有一读者问： 下面一句为什么用news作主语：
(1)The happy news brought them to my home.
的确，将无生命的东西，像有生命的东西一样用作主语，在汉语中一般是不允许的，但在英语里却不罕见，再如：
(2)The first match on the opening day saw Iran beat Qatar 2-0. （match用作主语）
(3)My job has brought me to several different places in China, so I've had many chances to travel, and often to fly CAAC（中国民航）. （job用作主语）
(4)The clear sky promises fine weather. （sky用作主语）
(5)The electric shock killed him. （shock用作主语）
(6)The heat took the strength out of us. （heat用作主语）
而在英语中将时地词如此用作主语的情况就更多了，如：
(7)Recent years have seen more and more foreign students come to study in China. （时间词recent years用作主语）
(8)Tian'anmen Square first saw the raising of our five-star red flag on October 1st, 1949. （地点词Tian'anmen Square用作主语）
这位读者接着深入一层，问到为什么下面一句将twenty dollars a week用作主语：
(9)She had been saving every cent she could for months, but twenty dollars a week — which was the total of their income — doesn't leave much for saving.
这个句子中的twenty dollars a week意指“她一个星期只赚20元钱”，在语法形式上是一短语，实际上则是her earning twenty dollars a week这一动名词复合结构的省略结构（有人将它唤作无动词分句）。这种结构在英语中并不罕见，颇值得中国学生注意。现让我们再举一些例子如下：
(10)Once a week is enough for me.
有时这种结构被压缩为“修饰语+名词”这样的名词短语，如：
(11)Too many cooks spoil the broth. （谚语too many cooks实际上意指the fact that we have too many cooks〈人手太多〉）
(12)No news is good news. （谚语,no news意指that we have no news 〈无消息〉）
(13)Ten dollars should find us the wagon. （只要花上10元钱，我们就可以找到这辆马车。）
这种省略结构有时还可以进而压缩为一个名词，如：
(14)China is a wonderful experience. （China在此意指在中国旅行或工作等）
