Unit 3

Object Complement

Who are they?

They are Fei Junlong and Nie Haisheng.

We call them great heroes.

object object complement

Pay attention to the following:• 1. The object complement gives more

information abut the object. They called the young man Great Hero.• 2. An object complement always occurs in this

pattern: verb + object + object complement. The object complement can often be a noun phrase or an adjective.

They made Yu Tong monitor of their class. You must keep the room clean all the time.• 3. Sometimes a to-infinitive or bare infinitive can

be an object complement. I’d like all of you to work still harder.

• 4. An object complement can be a prepositional phrase.

If you keep the new dress in hot water, the colors will run.

• 5. An object complement can also be a present participle phrase or a past participle phrase.

The most exciting thing for the old man was to watch the children playing in the garden.

They told me to have my car repaired as soon as possible.

• 6. An object complement usually agrees with the object in number.

After that people called the boy a little hero.

Summary • 1. The following verbs are often followed by

an object and a noun or a noun phrase as an object complement:

• name, call, choose, elect, make,…• e.g. We elected John chairman of our club

after the former one retired.• When we were working on the farm, we

all call Iron Ox.• 2. The following verbs are often followed by

an object and an adjective as an object complement:

• make, get, keep, find, consider, …

• e.g. Though he did not mean to hurt her, yet his joke did make her angry.

• After many years of hard work, he found it impossible to carry on with his experiments.

• 3. The following verbs are often followed by a to-infinitive as an object complement:

• ask, tell, beg, invite, order, advise, warn, want, get, wish, expect, persuade, allow, permit, forbid, help,…

• e.g. She asked me to answer the question at once.

• The teacher did not allow us to talk to each other in class.

• 4. The following verbs are often followed by a bare infinitive as an object complement

• have, make, let, help, see, hear, watch, notice, find, observe, look at, listen to

• e.g. In that factory, the boss always has his workers work more than fifteen hours a day.

• The Most exciting thing for the old man was to watch his grandchildren play in the garden.

• 5. The following verbs are often followed by a present participle as an object complement:

• have, keep, get, feel, see, hear, watch, find, notice, observe,…

• e.g. As we got to the top of the mountain, we saw the sun rising in the east.

• Some villagers reported that they saw the missing boy playing near the river toward evening.

• 6. The following verbs are often followed by a past participle as an object complement:

• have, make, get, see feel, hear, watch, find,…

• e.g. When you speak English you should try your best to make yourself understood.

• I was surprised to find my room thoroughly cleaned and everything arranged in good order.

Please go through Lost civilizations again and find as many sentences with an object complement as you can.

Examples• Sven found the remains of buildings buried

under the sand, together with a lot of treasures, such as coins, painted pots, silk materials, documents and wall paintings.

• (remains of buildings is the object, and buried under the sand is the object complement, which gives information about the situation of the object.)

• We found the ruins most interesting.• (the ruins is the object, and interesting is

the object complement, which gives information about the object.)

• Read the next excerpt from Ann's diary entry on page 48 and use proper object complements to complete it. Try to understand what these phrases in the box mean.

• Please do C1 on page 108 in your Workbook to practise what you have learnt in this part.

Either…or, neither…nor

• You must pay attention that either...or..., neither…nor… can connect the coordinate subject, verb, object and adverbial in sentences.

• 1. Connecting the coordinate subjects • Either your mother or your father, or both

your parents can come with you.• Either Tim or his brothers have to water

the trees every other day.• Neither your aunt nor I have any other

thought but what is the best for you?• But neither his daughter nor his son would

listen to his suggestions.

• 2. Connecting the coordinate objects:• At school we may have either rice or noodle

s for supper every day.• You may choose either physics or chemistry

as your major.• They have neither steam heat nor running

water.• I won’t take a trip for I have neither the tim

e nor money.• 3. Connecting the coordinate predicates or

predicatives:

• “Either go to the concert or stay at home. Don’t go anywhere else,” father shouted.

• The books there are either books on travel or detective novels.

• That is neither my fault nor his.• He was neither clever nor stupid, but good

enough at his work.• One third of the men could neither read nor

write.• 4. Connecting the coordinate adverbials or

attributes:• We are going to return to our home town

either today or tomorrow.

• You may take either the blue or the green one.

• The two men walked very fast, looking neither to the right nor to the left.

• Paul came at the right time, neither too early nor too late.

• 5. Connecting the coordinate clauses:• Either you must improve your work, or I

will dismiss you.• Either you cut it out, or we shall have to

wash our hands of the whole business.

例 1 Not only I but Jane and Mary ______ tired of having one examination after another. A. is B. are C. am D. be

析 : 由“ or, either…or, neither…nor, not…but, not only… but also” 连接两个并列主语时，动词与靠近的主语保持一致。

e.g. ______ you or he the teacher of English? Neither my sister nor my mother ______

present at the meeting. A. Are, was B. Is, were C. Are, are D. Is, is

Subject-verb agreement

例 2 A library with five thousand books ______ to the nation as a gift. A. is offered B. has offered C. are offered D. have offered

析 : 一般说来，主语后带有 with, together with, as well as, along with, in addition to, like, including, but, rather than, no less than 等词语时，其谓语动词随主语。

e.g. The monitor as well as his classmates was given a reward for working hard.

例 3 When and where to build the new factory ______ yet. A. is not decided B. are not decidedC. has not decided D. have not decided

析 : 当 when 和 where 加不定式指的是同一件事时，谓语动词用单数。不定式，动名词短语或从句作主语，谓语动词用单数。

e.g Reading aloud is very important in learning a foreign language.

例 4 Every boy and every girl ______ that each day and each hour brings ______ duty.

A. know, their B. knows, their C. knows, its D. know, its

析： every/each/ no+ 单数名词 +and every/ each / no+ 单数名词短语做主语，谓语动词用单数。e.g. No teacher and no student agrees to have classes on Sunday.

例 5 We live day by day, but in the great things, the time of days and weeks ______ so small that a day is unimportant. (2007 湖南 ) A. is B. are C. has been D. have been 例 6 A survey of the opinions of experts ___ that three hours of outdoor exercise a week ____ good for one’s health. (2007 江西 ) A. show; are B. shows; is C. show; is D. shows; are

I. 由 and 连接的名词作主语时 :

1. 由 and 连接的两个不同概念的名词作主语时，动词要用复数：

e.g. Both you and I are going to attend th

e meeting.

When he will go to BJ and how he will go

to BJ have not been decided yet.

2. 如果后面加作为插入语，谓语也用单数形式。e.g. Black, and not Mary, was chosen monitor.

She, and not you, is going to speak at the meeting.

All work, and no play, has made you a fool.

3. 以 many a 或 more than one 修饰的单数名词后面的谓语用单数形式，但其意义是复数性的。

e.g. Many a boy is fond of playing football. More than one student enjoys folk-music.注：在以 each ， every ， no 修饰的并列主

语中的两个名词前不能加冠词。如果并列的两个名词前分别加定冠词变成复数概念，此时，放在后面作同位语，动词仍用复数形式。

e.g. The boy and the girl were each given an apple.

4. 当 and 连接的为同一人、事或概念时，这时 and 后的名词前没有冠词，其动词用单数：e.g. The singer and composer is coming to our

school. Bread and butter is often served for breakfast. Pork and Chinese cabbage is one of my favourite dishes. 常见的由 and 连接的指一个概念的有： the needle and thread, salt and water, the folk and knife, soap and water, iron and steel ， a watc

h and chain, the bread and butter, truth and honesty, a cup and saucer （茶托）等。

II. 当主语后面接说明主语的修饰词或插入语时：

谓语动词的数不受修饰成分的影响，仍与主语一致。常见的有： with, along with, together with, as well as, like, no less than, rather than, more than, as much as, but, except, besides, including 等。e.g. Bamboo, like a tree, grows tall and strai

ght. The house, including the garden and th

e garage, was sold out.

III. 当集合名词做主语时：根据句子内容，谓语动词既可是单数，也可是复数。常用人的集合名词有： group, class, team, family, nation, army, audience, crowd, public, governmente.g. My family is a happy family. My family all love music. / The audience was in good order. ( 指整体状态 ). The audience were greatly encouraged. ( 指具体的人 )注：有些集合名词如 people 、 cattle 等在任何情况下都与复数形式搭配。

IV. 就近原则：

以连词 or ， either…or ， nor ， neither…nor ， not only…but (also)... 连接的名词或代词作主语时，谓语与其相邻的保持一致。

e.g. Among the boys, one or two are able to jump 1.6 metres.

There is a bed, a table and two chairs in her room.

V. 以某些“不定代词或表示数量的词+of+ 名词”结构，谓语形式要与 of 后边的名词保持一致。70 percent of the surface is covered with water.70 percent of the farmers have improved their living conditions.The rest of his journey was pleasant.The rest of the girls are fond of music.All of your work is well done.All of your answers are correct.

注意1. one of + 复数名词 + （单）谓语，如： One of the students is from the south.2. one of+ 复数名词 + 定语从句（从句动词

用复数），如： He is one of the boys who are ready to help others.

3. the (only) one of+ 名词（复数） + 定语从句，从句中谓语动词用单数，表示众多中只有一个，如： He is the only one of the students who comes early.

4. a number of 和 the number ofe.g. The number of the students in the schoo

l is 1,250. / A number of students are waiting outside the gate.

VI. “the + adj.( 分词或数词 )” 结构起名词作用时：

如果这个结构表示的是一类人，谓语动词用复数形式，如果这个结构表示抽象概念（或具体的某个人），谓语用单数形式。

e.g. The old are being taken good care of. There is an old man and a young man

in the room now. The old is the father of the young.

The unexpected was not prevented in those days.

VII. 表示重量、距离、金钱、一段时间及由 one and a half 修饰的复数名词作主语时，谓语动词用单数形式：e.g. Twenty dollars isn’t enough to buy the

book. Ten miles isn’t long. Five times five is twenty-five. One and a half apples is lying on the

plate.

Please make the best choice!

1. Do you know _____________.

A. what is the police looking for

B. what are the police looking for

C. what the police are looking for

D. what the police is looking for

2. _____ he ______ I finished the experiment?

A. Have neither/nor B. Has neither/nor

C. Have neither/or D. Have either /or

3. The old ____ well looked after by the government in China.

A. is B. are

C. has been D. was 4. The secretary and manager _____ very busy now. A. is B. are C. has been D. were

5. Both the secretary and the manager ________ agreed to attend the meeting.

A. has B. have C. are D. is 6. During the holidays every train and shi

p ______ crowded. A. are B. were C. was D. has 7. Tom as well as two of his classmates ___

__ invited to the party. A. was B. were C. have been D.had been 8. Most of his spare time _____spent in re

ading. A. are B. were C. was D. have been

9. Ten thousand dollars ______ quite a large sum.

A. are B. is C. has D. have10. About 20 percent of the work ______

done yesterday. A. are B. is C. were D. was11. The United States _____ founded in

1776. A. was B. is C. were D. are

12. This pair of shoes _____ made in our factory.

A. is B. are C. have been D. had been13. No one except my parents _____

anything about it. A. know B. knows C. is knowing D. have known14. A number of students ______ from the

south. A. are B. is C. have D. has15. The number of students from the south

_____ small. A. are B. is C. have D. has

16. John is the only one of the students in our class who ____ to school on foot.

A. go B. goes C. have gone D. are going17. It is not I who ______ wrong. A. is B. are C. am D. has been18. He said that his family ____ all very well. A. are B. were C. is D. was 19. One and a half apples _______ on the

table. A. is leaving B. is left C. are left D. left20. Where ____ that five pounds I lent you? A. is B. have C. was D. were

21. " I " _____ the ninth letter of the English alphabet.

A. are B. be C. is D. am22. Six times seven ______ forty-two. A. are B. is C. have D. was23. The United States _____ made up of 50 states, one of which ______ Kentucky. A. is/are B. is/is C. are/is D. are/are24. The population of the city ______ increasing fast. A. were B. be C. is D. are

25. One third of the population here _______ workers. A. is B. have C. be D. are26. Now the police ____ searching the town for the lost child. A. was B. were C. is D. are27. Two of them will go first, the rest ______ to stay. A. is B. are C. used D. have28. He was the one of the students who ______ praised at the meeting. A. was B. were C. is D. are

29. The scientist and professor ____ left for Russia. A. have B. has C. is D. are

30. Many a boy ______ made such a funny experiment.

A. have B. are C. has D. is

31. Every means _______ been tried since then.

A. has B. were C. was D. has been

Read Part A on page 51. It is another of Ann's diary entries. Try your best to understand the article and choose the correct verb forms. Then go through Part B on page 51. It is a letter in a local newspaper. Read the letter and finish the exercise individually, using the correct forms of the given verbs.