比如2006年考研英語閱讀第一篇第三句:people are absorbed into “a culture of consumption” launched by the 19th –century department stores that offered vast s of goods in an elegant atmosphere。如果你習慣了英語里名詞之后的漫長修飾語的語法規律,知道英語里的名詞就好像一個神奇小蒜坨,隨時可能生出萬丈長蒜來,那么這樣的中等長度的句子應該沒有問題進行掃讀,并且是快速掃讀。
又譬如2006年考研英語閱讀第四篇末段開頭:What we forget—what our economy depends on is forgetting—is that happiness is more than pleasure without pain. The things that bring the greatest joy carry the greatest potential for loss and disappointment. 主語謂語相隔比較遙遠,如果出聲朗讀出來必然磕磕巴巴,可是誰又在考研考場里大聲朗讀呢——如果沒有大腦問題?倘若你對英語語法里關于主謂之間的插入現象比較了解,知道在它們中間一般會有后置介詞短語定語,定語從句,插入語或者同位語(從句)甚至狀語(從句),那么這樣同樣的中等長度句子顯然可以一樣快速理解。
翻譯也是如此:
I have excluded him because, while his accomplishments may contribute to the solution of moral problems, he has not been charged with the task of approaching any but the factual aspects of those problems。
在原因狀語從句部分中,難點在于“he has not been charged with the task of approaching any but the factual aspects of those problems”這一部分。字面意思是:他沒有被賦予接觸這些問題中事實部分以外的其它部分的任務。說得簡單點,就是“僅被賦予了研究這些問題中與事實相關的層面。”稍微結合上下文,可以看出,本句的意思是:沒人指望科學家研究問題的道德層面,我們只要求他們研究問題的事實層面。由此,結合整句的理解,我們可以將它翻譯為:“我把一般科學家排除在外了,這是因為,盡管科學家的成就可能有助于解決道德問題,但他們只有義務研究這些問題的事實層面。”
Those adult offspring, owners of private cars, brilliant career and luxurious mansions, refuse the responsibilities of supporting their aged father with all the possible excuses。