考研英语阅读练习——10类难句.doc

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考研英语阅读练习——10类难句精选

（红宝书 编辑）

考研英语的文章一般选自国外的期刊或杂志，如《经济学家》、《泰晤士报》、《自然》、《时代周刊》等。本期【难句翻译】摘选了来自这些期刊中最为热门的文章中的语句进行分析，希望帮助考生在复习过程中既掌握有效的理解长难句的方法，又能获得第一手相关信息。

    一、定语从句

    【难句】1. He is referring to the upsurge of interest in mobile television, a nascent industry at the intersection of telecoms and media which offers new opportunities to device-makers, content producers and mobile-network operators. (The Economist Jan. 5, 2006)

    【结构分析】 本句结构清晰，是一个复合句。句首部分He is referring to the upsurge of interest in mobile television是主句，其后的a nascent industry at the intersection of telecoms and media…作mobile television的同位语，句末的关系代词which引导定语从句which offers new opportunities to device-makers, content producers and mobile-network operators来修饰先行词a nascent industry，关系代词which在从句中作主语。

    【参考译文】 他谈到了众人对移动电视的巨大兴趣，这是一个在电信和媒体领域有交叉的新兴产业，它给设备制造商、电视内容制作者以及移动网络运营商提供了新的机遇。

    【难句】2. Meanwhile, Apple Computer, which launched a video-capable version of its iPod portable music-player in October, is striking deals with television networks to expand the range of shows that can be purchased for viewing on the device, including Lost”， “Desperate Housewives” and “Law &Order”. (The Economist Jan. 5, 2006)

    【结构分析】本句使用了分隔结构，体现了非限制性定语从句分隔，从句which launched a videocapable version of its iPod portable musicplayer in October修饰主语Apple Computer(关系代词which在从句中作主语)分隔了主语和系动词。连接后得到Meanwhile, Apple Computer is striking deals with television networks to expand the range of shows…其中that又引导定语从句that can be purchased for viewing on the device…修饰先行词shows(关系代词that在从句作主语，从句中使用了被动语态)，句末的分词结构including “Lost”， “Desperate Housewives” and “Law &Order”作伴随状语，表明range of shows的具体内容。

    【参考译文】与此同时，苹果电脑公司在10月发售了一款可以观看电视的便携式音乐播放器iPod，这个播放器大大帮助了电视网络扩大其可以供用户购买的、用于在移动终端的节目范围， 包括《迷失》、《绝望的主妇》以及《法律与秩序》。

    【难句】3. Some technologies do indeed improve at such a predictable pace that they obey simple formulae such as Moore’s law, which acts as a battle plan for the semiconductor industry. (The Economist Sep. 21, 2006)

    结构分析】 本句结构清晰，主句为Some technologies do indeed improve at such a predictable pace that they obey simple formulae such as Moore’s law，使用了such…that…结构；关系代词which引导定语从句which acts as a battle plan for the semiconductor industry，修饰先行词formulae such as Moore’s law，which在从句中作主语。

    【参考译文】的确，有些技术的进步是以一种可预测的节奏进行着，它们遵循摩尔定律般简单的公式，好比是半导体工业的设计图纸。

    【难句】4. Visit many online sites to research a car, and they will sell your name immediately to local dealerships which will then harass you in the old-fashioned way. (The Economist May 27, 2006)

    【结构分析】以and为切入点，本句包含两个并列分句。注意前一分句省略了和后一分句相同的主语they(指代网络销售商)。后一分句中，they will sell your name immediately to local dealerships是主句，关系代词which引导定语从句which will then harass you in the oldfashioned way，which指代上文的一整句话。

    【参考译文】网络销售商通过访问大量的网站去寻找一部车，然后就会把你的名字提供给当地的经销商，这又会让你重回到以前那种购车模式所带来的困扰中。

    【难句】5. Even China’s population will be declining by the early 2030s, according to the UN, which projects that by 2050 populations will be lower than they are today in 50 countries. (The Economist Jun.5, 2006)

    【结构分析】 本句结构清晰，是一个复合句。主句为Even China’s population will be declining by the early 2030s, according to the UN，其后的定语从句which projects that by 2050 populations will be lower than they are today in 50 countries修饰先行词UN，关系代词在从句中作主语，注意这里project作动词用，译为“指出”，且从句里使用了比较级。

    【参考译文】联合国有关报告指出，即便是中国，到2030年初期人口也将开始递减。这份报告同时还指出，到2050年，将有50个国家的人口低于今天的水平。

    【难句】6. That is surely how history will judge modern criticism of video games, which are accused of turning young people into violent criminals. (The Economist Jun.18, 2006)

    【结构分析】 本句的主句That is surely how history will judge modern criticism of video games是主系表结构，其中表语由how引导的名词性从句充当，定语从句which are accused of turning young people into violent criminals修饰先行词video games，关系代词which指代先行词video games在从句中作主语，这里使用了被动语态be accused of，在翻译时我们译成主动。

    【参考译文】 对于当今时代那些控诉电视游戏使年轻人变成暴力罪犯的批评者们，历史最终也将对他们作出同样的批判。

    【难句】7. Management and HR groups spend a lot of time talking about “engagement”， which comes down to getting employees excited about the work they’re doing and its contribution to the company. (Business Week Feb. 5, 2007)

    【结构分析】本句的主干一目了然：Management and HR groups spend a lot of time talking about “engagement”，which引导的定语从句which comes down to getting employees excited about…。修饰先行词engagement，关系代词which在从句中作主语。介词about后有两个宾语the work and its contribution，其中work的修饰语由一个省略了关系代词that/which的定语从句they’re doing充当，关系代词在从句中作宾语，contribution则由后置的介词短语修饰。

    【参考译文】管理和人力资源群体花费大量的时间来谈论“参与”，激发雇员对他们的工作和为公司做贡献的兴趣。

    【难句】8. To make the technology as simple as possible, Sony, HP, and other vendors are finally creating software that can be used across all their devices—be it PCs, TVs, or set—top boxes. (Business Week Jan. 29, 2007)

    【结构分析】 本句结构比较清晰，是一个复合句。句首的不定式短语To make the technology as simple as possible作全句的目的状语。主句为Sony, HP, and other vendors are finally creating software…。关系代词that引导的定语从句that can be used across all their devices修饰先行词software，that在从句中作主语，并且使用了被动语态。第一个破折号后面是对across all their devices的具体说明，注意这里采用了whether…or…引导的让步状语从句省略whether的特殊形式be it PCs, TVs, or set。第二个破折号后top boxes是对software的最终阐释，我们去掉中间让步状语作的分隔成分，可以连接全句为Sony, HP, and other vendors are finally creating software that can be used across all their devices—top boxes。

    【参考译文】为了让科技尽可能的简单，索尼、惠普和其他销售者最终开发了可以在所有装置上使用的软件——不论是个人电脑、电视机或是数字解码器——这种软件就是机顶盒。

    【难句】9. On the face of it, that doesn’t seem especially surprising: we feel strong emotion at important events, which are obviously more memorable than ordinary moments (Time Jan. 18, 2007)

    【结构分析】这是典型的冒号前为主句，冒号后作解释说明的实例。句首部分On the face of it为全句的状语，主句部分为that doesn’t seem especially surprising，这里seem采用了系动词的用法。注意形容词surprising指物的ing使用。冒号后we feel strong emotion at important events是对主句的解释说明，非限制性定语从句which are obviously more memorable than ordinary moments使用了比较结构，关系代词which在从句中作主语。注意which后的be动词使用了复数形式are，联系上文，我们不难判断出它指代important events。

    【参考译文】乍看起来，那似乎不会使我们特别吃惊：在重大事件上我们会感到强烈的感情冲击——重大事件显然比平常日子让人记忆深刻。

    【难句】10. An animal that can remember the significance of that large, nasty-looking thing with the big teeth and sharp claws will survive longer and produce more offspring. (Time Jan. 18, 2007)

    【结构分析】本句是复合句，句子的主干为An animal will survive longer and produce more offspring。主语animal后接关系代词that引导的定语从句，关系代词代替animal在从句中作主语。在从句里，谓语动词remember的宾语是the significance，它的后置定语为that large, nasty-looking thing with the big teeth and sharp claws；介词短语with the big teeth and sharp claws补充说明thing的特点。

    【参考译文】一种动物只有记住了长相丑恶(具有巨大牙齿和锋利爪子)且身体庞大的重要性，才能生存长久并繁殖更多的后代。

    【难句】11. Women who live in areas of high air pollution, exposed to invisible particles from traffic fumes, coal-fired power stations and wood fires, are at increased risk of heart disease and death, according to a study. (The Guardian Feb. 1, 2007)

    【结构分析】本句是主系表结构。主语Women后是定语从句 who live in areas of high air pollution，关系代词who在从句中代替women作主语，系表部分are at increased risk of heart disease and death被分词结构(表被动)作的后置定语exposed to invisible particles from traffic fumes, coalfired power stations and wood fires分隔，由于定语部分较长，在翻译时我们可以译为并列结构；句子末尾的according to a study作全句的状语。

    【参考译文】一项研究表明，生活在严重空气污染地区的女性，暴露在车辆尾气、燃煤发电厂、森林火灾所产生和排放的无形的微小颗粒中，越来越容易患心脏病，甚至会因此直接导致死亡。 

  二、名词性从句

    【难句】1. The console can determine how the controller is moving in space and what it is pointing at, and uses that information to control what is happening on screen. (The Economist Dec. 2, 2006)

    【结构分析】以逗号后and为切入点，得到主句部分的并列平行结构The console can determine…, and uses that information to control…，uses与can determine一起作该句的谓语。其中determine的宾语也以and切入，得到how引导的名词性从句how the controller is moving in space和what引导的名词性从句what it is pointing at(how在从句中作状语，what在从句中作宾语)；在use的宾语补足语to control…中，control的宾语使用了what引导的名词性从句what is happening on screen充当，what在从句中作主语。

    【参考译文】游戏机能测出手柄的移动轨迹，识别手柄指着屏幕上的什么东西，然后根据得到的信息控制屏幕上的游戏。

    【难句】2. If left unchanged, it appears that the time to cash in on digital sales via services like iTunes is starting to evaporate, especially if the music is set to start leaking into the public domain in the country where it was originally produced. (Business Week Feb. 5, 2007)

    【结构分析】本句主干为主系表结构，注意appear在这里是系动词用法。表语部分由that引导的名词性从句that the time…is starting to evaporate…充当，不定式短语to cash in on digital sales via services like iTunes 作后置定语修饰the time。especially直到句末是条件状语从句，使用了被动语态 if the music is set to…句末关系副词where引导的定语从句where it was originally produced修饰先行词the country，关系副词在从句中作状语，相当于in which。句首部分If left unchanged，我们可以理解为是分词结构作的条件状语，注意这里使用了leave sth.+adj。用法。

    【参考译文】如果不改变，则通过诸如iTunes利用数字销售赚钱的时代可能开始消亡了，尤其是当音乐在其最初发表的国家已经进入公共领域时。

    【难句】3. If I ever had any doubts about how demanding a teacher’s job is, it would have disappeared for good when I spent some time recently in schools. (The Guardian Sep. 12, 2007)

    【结构分析】 本句的结构清晰，为主从复合句。it would have disappeared for good when I spent some time recently in schools为主句部分，其中包含一个when引导的时间状语从句when I spent some time recently in schools。If引导的条件状语从句中，had any doubts about后的宾语由how引导的名词性从句how demanding a teacher’s job is充当，how与形容词demanding相连作从句的表语。注意整个句子使用了与过去相反的虚拟语气，从句为if+had done，主句为would/could/should/might+have done的形式。

    【参考译文】 如果说我以前还曾怀疑教师的工作有多吃力，那么当我最近在学校中待了一段时间后，我永远改变了原来的想法。

    【难句】4. The teachers who took part in the program also told me of their worries that they might be force-feeding their pupils information rather than stimulating the discussion necessary to ensure they grasped the importance to them of what they were being taught. (The Guardian Sep. 12, 2007)

    【结构分析】本句成分复杂。主语The teachers 后跟who引导的定语从句who took part in the program also told me of their worries…作修饰语，关系代词who在从句中作主语。told后我们可以认为是双宾语(对象+内容)，直接宾语部分their worries后跟that引导的名词性从句that they might be forcefeeding their pupils information rather than stimulating the discussion necessary to ensure…说明worries的具体内容。ensure后面的宾语是一个省略了引导词that的宾语从句they grasped the importance to them of…，grasped的宾语the importance of…被不定式结构to them分隔，of构成的介宾短语的宾语由what引导的名词性从句充当，且从句使用了被动语态的现在进行时。

    【参考译文】参与节目的老师们还告诉我，他们担心自己可能是在向学生强行灌输知识与信息，而不是激励他们讨论，以此保证他们能掌握他们所学知识的要领。

    【难句】5. The trouble with that approach is that consumers tend to prefer devices that require simply plugging them in, without complicated setups of wireless channels, security, and other features common to home networks. (Business Week Jan. 29, 2007)

    【结构分析】 本句主干很清晰，是主系表结构。其中表语部分由that引导的名词性从句that consumers tend to prefer devices…充当。device后是that引导的定语从句 that require simply plugging them in…,关系代词that在从句中作主语。逗号后的介词短语 without complicated setups of wireless channels, security, and other features…作从句中的伴随状语(在翻译时我们可以转译为定语)，句末的形容词结构common to home networks后置作features的定语。

    【参考译文】 这一方式的问题在于，消费者更喜欢不需要创立复杂的无线电频道、安全保护以及家庭网络所共有的其他特性，便可以简单插入的装置。

    【难句】6. Davies says guidance must strike a balance between being flexible enough to take account of the differences between disciplines and providing enough detail to be of use. (The Guardian Oct. 3, 2007)

    【结构分析】本句不难，主句谓语says后是省略了that的宾语从句guidance must strike a balance between being flexible enough to take account of the differences between disciplines and providing enough detail to be of use。注意两个between的使用。第一个between与后面的and 相连，构成being flexible enough to…and providing enough detail to…结构，第二个between后跟disciplines表示“各学科之间”，并且前后都使用了be enough to do的形式。

    【参考译文】戴维斯说，指导规范必须在足够灵活考虑各学科的不同点和提供充足的可操作的细节之间寻求一种平衡。

    【难句】7. In its 16 years of operation it has found the first convincing evidence for the existence of black holes, made observations supporting the theory that the universe’s expansion is accelerating and confirmed that dark matter exists. (The Economist Nov. 2, 2006)

    【结构分析】去掉句首介宾In its 16 years of operation作的时间状语，以and为切入点，得到主句it has found…, made…and confirmed…其中made后的宾语中，包含现在分词结构supporting the theory…作的伴随状语，在此伴随状语中，that引导同位语从句that the universe’s expansion is accelerating解释说明theory的内容；而confirmed后的宾语由that引导的名词性从句that dark matter exists充当。

    【参考译文】在它运行的16年中，首次发现了关于黑洞的令人信服的证据，很多观测都支持宇宙加速膨胀的理论并确认暗物质的存在。

 三、非谓语动词

    【难句】1. The energy used to separate oxygen from air before burning is almost as great as that needed to filter out nitrogen afterwards, leading to a similar loss of efficiency. (The Economist Nov. 30, 2006)

    【结构分析】本句是一个简单句，为一个主系表结构The energy is almost as great as that needed to filter out nitrogen afterwards，使用了as…as…结构，其中被比较的对象that needed to filter out nitrogen afterwards中，that指代上文的energy，过去分词结构needed to…作后置定语体现被动。其中主语energy由过去分词结构used to separate oxygen from air before burning 作后置定语体现被动；句末的现在分词结构leading to a similar loss of efficiency作全句的结果状语。

    【参考译文】 燃烧前将氧气从空气中分离所需的能源几乎不亚于上述将氮气过滤所需的耗费，这就使得两者在效率损失上不相上下。

    【难句】2. Some great manufacturers and great service companies may have become too lean in their relentless drive to reduce costs, outsourcing not just their non-core activities but essential ones too. (The Economist Jun. 15, 2006)

    【结构分析】本句不难，逗号前为主句Some great manufacturers and great service companies may have become too lean in their relentless drive to reduce costs,使用了too…to…结构，句末的现在分词结构outsourcing not just their noncore activities but essential ones too作伴随状语，进一步补充说明reduce costs的具体内容。

    【参考译文】有些大的制造商和服务供应商热衷于降低成本，不仅把非核心业务外包，而且连核心业务也不放过。

    【难句】3. The study shows that nearly half the organizations featured in the Times Top 100 Graduate Employers plan to expand their graduate programs this year, increasing the total number of vacancies available for new graduates by more than 10 percent compared with 2006 recruitment levels. (The Sunday Times Jan. 11, 2007)

    【结构分析】 本句是复合句。逗号前为主句，是主谓宾结构，其中谓语shows的宾语由that引导的名词性从句that nearly half the organizations featured in the Times Top 100 Graduate Employers plan to expand their graduate programs this year充当。现在分词结构increasing the total number of vacancies available for new graduates by more than 10 percent compared with 2006 recruitment levels作状语，我们可以理解其为结果状语，注意增加的幅度用介词by表示。句末的过去分词结构compared with 2006 recruitment levels作比较状语。

    【参考译文】研究表明，《时代》排名前100名的毕业生雇主单位中有将近一半计划今年将扩大毕业生接收规模，为新的毕业生增加可利用的空缺职位数量，这个数量与2006年的新成员水平相比，会增加10%以上。

    【难句】4. The trouble is, as soon as you’ve been given a clean bill of health you’re back at your desk, facing the same situation that led to depression and compulsive behavior problems in the first place. (Times Online Jan. 11, 2007)

    【结构分析】 本句主干是一个主系表结构The trouble is…，其中表语部分由从句充当。在表语从句中，包含as soon as引导的时间状语从句as soon as you’ve been given a clean bill of health，翻译为“一……就……”。现在分词短语facing the same situation…作you’re back at your desk的伴随状语，关系代词that引导的定语从句 that led to depression and compulsive behavior problems in the first place修饰先行词the same situation，that在从句中作主语。

    【参考译文】 问题是，一旦你得到清楚的健康证明，你就得立刻回到你的办公桌，并且首先就要面对与原来