英语长难句突破,锦囊在此!
【摘要】所谓长难句,包含两重含义。其一是指句子比较长,结构复杂,因此给考生造成理解困难。长句因其复杂的语法关系使人望而却步,然而短的句子也未必简单。
应对长难句的方法是化长为短,分层理解。首先,抛开句子的修饰部分或附加成分,找出句子的主干部分,并理解其意义。然后,分析句子的修饰成分或附加成分,观察其内容结构,弄清各成分之间的逻辑关系,理解其意思。最后,将主干内容与各修饰成分结合在一起,从整体上理解句子。
根据对历年真题阅读理解A节中长难句的研究,我们按照其突出的语法现象归为并列句、名词从句、定语从句、状语从句、非谓语动词、插入语、倒装、其他特殊句式等八个类型,其中其他特殊句式还包括存在句、强调句、with结构、省略句和the... the...结构。
下面将基于这个分类进行讲解,以帮助考生找到突破阅读文章中长难句的门径。
1、并列句
并列句指在语意上对等的两个或两个以上的、由连接词连接起来的分句。并列句内各分句之间可构成同等、条件、因果、结果、转折、对比和让步等关系。连接词通常有and,but,or,while,yet,however,so,therefore,for等。因此,对于这类句子,首先要找到连接词,同时弄清各分句之间是什么关系,然后根据语境和句际关系正确理解句意。例如:
【2011年Text 4】Unhappy parents rarely are provoked to wonder if they shouldn't have had kids, but unhappy childless folks are bothered with the message that children are the single most important thing in the world: obviously their misery must be a direct result of the gaping,baby-size holes in their lives.
感觉不幸福的父母们很少会反思自己是否不该养孩子,但那些不幸福的没有孩子的夫妇们却总是受到类似言论的困扰:孩子是世界上最重要的东西,他们之所以生活得不幸福,显然是由这种没有孩子的缺憾造成的。(but连接的并列句,表示转折;后一分句中又包含由冒号隔开的两个分句,后句对前句进行解释说明)
2、名词从句
名词从句可分为主语从句、宾语从句、同位语从句和表语从句四种,它们在句中起名词的作用。对于这类句子,在阅读时可先不理会从句的内容,只将其视为一个名词,在确定主句的主干部分(即主、谓、宾结构)之后,再来确定这一层次的内容。
【2005年Text 1】l However, whether such a sense of fairness evolved independently in capuchins and humans, orwhether it stems from the common ancestor that the species had 35 million years ago, is, as yet, an unanswered question.
然而,这种公平意识是独立地从人或卷尾猴身上进化而来的,还是源于二者3500万年前共同的祖先,目前还不得而知。(whether引导的两个并列主语从句作句子的主语)
【2011年Text 4】l But it's interesting to wonder if the images we see every week of stress-free, happiness-enhancing parenthood aren't in some small, subconscious way contributing to our own dissatisfactions with the actual experience, in the same way that a small part of us hoped getting "the Rachel" might make us look just a little bit like Jennifer Aniston.
但是,我们每周看到的那些无忧无虑的、幸福感越来越强的父母形象,是不是在以一种不明显的、无意识的方式不让我们对养育孩子的实际情形感到不满,就像我们中的少数人希望剪个瑞秋式的发型可能会使我们看起来有一点儿像珍妮弗o安妮斯顿一样,想想这些,确实非常有趣。(if引导的宾语从句作动词wonder的宾语)
【2011年Text 3】l The same dramatic technological changes that have provided marketers with more(and more diverse) communications choices have also increased the risk that passionate consumers will voice their opinions in quicker, more visible, and much more damaging ways.
同样剧烈的技术变革为营销人员提供了更多的且不同的通讯选择,同时也增加了风险,因为情绪激动的消费者会以更快、更明显和更具破坏性的方式表达他们的意见。(that引导的同位语从句作the risk的同位语)
【2002年Text 2】l What they found, in attempting to model thought, is that the human brain's roughly one hundred billion nerve cells are much more talented-and human perception far more complicated-than previously imagined.
在试图模拟人类思维的过程中,研究人员发现,人脑中约一千亿个神经细胞远比以前想象的聪明,人类的感知方式也远比想象中的复杂。(what引导的主语从句在句中作主语,that引导的表语从句在句中作表语)
3、定语从句
定语从句可分为限制性定语从句和非限制性定语从句。限制性定语从句对先行词起限定作用,与主句关系紧密,是主句不可缺少的部分,它与主句之间通常不用逗号分隔。而非限制性定语从句与先行词的关系不十分紧密,只是对先行词进行说明、描述或解释,或对整个主句陈述的事实和现象加以概括或补充说明,其前有逗号。对于这类句子,要先借助关系词分清主次部分,由于其起修饰限定作用,在阅读时,可先将其忽略,弄懂主干意思之后,再来对付从句部分。
(1)限制性定语从句
【2011年Text 3】l In fact, the way consumers now approach the process of making purchase decisionsmeans that marketing's impact stems from a broad range of factors beyond conventional paid media.
如今消费者对于作出购买决定这一过程的处理方式,意味着市场营销的影响力来自于传统付费媒介以外的广泛因素。(省略了that的定语从句修饰先行词the way)
注意:在the way,the day,the time,the moment,the instance等之后,关系词that,when,where或"介词 + which"常常省略。
【2011年Text 3】l We define such sold media as owned media whose traffic is so strong that other organizations place their content or e-commerce engines within that environment.
我们将这种售出媒介定义为流量巨大、可以吸引其他机构前来投放内容或电子商务引擎的自有媒介。(关系代词whose引导的定语从句修饰先行词owned media)
【2005年Text 2】l Do you remember all those years when scientists argued that smoking would kill us but the doubters insisted that we didn't know for sure?
还记得科学家们认为吸烟会致人死亡,而怀疑者们却坚持认为我们对此尚不能确定的那些年吗?(关系副词when引导的定语从句修饰先行词all those years)
【2011年Text 1】l Devoted concertgoers who reply that recordings are no substitute for live performanceare missing the point.
那些忠实的音乐会观众反驳说现场演出绝非唱片所能替代,但是他们没有看到问题的实质。(关系代词who引导的定语从句修饰先行词devoted concertgoers)
(2)非限制性定语从句
【2010年Text 2】l Now the nation's top patent court appears completely ready to scale back on business-method patents, which have been controversial ever since they were first authorized 10 years ago.
目前,美国国家最高专利法庭似乎已经做好了充分准备要缩减商业方法专利的数量,而该项专利自十年前首次被授权以来便饱受争议。(关系代词which引导的非限制性定语从句补充说明先行词business-method patents)
【2008年Text 2】l Other models exist that are hybrids of these three, such as delayed open-access, where journals allow only subscribers to read a paper for the first six months, before making it freely available to everyone who wishes to see it.
其他现存模式是以上三种模式的结合体,比如延迟开放存取模式,在论文发表后的头六个月中杂志只允许其订阅者阅读论文,其后才对想阅读该论文的公众免费开放。(关系副词where引导的非限制性定语从句修饰先行词delayed open-access)
(我是实习小编小白:如果放弃太早,你永远都不知道自己会错过什么。)