文章中的句子之所以难以理解,有许多原因,其中一个主要原因是句子太长或者句子结构复杂。句子过长或者复杂通常是该句除了主干之外还包含了一些附加部分,如插入语、同位语、分隔现象、各种从句或较长的非
谓语动词短语等等。下面我们来谈谈几种英语阅读长难句的处理方法。
如何处理长难句?
1
找谓语,找定语
一般情况下,一个谓语形式的动词对应其动作的发出者(主语),我们可以根据谓语动词的意义来确定其主语。而且,如果一个句子中出现两个或两个以上的谓语形式的动词,则该句可以是并列句或复合句(并列谓语动词的情况除外)。如:
People feared that weakening a 21-year-old ban on the sale of ivory would encourage illegal hunting and hurt elephant populations.
【句意】二十一年来,象牙交易一直被明令禁止,人们担心削弱这一禁令会助长非法捕猎,导致
大象数量减少。
【分析】that 引导
宾语从句,从句中谓语动词是encourage和hurt,根据逻辑意义,可知encourage和hurt 的主语是
动名词短语weakening a 21-year-old ban on the sale of ivory。
2
提主干,去枝叶
一般情况下,一个句子中的主句所表达的信息为主要信息,从句、状语和定语等所表达的信息为次要信息。若句子的主干提炼不出来,就不能完全把握句子的核心意义,从而导致思维混乱,主次不分。如:
Economists from the University of Sussex analysed findings from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, a 15-year research project charting the fortunes of a group of thousands of teenagers who attended high schools in the US in the mid-1990s.
【句意】来自
萨塞克斯大学的经济学家们分析了国家青少年健康纵向研究的研究结果,这项研究是一个历时15年的课题,它记录了数千名在美国20世纪90年代中期上中学的一组青少年的财产情况。
【分析】句子主干为Economists analysed findings。from the University of Sussex 作economists的定语;from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health 作findings的定语;a 15-year research project作the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health 的同位语;charting ... 作project 的定语;who引导
定语从句修饰teenagers。
3
寻关联,辩逻辑
一些长句其实是由若干分句组成的并列句或复合句。而这些并列句或复合句之间需要一些关联词来连接。如果我们找准这些关联词,就能够弄清楚句与句之间的逻辑关系,分别弄清主句的意义和从句的意义,则长句就容易对付得多了。要掌握此方法必须对英语中的常见的关联词谙熟于心。如:
Whether you get along well with your professors or not has a huge effect on your self growth as it is a measure of how well you can respect authority and obey requirements.
【句意】你与教授相处是否融洽对你的自身发展起着重要的作用,因为这是衡量你是否尊重权威和服从要求的标准。
【分析】此句为复合句,句中whether引导
主语从句,as 引导原因状语从句,how well 引导从句作介词of 的宾语。
4
看搭配,防分隔
有时一个长句或难句是由一个或多个搭配构成,而且这些搭配中常常出现分隔现象。读者若受分隔现象的干扰而看不清句子的本来面目,则对句意的理解就会发生偏差。如:
Some companies have made the manufacturing of clean and safe products, to some degree, their main selling points and emphasize it in their advertising.
【句意】一些公司把生产的卫生的、安全的产品,从某种程度上说,当作他们的卖点,并在广告中强调这一点。
【分析】其实本句是一个“主语+谓语+宾语+
宾语补足语”句型“make+ 宾语 + 宾补”,即“使……成为……”,只不过宾语和宾补被“to some degree”隔开而已。
总之,在碰到长句和难句时,要根据实际情况灵活运用上述方法,在平时阅读过程中要加强对长句和难句的句法分析训练。有时要几种方法综合使用才能正确理解句意。如:
The fact that members of one culture do not express their emotions as openly as do members of another does not mean that they do not experience emotions.
【句意】一种文化背景下的人不像另一种文化背景下的人一样直率地表达他们的情感,这一事实并不意味着他们没有这些情感。
【分析】本句的主干为The fact does not mean that ...,其中,that they do not experience emotions 是从句作mean 的宾语。that members of one culture do not express their emotions as openly as do members of another 为fact 的
同位语从句,其中as do members of another 是状语从句,
助动词do 位于主语members of another 前形成倒装,主语后省略了express their emotions。
分析长难句对于提高英语阅读水平有着非常重要的作用,以下英语长难句14例,可以运用上面讲的方法好好读一读、分析分析,希望有帮助。
1.First put forward by the French mathematician Pierre de Format in the seventeenth century, the theorem had baffled and beaten the finest mathematical minds, including a French woman scientist who made a major advance in working out the problem, and who had to dress like a man in order to be able to study at the Ecolab polytechnique.
这个定理,先是由十七世纪法国数学家皮尔法特提出,曾使一批杰出的数学大师为难,包括一位法国女科学家,她在解决这个难题方面取得了重大的进展,她曾女扮男装为了能够在伊科尔理工学院学习。
简析:夹杂
过去分词短语,
现在分词短语,动名词及两个定语从句。
2. It is difficult to measure the quantity of paper used as a result of use of Internet-connected computers, although just about anyone who works in an office can tell you that when e-mail is introduced, the printers start working overtime. That is, the growing demand for paper in recent years is largely due to the increased use of the Internet.
由于因特网的使用,计算所使用的纸张的数量是很难的,然而几乎任何在办公室工作的人能告诉你,当引进
电子邮件后,打印机就开始超时工作。也就是说近年来人们对于纸张的日益需求主要是由于因特网越来越多的使用。
简析:夹杂较复杂的句型结构,关键词just about几乎;overtime超时地。
3. Perhaps the best sign of how computer and internet use pushes up demand for paper comes from the high-tech industry itself, which sees printing as one of its most promising new market.
或许,表明电脑及因特网使用促进人们对于纸张的需求的最好迹象源于高科技产业本身,印刷业被认为是高科技产业极有前景的新市场之一。
简析:夹杂较复杂的句型结构,关键词promising有前途的。
4. The action group has also found acceptable paper made from materials other than wood, such as agricultural waste.
这个行动组也发现一种人们可接受的纸,制成这种纸的原料不是木料,而是农业废料。
简析:关键词other than而不是。
5. Mostly borrowed from English and Chinese, these terms are often changed into forms no longer understood by native speakers.
这些术语,主要从英语和汉语引入,经常会变成不再被说本族语的人们理解的形式。
简析:关键词term术语。
6. It is one of many language books that are now flying off booksellers’ shelves.
它是现在很畅销的许多外语书中的一本。
简析:比喻生动形象。
7. The mass media and government white papers play an important part in the spread of foreign words.
大众传播媒介和政府白皮书(正式报告)在外国词传播过程中起重要作用。
简析:关键词the mass media and government white papers大众传播媒介和政府白皮书(正式报告)。
8.Tales from Animal Hospital will delight all fans of the programme and anyone who was a lively interest in their pet, whether it be a cat 、dog or snake!
来自动物医院(这个电视节目)的故事(这本书),将使这个电视节目的爱好者以及对无论是猫、狗还是蛇这类宠物有浓厚兴趣的任何人感到高兴。
简析:关键词fans…爱好者,whether…or…,无论是…还是…。
9. Newton is shown as a gifted scientist with very human weaknesses who stood at the point in history where magic ended and science began.
牛顿被证明是一位很有才华的科学家,他处于一个魔术终结科学开启的历史时期,他也有普通人所特有的弱点。
简析:夹杂两个定语从句。
10. But for all the texts that are written, stored and sent electronically, a lot of them are still ending up on paper.
但对于所有这些以电子手段记录,贮存及传递的文本而言,许多文本仍要(打印)在纸上。
简析:关键词text文本;end up最后成为(处于)。
11.With their shining brown eyes, wagging tails, and unconditional love, dogs can provide the nonjudgmental listeners needed for a beginning reader to gain confidence, according to Intermountain Therapy Animals(ITA) in salt Lake City.
据
盐湖城的ITA的观点,闪烁的棕色眼睛,摇着尾巴,并有无条件的爱心,狗能成为无判断力的(忠实的)听者,这是刚开始搞阅读的小孩所需要的。
简析:夹杂with构成的介词短语及过去分词短语。
12. The
Salt Lake City public library is sold on the idea.
这家盐湖城公共图书馆接受这个观点。
简析:关键词sell on (to)使接受。
13. Discovered by the Portuguese admiral of the same name in 1506, and settled in 1810, the island belongs to Great Britain and has a population of a few hundred.
这个岛屿,于1506年被同名的葡萄牙上将发现,在1810年有人居住,现在属于英国,人口数有几百人。
简析:有两个过去分词短语作状语。
14. They had no connection with the outside world for more than a thousand years, giving them plenty of time to build more than 1000 huge stone figures, called moat, for which the island is most famous.
他们已有一千多年与外界没有联系,这给他们充足的时间来修建1000多座巨大的石像,被称为莫艾,因为有这个东西这个岛屿极其出名。