今日再同大家分享 Peter Kammerer 於 SCMP 寫的，標題為 World City? Rubbish 的文章，繼續解釋一些有用的詞彙和句型，讓大家學習、模仿。時間關係，今日只能同大家分享第二段：

Part of the problem is that I am lazy. The nearest three-colour recycling bins are a 15-minute walk away1. That doesn't account for me being self-conscious [= 很在意] about pushing through [= 擠過去] the often jam-packed [= 擠擁的] pavements near my home with bags full of rubbish, that glass bottles and food scraps [= 剩下的食物] would not be accounted for or that my neighbours are unlikely to follow my lead [= 倣傚我的做法]2. I live in private housing, not one of those public estates where recycling programmes are under way3. If authorities truly cared about the environment, they would give me and all other citizens an edict [= 法令] to sort our rubbish or face a big, fat fine [= 巨額罰款]4.

  1. a 15-minute walk away 指步行十五分鐘的距離。留意 15-minute 這裏用作修飾語 (modifier) ，為單數 (singular) 名詞，不可加 -s 。同一意思可以寫成 The nearest three-colour recycling bins are 15 minutes' walk away ，留意這裏 15 minutes 是動詞 are 之主語補語 (subject complement) ，因為 15 的關係，名詞為複數 (plural) ，所以前面不能帶不定冠詞 (indefinite article) ，即 a 或 an 。
  2. That doesn't account for me being self-conscious about pushing through the often jam-packed pavements near my home with bags full of rubbish, that glass bottles and food scraps would not be accounted for or that my neighbours are unlikely to follow my lead. 很長、看似很複雜的一句，其實只不過用上平行結構 (parallel structure) 後的假象而已。句子的平行點為形容詞 self-conscious 後，我把三個平行句分別用上三種不同顏色標示。形容詞 self-conscious 可後接介詞 about，亦可接 that-子句 (that-clause) 。另外，片語動詞 account for 指「解釋、說明」，後接名詞詞組，上面句子中，動詞 being 以動名詞 (gerund) 形式出現，動名詞前兼帶主語，但因介詞 for 的緣故，主語為受格 (object/ accusative case) 代詞 me ，整個結構類屬一個名詞詞組，符合 account for 之句法規定。類似句法結構於歷屆高考 UE Section C 試題出現不少，最近的 2010 年也考過學生：

    Snopes' world headquarters is actually just Barbara and David __(25)__ around their modest home on a shady hillside outside Los Angeles.
    A.  sit
    B.  sits
    C.  sitting
    D.  seated

    同學們應該知道答案是 C. 了。這裏動詞 sitting 必須以現在分詞 (present participle) 這種非限定形式出現，因為英語語法規定，每個句子 (clause) 只能容納一個以限定形式 (finite) 出現之動詞，句子內其他動詞必須以非限定形式 (non-finite) 出現。限定形式指動詞在人稱 (person) 和數 (number) 上與主語一致 (agree) 。例如： am 、 is 、 are 、 was 、 were 是動詞 be 的限定形式，而 be 、 being 、 been 是非限定形式。上句中，動詞 is 已經以限定形式出現，所以，動詞 sitting 只能以非限定形式出現。另一個例子，同樣取自 2010 UE Section C ：“ Our first date was me taking Barbara to the library at UCLA to go through old magazines. ”。

    返回 Peter Kammerer 寫的那句“ That doesn't account for me being self-conscious about pushing through the often jam-packed pavements near my home with bags full of rubbish, that glass bottles and food scraps would not be accounted for or that my neighbours are unlikely to follow my lead. ”，其實可以寫成：

    That doesn't account for the fact that I am self-conscious about pushing through the often jam-packed pavements near my home with bags full of rubbish; nor does it explain why I feel embarrassed that glass bottles and food scraps would not be included, or why I am worried that my neighbours are unlikely to follow my example.

  3. under way 解作已經開始或在進行中，形容詞，亦可寫成 underway ，例如：

    An investigation is under way to find out how the disaster happened.
    調查正在進行，目的是找出災難如何發生。

    Economic recovery is already underway.
    經濟已開始復甦。

  4. If authorities truly cared about the environment, they would give me and all other citizens an edict to sort our rubbish or face a big, fat fine. 句子用上第二類條件句 (conditional sentence) ﹝各類條件句用法另見拙文：睇 SCMP 學英文 (一)﹞，表明作者認為政府有關當局，根本不關心環保問題，不然政府定必立例，強制廢物分類，並向違例者徵收巨額罰款。