回答:虽然两个词意义接近，但living一般皆用作定语，如 a living
language, living things，而 alive 常用作表语。 (来源：英语杂志 http://www.EnglishCN.com)

Question19:I often come across such a sentence: The Chinese
people are a hard working people.What's the exact meaning of
the word "people" here? Can I use "is" instead of "are" here?

Answer:The word "people" has various meanings. Here, the first
"people" means "all the ordinary members of a state". It is often
used as a plural, therefore we can't use "is"instead of "are"
here. The second "people" means "nation" so it can be treated as
singular.

问题19:常见到这样一句话：The Chinese people are a hard working
people.请问前后两个people的确切含义是什么？是否一定不能把are改成is？

回答:People一词的含义很多。在这里，第一个people指人民，是一个复
数的概念，故谓语动词不可用is来代替are。第二个people指民族，所以可
用作单数。

Question20:Is "out of question" the same as "out of the question"?

Answer:The meanings of the two phrases are actually opposite. "Out
of the question:" means"impossible" while "out of question" means
"no problem". For example: 5% reduction is absolutely out of the
question.

问题20:Out of question 和 out of the question 一样吗?

回答:事实上,这两个短语的意思正好完全相反。Out of the question 是
“根本不可能”的意思，而out of question意谓“不成问题”。如：5%
reduction is absolutely out of the question.（减5%是绝对不行的。）