The most important is...之对与错

有一读者问:《英语沙龙》某期“英语诊所”举有这样一句错话:

(1)The most important is that you try your best.

应改为:

(2)The most important thing is that you try your most.

而在另一期则有这样一句话:

(3)The most important is Beowulf, a long epic of 3,182 lines.

我想请教这句话是否也是错句?

当the most important意为the most important one时,one是可以省去的。上述句(3)即属于这种情况,所以是正确的。顺便说一下,这里省去的one=a piece of poetry。上述句(1)中的the most important其后并不是省去了one,而是漏掉了thing,所以是错误的。