英语长句理解策略.doc

毛 主 席 语 录英美帝国主义都是纸老虎。学英语不要因为句子太长而产生畏惧心理，因为，无论是多么复杂的句子，它都是由一些基本的成分组成的。 英 语 长 句 理 解 策 略精诚外语学校四六级考试研究中心 编英语重结构，汉语重语义, 因此，英语长句多，汉语短句多;西方人注重事实描述，汉人认为事在认为，因此，英语被动语态多，汉语主动语态多。这两点差别是英汉的两大最主要的差别。正确有效地理解英语长句的意思，是中高级英语学习者所面临的长期的而又主要的任务，对于备考CET-4级以上、PETS-3级以上以及备考TOEFL 、MBA入学英语考试以及考研和参加同等学力攻读硕士学位人员英语毕业考试者乃至英语专业学习者尤为如此。1英语长句构成的几种方式：1.1并列成分多例1 Even when we turn off the bedside lamp and are fast asleep, electricity is working for us, driving our refrigerators, heating our water, or keeping our rooms air-conditioned.析：在这个句子中，turn off the bedside lamp 和 are fast asleep是并列，working for us, driving our refrigerators, heating our water, keeping our rooms air-conditioned这些v-ing的也是并列。例2. Prior to（在之前） the twentieth century, women in novels were stereotypes（模式） of lacking any features that made them unique individuals（具有个性的个人） and were also subject to numerous restrictions imposed（强加） by the male-dominated（男性主宰的） culture.析：句中的修饰语多were stereotypes及were also subject to也是并列。译：在20世纪以前, 小说中的妇女像都是一个模式。她们没有任何特点, 因而无法成为具有个性的人; 他们还要屈从于由男性主宰的文化传统强加给他们的种种束缚。1.2补充说明成分多，即同位语、插入语多 如例5中的for example及with almost unlimited entertainment available即为插入语。再如：例3. But now it is realized that supplies of some of them are limited, and it is even possible to give a reasonable estimate of their “expectation of life”, the time it will take to exhaust（消耗） all known sources and reserves of these materials.析：该句the time 是“expectation of life”的同位语, 进一步解释其含义（而time后面的句子是它的定语从句）。译：可是现在人们意识到, 其中有些矿物质的蕴藏量是有限的, 人们甚至还可以比较合理的估计出这些矿物质“可望存在多少年”, 也就是说, 经过若干年后, 这些矿物的全部已知矿源和储量将消耗殆尽。13 从句多 例4: Thus the Arab Umayyad dynasty of caliphs（叶里发王朝）, which had moved the capital from Medina to Damascus in 661, came to be regarded with much justification as a parasitic clique（寄生集团） that had outlived its usefulness once the conquests were completed.析：该句中由which和that 引出两个定语从句，分别修饰做主语用的the Arab Umayyad dynasty of caliphs 和作宾语用的 a parasitic clique。译：人们开始理由充分地认为，阿拉伯伍麦叶里发王朝是征服战争完成后毫无作用的一个寄生集团；伍麦叶王朝曾于661年从麦地那迁都大马士革。2理解英语长句的策略：21从长期认真系统的学习中养成比较强的语感，力求可以一目了然明白句子的意思。例5. For a family of four, for example, it is more convenient as well as cheaper to sit comfortably at home, with almost unlimited entertainment available, than to go out in search of amusement elsewhere.析：语感比较强的读者即能识别出该句的骨干结构为it is more to do sth than to do sth else. 是一个比较结构。译：譬如,对于一个四口之家来说, 舒舒服服地在家中看电视, 就能看到几乎数不清的娱乐节目, 这比到外面别的地方去消遣又便宜又方便。例6. It begins as a childlike interest in the grand spectacle and exciting event; it grows as a mature interest in the variety and complexity of the drama, the splendid achievements and terrible failures; it ends as deep sense of the mystery of mans life of all the dead, great and obscure, who once walked the earth, and of wonderful and awful possibilities of being a human being.析：同样地：语感比较强的读者即能识别出该句的骨干结构为It begins asit grows asit ends as译：我们对历史的爱好起源于我们最初仅对一些历史上的宏伟场面和激动人心的事件感到孩童般的兴趣; 其后, 这种爱好变得成熟起来, 我们开始对历史这出“戏剧”的多样性和复杂性, 对历史上的辉煌成就和悲壮失败也感兴趣; 对历史的爱好, 最终以我们对人类生命的一种深沉的神秘感而告结束。 对死去的, 无论是伟大与平凡, 所有在这个地球上走过而已逝的人，都有能取得伟大奇迹或制造可怕事件的潜力。对无法一目了然明白理解的句子，则要通过以下方法分析句子成分结构，才能尽量准确有效地理解句子的意思。22 英语句子表达理解原则：任何一个句子都是意思和语法的统一，即：既要意思通顺，又要语法正确。因此，可根据以上原则从谓语入手，找出主句从句的主谓宾, 从整体上把握句子的结构。2.2.1一般情况下（除了存在谓语并列的现象外），一个句子如果有n个谓语，说明该句子包含有n1个从句。如：例7Behaviorists（行为主义者） suggest that the child who is raised in an environment where there are many stimuli（刺激因素） which develop his or her capacity for appropriate responses will experience greater intellectual development.析： (1) 该主句的谓语为suggest, 主语为behaviorists,宾语为一个从句, 因此整个句子为Behaviorist suggest that-clause 结构。(2) 该句共有五个谓语,分别为suggest, is raised, are, develop, will experience等（即画线部分）, 这说明该句子包含有51个（即四个）从句。这五个谓语结构之间的关系为:1） Behaviorist suggest that-clause 结构为主句;2） who is raised in an environment为定语从句, 所修饰的先行词为child; 3） where there are many stimuli为定语从句, 所修饰的先行词为environment; 4） which develop his or her capacity for appropriate responses为定语从句, 所修饰的先行词为stimuli; 5） 在suggest的宾语从句中, 主语为child, 谓语为experience, 宾语为greater intellectual development.在作了如上的分析之后, 我们就会对该句具有较为透彻的理解。译：行为主义者认为, 如果儿童的成长环境里有许多刺激因素, 这些因素又有利于其适当反应能力的发展, 那么, 儿童的智力就会发展到较高的水平。再如：在例1中，在这个句子中，turn off the bedside lamp 和 are fast asleep都是并列作为从句主语we的谓语，而working, driving, heating, keeping这些v-ing与前面的is一起都是并列作为主句主语the electricity的谓语。因此，尽管该句子有这么多的谓语，但由于他们存在着并列的现象，因此，该句其实是一个只包含一个从句的复合句。例8: Environmentalists（环境保护主义者） who wish to protect the worlds beauty spots（风景名胜）, farmers forced off their land to make room for tourists golf courses, governments worried about “moral pollution”, are just a few of those who feel uneasy at the sudden development of massive travel（大众旅游）.析：本句有五个动词，但真正的谓语动词只有三个，即：wish、are、feel，但主句的谓语是are, 而主句的主语是environmentalists、farmers、governments。forced及 worried是过去分词作为定语，分别修饰前面的名词farmers和governments。译：希望世界风景名胜得到保护的环境保护主义者，被迫让出土地给游客做高尔夫球场的农民，和担心旅游业一起“道德污染”的政府，就是一些对大众旅游突如其来的发展感到不安的人。再看例5，全句仅有is一个谓语动词（to sit comfortably at home与to go out in search of amusement elsewhere为非谓语动词结构），因此，该句不含有从句。2.2.2注意识别假谓语动词 动词分谓语动词和非谓语动词，后者所体现出来的不定式、分词（现在分词和过去分词）极其容易被误认为谓语动词，尤其不带to的不定式。例A. All you need do is press the switch, and the motor starts.你只需要按一下开关，马达就发动了。例B. The only way we can do is stand together.我们能做的唯一办法就是团结。例C. What has made many scientists begin to believe this fact is a remarkable consistency（惊人的一致） in findings from the types of studies in several countries with improved methods over those used in similar studies a few years ago.译：使许多科学家开始相信这一点的是在几个国家进行的研究得到的惊人一致的结果，这些方法与前几年所进行的研究相似，但方法有所改进。析：以上三例中的press 、stand和begin前都省略了to,因而这两个动词都不是谓语动词。识别分词是否作为谓语的主要方法：一些分词在句子中是充当谓语动词或其他成分，常用以下方法判别：1） 看现在分词前是否有be的任何一种表现形式，看过去分词前是否有be或have的任何一种表现形式。在并列结构中，be或have经常省略如例1中的driving, heating, keeping中三个现在分词由于是并列结构，它们前面都省略了is，因此它们是谓语；2） 根据任何一个句子都是意思和语法的统一原则，从句子的一些语法线索以及句子的意思得到提示，如例8的are让我们得知该句的时态为现在时，该句讲述的又是目前社会中的一种事实，因此句子中的forced及 worried不可能是过去时，因而都是过去分词，它们在句子中都是作为定语，原来完整的形式是who are forced及who are worried;2.2.3 有时主语不是一个词或词组，而是一个主语从句。一个主语从句以单数处理。例22: Whether big cities continue to grow, or to decentralize away（离开中心） from the dominant city into larger regional urban groupings, depends on many and varied factors, including the development of modern communication and transport systems.析：该句的主语是whether Aor B, 谓语是depends on。译：大城市是继续增大，还是在中心城以外更大区域内分散建造许多居民区，这取决于许多不同的因素，其中包括现代通讯和交通系统的发展。在例C中，What has made many scientists begin to believe this fact 是这个句子的主语。这个句子其实是个带主语从句的主从复合句，整句的表语是consistency，其后的部分都是它的的语。23 去掉定语及状语。在句子中，句子最主要的结构为主谓（宾）或主系表，因为它们这些成分表达了一个句子最主要的意思，定语状语因为在句子中起修饰说明或限定的作用，它们可被认为是句子次要的结构。解题时，可先去掉定语状语部分。句子中可做为定语状语的除了容易识别的词外，还有状语从句、定语从句、前面不带be的介词短语和非谓语动词短语（不定式短语和分词短语），这些现象在句子中非常普遍。如上例（例22）的to grow or to decentralize away from the dominant city into larger regional urban groupings、including the development of modern communication and transport systems。再如下例（例9）中除了主谓宾books require revision和插入语外especially textbooks外，其他部分Modern scientific and technical是并列的形容词做定语，at short intervals if their authors wish to keep pace with new ideas, observations and discoveries做状语，其中at short intervals修饰谓语动词require，而if their authors wish to keep pace with new ideas, observations and discoveries则修饰books require revision整个句子。24 弄清楚句子中词（组）与词（组）之间的关系，分清哪些是并列成分、哪些是修饰语、哪些是同位语、哪些是插入语并列成分的识别方法：1）并列排比现象，如例1; 2)通过and、or、also、eitheror、neithernor、bothand等并列连词,如例2的wereand were also，例10的designed to protect and also to protect等。插入语的识别方法很简单，其特征为完整的句子结构插入两个逗号或两个“”，即：“Abcdefghijk, uvwxyz, lmnopqrst.”、“Abcdefghijkuvwxyzlmnopqrst.”。如下例的“especially textbooks”即可视为插入语。例9. Modern scientific and technical books, especially textbooks, require revision at short intervals if their authors wish to keep pace with new ideas, observations and discoveries.译：对于现代书籍, 特别是教科书来说, 要是作者希望自己书中的内容能与新概念、新观察到的事实和新发现同步发展的话, 那么就应该每隔较短的时间, 将书中的内容重新修改。例21. Television, it is often said, keeps one informed about current events, allow one to follow the latest developments in science and politics, and offers an endless series of programmes which are both instructive and entertaining.析：在此句中, “it is often said” 是插入语。译：人们常说, 通过电视可以了解时事, 掌握科学和政治的最新动态。从电视里还可以看到层出不穷、既有教育意义又有娱乐性的新节目。如果从意思来理解，插入语往往起着解释、说明或补充的作用。例10This was a defensive pact（盟约）, designed to protect Germany against the French, who aspired to（追求） recover the Alsace-Lorraine Provinces lost in 1871, and also to protect Austria-Hungary against the Russians, with whom they continually clashed（冲突） in the Balkans.析：句中的who aspired to recover the Alsace-Lorraine provinces lost in 1871为非限制性定语从句，起补充的作用。译：这是一个防御性的盟约，旨在保护德国人免受法国人的攻击，保护奥匈帝国免受俄国人的攻击；因为法国人想收复1871年失去的阿尔萨斯-洛林地区，而俄国人则在巴尔干半岛同奥匈帝国接连不断地发生冲突。对于语感不强的学习者来说，可以先把插入语去掉的方法来理解主要的意思。修饰语主要有两种结构：定语结构修饰名词，状语结构修饰动词、形容词或副词。起修饰作用的定语结构或状语结构可以是一个或若干个词，也可以是一个或若干介词短语、分词短语或不定式短语，也可以是从句。这些词、短语或从句可同时使用。例10中的designed to protect Germany against the French修饰 pact，而who aspired to recover the Alsace-Lorraine provinces lost in 1871修饰French, with whom they continually clashed in the Balkans修饰Russians。例11. The number of the young people in the United States who cant read is incredible about one in four.析：句中number被 of the young people in the United States who cant read修饰，而 people 前面被the young，后面被 in the United States 和who cant read的修饰。 译：大约有1/4的美国青年人没有阅读能力, 这简直令人难以置信。25 弄清楚从句与主句、从句与从句之间的关系，切勿张冠李戴，即不可把主句的主谓宾与从句的主谓宾或从句间的主谓宾乱点鸳鸯谱。该问题具体处理的方法主要根据意思和语法统一的原则进行。如例8中的are不只是作为governments的谓语，而是environmentalists、farmers、governments三个并列主语的谓语。例12. Almost everything which really matters and which the world possessed at the commencement of the modern age was already known to man at the dawn of history.析：句中的三个主谓搭配：which matters、the world possessed和everythingwas known to，注意千万不可把was当作其他任何名词的谓语。译：近代史开始时，世界拥有的每一项重大成就，已为历史发端期的人们所知晓。例13 And it helps to explain why so many inventions that were of Chinese origin or that had been known to the Greco-Romans, were fully developed and exploited only by the Western Europeans.析：句中的were作为inventions的谓语，而不是Greco-Romans的谓语。译：它有助于说明，为什么发源于中国的许多发明和希腊罗马人所知道的许多发明，只是在西欧人手中才得到全面发展和充分利用。2. 6 弄清楚句子中的指代词所指代的对象 如：it, this, that, these, those, which, so, one, other及常用人称代词等所指代的内容。这些词和词组有时在本句中就能找到，有时则要到前面有关的句子中去找。结合上下文的意思进行理解。侠义的上下文指本句前后句子，广义的上下文指前后段落。例3 中的三个it 分别指realized后的 that从句、to give a reasonable estimate of their “expectation of life”和 to exhaust all known sources and reserves of these materials。例14. Taking his cue（暗示） from Ibsens A Dolls House（易卜生的剧作玩偶之家）, in which the heroine, Nora, leaves home because she resents her husbands treating her like a child, the writer Lu Xun warned that Nora would need money to support herself; she must have economic rights to survive.析：句中which 指的是前面的A Dolls House。 译：易卜生的剧作玩偶之家中的女主人公娜拉离家出走, 因为她憎恶她的丈夫像对待孩子一样来对待她。作家鲁迅从中得到启示, 从而告诫人们娜拉得需要钱来养活自己, 她要生存就必须有经济上的权利。例15. The food supply will not increase nearly enough to match this, which means that we are heading into a crisis in the matter of producing and marketing food.析：句中which 指的是前面的整个句子“The food supply will not increase nearly enough to match this”译：食品供应的增长将赶不上人口的增长，这就意味着，我们在粮食生产和购销方面正陷入危机。例16. Some of these causes are completely reasonable results of social needs. Others are reasonable consequences of particular advances in science being to some extent self-accelerating.析：句中others指的是前面的causes.译：在这些原因中，有些完全是自然而然地来自社会需求，另一些则是由于科学在一定程度上自我加速而取得特定进展的必然结果。例17. And it is imagined by many that the operations of the common mind can by no means be compared with these processes，and that they have to be required by a sort of special training.析：该中的it是形式主语，they则指前面提到的“these processes”。译：许多人认为：普通人的思维活动根本无法和科学家的思维过程相比较，他们并认为这些(科学家的)思维过程必须经过某种专门训练才能掌握。例18. While there are almost as many definitions of history as there are historians, modern practice most closely conforms to（符合） one that sees history as the attempt to recreate and explain the significant events of the past. 析：该句中的one指前面提到的definition.译：尽管关于历史的定义和历史学家几乎一样多，现代实践最符合这样一种定义，即把历吏看作是对过去重大历史事件的再现和解释。2. 7弄清楚是否句子中是否存在一些特殊的语法现象，如倒装、省略、强调等例19. Although perhaps only 1 per cent of the life that has started somewhere will develop into highly complex and intelligent patterns, so vast is the number of planets that intelligent life is bound to（一定） be a natural part of the universe.析：句子中的画线部分为倒装，正常顺序为： the number of planets is so vast，so与后面的 that构成sothat句型。译：虽然在某处已经开始的生命中可能仅有百分之一会发展成高度复杂、有智慧的型式, 但是行星的数目如此之多, 以致有智慧的生命一定是宇宙的一个天然组成部分。例20For example，they do not compensate（弥补） for gross social inequality，and thus do not tell how able an underprivileged（物质条件差） youngster might have been had he grown up under more favorable circumstances.析：句子中的画线部分had he grown up为虚拟语气if he had grown up的倒装。译：例如，它们不能弥补巨大的社会不公，因此不能说明一个物质条件差的年轻人，如果他在较好的环境中长大，会有多大才干。 朋友，你看完这些还得再做以下练习。3. 练习题敬告：1）当你做这些题目时，遇到生词可查词典，但只有到了实在无法明白句子意思时，才可参考答案；2）当你已经明白题目意思时，尽量把它译成地道的汉语; 3) 如果你做完这些练习后上了瘾，你可以趁热打铁去看新概念第四册，把里面的文章拿来推敲理解（到这时候，你已修成正果，你可以考虑到精诚以外的任何外语培训学校去兼职了）；4）使用本材料过程中如有任何疑问、建议、痛苦、委屈、不满，敬请发伊妹儿到： 谢谢！谢谢！3.1理解下列句子意思并译成汉语1This method of using “controls” can be applied to a variety of situations, and can be used to find the answer to questions as widely different as “Must moisture be present if iron is to rust?” and “Which variety of beans gives the greatest yield in one season?”这种使用参照物的方法可以应用于许多种情况, 也能用来找到很不相同的各种问题的答案, 从“铁生锈, 是否必须有一定的湿度才行?”到“哪种豆类一季的产量最高?”2If parents were prepared for this adolescent reaction, and realized that it was a sign that the child was growing up and developing valuable powers of observation and independent judgment , they would not be so hurt, and therefore would not drive the child into opposition by resenting and resisting it.如果做父母的对这种青少年的反应有所准备, 而且认为这是一个显示出孩子正在成长, 正在发展珍贵的观察力和独立的判断力的标志, 他们就不会感到如此伤心, 所以也就不会因对此有愤恨和反对的情绪而把孩子推到对立面去。3. Aluminum remained unknown until the nineteenth century, because nowhere in nature is it found free (游离状态), owing to its always being combined with other elements, most commonly with oxygen, for which it has a strong affinity (亲和力). 铝总是跟其他元素结合在一起, 最普遍的是跟氧结合; 因为铝跟氧有很强的亲和力, 由于这个原因, 在自然界找不到游离状态的铝。所以, 铝直到19世纪才被人发现。4. It therefore becomes more and more important that, if students are not to waste their opportunities, there will have to be much more detailed information about courses and more advice.因此, 如果要使学生充分利用他们(上大学)的机会, 就得为他们提供大量关于课程的更为详尽的信息, 作更多的指导。这个问题显得越来越重要了。5People were afraid to leave their houses, for although the police had been ordered to stand by in case of emergency, they were just as confused and helpless as anybody else.尽管警察已接到命令, 要作好准备以应付紧急情况, 但人们不敢出门, 因为警察也和其他人一样不知所措和无能为力。6Up to the present time, throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, this new tendency placed the home in the immediate suburbs, but concentrated manufacturing activity, business relations, government, and pleasure in the centers of the cities.到目前为止, 经历了18和19两个世纪, 这种新的倾向是把住宅安排在城市的近郊, 而把生产活动、商业往来、政府部门以及娱乐场所都集中在城市的中心地区。7It is probably easier for teachers than for students to appreciate the reasons why learning English seems to become increasingly difficult once the basic structures and patterns of the language have been understood.一旦了解英语的基本结构和句型, 再往下学似乎就越来越难了, 这其中的原因, 也许教师比学生更容易理解。8. They (the poor) are the first to experience technological progress as a curse which destroys the old muscle-power jobs that previous generations used as a means to fight their way out of poverty.对于以往几代人来说, 旧式的体力劳动是一种用以摆脱贫困的手段, 而技术的进步则摧毁了穷人赖以为生的体力劳动, 因此首先体验到技术进步之害的是穷人。9. A great number of graduate students were driven into the intellectual slum when in the United States the intellectual poor became the classic poor, the poor under the rather romantic guise of the Beat Generation, a real phenomenon in the late fifties.50年代后期的美国出现了一个任何人都不可能视而不见的现象, 穷知识分子以“跨掉的一代”这种颇为浪漫的姿态出现而成为美国典型的穷人, 正是这个时候大批大学生被赶进了知识分子的贫民窟。10. Such is a human nature in the West that a great many people are often willing to sacrifice higher pay for the privilege of becoming white-collar workers.许多人宁愿牺牲比较高的工资以换取成为白领工人的社会地位, 这在西方倒是人之常情。11. Insects would make it impossible for us to live in the world; they would devour all our crops and kill our flocks and herds, if it were not for the protection we get from insect-eating animals.假如没有那些以昆虫为食的动物保护我们, 昆虫将吞噬我们所有的庄稼, 害死我们的牛羊家畜, 使我们不能生存于世。12Although perhaps only 1 per cent of the life that has started somewhere will develop into highly complex and intelligent patterns, so vast is the number of planets that intelligent life is bound to be a natural part of the universe.虽然在某处已经开始的生命中可能仅有百分之一会发展成高度复杂、有智慧的型式, 但是行星的数目如此之多, 以致有智慧的生命一定是宇宙的一个天然组成部分13Just as all truck drivers and construction workers are no longer necessarily men, all secretaries and receptionists are no longer automatically women.正像卡车司机和建筑工人再没有必要都是男的一样， 秘书和接待员再也不一定都是女的。14. These changes are helping to influence some of the long standing traditions about the types of work men and women can do -but they also produce some undeniable problems for the men who are entering those fields formerly dominated by women.这些变化正影响着长期存在的传统观念中关于男女可以干哪几类工作的看法，但这对于进入原先以妇女为主的那些领域的男人来说，无疑也带来了一些问题。15. “I found that work very interesting. ” he recalled, “and when I got out of the service it just seemed natural for me to go into something medical.” 他回忆说：“我觉得那种工作十分有趣，当我退役时，对我来说，去干某种医务工作，似乎是极其自然的。”16. In other words, men enter ”female“ jobs out of the same consider action for personal interest and economic necessity that motivates anyone looking for work . 换句话说，男人干起了“女人干”的工作，其动机是同任何找工作干的人一样，既出于个人的兴趣，也出于经济上需要的考虑。17. Can we anticipate a day when secretaries will be an even mix of men and women-or when the mention of a male nurse will no longer raise eyebrows? 我们能否预见这一天：那时秘书的男女各占一半或有人提到某个男人当护士时，人们不会感到吃惊。18. Its beginning obscured by unemployment caused by the world economic slow-down, the new technological unemployment may emerge as the great socio-