(1)分数词( fractional numbers )的构成法:
分数词由基数词和序数词构成,基数词代表分子,序数词代表分母。除了分子为1的情况外,序数词都要用复数形式:
1/4 one-fourth 7/ 9 seven-ninths
此外还有下面的表示法:
1/2 a (one) half 1/4 a (one) quarter 3/4 three-quarters
比较复杂的分数读法如下:
22/9 twenty-two over nine 33/89 thirty-three over eighty-nine
( 2 )分数词在句子中的作用:
①主语:
A quarter of the workers are women. 四分之一的工人是女工。
Two-fifth of the machines on display were new items. 展出的机器五分之二是新产品。
②宾语或介词宾语:
They spent one-fift of the money on capital construction. 他们把这笔钱的五分之一用在基本建设上。
③表语或同位语:
The crop that year was only one-third of the usual amount. 那年的收成只是正常年景的三分之一。
About 480 million people, about two-fifths of our population, live in this immense area. 大约有四亿八千万人,占我国人口的五分之二,居住在这片辽阔的地区。
④定语:
It’s one-twentieth the thickness of a human hair. 它相当于人头发丝的二十分之一那样细。
⑤状语:
China is one-sixth larger than the United States. 中国比美国大六分之一。
分数有时可用下列方法表示:
The length of the laser tube was reduced ten times. 这种激光管的长度缩短了十分之九(为原来的十分之一)。
A is ten times as light as B.A 是 B 重量的十分之一。
小数的读法如下:
7.8 —— seven point eight
0.125 ——(nought) point one two five 或 zero point one two five
小数作定语时较多:
Our grain output is now 2.4 times that of 1980. 我们现在的粮食产量是 1980 年的 2.4 倍。
百分数由 percent 表示,常常和 by 连用,作状语:
Its output of cotton went up by 20 percent . 它的棉花产量增长了百分之二十。
The price was reduced by 18 percent . 价格降低了百分之十八。
也有时单独作状语:
Its grain output was 46.5 percent higher than that of 1985. 它的粮食产量比1985 年增长了46.5%。
还可用作主语、宾语或定语:
About 40 percent of the students are girls. 约有 40% 的学生是女生。(作主语)
The loss of metal has been reduced to less than 20 %. 金属损耗减少到 20%以下。(作宾语)
The March figure for output value registered a 37 percent increase over February. 3 月份产值比2月份增长37%。(作定语)