精选英语长难句分析

精选英语长难句分析

精选英语长难句分析

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】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