从高考试题看定语从句中的抽象地点现象

    请先看一看下列高考试题有什么共同特点。

1.（08安徽）All the neighbors admire this family， _________the parents are treating their child like a friend.

A. why                  B. where                 C. which                  D. that

2.（08北京）I’ll give you my friend’s home address,        I can be reached most evenings.

A. which                  B. when                 C. whom                   D. where

3. （08江西）Later in this chapter cases will be introduced to readers ______ consumer complaints have resulted in changes in the law.

A. where                   B. when                         C. who                    D. which

    三道题考查的都是定语从句，答案都是where。但同时，我们可以看出三个先行词都不是我们平常概念中指代地点的名词，如family是“家庭”、address是“地址”、而cases的意思是“个案”。

    我们不妨把这种定语从句中的先行词称为“抽象地点”，因为我们把“学校”、“工厂”等理解成地点很容易，因为它们很具体；而把“家庭”等名词理解成地点则有一些难度。因此，我们有必要通过更多的例句来理解“抽象地点”这一现象。下列句子是平时教学中随意收集的。大家在阅读时需要体会划线词所表示的“抽象地点”的意义。

1. Muslims give a “salaam”, where they touch their heart, mouth and forehead. （外研版第四册第三模块）

穆斯林行额手鞠躬礼，用手触左胸、嘴和额。

2. She is living a life where she has a duty.（英语周报07-08第47期）

她过着一种充满责任的生活。

3. There always comes the point, however, where you want to move on from friendly banter and get down to business.（英语周报07-08第40期）

然而，总会有一个时候，你需要停止友好的交谈，并把话题转到正事上。

4. To celebrate her new size, my mother joined a “Mrs. Forty-Plus” competition, where she would have to model, give a speech and provide a dance performance.（英语周报新课程版07-08第50期）

为了庆祝她（减肥后）新的体形，妈妈参加一个由40岁以上妇女参加的竞赛。在竞赛中，她要当模特、发表一个讲演，并且还要跳舞。

5. The BOCOG announced the timetable on Thursday at a conference, where it also unveiled its plan that the construction of all Olympic venues must be completed by that same date.（英语周报新课程版07-08第50期）

周四北京奥组委在一次会议上宣布这个时间表，同时它还宣布所有奥运场馆的建设必须在上述同一日期完成。

6. One day, the school held a party, where I was invited to talk about Tianjin.（08天津试题改错）

有一天，学校举办了一次聚会，邀请我谈一谈天津。

7. You could get into a situation where you have to decide immediately.（牛津高阶英汉双解词典）

你可能遇上一种情况，使你不得不立刻做出决定。

8. It (integrated exercise) means standing on short train and bus journeys, or walking at a pace where you feel you might break into a run if you were to go any faster.（英语周报新课程版07-08第50期）

这（综合锻炼）意味着乘火车和汽车做短途旅行时要站立，或走路时要保持一个你感觉如果你再走快一些就会跑起来的速度。

9. The great mathematician John von Neumann was one of the founders of game theory. In particular, he showed that all games fall into two classes: there are what he called games of "perfect information", games like chess, where the players can't hide anything or play tricks; they don't win by chance but by means of logic and skills.(2000高考全国试题)

大数学家约翰-冯-纽曼是棋牌理论的奠基者之一。特别是他证明了所有的游戏都可被分成两类：一类是他称作“完全信息”游戏，比如下棋。在棋盘上，玩家不可能隐藏任何东西或做手脚；他们赢棋靠的不是运气，而是逻辑和技巧。

10. This is a difficult and stressful job but one where you can really help people.（外研版第五册第二模块)

这是一份很困难而且很有压力的工作，但却是一份能真正帮助别人的工作。

11.In the USA, conversation is less lively than in many other cultures, where everyone talks at the same time.（外研版第六册第一模块）

与很多其他的文化不同，在美国，交谈不是很热烈；在很多其他文化中，大家都在同时谈话。

12.Imagine a situation where two strangers are talking to each other after someone they both know has left the room, or the cafe or party, etc.（外研版第六册第一模块）

想像这样一个情景：在两个陌生人都认识的某一个人离开房间、咖啡馆或聚会后，他们继续交谈。

13.Today it (Deepavali) is celebrated by Hidus, Jains and Sikhs across the world as the "Festival of Light", where the lights or lamps mean victory of good over the evil within every human being.(英语周报08-09高二版第九期）

今天，全世界的印度教徒、耆那教徒和锡克教徒都把屠妖节当作“万灯节”来庆祝。“万灯节”意味着正义战胜了人身上的恶魔。

    我们通过上述例句可以发现，例句中的先行词基本上都可以与at 或 in 搭配成表示地点的短语。如第六句可以写成：One day, the school held a party, at which I was invited to talk about Tianjin.，或如果写成两句话，我们可以说：One day, the school held a party. I was invited to talk about Tianjin at the party. 第七句可以写成：You could get into a situation in which you have to decide immediately.

    下面考一考大家，看看大家是否对“抽象地点”这一现象有了更深的理解。

1.（06山东）We’re just trying to reach a point ____ both sides will sit down together and talk.

A. where       B. that       C. when      D. which

2.（01上海）He’s got himself into a dangerous situation ____ he is likely to lose control over the plane.

A. where       B. which      C. while     D. why

3. (03上海) I can think of many cases ____ students obviously knew a lot of English words and expressions but couldn’t write a good essay.

A. why         B. which      C. as        D. where

4. (05上海) If a shop has chairs ____ women can park their men, women will spend more time in the shop.

A. that        B. which      C. when      D. where

5. (04湖南) I work in a business, ____ almost everyone is waiting for a great chance.

A. how         B. which      C. where     D. that

6. (07江西) After graduation she reached a point in her career     she needed to decide what to do.

A. that         B. what       C. which      D. where

7. (07陕西）Today, we’ll discuss a number of cases ____ beginners of English fail to use the language properly.

A. which        B. as           C. why            D. where

8. (英语周报)Li Ping reached a point in her English study ____ she felt that she must take action to improve her spoken English.

A. where        B. that         C. when            D. which

9.（英语周报）Tomorrow he will participate in a job interview ____ the interviewer is likely to ask some difficult questions.

A. that         B. when         C. whom            D. where

    大家做对了吗？上述试题的答案只有一个，那就是WHERE。