酷兔英语

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考研英语长难句(5)

41. But achieving necessary matches in physical properties across interfaces between living and  nonliving matter requires knowledge of which molecules control the bonding of cells to each other-an area that we have not yet explored thoroughly. (4)

但是,要想沿着原生和非原生物质之间的界面获取生理特性的必要匹配,需要某种知识,即什么样的分子控制着细胞彼此间的结合--而对这一领域,我们尚未进行充分的探索。

难句类型:复杂修饰

解释:本句这样的复杂修饰和插入语的作用差不多;主语achieving necessary matches之后的修饰成分in physical properties across interfaces between living and nonliving matter把主语和谓语requires分开。值得注意的是修饰宾主的of which molecules 中的which在此不是定语从句的引导词,而是一个形容词,意思是哪个。

意群训练:But achieving necessary matches in physical properties across interfaces between living and  nonliving matter requires knowledge of which molecules control the bonding of cells to each other-an area that we have not yet explored thoroughly.

42. Islamic law is a phenomenon so different from all other forms of law-notwithstanding, of course, a considerable and inevitable number of coincidences with one or the other of them as far as subject matter and positiveenactments are concerned-that its study is indispensable in order to appreciate adequately the full range of possible legal phenomena. (5)

伊斯兰法是一种如此不同于所有其它法律形式的现象--毋庸置疑,尽管就其主要内容和有积极意义的法规而言,与其它法律形式中的这种或那种形式存在着相当数量的且不可避免的巧合相似之处--以致于对它进行研究便显得不可或缺,以便充分理解有可能存在的法律现象的全部范围。

难句类型:复杂修饰、插入语、抽象词

解释:这是一个被GRE考生尊称为No.题三大难文章之一的伊斯兰法中的臭名昭著的句子。本句插入语前后都不难,关键是如何对待这段插入语。

首先,插入语很长,在原文中有四行。笔者在前面不只一次提醒读者,三行心目的插入语必须跳过,看懂前后的内容再回头来看插入语。插入语难懂的第一个原因是其中混有大量的抽象词和法律术语;还有一个重要原因,那就是它其实不是一个完整的句子。把插入语中所有的修饰成分扒光,只剩下一个单词:coinsidences,而主语和谓语it has则被作者省略。

不管从哪个角度上来看,这句话中的那个插入语都极像是ETS布下的一个陷阱:首先,插入语的内容对理解文章毫无作用;其次,考试中对插入语也出题;第三,其实这句话中的插入语根本不必读。也可以根据插入语前后的内容用合理化原则的取非读法猜出其意思。插入语前后的内容是伊斯兰法与其他法律不同,插入部分以notwithstanding开关,又有of course,可见插入部分一定是让步证据,因此可以对前后的内容取非,猜出插入部分一定是在说伊斯兰法与其他法律有相同之处。

句末的in order to appreciate adequately the full range of possible legal phenomena中,包含一个倒装;正常语序的appreciate the full range of possible legal phenomenaadequately中的副词adequately被提到appreciate的宾语之前。

Islamic law is a phenomenon so different from all other forms of law-notwithstanding, of course, a considerable and inevitable number of coincidences with one or the other of them as far as subject matter and positiveenactment are concerned-that its study is indispensable in order to appreciate adequately the full range of possible legal phenomena.

43. (Both Jewish law and canon law are more uniform than Islamic law.) Though historically there is a discernible break between Jewish law of the sovereign state of ancient Israel and of the Diaspora (the dispersion of Jewish people after the conquest of Israel), the spirit of the legal matter in later parts of the Old Testament is very close to that of the Talmud, one of the primary codifications of Jewish law in the Diaspora. (5)

尽管从历史角度来看,在古代以色列作为独立主权国家的犹太教法与大流散时期(Diaspora,即以色列被征服后古代犹太人被巴比伦人逐出故土)的犹太教法之间存在着一个明晰可辨的断裂,然则,《旧约全书》(Old Testament)后半部分中法律内容的精神与《犹太教法典》(Talmud)极为一脉相承,而所谓的《犹太教法典》,是指大流散时期犹太教法的主要典籍辑录之一。

难句类型:复杂修饰、插入语、省略、专有名词

解释:本句与上一句同来自于同一篇文章,本文的主题是伊斯兰法,但作者反复用犹太法来吓唬读者,同样ETS也未就此句话出题。

这句话难读是因为两个原因:第一、作者在between Jewish law of the sovereign state of ancient Israel and of the Diaspora一句中的and之后省略了Jewish law,使人看到of the Diaspora ancient Israel and of the Diaspora一句中的and之后省略了jewish law,使人看到of the Diaspora时搞不清楚在什么与什么之间;第二个难懂的原因,是文中出现了大量的专有名词、法律术语和历史背景。其实读者除了Israel 和Jewish两个单词有必要也有可能认识之外,其他单词既不需要了解也无法了解,像什么Diaspora(大流散时期)、Old Testament(旧约全书)、Talmud(犹太教法典)等奇怪名词,在非宗教国家的考生的大脑中,一点概念都没有,更不要说其英语的表达了。那么ETS的出题者在阅读文章中搞出这种东西来,不是有意违背公平出题原则之嫌了吗?

其实出题者也并没有要求读者把这些内容搞清,只需知道前面那句话是一个判断句,说犹太法和伊斯兰法一致,后面这句话是对上面一句话的解释,因此肯定也在说它一致。再看第二句话的结构,上来就是一个用though表示的让步语气,我们可以看出在一个break between,那么逗号后就应该是省略了but的转折语气,该说没有break between,果然我们看到了very close to 的字样。我们也知道,既有让步又有转折时,作者强调转折之后的内容。所以这句话仍是在说犹太法一致。

043 Both Jewish law and canon law are more uniform than Islamic law(这是作者加的便于理解的话). Though historically there is a discernible break between Jewish law of the sovereign state of ancient Israel and of the Diaspora (the dispersion of Jewish people after the conquest of Israel), the spirit of the legal matter in later parts of the Old Testament is very close to that of the Talmud, one of the primary codifications of Jewish law in the Diaspora.

44. Islam, on the other hand, represented a radical breakaway from the Arab paganism that preceded it; Islamic law is the result of an examination, from a religious angle, (examination) of legal subject matter that was far from uniform, comprising as it did the various components of the laws of pre-Islamic Arabia and numerous legal elements taken over from the non-Arab peoples of the conquered territories. (4)

另一方面,伊斯兰教则代表着与此前存在的阿拉伯异教(Arab paganism)的一种根本上的决裂;伊斯兰法是从宗教的角度,对各种杂乱无章、绝无共同点的法律内容进行考察所致的结果,而这些法律内容实际上是由前伊斯兰阿拉伯国家(Pre-Islamic Arabia)法律的不尽相同的组成部分以及由从被征服的土地上非阿拉伯民族借鉴过来的无数法律因素所构成。 (as it did )实际上是一句插入语。

难句类型:复杂修饰、插入语

解释:这句话是接着上面的那句话写下来的,是在说伊斯兰法的不一致。句中有三个插入语,都起到了一定的干扰作用。第一个是on the other hand,隔开了主语和谓语。第二个是from a religious angle,分开了examination of ,第三个as it did, 根本就是句废话,分断了动词comprise 和动词的宾语the various components。

意群训练:Islam, on the other hand, represented a radical breakaway from the Arab paganism that preceded it; Islamic law is the result of an examination, from a religious angle, of legal subject matter that was far from uniform, comprising as it did the various components of the laws of pre-Islamic Arabia and numerous legal elements taken over from the non-Arab peoples of the conquered territories.

45. One such novel idea is that (idea) of inserting into the chromosomes of plants discrete genes that are not a part of the plants' natural constitution; specifically, the idea of inserting into nonleguminous plants the genes, if they can be identified and isolated, that fit the leguminous plants to be hosts for nitrogen-fixing bacteria. Hence, (there is ) the intensified research on legumes. (5)

此句最好能够熟读,更好的是背诵下来。(复杂修饰+插入+省略+倒装)

这其中的一个新颖思想就是,在植物的染色体(chromosome)内注入并非是该植物自然构造一个部分的那些不相关联的因基:具体而言,这一思想是,在非豆科植物内注入这样一些基因,倘若这些基因可被辨识出来并被分离开来,而这些基因业已使豆科植物宜于充当那些具备固氮作用的细菌的寄主。由此,对豆科植物的研究日趋深入。

难句类型:复杂修饰、插入语、倒装、省略

解释:本句的难度以倒装为主,复杂为辅;然而二者相互借力,难度更大,而且本句中有两个省略,就更令读者头痛。

句子一开始的One such novel idea is that of 之中的that of, 是that idea of 的省略形式。此外容易理解,后面开始变难。Inserting into the chromosomes of plants discrete genes(that are not a part of the plants' natureal consttution)看上去不舒服的原因,是作者在此用了一个便装;正常语序应该是:inserting discrete genes(that are not a part of the plants' natureal constitution) into the chromosomes of plants, 即把非此植物的genes插入到该植物中。之所以倒装,是因为discrete genes加上复杂修饰的成分以后太长之故。同样,后面的the idea of inserting into nonleguminous plants the genes, if they can be identifyied and isolated, that fit the leguminous plants to be hosts for nitrogen-fixing bacteria一句,正常的语序也是the idea of inserting the genes, if they can be identifyied and isolated, that fit the leguminous plants to be hosts for nitro-fixing bacteria into nonleguminous plants,即把便利豆科植物成为固氮菌的寄主的基因(如果它们能够被找到并分离出来的话)插入到非豆科植物的基因中去。这一回。Genes之后不但有定语从句的复杂修饰,而且在genes和that从句之间还有一个不短的插入语,增加了阅读难度。

最后的一句话,Hence, the intensified research on legumes, 其实也不是一句话,只是一个词:research。作者省略了there is ,其实引处即便看不清语法结构,作者的意思还是可以懂的。因此,笔者在前面强调的"如果可以看懂意思,不必去分析语法",在实战的应用中有其意义;GRE和GMAT中很多表达其实不严格遵守语法,或者有考生不懂的语法,读者处心积虑地研究它们,不但没有实战意义,而且还令读者徒增烦恼。

本句是GRE和GMAT考试中集各种语言现象之大成者,包括了几乎所有的难句类型,希望读者一定把这句话读熟;有心者最好能把它背熟,一定对提高你的阅读能力有好处。

意群训练:One such novel idea is that (idea) of inserting into the chromosomes of plants discrete genes that are not a part of the plants' natural constitution:specifically,the idea of inserting into nonleguminous plants the genes,if they can be identified and isolated,that fit the leguminous plants to be hosts for nitrogen-fixing bacteria. Hence,(there is ) the intensified research on legumes.

46. It is one of nature's great ironies that the availability of nitrogen in the soil frequently sets an upper limit on plant growth even though the plants' leaves are bathed in a sea of nitrogen gas.(3+)下述情形真可谓是自然界的一个莫大讽刺:土壤中所能获得的氮肥量往往对植物的生长构成了一个上限,虽然植物的叶子被沐浴在一片氮气的海洋中。

难句类型:复杂修饰

解释:It是形式主语,其真正的内容是that之后的由even though连接的两个句子。其实本句的真正难度倒不在于句子的结构,而是对于其意思的理解:尤其是文科同学,可能缺乏必要的背景知识,就更不容易读懂。句中的set an upper limit on plant growth直译为"给植物的生成设立一个上限",其真正的意思是"限制了植物的生长";因此the availability of nitrogen in the soil frequently sets an upper limit on plant growth之中的availability一定指的是氮的供给之少。整句话的意思是,土壤中的氮植物能够利用,却太少;而空气中虽有大量的氮,植物却不能利用,这岂不是自然界开的一个大玩笑。

It is one of nature's great ironies that the availability of nitrogen in the soil frequently sets an upper limit on plant growth even though the plants' leaves are bathed in a sea of nitrogen gas.

47. Unless they succeed,the yield gains of the Green Revolution will be largely lost even if the genes in legumes that equip those plants to enter into a symbiosis with nitrogen fixers are identified and isolated,and even if the transfer of those gene complexes,once they are found, becomes possible. (4)

除非他们能取得成功,不然的话,绿色革命的产量收益将在很大程度上损失殆尽,即使豆科植物中使这些植物有条件进入到与固氮细菌共生关系的基因可被辨识出来和分离开来的话,且即使这些基因综合体(gene complex),一旦被发现之后,其移植得以成为可能的话。

难句类型:复杂修饰、插入语

解释:主句比较简单,而后面跟着的由and连接的两个表示让步的条件状语从句就相对复杂,第一个从句是用一个修饰主语的定语从句that equip those plants to enter into a symbiosis with nitrogen fixers把主谓隔开;第二个从句则运用了插入语once they are found把主谓隔开。

意群训练:Unless they succeed,the yield gains of the Green Revolution will be largely lost even if the genes in legumes that equip those plants to enter into a symbiosis with nitrogen fixers are identified and isolated,and even if the transfer of those gene complexes,once they are found, becomes possible.

48. Its subject(to use Maynard Mack's categories)is "life-as-spectacle," for readers,  diverted by its various incidents,observe its hero Odysseus primarily from without;the tragic Iliad,however,presents "life-as-experience":readers are asked to identify with the mind of  Achilles,whose motivations render him a not particularly likable hero. (5)

其主题〔若借鉴梅纳德。迈克(Maynard Mack)的两个分类范畴的话〕是"人生作为外部景象",因为读者的注意力被作品那形形色色的事件所分散,主要是从外部来观察其主人公奥德修斯(Odyssus)的;然而,富于悲剧色彩的《伊利亚特》所表现的则是"人生作为内心体验":读者被要求与阿基琉斯(Achilles)的心灵产生共鸣,而其行为动机却致使他变作一个并非特别惹人喜爱的主人公。 (从分号后的语句推理出前面的意思)

注:hero:主人公;without:外部;likable:有吸引力的

难句类型;复杂修饰、插入语、抽象词、熟词僻义

请思考:如果看不懂分号前的without的意思,是否可以用合理化原则根据分号后的那句话推理出其意思?

解释:本句中尽管也存在一些复杂修饰和插入的内容,但是本句话之所以难懂,与其说是因为这些东西的影响,倒不如说是因为用词的抽象和语义的难以理解。作为一篇文学评论型的文章,文章中充斥着一些很抽象的词汇;本句话中就有subject/category/spectacle/divert/incident/hero/primarily/without/present/identify/motivation/particularly/likable等。背过这些单词的中文释义,并不意味着在阅读中能够清楚地理解其真正含义。对于抽象词的训练方法,请参见附录中<阅读抽象词提速法>。这里仅解释几个对于这句话最重要的单词:

hero:在此不是指英雄,在文学评论型的文章当中,此单词的意思是主人公。

Without:在此处是一个熟词僻义,意思是外部,等于outside。

Likable:不可望文生义,它不是像什么东西的意思,而是有吸引力的意思,其同义词有pleasant或attractive.

本句中,对于理解全句起到最大影响的,就是能否正确理解without这个单词,然而问题在于,如果不认识without的熟词僻义,是否可用合理化原则根据分号后的那句话推理出其意思?根据紧跟着分别的however,我们可以推断出分号前后的两句话所说的内容截然相反,因此可以从I戏剧的描述中推出,without的意思应该是不去认同其主人公的内心世界。

意群训练:Its subject(to use Maynard Mack's categories)is "life-as-spectacle," for readers,  diverted by its various incidents,observe its hero Odysseus primarily from without;the tragic Iliad,however,presents "life-as-experience":readers are asked to identify with the mind of  Achilles,whose motivations render him a not particularly likable hero.

49. Most striking among the many asymmetries evident in an adult flatfish is eye placement: before maturity one eye migrates,so that in an adult flatfish both eyes are on the same side of the head. (3+)

在一条成年比目鱼身上显著存在的诸多不对称(asymmetry)特征中,最为吸人注目的是眼睛的摆位:在成年之前,一只眼睛发生移动,因此在成年比目鱼身上,两只眼睛均位于头部的同一侧面。

难句类型:倒装、省略

解释:本句的倒装本质上与我们早就的一种倒装结构是一样的,即形容词放在句首时,主语和谓语倒装。本句的主干的正常语序应该是:Eye placement is most striking;倒装后成了Most striking is eye placement。但是这种倒装在GRE考试中出现,又有了新的特色,被提到句首的Most striking被长长的状语among the many asymmetries evident in an adult flatfish与后面的主语和表语分开,造成阅读困难。

意群训练:Most striking among the many asymmetries evident in an adult flatfish is eye placement: before maturity one eye migrates,so that in an adult flatfish both eyes are on the same side of the head.
关键字:考研英语
生词表:
  • adequately [´ædikwitli] 移动到这儿单词发声 ad.足够地;适当地 六级词汇
  • phenomena [fi´nɔminə] 移动到这儿单词发声 phenomenon的复数 六级词汇
  • enactment [i´næktmənt] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.(法律等的)制定 六级词汇
  • testament [´testəment] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.契约,誓约;遗嘱 四级词汇
  • arabia [ə´reibiə] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.阿拉伯 四级词汇
  • bacteria [bæk´tiəriə] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.细菌 四级词汇
  • primarily [´praimərəli, prai´merəli] 移动到这儿单词发声 ad.首先;主要地 四级词汇
  • maturity [mə´tjuəriti] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.成熟;完备 四级词汇


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