情态动词考点探析

王振江+籍万杰

情态动词表示说话人对某一动作或状态的看法或主观设想，不能单独使用，需与其他动词一起构成谓语。情态动词数量较多，情感色彩较重，用法比较复杂，是广大考生学习中的难点。下面结合典型考例，帮助大家理清情态动词的意义和用法。

一、考查情态动词的基本意义和特殊用法

一些常见情态动词的基本意义以及特殊用法往往是高考考查的重点，考生应确切理解其含义并根据句子意思使用恰当的情态动词。

1. must 和need

must表示“必须”的意思，含有说话人主观上的看法和态度；need作情态动词表示“必要，必须”，通常用于否定句和疑问句，不能用于肯定句。

【典例1】I love the weekend， because I _____ get up early on Saturdays and Sundays. （2016年北京卷）

解析：neednt。根据句子的因果关系可知，此处表示“不需要”应使用neednt。

【典例2】—Cant you stay a little longer？ （2015年北京卷）

—Its getting late. I really _____ go now. My daughter is home alone.

解析：must。此处表示个人的主观意愿，意思是“我现在必须要走了”，应使用must。

另外，must用于疑问句，表示责备、抱怨的感情色彩，意思为“偏要，硬要”；而mustnt则表示“禁止，不允许”，是说话人强有力的劝告。

【典例】— _____ you interrupt now？ Cant you see Im on the phone？

—Sorry Sir， but its urgent.

解析：Must。根据对话的语境可知，此处表示“责备，抱怨”的感情，应使用must，意思是“你一定（非得）要……吗？”。

2. can和could

两者都用来表示能力，意为“能够，会”，也用来表示许可（常用在口语中）或表示怀疑、惊异、不相信等态度（常用于否定句，疑问句或感叹句中）。could表示过去，也可以表示语气的委婉。

【典例1】 It was really annoying； I

______ get access to the data bank you had recommended. （2016年天津卷）

解析：couldnt。根据句意可知，此处表示“不能”进入数据库，并且前面句子中的动词用的是过去时，故应使用couldnt。

【典例2】Although you _____ find bargains in London， its not generally a cheap place to shop. （2014年全国大纲卷）

解析：can。根据句意可知，此处表示“能够”，且后面的句子使用的是一般现在时，故应使用can。

3. shall和should

shall用于第一、第三人称疑问句表示征求对方意见；用于第二、第三人称肯定句或否定句表示说话人给对方的“禁止、命令、警告、允诺或威胁等”。

should 用来表示建议、责任、义务时，意为“应该，应当”，此时可用ought to替换；也可用来表示惊讶、赞叹等情绪，意为“竟然”。另外，should还可以表示按常理进行的推测，意为“按理应当”。

【典例1】One of our rules is that every student ______ wear school uniform while at school.

解析：shall。根据句意可知，此处表示学校的规定，学生在校应穿校服，具有强制、命令的感情色彩，故应使用shall。

【典例2】 It was sad to me that they， so poor themselves， ______ bring me food. （2014年江苏卷）

解析：should。此处表示惊讶，用should，意思是“竟然”。

4. may和might

表示允许、许可以及表示推测时，两者都可用，只是might表示的语气较委婉或推测的语气更弱。

【典例1】You _____ feel all the training a waste of time， but Im a hundred percent sure later youll be grateful you did it. （2015年陕西卷）

解析：may。根据句意，此处表示可能性比较大的推测，应使用may，意思是“可能，或许”。

【典例2】Life is unpredictable； even the poorest _____become the richest. （2014年江西卷）

解析：might。此处表示推测，但可能性小，故应使用might。

二、考查情态动词表推测的用法

1. 对现在或将来的推测用“情态动词+动词原形”。

肯定的推测一般用must， may， might。其中，must的语气最强，意为“肯定”“准是”“想必是”；may的语气次之，意为“很可能”，might语气最弱，意为“有时会”“也许”“可能”。

否定推测分为两种情况：语气不很肯定时，常用may / might / could not，意思是“可能不”“也许不”；否定语气较强时，则用cant，意思是“根本不可能”“想必不会”，表示惊异、怀疑的感情色彩。

【典例1】You _____ be Carol. You havent changed a bit after all these years. （2015年重庆卷）

解析：must。由后面的“这些年你一点没变”可知，此处表示十分肯定的推测，应使用must。

【典例2】It _____ be the postman at the door. Its only six oclock.

解析：cant。由后面一句“才刚刚六点钟”可反推前面句子中门口的“肯定不是”邮递员，故填cant。

2. 对过去发生事情的推测，用“情态动词+have done”。

对过去发生事情的肯定推测用“must / may / might + have done”；否定推测用“can / may / might not + have done”；疑问推测用“Can... have done？”。

【典例1】George ______（go） too far. His coffee is still warm. （2016年浙江卷）

解析：cant have gone。由后面的“他的咖啡仍然是温的”可推知“乔治根本不可能走得太远”。此处表示对过去的否定推测应使用cant have done。

【典例2】Jack described his father， who ______（be） a brave boy many years ago， as a strong-willed man.

解析：must have been。此处表示对过去的肯定推测，应使用must have done，故填must have been。

【典例3】My MP4 player isnt in my bag. Where ______ I have put it？

解析：can。此处表示对过去发生事情的疑问推测，应使用“Can...have done？”，故填can。

三、考查“情态动词+have done”表示虚拟的用法

1.“should + have done”表示本应该做某事而实际上没有做。其否定式表示某种行为不该发生但却发生了。

【典例1】—Sorry， Mum！ I failed the job interview again. （2015年福建卷）

—Oh， its too bad. You _____ have made full preparations.

解析：should。根据对话语境可知，表示对过去发生的事情的后悔遗憾应使用should have done，表示本应该做，而实际未做。

【典例2】I _______ have watched that movie —itll give me horrible dreams.

解析：shouldnt。表示“本来不应该做而做了某事”用shouldnt have done，故填shouldnt。

2. “would+ have done”表示本来愿意做某事而实际上没有做。其否定式表示本不愿意做而做了。

【典例】People are recycling many things which they ______（throw） away in the past.（2014年安徽卷）

解析：would have thrown。表示过去本来会做而没有做的事情，用would have done。

3.“could+ have done”表示本来能够做成某事，但结果却没能做成，含有遗憾的意味。

【典例】We ______ （face） the difficulty together， but why didnt you tell me？

解析：could have faced。表示对过去本来能够做而未做某事的后悔或遗憾，应使用could have done形式。

4.“neednt + have done”表示本来不必做某事而实际上做了某事。

【典例】 I ______ have worried before I came to the new school， for my classmates here are very friendly to me. （2015年天津卷）

解析：neednt。表示本没有必要做某事而实际上做了用neednt have done。

四、巩固练习

（一）单句填空

1. He seldom listens to others. He ______

answer for what he has done.

2. Mr. Bush is on time for everything. How ______ it be that he was late for the opening ceremony？

3. Its strange that he ______ come so late. He is always on time for everything.

4. If you really want yourself to be in good health， you ______ be always smoking so much.

5. —Nancy______（receive） the letter from her mother.

—No， she cant have. The postman hasnt come yet.

6. —______ I clean the dining room at once？

—Yes， you must.

7. —Where is my English book， mum？

—It ______be in Toms room. Last night he was reading it when I came to his room.

8. I tried to call you last week but your dog simply ______ not let me come through the gate.

9. — Ive prepared all kinds of food for the picnic.

—Do you mean we_____ bring anything with us？

10. The boss said to the secretary， “If you work well， you ______ have a rise.”

11. Can you believe that he ______ marry such a girl much older than him？

12. —Can I tell my best friend about it？

—No， I dont want anyone else to know it. You _____ tell anyone.

13. —She looks very happy. She ______ have passed the exam.

—I guess so. Its not difficult after all.

14. I still remember my happy childhood when my mother ______ take me to Disneyland at weekends.

15. ______ I have a look at your new pen？

16. —What does the sign over there read？

—“No person _______ smoke or carry a lighted cigarette， cigar or pipe in this area.”

17. In crowded places like airports and railway stations， you _______ take care of your luggage.

18. The weather turned out to be fine yesterday. I ______ have taken the trouble to carry my umbrella with me.

19. Tom， you ______ leave all your clothes on the floor like this！

20. What do you mean， there are only ten tickets？ There _____ be twelve.

21. —What do you think we can do for our aged parents？

—You _______ do anything except to be with them and be yourself.

22. John， look at the time. _______ you play the piano at such a late hour？

23. —______ we hand in our exercise-books now？

—No， you neednt.

24. —May I take this book out of the reading room？

— No， you ______. You read it in here.

25. Mark _____ have hurried. After driving at top speed， he arrived half an hour early.

（二）语法填空

“Selfie（自拍）” has become one of the hottest English words since it was first used in an Australian online forum in 2002. Believe it or not， it 1 （name） Word of the Year in 2013 by Oxford Dictionaries.

Selfie is a photo 2 （take） of oneself. People usually take selfies 3 （use） a smart phone and send them to a social media website. Nowadays， more and more people are taking selfies. From your best friend 4 your favorite pop star， selfies are taking over many popular websites.

What 5 （make） people love selfies？ Selfies 6 help remember whats going on to them. “Almost every day， I take a photo of myself， 7 Ill later save in my Qzone. These photos serve as good memories of my

8 （person） life，” said a teenager from Hunan. Another reason for taking a selfie is that people hope to make friends online and share their feelings with others. “My classmates and I often share selfies online. Through these photos， we get to know each other better，” said another teenager in Anhui. “Im too shy 9 （ask） someone to take pictures of me， but its easier to do it by 10 （I）.