但凡是做過GMAT句子改錯題的同學，一定見過一道題中不同選項裡出現了due to和because of，然後我們還發現一規律：due to基本沒有對的時候。那麼問題來了，它們倆有區別嗎？回答這個問題之前，當然先查查韋氏字典……
簡單概括一下上面的描述：
due to相當於介詞。
due to和because of是同義詞，各種混用。
18世紀有一票人研究due和owing的區別，認為due to不能作介詞。
due to就是介詞，就是介詞，就是介詞……
好吧，韋氏字典你贏了，下面當然是……看看牛津字典怎麼說：
簡單概括一下上面的描述：
due to有一個意思是「由...引起的」
due to還有一個意思是「因為...」
所以說，牛津字典的觀點是due to既可以作形容詞，也可以作介詞。
下面我們再來看看The Economist Style Guide是怎麼說的：
When used to mean caused by, due to must follow a noun, as in The cancellation, due to rain, of... Do not write It was cancelled due to rain. If you mean because of and for some reason are reluctant to say it, you probably want owing to. It was cancelled owing to rainis all right.
仔細想想上面這段話寫的不是很清晰，因為按照韋氏字典和牛津字典的描述，It was cancelled due to rain是對的，只不過這裡的due to是因為的意思，而不是由...引起的意思。
那我們看看GMAT官方解釋裡說了啥：
這道題大家都比較熟悉，是OG2016的句子改錯第30題，我們重點看看關於due to說了什麼：
神馬？官方直接給due to定性為修飾名詞，意思是caused by。
讓我先平靜一下...
然後我在網上搜了一下，看到了www.thefreedictionary.com有這樣一段描述：
Usage Note: Due to has been widely used for many years as a compound preposition like owing to, but some criticshave insisted that due should be used only as an adjective. According to this view, it is incorrect to say The concertwas canceled due to the rain, but acceptable to say The cancellation of the concert was due to the rain, where duecontinues to function as an adjective modifying cancellation. Although there is still some support for this notion among members of the Usage Panel, the tide has turned toward accepting due to as a full-fledged preposition. Back in 1966,the "adverbial" use of due to (as in was canceled due to the rain) was rejected by 84 percent of the Panel. In our 2001survey, however, 60 percent accepted this construction. There is no linguistic reason to avoid using due to as apreposition, but English has a variety of ready substitutes, including because of, on account of, and owing to.
簡單概括一下：
確實有一票人反對due to當because of用，1966年這票人佔比84%，2001年這票人佔比只有40%了
語言上講沒必要避免使用due to作為介詞，但是可替代的詞多了，你幹嘛非要跟due to幹上了（GMAT不考我有毛病呀研究這個）？
還是說點有用的吧，考場上遇到了怎麼辦？
既然官方解釋提到了due to表達不是很清楚，就把它和because of的區別當考點，當然優先使用because of。
選來選去because of選項也不好，那就再pk一次。看看到底是due to問題大，還是另一個問題大，至於答案到底是什麼，已經不重要了，不糾結，開始做下一道題！
作者介紹：周謝慧，北京新東方GMAT教師，畢業於北京大學，理學學士、理學碩士，曾任教於北大文理學院。專業提供全方位北美頂尖名校申請諮詢服務，並聚焦GMAT考試策略研究。對GMAT學習計劃制定、考試技巧及知識點有獨到的見解。尤其對GMAT語法、邏輯及數學的講解更是獨樹一幟。經其輔導的學員成績平均提高50分，更有多位學員成績提高100分以上，並獲得北美TOP商學院及常春藤盟校的青睞。
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