有一读者问： 有这样一道选择题：
(1)— That trumpet player was certainly loud.
— I wasn't bothered by his loudness_________by his lack of talent.
A. so much as B. rather than
答案是A，为何不选B?
not so much...as或not...so much as可看做一关联连词，是一种固定说法，不可改动，其义为“与其说是……倒不如说是……”。上述选择题（1）中的I wasn't bothered by his loudness之后应填so much as，其原因就在此。这种关联连词不乏其例，再如：
(2)It was a reaction not so much of strength as of weakness and desperation.
(3)He is not so much a scholar as a writer.
(4)The question is not so much what it is as how it looks.
(5)It is not the story so much as the author's unconscious revelation ofhimself that charms us.
(6)He did not so much walk as trot.
但请注意not so much as的其他用法与含义，如：
(7)He cannot so much as write his own name.
他甚至连自己的名字都不会写。
(8)We haven't so much money as they have.
我们没有他们那么多钱。
上述not so much as的几种不同的含义与用法，切不可混淆。
