小“it”，大用法

2015-12-28龚磊陈慈明

高中生学习·高三版 2015年12期

关键词：指代宾语主语

龚磊　陈慈明

在我们英语学习与考试当中，经常会遇到包含it的句子及短语，不了解相应的用法会导致理解错误并最终出现失分的严重后果。那么这个小小的it都有哪些用法呢？笔者在此结合高考题为同学们做了一个归纳。

一、it作非人称代词，可以指代天气、距离、日期、时间、环境等

It is raining. （天气） It is Tuesday today. （日期）

It is quiet here. （环境）

It is two miles to the beach. （距离）

该用法在高考听力对话当中出现频繁，如2015年全国卷第二题：

2. What does the woman think of the weather？

A. Its nice B. Its warm C. Its cold

M： Nice weather were having， dont you think？

W： No. It is too cold.

M： I think it is just right.

W： Id prefer it a few degrees warmer.

对话中的it指代的是天气。

二、it作人称代词，指刚提到的物或事，也可以指动物或婴儿（未知性别的婴儿），或者未知的人

1. I bought a pen three days ago， but I cant find it anywhere. （物）

2. His son entered college. It made him very glad. （事）

3. The baby is crying， for its hungry. （婴儿）

4. —Who is knocking at the door？

—It must be my brother. （未知的人）

在高考试卷中，该用法普遍见于阅读理解、完形填空、语法填空、短文改错等题型。如：

You cannot choose what you are given，but you can choose how you make use of it. （2012年湖北卷作文题）

句中it指代what you are given。如不能理解it指代的是什么，会直接影响审题的准确性，甚至会出现偏题的严重后果。

再看一道阅读理解猜词题：

例1 （2015年高考浙江卷·阅读理解C） If humans were truly at home under the light of the moon and stars， we would go in darkness happily， the midnight world as visible to us as it is to the vast number of nocturnal （夜间活动的） species on this planet. Instead，we are diurnal creatures， with eyes adapted to living in the suns light. This is a basic evolutionary fact， even though most of us dont think of ourselves as diurnal beings. Yet its the only way to explain what weve done to the night： Weve engineered it to receive us by filling it with light.

51. What does “it” （Paragraph 1） most probably refer to？

A. The night. B. The moon

C. The sky D. The planet

解析 A。根据文中倒数第二句Yet its the only way to explain what weve done to the night可知最后一句中的it指代前文中的the night。

三、it作形式主语，指代v-ing、不定式以及主语从句

1. 指代不定式

①it +be+adj./n. for/of sb. to do sth.

It is never too old to learn.

It is easy to open a shop but hard to keep it always open.

②it takes sb. sometime to do sth.

It took me five fays to finish the tough task.

③it takes sth. to do sth. 做某事需要某物

It takes three generations to make a gentleman.

2. 指代v-ing

①It+be+fun/a waste of time/ no good/no use/useless doing sth.

Its no use crying over split milk.

3. 指代主语从句

①it+be+形容词（natural/strange/important/clear ...）+that从句

Its natural that they should have different views.

②it+be+过去分词+that从句

Its said that the professor has performed the experiment.

It was suggested that they （should） start at once.

③it+be+名词/名词词组（a pity/a shame/a fact/no wonder ...）+that从句

It is no wonder that he looks so sleepy， he stayed up too late last night.

④it strikes/hits/occurs to sb. that 某人突然想起……

It suddenly occurred that he had an important conference to attend the next morning.

此外，还有不少用it做形式主语指代主语从句的固定句式结构还有：

It seems/appears that he has known everything.

How did it come about that the dairy products were harmful to children？

接下来让我们看一道高考完形填空的片段：

例2 （2013年高考辽宁卷） 2 she loved her parents and her family， she desired to live in such a house and 3 all day about how wonderful and exciting 4 must feel to live there.

2. A. unless B. Although

C. Since D. But

3. A. dreamed B. worried

C. asked D. shouted

4. A. this B. that

C. it D. which

解析 4.D。根据文章内容，第4空所在句子意思为：小女孩幻想生活在那样的房子里会是多么的美好和兴奋。it是介词about之后的宾语从句中的形式主语，真正的主语是to live there。

四、it作形式宾语，指代v-ing、不定式以及各种宾语从句

①He found to learn English not easy.

=He found it not easy to learn English.

②Jim makes to get up early a rule.

=He makes it a rule to get up early.

以下是一些it做形式宾语指代宾语从句的固定句式结构：

I took it for granted that you would be coming.

He hasnt made it clear when he is coming back.

I hate it when they talk with their mouths full of food.

Please see to it that the door is closed.

请同学们看下面一道单选题：

例3 （2015年高考浙江卷）How would you like if you were watching your favorite TV program and someone came into the room and just shut it off without asking you？

A. them B. one C. those D. it

解析 D。分析句子结构可知，if引导的宾语从句是本句真正的宾语，空格处应该是形式宾语，只有it可充当形式宾语，故答案选D。

在短文改错当中，出题人经常会利用同学们对it的用法的掌握不全面、不透彻，去掉it或用其他词语代替以扰乱判断。我们看几个从短文改错选出的单句，同学们可以看出句中的错误出在哪里吗？

1. You wont find difficult to get to the city center. （find后加it）

2. I know there is not easy to be a teacher. （there→it）

3. This is not surprising that the Silver Ghost was regarded as “the best car in the world”. （This→It）

4. As is known to all my classmates that I can speak English as if I were a native speaker. （As→It）

5. A disabled person who wants to go shopping in this city will find difficult to do so. （find后加it）

6. I have to warn you that would take quite a while to force managers to replace the old machine. （that后加it）

五、用于固定短语搭配

英语中，有不少与it有关的固定短语，如：

as it is 事实上；照原样

put it （to sb.） that ... 向某人清楚地表明……

as it were 可以说，好比是……

（it/that） all depends 视情况而定

its up to sb. 取决于某人

take it easy 放轻松

make it 成功，赶上

believe it or not 信不信由你

to put it briefly 简言之

so it is with sb.=it is the same with sb. 某人也是如此

when it comes to ... 当谈到……

请同学们看以下这篇短文：

Believe it or not， my deskmate has been suffering from sleeplessness recently. Gaokao approaching， he is so worried that I often comfort him， “Its never too old to learn， just take it easy. Having studied hard for so long， you will make it eventually.”

To put it briefly， he is indeed anxious and exhausted. What can I do to help him？

书面表达时适当将包含it的短语与长句子搭配使用，可以使文章显得层次分明。此外，在语法填空、短文改错当中，也经常能够见到针对这类短语设置的题目。如：

例4 I was 54 because of the invitation from someone who barely knew me. So I 55 an excuse to avoid. Regina 56 her head. “Darling， Im a very straightforward person. I invited you， so I 57 it.”

54. A. happy B. desperate

C. ashamed D. shocked

55. A. depended on B. paid for

C. looked for D. got to

56. A. raised B. held

C. used D. shook

57. A. make B. mean

C. accept D. claim

解析 57. B。其中，第57题考查mean it这一短语的用法。有相当多同学因为不知道mean it表示”当真的”这一含义丢分。

六、用于特殊句式结构

另外，英语中还有包含it的特殊句式，现归纳如下：

①it is （was/has been） +时间+since ... 自从……以来已经有多长时间了