I said in the last post that when “to” acts as a preposition it is usually followed by an –ing form or a noun/noun phrase.
上一次我们说到,当“to”用作动词时,后面经常会跟着动词-ing形式或者名词/名词性词组。

Now we will look at exceptions to this rule.
现在,我们来看看这个规则有哪些例外的情况。

The most important exception relates to the verb “agree”. You may use an infinitive verb after “agree to”. For example:
这其中最重要的一项是关于动词“agree”的。“agree to”后面要跟动词不定式。

EX. I cannot agree to delete Section 3.7.
例句:我不同意删去第3.7节。

EX. This provision may cause unnecessary difficulties especially in complex matters where the parties do not agree to extend the prescribed time period.
例句:这项规定可能会造成不必要的麻烦,尤其是当双方不同意延长规定期限的复杂情况下。

If you try to use –ing forms in these examples in a document written on Microsoft Word, you’ll find that “deleting” and “extending” are underlined in green. This is because Word’s grammar check knows about this exception.
当你在Word里打字时,要是在以上这些例子后面加上了动词的-ing形式,你会发现你打的“deleting”和“extending”下面有绿色的波浪号出现。这是因为Word的语法检查能查出这些。

“Agree” is not the only verb covered by this exception. Others are “consent”, “entitled” “inclined” and “prone”.
“agree”不是唯一的例外。还有“consent”,“entitled”,“inclined”和“prone”。

Here are some examples:
这里举出了一些例子:

EX. The duchess has consented to open her London house to the public for two months every summer.
例句:公爵夫人已经同意每年夏天开放其住所供群众参观。

EX. The Company is entitled to request that the authority reassesses the circumstances of the case.
例句:本公司有权要求当局重新评估案件的情况。

EX. I am inclined to agree with you.
例句:我倾向于你的观点。

EX. The Employee is prone to suffer from asthma attacks and cannot work in a dusty environment.
例句:这个职员很容易哮喘病发作,所以他不能在尘土飞扬的环境里工作。

More on “agree to”
“agree to”的更多说明

However, there is a difference in meaning between “agree to + -ing” and “agree to + infinitive”. Let’s make a comparison:
但是“agree to + -ing” 和“agree to + 不定式”在意思上还是有区别的。让我们来比较一下这个例子:

I cannot agree to delete Section 3.7.
I cannot agree to deleting Section 3.7.

The first one means I am not going to delete Section 3.7 myself; whereas the second sentence means I don’t want Section 3.7 to be deleted by anybody.
第一句句子意思是我不会自己去删掉3.7节,但第二句句子表达的是我不希望任何人删掉3.7节。

If you find it difficult to see the difference in meaning, try replacing the -ing form with a noun phrase:
如果你觉得要看出其中的差异有点难,那你可以试着用一个名词性词组来代替动词-ing形式:

EX. I cannot agree to the deletion of Section 3.7. (Deletion by anyone)
例句:我不同意删掉第3.7节。(任何人去删除,我都不会同意的)