复杂长难句分析现在,常常听到同学抱怨:“四、六级考试中,阅读部分句子里的单词都是认识的,但可是句子太长,结构太复杂,句子意思理解起来很慢、很吃力,有时候根本看不懂”。
的确,目前在四、六级考试阅读部分中出现含有50-70个词汇的长句子已经司空见惯。
所以,我们必战胜那些“复杂长难句”,才有可能在“四、六级”这个战场上大获全胜!I. 并列平行结构英语句子最常用的方法是通过使用一些关联词,如 and、or等,或标点符号如分号、逗号、破折号等把若干个在语义上有联系或相互照应的单词、词组或子句连在一起组成一种并列或平行结构的长句,以表达一个复杂、多层次含义。
这种句式虽然难度不一定很高,但在复杂长句中还是占了相当大的比例的.1.I wanted her to know that my heart was with her,and that I thought England owed her a great debt and was going to miss her.(注:owe s.th to sb的用法)要点:that my heart……and that I thought为两个并列宾语从句;owed her ……and was going…… 为两个并列的谓语结构。
参考译文:我想让她知道我的心和她在一起,而且我认为英国欠了她很多,很快就会怀念她。
2.And neither friends nor family can convince phobic people that most animals are harmless,that thousands of travelers fly safely every day,and (that)millions of people ride safely in elevators several times each day.参考译文:朋友们及家庭成员都无法说服恐惧症患者,使他们相信多数动物对人无害,数以千计的旅行者每日都安全飞行,数百万的人每天都安全地乘好几次电梯。
3.Review important points mentioned in class as well as points(that) you remain confused about.要点:as well as为连接词组,意为“不但……而且……;既……又……”,在句中连接并列成分。
还要注意as well as的用法与not only…but also…相同,但重点通常在as well as前面的部分。
参考译文:不仅要复习你仍然混淆不清的地方,而且要重温课堂上提到的要点。
II. 插入结构插入结构是在一个句子中某两个句子成分之间,如主谓,谓宾,定语和受定语等之间插入一个从句,短语或单词以对原来句子所表达的内容进行补充、添加、限定和说明。
有时这些介入成分又较长,从而使本来应该紧联在一起得句子成分被分隔开了。
有时一个句子会有多个从句,分词短语等存在,再加上插入成分,就会使得句子结构显得很复杂,从而造成阅读上的障碍。
插入成分最明显的标志是用逗号与主句隔开。
但有时由于多种句子成分的存在,句子中会使用多个逗号,分号,从而导致插入成分不易一眼看出,以至出现理解错误。
下面我们就集中辨析这一类结构的句子。
1. During the rest of this century,as never before,history will be the study of population.要点:as never before为插入语,插于状语和谓语之间,意为“前所未有”。
参考译文:在本世纪末,对人口的研究将前所未有地成为历史。
2. Because the potential hazards pollen grains are subject to as they are transported over long distances are enormous,…要点:此句的主语和表语之间插入了由as引导的时间状语从句;pollen grains are subject to为定语从句,修饰the potential hazards。
参考译文:因为花粉在长距离输送中存在的潜在危险是巨大的……3.We live in a time when,more than ever before in history ,people are moving about.要点:定语从句“people are moving about”被比较状语“more than ever before in history”分隔。
参考译文:我们生活在一个四处奔波甚于历史上任何时期的时代。
4.While I was waiting to enter university, I saw advertised in a local newspaper a teaching post at a school in a suburb of London about ten miles from where I lived.要点:此句的宾语” a teaching post” 之所以放在” in a local newspaper” 之后是因为它带有较长的后置定语,其目的是为了避免句子“头重脚轻”。
参考译文:在我等待进入大学期间,我在一份地方报纸上看到一则广告,说是在离我住处大约10英里的伦敦某郊区有所学校要招聘一名教师小测验”翻译下列句子1. Silly or wise, terrible or delightful, it is a further helping of experience, an additional joy after dark, another slice of life cut differently for which,it seems to me, we are never sufficiently grateful.2. But a great book, rich in ideas and beauty,a book that rises and tries to answer great fundamental questions,demands the most active reading of which you are capable3.Although her characters were portrayed in many settings and situations, they all reflected, by the often tragic outcome of their lives, her profound conviction that no human could be happy if that happiness was rooted in the wretchedness of another.III.倒装结构除了上一章的插入结构,英语长句中另一个常用结构就是倒装结构。
英语中有时为了强调突出某一句子成分,或当否定词出现在句首时,或是由于同上文衔接等的缘故,常常采用倒装的结构,即:把正常的主+谓+宾(表)+补+状的语序打乱,把应该在后面出现的成分提到前面去,如:谓语出现在主语前面,谓语、宾语出现在主语前面,或状语放在句首等。
简单句中的倒装较容易辨认,但在长句中当同其他的句子结构混在一起时,倒装结构的辨认就有一定的困难,有时会误认为是其他的句子成分,如:分句独立结构,定语等,导致错判全句的主干,形成理解障碍。
1.Only when total production expands faster than the rate of labor force growth plus the rate of productivity increase and minus the rate at which average annual hours fall does the unemployment rate fall.要点:这是一个倒装句。
一般否定词:only,little,seldom,few,hardly,scarecely,rarely等开头时,常可以采用倒装的形式来强调状语。
结构为“状语+助动词+主语+谓语+其他”。
不倒装的话,应为:the unemployment falls only when ...hours fall. when引导的从句主干为:total production expands faster than the rate ... plus the rate ... and minus the rate...,最后一个rate又是由at which引导的从句修饰的。
(Plus,minus是介词,不是动词。
而“乘”multiply、“除”divide是及物动词,例如:3multiplied by 2 is 6;6 divided by 2 is 3)参考译文:只有当总产量增长快于劳工数量加产量的增长,并减去平均工作小时时,失业率才会下降。
2.In addition, difficult as it is to believe, there are desert fish which can survive through years of drought in the form of inactive eggs.要点:在由as引导的让步状语从句中,句中的形容词或副词甚至动词根据强调的需要放在句首,而as置于其后。
参考译文:此外,让人难以置信的是,有一种生长在沙漠地区的水生动物在干旱时能以其非活性卵的形态存活多年。
IV.分词和从句。
分词(包括现在分词和过去分词)和分词短语在英语中使用非常普遍,在句子中可以充当补语,定语,状语等成分。
在成分复杂的句子中,有时分词的出现易同谓语动词的被动式或者进行时搞混,造成句子主干的判断错误。
带有自己主语的分词独立结构由于同非限制性定语从句和插入语一样需要逗号同句子的其他成分分开,因此常会误认为是非限制性定语或插入语。
有些从句,尤其是定语从句,其形式变化很多,在句子中也易同其他句子成分混淆。
1. He had never been to school or university but had studied privately and by the time he was twenty he was a skillful chemist and excellent linguist,speaking Swedish,Russian,German,France and English.要点:分词短语“speaking Swedish,Russian,Geman,France and English”在句中作补充状语,对excellent linguist作解释。