※ 引述《thermo409 (超级喜欢郭严文)》之铭言：
: The biography clearly shows that Taiwan, contemptuous as he may have been
: of the acquisitive society in which he live was always ____ money.
: careless with
: ravenous for
: unimpressed by
: insightful about
: disdainful toward
机经文化害人不浅！其实很多学生对机经文化的正当性早有质疑，只是这
　　股声音被数间相关既得利益的补习班给刻意“冷处理”了；请各位参阅托
　　福版近期的文章，stanleypi 和 aezx 版友都已勇敢地发声，直指这严重
　　的弊端－各位，是时候了！
thermo，我是 Dean 老师，虽然最近较忙，但今天上线看到您的问题，发
觉“机经文化害人匪浅”，误导学生甚深，故赶紧指出以下几点立刻帮您
解惑（上色、趣味的补充等等之后再抽空修文）：
　　1. 答案是 "ravenous for"，不是 "unimpressed by"
2. "contemptuous as ... he lived" 形容的绝对是“人”，不是
"Taiwan"
其实光看代名词用 "he" 就知道 "Taiwan"（地名）不可能是 "Ｘ was
always ravenous for money" 这个子句的主词；从 "biography" 和
“形近字的 typo”去想，题目一定是把有名的 Mark "Twain" 打错成
"Taiwan" 了。
另外，"contemptuous as ... he lived" 是作为副词的从属子句，修
饰 "Twain was always ravenous for money" 这个独立子句－我刻意
不说“主要子句”，好帮助各位看出，上述两个子句终究还是一起被
"that" 引导，整个句子的主要子句／结构其实只是 "The biography
clearly shows sth"。"contemptuous ..." 这个从属子句的摆放位置
显然是“插在” "Twain" 与 "was always ravenous for money" 之
间，所以题目在 "lived" 后面少放了一个逗号；同时，各位也看到题
目把 "lived" 打错成 "live"－马克‧吐温已去世多年（1910 年挂
点），自当是 "the acquisitive society in which he 'lived' "。
官方的－甚至更该强调“合法的”－题目“不可能有这么夸张的错
误”（Twain 打错、lived 写错、缺逗号、最后答案又错），所以上
面才说“机经文化害人匪浅”。
"contemptuous as ... he lived" 的句构是我们高中就学过的“as
（连接词）当‘虽然’解”的用法，所以 "that" 后面改写成白话就
是：
　　　 "Although he may have been contemptuous of the acquisitive
society in which he lived, Twain was always ravenous for
money."
对照：
　　　 "Contemptuous as he may have been of the acquisitive society
in which he lived, Twain was always ravenous for money."
后者因为 as 的特别用法而倒装的关系，显得有文言的（literary）
的美感。
● 同样的句构举例：
Much as I love you, I won't let you have these last two
bottles of Heineken.
请各位复习 Jennifer Aniston 这支经典的广告：
　　　 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTi4ZvPCDoE
3. 题目原文出自 "The Atlantic"（美国很有深度的文化月刊）2003 年
11 月号，Christopher Hitchens 针对 Fred Kaplan 写的马克‧吐
温传记所撰的书评
果然是 Mark Twain！原句如下：
　　　 "Contemptuous as he may have been of the Gilded Age and the
acquisitive society, Twain was ever ravenous for money, and
his acumen was almost inversely proportionate to his
ambition."
书评网址：
http://goo.gl/i7n8bY
● 答案不该是 "unimpressed by" 的理据
　　　 如果答案是 "unimpressed by"，题目应当写成（以下只是举例）
"Always contemptuous of the acquisitive society in which he
lived, Twain was utterly unimpressed by money."
才比较合理。
● 答案是 "ravenous for" 的额外理据
"as"（即 "although"）指示一个重要的转折，所以空格要和“虽然马
克‧吐温很可能对自己所处社会的汲汲营营感到轻蔑”这个资讯相对，
那么“但他自己对金钱却也总是非常贪夺”便是很棒的后联。
我在 Roger Wigglesworth 写的 John Israel Montefiore 传记中有
读到以下的句子可以让各位对照以助理解之透彻：
　　　 "Montefiore had learned to speak Maori, although he was
contemptuous of Maori customs and habits."
注：毛利族（the Maori）是新西兰有名的原住民，跟“沉睡的小五郎”应该
没有关系…
: 答案是 unimpressed by
: 意思我可以理解 但是这段文章我试着去拆解结构 但是没有什么结论
: 尤其是,contemptuous as 这边我不太确定他是用来形容谁..
: 感谢> <
P.S. thermo，我也“超级喜欢”“郭严文”！