1. Of the two sisters, Betty is _________ one, and she is also the one who loves to be quiet. (安徽卷)

A. a younger B. a youngest C. the younger D. the youngest

【解析】答案選C。根據(jù)句中的of the two sisters可知，此題涉及的是兩者比較，故用比較級；另外，由于是特指兩者中的一個，故其前用定冠詞，不用不定冠詞。

2. Of the two coats, I’d choose the _________ one to spare some money for a book. (四川卷)

A. cheapest B. cheaper C. more expensive D. most expensive

【解析】答案選B。因是兩者比較，故用比較級，可將答案鎖定在B和C之間；再根據(jù)句意，排除C。

3. Speaking of all the songs he has written, I think this is probably his _________ one. (全國卷II)

A. better-known B. well-known C. best-known D. most-known

【解析】答案選C。因為是從他所寫的所有歌中選出一首來比較，故用最高級。

二、在語境中考查比較等級的用法

1. I don’t think this film is by far the most boring. I have seen _________. (江西卷)

A. better B. worse C. the best D. the worst

【解析】答案選B。既然前文說“這不是最最煩人的電影”，那么下文說的肯定就“還有更糟的”，故用worse。有意思的是，2006年的這道江西卷的考題與下面這道2004年的湖南卷極為相似：

That doesn’t sound very frightening. Paul, I’ve seen _________. What did you like most about the film? (湖南卷)

A. better B. worse C. best D. worst

由前句“這聽起來并不十分令人恐懼”可知，說話人曾見過比這個更令人恐懼的事，所以用比較級worse。

2. The new group of students is better-behaved than the other group who stayed here _________. (北京卷)

A. early B. earlier C. earliest D. the earliest

【解析】答案選B。做此題的關(guān)鍵詞是new，即把“新來的學(xué)生”與“早些時候呆在這兒的學(xué)生”進(jìn)行比較。全句意為：新來的這群學(xué)生比早些時候呆在這兒的那些學(xué)生表現(xiàn)得更好些。

3. There is an old proverb, “Love me, love my dog. ” But there is _________ wisdom in this: “Love me, love my book.” (湖南卷)

A. some B. much C. more D. most

【解析】答案選C。由于是將“Love me, love my dog”與“Love me, love my book”進(jìn)行比較，故用比較級。此題的巧妙之處在于句中沒有出現(xiàn)than，而是給出兩個待比較的proverb。

4. With April 18’s railway speedup, highway and air transport will have to compete with _________ service for passengers. (江蘇卷)

A. good B. betterC. best D. the best

【解析】答案選B。句子大意為：由于鐵路提速了，所以公路和航空業(yè)要提高服務(wù)質(zhì)量來競爭客源。因?qū)ⅰ肮泛秃娇铡迸c“鐵路”比較，故用比較級。

三、考查“否定詞+a+比較級”結(jié)構(gòu)

1. Your story is perfect. I’ve never heard _________ before. (全國卷III)

A. the better one B. the best one C. a better one D. a good one

【解析】答案選C。“否定詞（尤其是never）+a+比較級”的意思是“從來沒有……一個更……的”，這類結(jié)構(gòu)通常可視為在其后省略了一個than…短語，做題時要注意根據(jù)具體的語境作出正確的理解，如：I have never read a better article. 我從未讀過（比這篇文章）更好的文章（=這是我所讀過的最好的文章）。I have never seen a worse film. 我從沒看過（比這部電影）更糟的電影（=這是我所看過的最糟的電影）。本題中的I’ve never heard a better one before的意思是“我從未聽到過（比你這個事故）更好聽的事故”。

2. —Did you enjoy yourself at the party?

—Yes. I’ve never been to _________ one before. (四川卷)

A. a more excited B. the most excited C. a more exciting D. the most exciting

【解析】答案選C。I’ve never been to a more exciting one before實為I’ve never been to a more exciting one before than this one. 其意為“我從未參加過比這個晚會更令人興奮的晚會”，即“這是我參加過最令人興奮的晚會”。又如：I’ve never had a worse morning than today. 我哪一天早上也不像今天早上這樣倒霉。若意思明確，有時可省略than結(jié)構(gòu)：He is fine, never better. 他很好，比以往任何時候都好。

注意：有時根據(jù)不同語法結(jié)構(gòu)的需要，也可能沒有不定冠詞。如：

No news could be more delightful to me. 這消息最令我高興。

I have never drunk better beer. 我從來沒喝過這么好的啤酒。

四、考查比較等級的修飾語

After two years’ research, we now have a _________ better understanding of the disease. (全國卷II)

A. very B. far C. fairlyD. quite

【解析】答案選B。這四個副詞中，通常只有far可用于修飾比較級。注：quite有時也可用于修飾比較級better，但它只用于表示“身體康復(fù)”，不用于其他意義。

五、考查相似比較級結(jié)構(gòu)的區(qū)別

—Do you need any help, Lucy?

—Yes. The job is _________ I could do myself. (福建卷)

A. less than B. more than C. no more thanD. not more than

【解析】答案選B。比較：less than意為“少于”；more than意為“多于，超過”；no more than意為“只有，只是”；not more than意為“不多于，至多”。做好此題的關(guān)鍵是注意句中的Yes，由于答話者對問話者的“你需要幫助嗎？”作了肯定回答，說明答話者獨自完成工作有困難，故填more than。

六、考查近義比較的區(qū)別

This washing machine is environmentally friendly because it uses _________ water and electricity than _________ models. (北京卷)

A. less; older B. less; elder C. fewer; older D. fewer; elder

【解析】答案選A。less為little的比較級，主要用于修飾不可數(shù)名詞，fewer為few的比較，主要用于修飾可數(shù)名詞，據(jù)此可排除C和D，因為fewer不能用于修飾water；older與elder的區(qū)別之一是前者既可用于修飾人，也可用于修飾事物，而后者只用于修飾人，不用于修飾事物，故只能選A。

七、考查as…as結(jié)構(gòu)的用法及修飾語的位置

1. It is reported that the United States uses _________ energy as the whole of Europe. (廣西卷)

A. as twice B. twice muchC. twice much as D. twice as much

【解析】答案選D。由energy后的as可知，此題是考查as…as…結(jié)構(gòu)。根據(jù)英語語法習(xí)慣，修飾as…as…結(jié)構(gòu)的副詞只能置于as…as…結(jié)構(gòu)之前，不能置于其中。又如：She went out with a man twice as old as her. 她和一個年齡比她大一倍的男子來往。It cost three times as much as I had expected. 它花的錢比我預(yù)期的多兩倍。

2. He speaks English indeed, but of course not _________a native speaker. (上海卷)

A. as fluent as B. more fluent thanC. so fluently as D. much fluently than

【解析】答案選C。因為修飾動詞speaks要用副詞，排除A和B；又因為than只能用于比較級后而不能位于原級后，排除D。句意是：他的英語講得的確不錯，不過，當(dāng)然不如英語本族人講得流利。