fail to or in?
問：“I thought Bob was going to join the navy.”“Didn’t you hear? He failed _________ the physical examination.”
A. passing
B. to pass
C. in passing
D. to have passed
答案為B(to pass) 。但我認為C(in passing) 也是正確的。
答：fail to + 動詞不定詞, 是一個沒有爭議的最常見的用法。一般考生知道這一點就足夠了。英語教師則應瞭解: 對於fail + in + 動名詞這一用法, 語言學家是有爭議的。例如, 有的語言學家指出, He failed in doing it.是錯誤的, 應改為He failed to do it. 但是, 實際上, 我們有時也會遇到fail in doing 的用法:
- The chairman failed in trying to persuade the committee to share his opinion.
主席未能說服委員會同意他的觀點。 - I failed in understanding what they meant.
我未能理解他們的意思。