. He pretended not to know me,which I didn't understand. She married John,which surprised everybody. He is very old,which fact is very clear. She may come,in which case I will ask her. I have never seen such a man as you have mentioned.

　　(三)有时候当先行词是表示时间、地点的词时,却不用when\where而用that\which引导。如: I will remember the days that\which we spent together. This is the factory that\which you visited yesterday.

　　(四) way作先行词时,关系代词的使用。如: I don't like the way that\in which (或者省去引导词) he treats his parents.

　　(五) that引导定语从句与名词性从句的不同。如: The news that he told us is true.(定语从句) The news that our team has won is en-couraging.(同位语从句) That he has won the first prize surprised everybody.(主语从句) My idea is that you shut the factory.(表语从句) He said that he was going to leave.(宾语从句)

　　四、及时和经常的巩固性训练A.合成句子练习:把两个简单句合成一个含定语从句的复合句。

　　(1)The house has always been one of the most beautiful in the city. The house was destroyed in the war.

　　(2)Most of the students will remember that day. On that day they said good-bye to each other at the railway station.

　　(3)At 6 in the morning I went to the park. I found many people doing morning exer-cises in the park.

　　(4)Most of the students liked and respected their English teacher. Their English teacher's lectures were very interesting.

　　(5)I heard about the job from a friend. The friend works in the same company.

　　(6)He was waiting for his classmate. He wanted to borrow a pencil from his classmate.

　　答案:

　　(1)The house that\which had been one of the most beautiful in the city was destroyed in the war.

　　(2)Most of the students will remember the day on which\when they said good-bye to each other at the railway station.

　　(3)At 6 a.m.I went to the park where I found many people doing morning exercises.

　　(4)Most of the students liked and respected their English teacher whose lectures were very interesting.

　　(5)I heard about the job from a friend who works in the same company.

　　(6)He was waiting for his classmate from whom he wanted to borrow a pencil.

　　B.关系代、副词填空。

　　(1)The type of bee_____interests me most is the honey bee.

　　(2)The teacher_____class I hate most is Mr Smith.

　　(3)The person_____you need to meet is at the gate.

　　(4)The Club_____I had dinner was just outside the post office.

　　(5)I enjoyed the time_____I was study-ing at the college.

　　答案:

　　(1)which\that (2)whose (3)who\whom \that (4) where (5) when C.翻译或完成句子练习。

　　(1)他们问了教授许多与那个题目无关的问题。

　　(2)你认识住在隔壁的那位女士吗?

　　(3)我烧菜用的锅在哪里?

　　(4)我仍然记得发生过可怕地震的那个夏天。

　　I still remember the summer_____.

　　(5)那座村舍是我出生的地方。That cottage is the place_____.

　　答案:

　　(1)They asked many questions which\that had nothing to do with that topic.

　　(2)Do you know the lady who lives next door?

　　(3)Where is the pan that\which I cooked with?

　　(4)when the terrible earthquake happened

　　(5)in which\where I was born

　　D.单项选择。

　　(1)(2000上海)Recently I bought an an-cient Chinese case,_____was very reasonable. A.which price B.the price of which C.its price D.the price of whose

　　(2)(2001上海) He's got himself into a dangerous situation_____he is likely to lose control of the plane. A.where B.which C.while D.why

　　(3)(2001上海春季) Have you seen the film "Titanic" ,_____leading actor is world famous? A.its B.it's C.whose D.which

　　(4)(2002北京) We will be shown around the city：schools, museums, and some other places,_____other visitors seldom go. A.what B.which C.where D.when

　　(5)(2002北京春季) The famous basket-ball star,_____tried to make a comeback, at-tracted a lot of attention. A.where B.when C.which D.who

　　答案:(1) B (2)A (3)C (4)C (5)D

　　以上训练题型中,虽然只有最后一种是高考题型,但是另外三种题型在平时训练中却是必不可少的,望大家不要忽视。大家在学习过程中难免会产生遗忘现象,为了加强记忆,建议在初学时每隔2周就进行上述定语从句训练方式的复习和巩固练习,每次题目不必多,而是精心选配,经过几次循环训练之后,你对于定语从句就会掌握得牢固,做起题来会得心应手。

　　(文/山东王同新；英语通高中一年级版2003年第12期；版权归英语辅导报社所有，独家网络合作伙伴新浪教育，未经许可，不得以任何形式进行转载。)