题目

英语中 "the"
Editors of newspapers and magazines often go to extremes to provide their reader with unimportant facts and statistics.Last year a journalist had been instructed by a well-known magazine to write an article on the president's palace in a new African republic.When the article arrived,the editor read the first sentence and then refuse to publish it.The article began:'Hundreds of steps lead to the high wall which surrounds the president's palace'.The editor at once sent the journalist a fax instructing him find out 【the exact number of steps】 and 【the height of the wall】.
【】里的部分应该是特指吧.
前一个短语的steps前为什么不用the,而后面短语的wall前用了the呢?

提问时间：2021-03-02

答案

因为……这个不算很特指?不知道,这是语感的问题,难道你不觉得联系上下文加上the会有点儿别扭吗?英语有时候很主观,你不要老是agonize over every word,多看书,习惯就好了.
而且如果真的有什么理由的话,我想就是他的楼梯是泛指的,但是那个墙是专门指他想知道的那个墙吧!或者那个STEP 有点从他的报告里“quote”的意思.英语是很自由的,就像中文,一个意思也有很多表达的方法啊.再给你举一个英语的例子：
I consider him a idiot;
I consider him as a idiot.
这意思上没有区别啊,而且都是对的,干嘛为了一点点小事儿死缠烂打呢?