高考英语试卷(I)中65题用cheaper修饰prices的是与非?
Before 64 (head)home, they fill their shopping bags with fresh fruit and vegetables from local farmers, at prices significantly65 (cheap)than those found in supermarkets. (2026全国英语高考I卷)
此句中,用cheaper修饰prices对吗?请用词典的例子进行说明,并用括号标注词典的来源。
结论:cheaper prices 的用法完全成立,已被多部权威词典正式收录;不过在严谨书面语中,lower prices 仍是更常见的选择。
以下是各权威词典中的直接例证(按词典分类):
1. Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary(牛津高阶学习词典)
在cheap 词条的释义与例证中明确出现:
"Their cheap prices have helped them pick up new customers."
(Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary)
2. Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English(朗文当代英语词典)
在pricing 词条(商务英语版)中,编者直接用括号标注出 cheaper prices 作为释义:
"Aggressive pricing (=cheaper prices than its competitors') helped increase the airline's passenger traffic by 10% for the year."
(Longman Business Dictionary / Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English)
3. Oxford English Dictionary(牛津英语词典)
OED 在 cheap 词条中设有专门的 transferred sense,说明 cheap 可直接用于价格、费用等数值性名词:
"b. transf. (Applied to the price itself, the place where a commodity is sold, etc.) cheap fare: a fare at a lower rate than the ordinary fare; also cheap rate."
(Oxford English Dictionary)
4. Merriam-Webster(韦氏词典)
在dirt-cheap 及相关词条中,韦氏收录了如下搭配:
"very cheap: dirt-cheap prices."
(Merriam-Webster Dictionary, via WordReference.com)
此外,在Merriam-Webster 的关联词库中,cheap 的常规形容词搭配列有 prices 一项。
5. Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's Dictionary(柯林斯高阶学习词典)
语料库例句中直接出现单数形式:
"A Department of Health spokesman said it hoped the cheaper price would encourage more men to see a GP."
(Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's Dictionary)
补充说明
上述例证表明,cheap/cheaper 修饰 price(s) 并非错误,而是被 Oxford、Longman、Merriam-Webster、Collins 等主流词典共同认可的地道搭配。其语义逻辑在于:cheap 不仅可以形容"物品便宜",在转义用法中也可以形容"价格本身低廉"。
然而,由于price 本质是一个数值概念(amount of money),传统语法更倾向用 low/lower 或 high/higher 来修饰它。因此,若将原句改写为:
"…at prices significantly lower than those found in supermarkets."
会显得更为正式、严谨。但在高考、四六级或日常英语中,cheaper prices 简洁直观,完全可以接受。
