一、考查比较等级的基本用法

1. Of the two sisters, Betty is _________ one, and she is also the one who loves to be quiet. (安徽卷)

A. a younger B. a youngest C. the younger D. the youngest

【解析】答案选C。根据句中的of the two sisters可知，此题涉及的是两者比较，故用比较级；另外，由于是特指两者中的一个，故其前用定冠词，不用不定冠词。

2. Of the two coats, I’d choose the _________ one to spare some money for a book. (四川卷)

A. cheapest B. cheaper C. more expensive D. most expensive

【解析】答案选B。因是两者比较，故用比较级，可将答案锁定在B和C之间；再根据句意，排除C。

3. Speaking of all the songs he has written, I think this is probably his _________ one. (全国卷II)

A. better-known B. well-known C. best-known D. most-known

【解析】答案选C。因为是从他所写的所有歌中选出一首来比较，故用最高级。

二、在语境中考查比较等级的用法

1. I don’t think this film is by far the most boring. I have seen _________. (江西卷)

A. better B. worse C. the best D. the worst

【解析】答案选B。既然前文说“这不是最最烦人的电影”，那么下文说的肯定就“还有更糟的”，故用worse。有意思的是，2006年的这道江西卷的考题与下面这道2004年的湖南卷极为相似：

That doesn’t sound very frightening. Paul, I’ve seen _________. What did you like most about the film? (湖南卷)

A. better B. worse C. best D. worst

由前句“这听起来并不十分令人恐惧”可知，说话人曾见过比这个更令人恐惧的事，所以用比较级worse。

2. The new group of students is better-behaved than the other group who stayed here _________. (北京卷)

A. early B. earlier C. earliest D. the earliest

【解析】答案选B。做此题的关键词是new，即把“新来的学生”与“早些时候呆在这儿的学生”进行比较。全句意为：新来的这群学生比早些时候呆在这儿的那些学生表现得更好些。

3. There is an old proverb, “Love me, love my dog. ” But there is _________ wisdom in this: “Love me, love my book.” (湖南卷)

A. some B. much C. more D. most

【解析】答案选C。由于是将“Love me, love my dog”与“Love me, love my book”进行比较，故用比较级。此题的巧妙之处在于句中没有出现than，而是给出两个待比较的proverb。

4. With April 18’s railway speedup, highway and air transport will have to compete with _________ service for passengers. (江苏卷)

A. good B. betterC. best D. the best

【解析】答案选B。句子大意为：由于铁路提速了，所以公路和航空业要提高服务质量来竞争客源。因将“公路和航空”与“铁路”比较，故用比较级。

三、考查“否定词 a 比较级”结构

1. Your story is perfect. I’ve never heard _________ before. (全国卷III)

A. the better one B. the best one C. a better one D. a good one

【解析】答案选C。“否定词（尤其是never） a 比较级”的意思是“从来没有……一个更……的”，这类结构通常可视为在其后省略了一个than…短语，做题时要注意根据具体的语境作出正确的理解，如：I have never read a better article. 我从未读过（比这篇文章）更好的文章（=这是我所读过的最好的文章）。I have never seen a worse film. 我从没看过（比这部电影）更糟的电影（=这是我所看过的最糟的电影）。本题中的I’ve never heard a better one before的意思是“我从未听到过（比你这个事故）更好听的事故”。

2. —Did you enjoy yourself at the party?

—Yes. I’ve never been to _________ one before. (四川卷)

A. a more excited B. the most excited C. a more exciting D. the most exciting

【解析】答案选C。I’ve never been to a more exciting one before实为I’ve never been to a more exciting one before than this one. 其意为“我从未参加过比这个晚会更令人兴奋的晚会”，即“这是我参加过最令人兴奋的晚会”。又如：I’ve never had a worse morning than today. 我哪一天早上也不像今天早上这样倒霉。若意思明确，有时可省略than结构：He is fine, never better. 他很好，比以往任何时候都好。

注意：有时根据不同语法结构的需要，也可能没有不定冠词。如：

No news could be more delightful to me. 这消息最令我高兴。

I have never drunk better beer. 我从来没喝过这么好的啤酒。

四、考查比较等级的修饰语

After two years’ research, we now have a _________ better understanding of the disease. (全国卷II)

A. very B. far C. fairlyD. quite

【解析】答案选B。这四个副词中，通常只有far可用于修饰比较级。注：quite有时也可用于修饰比较级better，但它只用于表示“身体康复”，不用于其他意义。

五、考查相似比较级结构的区别

—Do you need any help, Lucy?

—Yes. The job is _________ I could do myself. (福建卷)

A. less than B. more than C. no more thanD. not more than

【解析】答案选B。比较：less than意为“少于”；more than意为“多于，超过”；no more than意为“只有，只是”；not more than意为“不多于，至多”。做好此题的关键是注意句中的Yes，由于答话者对问话者的“你需要帮助吗？”作了肯定回答，说明答话者独自完成工作有困难，故填more than。

六、考查近义比较的区别

This washing machine is environmentally friendly because it uses _________ water and electricity than _________ models. (北京卷)

A. less; older B. less; elder C. fewer; older D. fewer; elder

【解析】答案选A。less为little的比较级，主要用于修饰不可数名词，fewer为few的比较，主要用于修饰可数名词，据此可排除C和D，因为fewer不能用于修饰water；older与elder的区别之一是前者既可用于修饰人，也可用于修饰事物，而后者只用于修饰人，不用于修饰事物，故只能选A。

七、考查as…as结构的用法及修饰语的位置

1. It is reported that the United States uses _________ energy as the whole of Europe. (广西卷)

A. as twice B. twice muchC. twice much as D. twice as much

【解析】答案选D。由energy后的as可知，此题是考查as…as…结构。根据英语语法习惯，修饰as…as…结构的副词只能置于as…as…结构之前，不能置于其中。又如：She went out with a man twice as old as her. 她和一个年龄比她大一倍的男子来往。It cost three times as much as I had expected. 它花的钱比我预期的多两倍。

2. He speaks English indeed, but of course not _________a native speaker. (上海卷)

A. as fluent as B. more fluent thanC. so fluently as D. much fluently than

【解析】答案选C。因为修饰动词speaks要用副词，排除A和B；又因为than只能用于比较级后而不能位于原级后，排除D。句意是：他的英语讲得的确不错，不过，当然不如英语本族人讲得流利。