爱华网关于so much thebetter
2012年全国新课标卷第26小题是：
26. The result is not very important to us, but if we do win, thenso much
A. the best B. best C. better D. the better
答案是D项。
据一些参加2012年高考的学生和老师反映，此题理解存在困难，很多学生出错。
今晚翻阅明天将在大理召开的高考试题分析会的材料，多位老师谈及此题。
为此，我查阅了相关材料。
我最喜欢的Collins对此有专门释义，列为better的第19条义项，标注为phrase，释义与例句如下：
You can say `so much the better' or `all the better' to indicatethat it is desirable that a particular thing is used, done, oravailable.
Use strong white flour, and if you can get hold of durum wheatflour, then so much the better...
词典的语料库中有6个例句：
BR written
If you can kill Marlette, so much the better, but just make surethat Jayson isn't allowed to cause havoc when you get there.
BR written
Make-up pros ensure thorough blending with several swipes of acosmetic sponge (don't worry about traces of foundation left on it,so much the better for blending).
BR written
If I'm able to leave people with some grain of thought, so much thebetter.'' Falling Down follows hard on the heels of the sexualexploitation controversy which dogged Basic Instinct last year, andDouglas says he's now in the mood to maybe take a break fromplaying guys struggling with the dark side.
BR written
If the Charter helps us to become more efficient, more effectiveand more responsive to customers' demands then so much thebetter.
BR written
If the tank is covered with foam insulation, so much thebetter.
US written
If you have family or a close friend who will take care of you - atleast for a while, so much the better.
著名的网络词典thefreedictionary.com提供了两条释义：
（http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/so+much+the+better）
so much thebetter
even better; all to thebetter. Please come to the picnic. If you can bring a salad, somuch the better. The flowers look lovely on the shelf. It would beso much the better if you put them on the table.
See also: better, much
这一释义来自McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.© 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
so much thebetter
it will be more satisfactoryPeople like a good story, and if it's a strange and scary story, somuch the better.
See also: better, much
这一释义来自Cambridge Dictionary of American Idioms Copyright © CambridgeUniversity Press 2003. Reproduced with permission.
剑桥在线词典提供了以下释义和例句
（http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/so-much-the-better）
so much the better
(also all the better) informal
Definition
used to say that a particular action or situation would be evenmore successful
If you can go there this afternoon, so much the better.
(Definition of so much thebetter from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary& Thesaurus © Cambridge UniversityPress)
英国国家语料库搜获获得以下信息：
Here is a random selection of 50 solutions from the 93found.
A28 224 But so much thebetter; not every 80-year-old survives an entirely new experienceso succesfully.
A38 132 When there is nothing above your head but the bracing T-bar— fitted as much to provide body rigidity as to anticipate USsafety regulations that did not materialise — so much thebetter.
ABG 370 If, as the government's first reports suggested, the blamelies with disaffected Tamils, so much the better — the Indianmasses care little about the problems of Tamil separatism in SriLanka.
ACE 2463 ‘So much the better.’
AHN 1195 The crowds are mostly supporters, but if there isbarracking from a foe so much the better.
ANL 1880 And, if you can give it a specifically City slant, so muchthe better.’
APV 1760 The object is to build a picture of standards not to catchpeople out and if the expectation of an inspection causes staff tobe that much more diligent so much the better.
B07 1541 In this he/she will be influenced by a knowledge of whatis available in other institutions in the locality (and ifcooperative arrangements for acquisition can be made, so much thebetter).
B16 1408 If this induces a feeling of unease in you such that youstart routinely checking the concrete around the foundations ofinferences drawn from social science data, so much thebetter.
BP9 1663 If Upper Gumtree proved listless, so much the better forFlokati's chances.
C97 560 So a single fluorescent tube will be adequate, and if youhave used floating plants, so much the better.
CA1 1927 If the straps are padded with foam plastic, especially inthe area that comes across the back of the hand, then so much thebetter.
CAE 2383 Hollywood black males were perceived as an amiable lot,eye-rolling, singin'n'jiving, ever ready to provide a shoeshine,while bandanas were obligatory for the female of the species — andif they spoke in a tiny, cutesy voice like Butterfly McQueen, thenso much the better.
CBN 904 If she was outcast as he was, so much the better.
CBN 948 And ‘so much the better for him’.
CBP 289 If you can take a member of the family with you to stand inas a practise subject, so much the better.
CD9 1591 Like many other constructors in FI, Chapman thoughtdrivers were good, bad or indifferent tools to do a job: if theydid the job well, so much the better, and if they didn't, the faultwas theirs.
CEF 1693 If this disclosure is made light-heartedly, so much thebetter.
CEF 1846 And, of course, if your specialist skills are in a growtharea so much the better.
CG5 1574 If you can get it off in one piece, so much the better; ifyou cannot, pull the centre far enough away from the wall to allowyou to cut through the board with a padsaw or jig saw, and freeeach half separately.
CHT 169 If you can do this after an informal interview or visitthen so much the better.
CJX 1806 So much the better.’
CLS 457 Comedy had always been anti-establishment but now if theProgressives were happy to see shyster lawyers, pompous andhypocritical capitalists, and venal politicians then so much thebetter.
CMM 451 If you can lay your hands on some old sacking or cardboardcartons, so much the better.
CN1 1260 If they don't then so much the better; he'll probablyprovide you with sitting targets.
ECU 2698 Then if Jake has come back earlier, so much thebetter.
ED9 1908 And if the clash includes huge or small prints in jewelcolours, played off against vividly checked tweeds, so much thebetter.
EDN 1942 He behaved sometimes as if heterosexual love were animproper or even immoral exercise and if hi————s presence could disruptit, so much the better.
EER 1092 Of course if they can find someone on whose sympathy toplay, someone who will pay one hundred or perhaps one hundred andfifty pounds then so much the better for them.
EX6 821 If the same picture can achieve both purposes then so muchthe better.
FR3 492 ‘So much the better, be sure to look it up when you gethome.’
G0N 863 If she believed in the possibility of Samantha's earlyrelease, so much the better.
G2J 1616 So much the better if the odds are very heavily stackedagainst you, or if the consensus involves jingoistic patriotism,the use of armed force, or is pro-American — all points ofambivalence for the left.
G5R 259 Won't interfere with anything else, and if that's helping,so much the better.
GV5 1049 Thus, if what were yesterday hot political disputes cantoday be channelled into the ‘legal process’, operating with newprinciples and procedures, and an apparent indifference to‘political’ questions, then so much the better for those inpower.
H8L 1626 So much the better.
HGW 217 Built-in furniture-window seats, wall units all down onewall — will always take up less space than free ‘floating’ piecesand if you can manage good storage space under a window seat orbuilt-in seating around a wall so much the better.
HGW 754 If they can fit in with the room's general style, so muchthe better.
HHD 59 If it has a railway theme then so much the better, but it isnot essential.
HHV 21170 If that be coal-fired generation, so much thebetter.
HJ7 368 If it is readily intelligible so much the better; but it isfar more important that it should yield its meaning accurately thanthat it should yield it on first reading, and the Legal draftsmancannot afford to give much attention, if any, to euphony orliterary elegance….
HLW 151 If they want to join us in this enterprise, so much thebetter.
HU1 490 If it is well written, so much the better.
J7C 418 If it is readily intelligible, so much the better; but itis far more important that it should yield its meaning accuratelythan that it should yield it on first reading, and legal draftsmencannot afford to give much attention, if any, to euphony orliterary elegance.
JS7 268 er sale occurred when they went through the electricalregister and asked people who lived in flats whether they wanted agreen cone, they didn't even have a garden, let alone a window boxbut nevertheless erm I the green cone extends ought to be reportedon, ought to be encouraged and such like because it is theindividual person who is going to recycle using their own garden intheir own small way as opposed to transporting the stuff maybe to awaste tip and such like where it has to be dealt with at a anexpensive way and if a the best part of the expense of dealing withwaste of course is actually to transport and transport throughoutthe roads and if you do it in your own gardens so much the betterand I, I, I should like to er and taking part in the green coneexperiment er further experiments like that whereby the individualperson is encouraged to do it.
JY7 3114 With her here to keep la Principessa happy, he could slipthe leash and enjoy himself a bit— and if he could seduce her intohis bed in between times, so much the better.
K1B 646 It's supposed to clarify and illuminate the argument, butif it confuses and muddies it, so much the better.
K1C 1217 And if that can change things, so much the better
K4T 4947 If football can bring Michael back then so much thebetter.’
KRT 2855 Myself, I've got a novel almost finished and if somebodybuys it, so much the better
另外，google搜索获知，美国新奥尔良的摇滚乐队CowboyMouth2003年出版的Uh-Oh (2003)专辑中，有一首名为So Much The Better的歌曲。
（http://lyrics.wikia.com/Cowboy_Mouth:So_Much_The_Better）
歌词如下：
She's leaving the man that she left me for
She's leaving him 'cause she don't（原文如此） love himanymore
So much the better - Betterforget her
Big blue eyes and a smile that could kill
So much the better - better forget her
But I'll bet he never will
She's always had troublefinding her way
She tries to hold onto memories that die day by day.
So much the better - Betterforget her
When she smiles all time could stand still
So much the better - Better forget her
But I'll bet he never will.
Say what you think you'reneeding to say
Do what you need to do
No matter what anyone has to say
You have to live with you.
With you.
I'm watching it all from adistant place
I know how she feels, but I've worn that look on hisface.
So much the better - Betterforget her
Big blue eyes and a smile that could kill
So much the better - better forget her
But I'll bet -
So much the better - Betterforget her
When she smiles all time could stand still
So much the better - Better forget her
But I'll bet I never will.
I never will.
I never will.
我也专门向英国专家进行了咨询，被告知，这是一个固定的搭配形式，结构不宜分解，使用频率比较高。我主编的《高中英语读本》中也多次出现这一短语。
从以上分析可知，so much thebetter是英语中的一个固定表达形式，大多是与if从句一起出现，可以在口语中使用，也可以在书面语中使用。
结论：这一短语在高考试题中出现，是可以的。不过，由于这一短语对高中学生不十分熟悉，而且此题是对结构语义的考查，不是对语境、语用的考查，所以，作为考点，有一定难度，也不是很合理，算不是一道好题，只能算一道偏题。
