Who is the man___A__will give us a  speech this afernoon?
A.that  B.who  C.which  D.whom

中国的不少语法书有一个被广为接受的谬论：Who is the man 后的定语从句要用that，不能够用who，理由是为了避免重复。这道题目就是实践这个谬论的。事实上最佳的答案是B。

《麦克米伦》：
the：          Who was the actor who played Romeo？
comedian： Who's the comedian who took my drink?

美国语料库: Who is the man/person/girl etc who/that = 37/15
英国语料库: Who is the man/person/girl etc who/that =  9/1

在下面的情况下必须用that:

Brenda is describing a certain man who is the type that she would like to marry.
Who is the glue that holds them together?

何谓谬论？

用 that  当然是最为人们所接受的，只不过用 who 也不错罢了。
最主要的问题是，那句子本身就写得像 癞痢 一样 ，拷问 that / who 又有何意义？

用 that  是最为（中国） 人们所接受的，当然用 that也不错罢了 。

美国时代杂志语料库：
who is the man/person/girl etc who / that:   25/0

[ 本帖最后由 joham50 于 2008-8-25 21:53 编辑 ]