如何解析长难句

第二节　如何解析长难句

在阅读过程中遇到困难时，继续往下读，往往通过下文和全篇的理解，可以使意义明确、清晰;但有时对文章的准确理解却取决于对某一句话的理解。造成句子理解困难的主要因素有:生词、难句、长句、复杂结构、惯用法等。

一、对于生词

对于生词的处理我们将在以后的单元中具体讨论，但有一点要特别注意，即有些词不会影响对整句话的理解，也就是说，没有必要在理解了每个词的确切含义后，再去理解句子意思。有时我们完全可以把有些词删去不读。例如，下面这句话中，划线部分不读完全不影响对句子的理解。

The West had sent armies to capture and hold Jerusalem; instead they them selves fell victims to a host of new ideas and subtle influences which left their mark on the development of European literature，chivalry，warfare，sanitation，commerce，political institutions，medicine，and the papacy itself．

二、难句、长句和复杂结构

由于其结构上的特点，再加上这些句子往往包含了好几层意思，信息量大，读起来往往容易感到没有头绪。遇到这些句子时，最重要的是要分析句子结构，理清各部分的关系和层次，把握好主要信息、次要信息和不同信息之间的关系。

一般来说，造成长句的原因有三方面: ( 1)修饰语过多; ( 2)并列成分多; ( 3)语言结构层次多。在分析长句时可以采用下面的方法:

(一)找出全句的主语、谓语和宾语，从整体上把握句子的结构。例如:

Behaviorists suggest that the child who is raised in an environment where there are many stimuli which develop his or her capacity for appropriate responses will experience greater intellectual development．分析:该句的主语为behaviorists，谓语为suggest，宾语为一个从句，因此整个句子为Behaviorists suggest that- clause结构。

(二)找出句中所有的谓语结构、非谓语动词、介词短语和从句的引导词。

上述例句中，该句共有五个谓语结构，它们的谓语动词分别为suggest，is raised，are，develop，experience等，这五个谓语结构之间的关系为: Behaviorists suggest that- clause结构为主句; who is raised in an environment为定语从句，所修饰的先行词为child; where there are many stimuli为定语从句，所修饰的先行词为environment; which develop his or her capacity for appropriate responses为定语从句，所修饰的先行词为stimuli;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，我们就会对该句有一个较为透彻的理解，然后根据我们上面所讲述的各种翻译方法，就可以把该句翻译成:

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。

(三)分析从句和短语的功能

首先要把句子分成小的部分，分析其结构:是并列关系，还是主从关系。如果是并列关系，要先通过关联词( and，but，nor，however，then，therefore)判断是哪种关系——等立、递进、附加、转折等;然后立即找出各部分的关键词，即主要信息。例如:

The mind and the body are not separate，independent entities; any change in the body is accompanied by a change in mental or emotional state，and any change in the mind is accompanied by a corresponding change in the body．这个并列句主要信息通过下面几个词表达出来: mind and body，not separate，change in body，accompanied by，change in mental，change in mind，accompanied by，change in body．

若是主从关系，首先要通过关联词确定主句与从句之间的关系(因果、条件等) ;由于主从句中，主要信息都在主句中，而从句都是次要信息，是对主句内容的补充、解释、说明等，因而在确定了他们之间的关系后，阅读重点在主句上(找关键词) ，从句可快速读过(有时甚至可先略而不读) 。例如，下面这句话中，划线部分是次要的细节内容:

These ideas，which left their mark on the development of European literature，chivalry，warfare，sanitation，commerce，political institutions，medicine，and the papacy itself，greatly changed Western culture．这句话的主要信息可概括为: ideas changed Western culture．

若是状语，它是表示时间、原因、结果、还是表示条件等等。

时间状语从句:由when，before，as soon as，next time等引导。

地点状语从句:由where等引导。

目的状语从句:由so that，in order that等引导。

结果状语从句:由so，so/such...that，as a result，therefore，thus等引导。

条件状语从句:由if，unless，on condition that等引导。

让步状语从句:由although，though，no matter how，whenever，whoever等引导。例如:

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．句首的for a family of four作状语，表示条件。另外，还有两个介词短语作插入语: for example，with almost unlimited entertainment available，其中第二个介词短语作伴随状语，修饰to sit comforta bly at home．

(四)分析修饰语比较多、比较复杂的情况

要能立即把中心词与修饰语区分开，分清不同的修饰语之间的关系，不要将修饰语中的成分与句子主要成分混淆起来(特别是动词) 。另外，插入语较多较长时，容易干扰对主要信息的理解，这时可先不管插入语，在读完句子本身的内容后，再读这一部分。例如:

Before the early 1960's，people interested in the different roles of left and right hemisphere of the human brain depended almost entirely on evidence drawn from animal research．在这句话里， interested和drawn都只是定语部分的动词，谓语动词是depended on。这句话的主要成分是: people depended on evidence。再如:

The creation of a study skill that uses these scientific findings，that satisfies the demands of school study，and that pleases the students with its efficiency is a challenge to the specialists trying to work out better ways of reading for various purposes．本句的主语与谓语被三个并列的定语从句远远地隔开了，其主要成分是: The creation of a study skill is a challenge to the specialists。

(五)有时长句、复杂句中，语序有所改变，会增加阅读的难度。例如:

Although there are many ways to relieve (缓解) the energy problems in Latin America，one finds in many of the countries trying to choose the proper ways a maze (混乱的一堆) of conflicting，deep- rooted interests that leads to complete failure in the area of energy policy，and even to absurd results．在这句话中， finds的宾语为a maze，全句的主要成分是: one finds a maze。

(六)在遇到难、长句时，要学会在适当的地方断句。

At the same time that commercial loans are becoming hard to get by the developing nation's own funding has been destroyed by sharp decrease in commodity prices．这里that为time的定语， get by要与the developing nation断开。本句的主要成分是: at the same time the developing nation's own funding has been destroyed。

(七)惯用法

惯用法掌握不好，很容易造成理解上的错误，因此平时一定要注意积累，要有扎实的语言功底。以下是通常情况下，长难句的基本的语法结构:

1．形式主语/宾语

2．强调结构

3．非限定性定语从句

4．同位语从句

5．倒装

6．虚拟语气

7．省略

练习理解英语阅读难点关键句

1． We know that you have a high opinion of the kind of learning taught in your colleges， and that the costs of living of our young men， while with you， would be very expensive to you．

2． But you must know that different nations have different ways of looking at things， and you will therefore not be offended if our ideas of this kind of education happen not to be the same as yours．

3． We are， however， not the less obliged by your kind offer， though we refuse to accept it; and， to show our grateful sense of it， if the gentlemen of Virginia will send us a dozen of their sons， we will take care of their education， teach them in all we know ， and make men of them．

4． In what now seems like the prehistoric times of computer history， the earth's postwar era， there was quite a wide- spread concern that computers would take over the world from man one day．

5． Already today， less than forty years later， as computers are relieving us of more and more of the routine tasks in business and in our personal lives，we are faced with a less dramatic but also less foreseen problem．

6． Obviously， there would be no point in investing in a computer if you had to check all its answers， but people should also rely on their own internal computers and check the machine when they have the feeling that something has gone wrong．

7． Certainly Newton considered some theoretical aspects of it in his writings， but he was reluctant to go to sea to further his work．

8． For most people the sea was remote， and with the exception of early intercontinental travellers or others who earned a living from the sea， there was little reason to ask many questions about it ， let alone to ask what lay beneath the surface．

9． The first time that the question“What is at the bottom of the oceans?”had to be answered with any commercial consequence was when the laying of a tele graph cable from Europe to America was proposed．

10． At the early attempts， the cable failed and when it was taken out for repairs it was found to be covered in living growths， a fact which defied contemporary scientific opinion that there was no life in the deeper parts of the sea．

11． Wearing a seat belt saves lives; it reduces your chance of death or serious injury by more than half．

12． But it will be the driver's responsibility to make sure that children under 14 do not ride in the front unless they are wearing a seat belt of some kind．

13． However， you do not have to wear a seat belt if you are reversing your vehicle，or you are making a local delivery or collection using a special vehicle，or if you have a valid medical certificate which excuses you from wearing it．

14． Remember you may be taken to court for not doing so， and you may be fined if you cannot prove to the court that you have been excused from wearing it．

15． Professor Taiju Matsuzawa wanted to find out why otherwise healthy farmers in northern Japan appeared to be losing their ability to think and reason at a relatively early age， and how the process of ageing could be slowed down．

16． With a team of colleagues at Tokyo National University， he set about measuring brain volumes of a thousand people of different ages and varying occupations．

17． Computer technology enabled the researchers to obtain precise measurements of the volume of the front and side sections of the brain， which relate to intellect and emotion， and determine the human character．

18． Contraction of front and side parts as cells die off was observed in some subjects in their thirties， but it was still not evident in some sixty and seventy year- olds．

19． The findings show in general terms that contraction of the brain begins sooner in people in the country than in the towns．

20． White collar workers doing routine work in government offices are， however， as likely to have shrinking brains as the farm worker， bus driver and shop assistant．