Can you determine the meanings of the following sentences? Explain and make some alterations in the context so as to pin down th

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问题 Can you determine the meanings of the following sentences? Explain and make some alterations in the context so as to pin down the meaning. (a) The fish is ready to eat. (b) I like Mary better than Jean.

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答案Yes. On a grammatical basis, both sentences can have two interpretations. The first sentence may mean " The fish is cooked or served, so ready for people to eat" or "The fish is ready to eat things". However, in the context of "What a nice smell! The fish is ready to eat", "fish" definitely means the former. To achieve clarity, we can say "The fish is ready to be eaten". The second sentence can be regarded as an elliptical one, which gives rise to ambiguity:"I like Mary better than I like Jean" or "I like Mary better than Jean likes Mary". To achieve clarity, we can either say "I like Mary better than Jean does" or "I like Mary better than I do Jean" or "I like Mary better as Jean is untidy", etc.

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