Garbage disposal is a major problem.　　
垃圾處理是個大問題。

本句中的garbage在句中為名詞作形容詞, 修飾之後的主詞disposal。

a. garbage是集合名詞, 是『垃圾』的總稱, 為不可數名詞, 不可說a garbage、two garbages、many garbages、some garbages、要說a piece of garbage (一件垃圾)、two pieces of garbage (兩件垃圾)、a lot of garbage (許多垃圾)、some garbage (一些垃圾)。

　　例: The room is full of garbages. (╳)

　　　→The room is full of garbage. (○)

　　　　(房間裡都是垃圾。)

　　　　He picked up a garbage and threw it into
　　　　the garbage bin. (╳)

　　　→He picked up a piece of garbage and threw
　　　　it into the garbage bin. (○)

　　　　(他拾起一件垃圾把它扔到垃圾桶裡。)

b. rubbish亦表示『垃圾』, 亦是不可數名詞, 是garbage的同義詞, 用法與garbage一樣。

c. 其他常用的不可數名詞尚有下列幾個:

　　information　資訊, 資料

　　baggage　　　行李

　　luggage　　　行李

　　advice 　　　建議, 忠告

　　junk 　　　　廢物

　　music　　　　音樂

　　news 　　　　消息, 新聞

　　furniture　　傢具

　　equipment　　設備

以上名詞亦與a piece of、some、a lot of、much、little並用。

例: How many luggages do you have? (╳)

　→How many pieces of luggage do you have? (○)

　　　　(你一共有幾件行李？)

　　He gave me a good advice. (╳)

　→He gave me a good piece of advice. (○)

　　　　(他給我一個很好的建議。)

　　That's really a good news. (╳)

　→That's really good news. (○)

　　= That's really a good piece of news.

　　　　(那實在是一則好消息。)

　　The couple bought a lot of furnitures. (╳)

　→The couple bought a lot of furniture. (○)

　　　　(那對夫婦買了許多傢具。)

In other words, more and more people are treating used material so that it can be reused.

換言之, 越來越多的人在處理使用過的東西以便重新加以利用。

so that為連接詞, 表示『以便』的意思。so that引導副詞子句, 置於主要子句之後, 修飾該主要子句。so that所引導的副詞子句要有助動詞may、can或will。句子結構如下:

主要子句 + so that + 主詞 + may/can/will + 原形動詞

例: He studied hard so that he could pass the
　　exam.

　　　(他努力讀書以便能通過那項考試。)

　　I need your help so that I may finish the work
　　on time.

　　　(我需要你的幫助以便能準時完成這工作。)

　　Tell him how to do it so that he will not make
　　the same mistake again.

　　(告訴他怎麼做，這樣他就不會再犯同樣的錯誤。)

注意:

a. so that亦可被in order that取代。

上列三句皆可分別改寫如下:　

b. so that或in order that所引導的副詞子句中的主詞如果與主要子句的主詞相同時, 該子句可改為"so as to + 原形動詞"或"in order to + 原形動詞"。主詞不同時則不能採用此句法。

例: He studied hard so that he could pass the exam.

　　= He studied hard in order to pass the exam.

　　= He studied hard so as to pass the exam.

　　　　(他努力讀書以便能通過那項考試。)
　　I need your help in order that I may finish it
　　on time.

　= I need your help in order to finish it on time.

　= I need your help so as to finish it on time.

　　　　(我需要你的幫助以便能準時完成這工作。)

比較下列兩句:

　　例: He sang a song so that his wife might feel
　　　　happy. (主詞不同)

　　　　(他唱一首歌好讓太太高興。)

　　　　He sang a song so that he might feel happy.
　　　　　　　(主詞相同)

　　　　He sang a song so as to feel happy.

　　　　(他唱一首歌好讓自己高興。)

c. so as to或in order to與not並用時, 應為so as not to或in order not to, 而非so as to not或in order to not。

例: I left early so as to not miss the train. (╳)

　→I left early so as not to miss the train. (○)

　　　　(我提早離開以免趕不上火車。)

There is no doubt that recycling helps save our precious natural resources.

　=There is no doubt that recycling helps to save our precious natural resources.

本句中help是及物動詞, 以to引導的不定詞片語作受詞, 但to常予省略。即:

help + (to) + 原形動詞　　幫助……

　例: Let's help to finish the work.

　　= Let's help finish the work.

　　　(咱們來幫忙把這工作做完。)

　help亦有下列的用法, to亦可省略:

　help + 人 + (to) + 原形動詞　　幫助某人……

　例: He helped me to write the letter.

　　= He helped me write the letter.

　　　(他幫我寫這封信。)