长难句速读训练40句

注意：
1.所提供的中文大致是按照原语顺序翻译过来的，目的是尽可能模拟同学们的阅读实
况。

因此，中文仅供参考，不可依赖。

希望同学们在中文的帮助下理解语句，在理解的基础上速读，然后通过速读突破母语依赖，最终与西洋文达到心有灵犀、心领神会的境界。

2.要求自己理解每句话的“合理性”，切忌当改错题来做，不需要纠结“他为啥不那
么写为啥不用那个时态为啥要省略”。

3.▲“孙子兵法”所提供的结构分析，尽可能少地使用了语法术语，目的是去概念化，
避免因为纠结语法术语、咬文嚼字而耽误理解。

特别点出的修饰结构、句式，在考研阅读中极具典型性，须高度重视。

希望同学们通过简化的结构分析，理解句意，然后通过熟读，最终熟悉西洋文中各种典型结构。

4.V表示动词，V-ing表示动词的ing形式，V-ed表示动词的被动/完成形式，N表示名
词
5.心血之作，微言为经。

愿诸君乘风破万里浪。

1．A report consistently brought back by visitors to the US is how friendly, courteous, and helpful most Americans were to them. (难点：N+后置修饰)
去美国的旅客不断带回的一份报告表现了大部分美国对他们是如何友善、客气、乐于助人。

▲孙子兵法：a report is how…是句子的主干部分，consistently brought back by …是v-ed做后置修饰，修饰report，意思是“不断地被带回的一份报告”。

本句译文稍微调整语序，改被动为主动，以方便各位同学理解。

2．Someone traveling alone, if hungry, injured, or ill, often had nowhere to turn except to the nearest cabin or settlement. (难点：if 插入结构)
某人独自旅行，如果饿了、受伤了或者病了，常常没有别的地方可以投奔除了最近的小屋或者居民区。

▲孙子兵法：someone （traveling alone）often had nowhere to turn…是句子的主干。

Traveling alone是v-ing做后置修饰，修饰someone，意思是“独自旅行的人”。

If hungry, injured, or ill是插入结构，且为省略句，完整的句子是：if they are hungry, injured, or ill. 这里的they就是指代上文的someone，由于they与someone表示同一主语，符合省略原则，因此省略they are，仅保留语义重心。

3. As is true of any developed society, in America a complex set of cultural signals, assumptions, and conventions underlies all social interrelationships.(难点：as is true of 结构，主谓一致)正如任何一个发达社会，在美国，一套复杂的文化信号、假设、传统奠基了所有社会关系。

▲向自己提个问题：underlie的主语是conventions吗？
4. It takes more than a brief encounter on a bus to distinguish between courteous convention and individual interest. Yet, being friendly is a virtue that many Americans value highly and expect from both neighbors and strangers. ( 难点：it…to do句式；that结构)
需要的不仅仅是一个简单的巴士邂逅来区分客气的习惯和个人兴趣。

但是，表现得友好是一种美德，许多美国人都高度看重而且希望从邻居和陌生人那里得到。

5. Dependence is marked first by an increased tolerance, with more and more of the substance required to produce the desired effect, and then by the appearance of unpleasant withdrawal symptoms when the substance is discontinued.（难点：并列结构，超长with插入结构，N+后置修饰）
依赖的首要标志是增长的耐受性，越来越多的这种物质被需要来产生理想效果，然后的标志是出现不良戒断症状，当这种物质被中止使用时。

▲孙子兵法：本句的主干部分是由and连接的两个被动结构：dependence is marked first by… and then by.. .而插在中间的with more and more of the substance…仅仅表示伴随状态，是伴随着increased tolerance发生的事情。

需要注意的是，substance 后面的required to 是个v-ed做后置修饰的结构，因此substance required to produce desired effect可以理解成“的”字结构：被需要用来制造理想效果的物质
6. Some economists argue that powerful structural changes in the world have upended the old economic models that were based upon the historical link between growth and inflation.（难点：因果关系，铺垫关系）
一些经济学家认为世界上强有力的结构性变化已经颠覆了旧的经济模式，那些旧的经济模式是基于增长与通货膨胀之间的历史关系的。

▲孙子兵法：本句包含3层内容。

第一层：some economists argue that…第二层：powerful structural changes … have upended the old economic models（表现了一个因果关系，找到了谁是因、谁是果么？）第三层：the old economic models were based upon the historical link between growth and inflation.（这句话中，谁是基础、谁是结果？）
7. Until recently, the scientific community was so powerful that it could afford to ignore its critics -- but no longer.（难点：转折关系）
直到最近，科学界是如此强大以至于它能够忽视批评者们——但局面将不再如此。

8. Feeling threatened, companies responded by writing ever-longer warning labels, trying to anticipate every possible accident.（难点：V-ing前置，V-ing后置）
感觉被威胁，公司进行了回应，写了更长的警告标签，预先标明种种可能发生的事故。

▲孙子兵法：V-ing前置，与V-ing后置，它俩有啥区别？超级重点，上课会详细解析。

9. More recently, as the Web proved to be more than a fashion, companies have started to buy and sell products and services with one another.
最近，随着网络证明不仅仅是一种潮流，公司开始（在网上）互相交易商品和服务。

▲孙子兵法：be more than 不仅仅是one another彼此
10. But it is hardly inevitable that companies on the Web will need to resort to push strategies to make money.（难点：双重否定，it…that…句式）
但是，可以避免的是网上的公司会需要求助于推销策略来挣钱。

（换句话说，就是“网上公司并不是非得依靠“推销”策略来挣钱。

”）
▲孙子兵法：Hardly inevitable 很难无法避免——双重否定——可以避免。

Resort to求助于Push strategies 一种推销策略，表示在市场及顾客并无明确需求时公司推出产品、造势宣传，使顾客被动接受这一产品。

苹果公司前总裁Jobs曾说过：“我的客户他们并不知道自己要什么，直到我告诉他们。

”这句话就是push strategies的精髓体现。

11. A history of long and effortless success can be a dreadful handicap, but, if properly handled, it may become a driving force.（难点：if 插入结构，表示条件）
一段长时间并且不费力而成功的历史可能成为一种可怕的不利因素，但若处理得当，这种不利因素也有可能转化为一种积极的推动力。

▲孙子兵法：本句主干是由But连接的2个分句：A history of … can be a dreadful handicap，but it may become a driving force. 而第2个分句成立的条件是If properly handled。

If properly handled原来是个完整的句子，即if it(a history of long and effortless success) is properly handled，其中的it is由于和该分句的主句部分主谓语一致而被省略掉了。

12. F or a while it looked as though the making of semiconductors, which America had invented and which sat at the heart of the new computer age, was going to be the next casualty.（难点：超长which插入结构，把握句子主干）
有阵子，事情看起来，好像半导体制造，这一由美国发明并且处于新计算机时代中心的产业，就要成为下一个牺牲者了。

▲孙子兵法：一级主干：it looked as though（即as if好像）。

二级主干：the making of semiconductors was going to be the next casualty. 而逗号之间的两个which从句起修饰作用，修饰the making of semiconductors。

13. Few Americans attribute this solely to such obvious causes as a devalued dollar or the turning of the business cycle. Self-doubt has yielded to blind pride.
没几个美国人将这一巨变单纯归因于美元贬值或商业周期循环这些显而易见的原因。

到如今，对自身的怀疑已被盲目乐观所取代。

（难点：N + as补充说明结构）
▲孙子兵法：few表示否定含义；attribute A to B把A归咎于B；yield to屈服于，被。

取代Again, differences between people and the opportunity for natural selection to take
have diminished.（难点：复杂的A and B结构，it前指代现象）
人与人之间的差异和利用差异进行自然选择的机会已经减少。

▲孙子兵法：and连接的两个并列部分是differences between people和the opportunity for natural selection to take advantage of it，而不是people和the opportunity。

另外注意句中的it指代的是differences between people。

15. When a new movement in art attains a certain fashion, it is advisable to find out what its advocates are aiming at, for, however farfetched and unreasonable their principles may seem today, it is possible that in years to come they may be regarded as normal.（难点：复杂因果关系结构，it…to do结构，for与其所引导的原因被however插入结构隔开）
当一场新的艺术运动形成一定潮流，就最好去找到倡导者们的目标所在，因为，不管他们（这群前卫艺术家们）的时尚原则在今天看来多么牵强无理，几年后都很可能会被认为是稀松平常的。

▲孙子兵法：本句主干内容为因果关系，由2部分构成。

【When …+ it is advisable to…】为结论，【for it is possible that…】为原因。

至于放在原因引导词for之后的【however farfetched and unreasonable their principles may seem today】，则是一个插入语，起到补充说明的作用。

但需要注意的是，however不表示“然而”，而应理解成“不管多么。

”,此时是连词，可以直接与形容词/副词相接。

当however表示转折时，为副词，要么后面要接逗号（However,），要么前后都要有逗号(，however，)。

16. Aimlessness has hardly been typical of the postwar Japan whose productivity and social harmony are the envy of the United States and Europe.（难点：被动语态，hardly否定结构）
战后日本的生产率和社会的和谐为美国和欧洲所称羡，因此漫无目标很难说是战后日本的特色。

17. Certainly people do not seem less interested in success and its signs now than formerly.（难点：包含双重否定的比较级）当然啦，比起从前，人们并没有对成功及其表现减少兴趣。

18 No clear-cut distinction can be drawn between professionals and amateurs in science（难点：被动语态）在科学领域内，专业与业余之间没有绝对的区分。

19. The overall result has been to make entrance to professional geological journals harder for amateurs, a result that has been reinforced by the widespread introduction of refereeing （难点：同位语+that修饰说明）
其整体的结果是使业余人员进入专业性地质学杂志更加困难，而审稿制度的全面引进使这个结果得到加强。

▲孙子兵法：全句的主干结构是The... result has been to do sth.。

逗号后的a result，可以看成是前面句子主语的同位语，that从句是对a result的进一步说明。

20. A great deal of attention is being paid today to the so-called digital divide —the division of the world into the info(information) rich and the info poor. （难点：被动语态）
大量注意力正被给予如今所谓的“数字鸿沟”——即把世界分成信息富裕与信息贫乏。

▲孙子兵法：本句的结构较简单，抓住attention is being paid to the digital divide就可以了。

破折号后面的内容实际上是对digital divide一词的定义，破折号常常起“引出解释”的作用。

21. The astonishing distrust of the news media isn't rooted in inaccuracy or poor reportorial skills but in the daily clash of world views between reporters and their readers.（难点：not…but结构）
读者对新闻媒介令人震惊的不信任的根源并非是报道失实或低下的报道技巧，而是记者与读者的世界观每天都发生着碰撞。

▲孙子兵法：本句的主干是一个not... but结构。

注意这个结构引导的是两个方式状语。

其核心词分别是inaccuracy和the daily clash。

22. Yet there are good reasons to expect the economic consequences now to be less severe than in the 1970s. （难点：expect A to be … + “今昔对比”比较级）但是有很好的理由去期待当下的经济余波，比起1970年代，会没那么严重。

23. Rich economies are also less dependent on oil than they were, and so less sensitive to swings in the oil price.（难点：“今昔对比”比较级）比起从前，富裕经济体不再那么依赖石油了，也因此对油价震荡不再那么敏感。

24. Strengthening economic growth, at the same time as winter grips the northern hemisphere, could push the price higher still in the short time.（难点：V-ing做主语，怪怪的V-ing跟谓语(could push)被超长插入语隔开）加强经济增长，同时随着冬天控制住北半球，能够推动油价在短期内涨得更高。

▲孙子兵法：该句是一个含有插入成分的单句。

主语是Strengthening economic growth，谓语是could push。

25. In Europe, taxes account for up to four-fifths of the retail price, so even quite big changes in the price of crude have a more muted effect on pump prices than in the past.（难点：因果关系，account for, muted, pump price）
在欧洲，税费占据了五分之四的零售价格，因此即使是原油价格的较大变化，比起从前，对零售价格的影响相对较小。

▲孙子兵法：该句是一个复杂句，由两个单句构成，中间用so来表示前后的因果关系。

本句阅读的重点是一些短语和词组。

account for占…的部分；muted原意是“沉默的，被弄哑的”，在文章里的意思是“不太显著的”；pump price油品零售价格。

26. On another level, many in the medical community acknowledge that the assisted-suicide debate has been fueled in part by the despair of patients for whom modern medicine has prolonged the physical agony of dying.（难点：3层语义）
在另一个层面上，许多医疗领域的人承认，协助自杀的争论，在一部分上，是被病人的绝望激化的，对这些病人来说，现代医药延长了死亡过程中的生理痛苦。

▲孙子兵法：本句有3层结构。

第一层：many (in the medical community) acknowledge that…
第二层：the assisted-suicide debate has been fueled (in part)by the despair of patients.
第三层：for patients, modern medicine has prolonged…
27. It's a theory to which many economists subscribe, but in practice it often leaves railroads in the position of determining which companies will flourish and which will fail.（难点：怪怪的position）
这种理论得到了多数经济学家的认同，但在实际操作中，它使铁路公司获得了一个决定谁败谁荣的权利。

▲孙子兵法：本句以But为分界线，分成2部分来理解。

第一部分：it is a theory为主干，后面接着修饰theory的结构：to which many…subscribe，要注意subscribe to（在本句中，to 被前置了），固定搭配，意思是“订阅”，比如：subscribe to China Daily，此处应该引申译为“采取”(adopt)。

第二部分：it 前指代，指代theory；短语A leaves B in the position of …A使得B处于…的位置，到底是怎样的位置呢？就要看of后面的内容；determine决定，后面的which则反映了所决定的内容：哪些公司繁荣，哪些公司失败。

28. However, whether such a sense of fairness evolved independently in capuchins and humans, or whether it stems from the common ancestor that the species had 35 million years ago, is, as yet, an unanswered question. （难点：怪怪的主语）
但是这种公平感是在卷尾猴和人类身上各自独立演化而成，还是来自三千五百万前他们共同的祖先，这还是一个悬而未决的问题。

▲孙子兵法：如果我们把句子“whether such a sense of fairness evolved independently in capuchins and humans”设为A，把句子“whether it stems from the common ancestor that the species had 35 million years ago”设为B，本句的主干部分就是：However, A or B is an unanswered question. 插入结构as yet表示“迄今为止”，不作重点，可跳过不看。

本句的难点就在于，句子主干的主语(A or B)是由2个句子来充当的。

当然对考英语1的同学来说更不幸的是，题目恰好就是考对这句话的理解。

所以，考英语1的同学，狂读吧。

29. And one leading authority says that these intensely powerful mental events can be not only harnessed but actually brought under conscious control, to help us sleep and feel better.（难点：not only…but also…）
一名主要的权威人士说，梦这种异常强烈的精神活动不仅能被驾驭，事实上还可以有意识地加以控制，以帮助我们更好地睡眠和感觉。

▲孙子兵法：本句分2部分来看。

第一部分：one leading authority says that；第二部分：these…events can be not only A but B. 本句主干在第二部分。

其中not only…but(also) 并列结构，连接两个“被”，表示“不仅被驾驭…而且被有意识的加以控制”。

to help us sleep and feel better表示之前那么做的目的。

30. Illustrated with an entertaining array of examples from both high and low culture, the trend that Mr. McWhorter documents is unmistakable.（难点：V-ed修饰结构，that修饰）
M先生从上层和下层文化中列举了一系列有趣的例子，从而说明他记录的这种趋势是确凿无误的。

▲孙子兵法：为师初见该句，不知如何下手，本想草书“徒儿们看着办！”，最终于心不忍。

本句主干内容极为简单：the trend is unmistakable。

Illustrated with。

是个超长V-ed前置结构，修饰的是the trend，表示被动，因此可以理解成“的”字句：“这个被一系列有趣的例子说明了的趋势”。

需要注意的是document在这里是动词，表示“记录”，the trend that Mr. McWhorter documents也可以理解成“的”字句：这个被M先生记录的趋势。

所以你们看，the trend实际上是“前后皆有修饰”；前修饰由V-ed完成，后修饰由that从句完成。

31. The rise of anti-happy art almost exactly tracks the emergence of mass media, and with it, a commercial culture in which happiness is not just an ideal but an ideology.
∴孙子兵法：”with it”中的it指代the emgernce of mass media. “in which”是a commercial culture后面的定语从句。

翻译：反幸福艺术流派的兴起几乎恰好沿着大众媒体出现的轨迹，伴随而来的是一种商业广告文化，在这种文化里幸福不只是理想化的，而且是一种空想。

32.Of all the components of a good night’s sleep, dreams seem to be least within our
control. （2005.text3）
∴孙子兵法：这种of … 做状语的句子表示：在…之中，某事物处于某个位置。

尤其处于非常重要的位置。

翻译：在一夜好觉的所有构成要素中，梦似乎是最不受我们控制的。

※举一反三：
Of all the changes that have taken place in English-language newspapers during the past quarter-century, perhaps the most far-reaching has been the inexorable decline in the scope and seriousness of their arts coverage. （2010. Text1）
∴孙子兵法：从of开始到逗号，都属于of…状语，但这个状语之中又嵌套了一个定语从句修饰changes，表示“在…的变化之中”；从perhaps到最后属于主句。

翻译：在过去25年间在英文报纸界所发生过的所有变化之中，或许影响最为深远的就是其文艺报道的范围和严肃性所呈现出的不可抵挡的衰落趋势。

33.Americans no longer expect public figures, whether in speech or in writing, to
command the English language with skill and gift. Nor do they aspire to such command themselves. （2005.text4）
∴孙子兵法：①or常常出现在否定句中，表示“否定的并列”，即“既不…也不…”第1句中的or就是承接no longer而来的。

②Nor do they…是否定句的倒装，还原语序应该是：they do not aspire to… either（他们也不…）. 如果要强调否定语气，可以进行主谓倒装，只要把否定语气的助动词提前到主语前就行了，于是变成了nor do they…
翻译：美国人不再期待公众人物——无论是演讲还是写作上——兼具技巧与天赋地驾驭英语。

他们也并不渴求去如此要求自己。

34.He is not arguing, as many do, that we can no longer think straight because we do
not talk proper.（2005 text4）
∴孙子兵法：本句主干是he is not arguing that…那么整个that从句中的内容都是he不认同的。

插入语as many do提升了本句理解难度，最好的办法是跳过不读，因为考生可能拿不准he跟many到底是相同的观点还是相反的观点。

可能有些考生会理解成“正如许多人那样，他不认为Blablabla”。

如果是这个意思，as many do 就应该放在句首，而不是插在not arguing和that之间。

翻译：他并不像很多人那样认为我们不再能够直接地思考是因为我们无法恰当地表达。

举一反三：
But surely that does not mean environmentalists concerned about uncontrolled industrial growth are anti-science, as an essay in US News & World Report last May seemed to suggest.（1998 passage3）
35.That matters because theory suggests that the maximum sustainable yield that can be
cropped from a fishery comes when the biomass of a target species is about 50% of its original levels. （2006 text3）
∴孙子兵法：
本句分4个层次：
第一层，主句：that matters （“这一点很重要”）
第二层，because从句：because theory suggests that…（“因为理论认为”）
第三层，suggest后的宾从：the maximum sustainable yield … comes.（“最大可持续产量会到来”）第四层：yield之后的定语从句：yield that can be cropped from a fishery（“可从渔场收获的产量”）并列第四层：跟随comes而来的条件状从：when the biomass of a target species is about 50% of its original levels.（“当目标物种的实际生物量达到了原有水平的50%”）
翻译：这一点是很重要的，因为理论认为：可从渔场收获的最大可持续产量只有在目标物种的实际生物量达到了原有水平的50%才能得到。

36.This success, coupled with later research showing that memory itself is not genetically
determined, led Ericsson to conclude that the act of memorizing is more of a cognitive exercise than an intuitive one.（2007 text1）
∴孙子兵法：
本句主干是：This success lead Ericsson to conclude that…
插入成分Coupled with later research不是谓语，而是非谓动作伴随状语，意思是“再加上后来的研究”。

在that从句中所出现的“more of A than B”结构，意思是：语气说是B，不如说是A。

翻译：这次成功，再加上后来的研究表明记忆本身并不是由基因决定的，使E得出结论，那就是记忆这种行为与其说是一种直觉不如说是一种认知训练。

37.Rather, it involves setting specific goals, obtaining immediate feedback and
concentrating as much on technique as on outcome. （2007 text1）
∴孙子兵法：“Rather”在这里的意思是“more correctly speaking”（更准确地说）。

Involves的后面有三个并列宾语，都是动名词,即：setting, obtaining and concentrating on. 句尾的“Concentrating as much on technique as on outcome”，看似不好理解，其实就相当于：concentrating on techniques as much as on outcome.
翻译：更准确地说，它包括制定具体的目标，取得及时反馈，给予方式和结果同等的关注。

38.Superhigh scores like vos Savant’s are no longer possible, because scoring is now based on a
statistical population distribution (人口分布统计) among age peers, rather than simply dividing(除以) the mental age(心理年龄) by the chronological age(实际年龄) and multiplying(乘以) by 100.（2007 text2）
∴孙子兵法：难点是Because之后那句话，看似复杂，其实主干十分简单。

首先拎出主干，用字母替换次要信息，即scoring is now base on A, rather than B. 然后把A和B的含义分别代入就行了。

翻译：像S一样的超级高分已经不再可能，因为如今的评分基于同龄人的人口分布统计，而不是仅仅是用心理年龄除以实际年龄然后乘以100.
39.As a result, they have lost the parachute they once had in times of financial setback –a
back-up earner (usually Mom) who could go into the workforce if the primary earner got laid off or fell sick.（2007 text3）
∴孙子兵法：在Parachute和they之间补充一个that,或许能把第一句看得更明白。

翻译：结果，他们就失去了曾经在经济困难时期所拥有的保护伞——一个备用挣钱者（常常指妈妈），一个可以在主力挣钱者失业或生病的情况下参加工作的人。

40.From the middle-class family perspective, much of this, understandably（可以理解的是）,
looks far less like an opportunity to exercise more financial responsibility, and a good deal more like a frightening acceleration（加速）of the wholesale shift（全面转移）of financial risk onto their already overburdened（不堪重负的）shoulders. （2007 text3）∴孙子兵法：本句主干为Much of this … looks far less like A and a good deal more like B. 此外，出现了超长
“A of B of C ”结构：“a frightening acceleration of the wholesale shift of financial risk onto their already overburdened shoulders”
翻译：从中产阶级家庭的角度来看，可以理解的是，这一局面很大程度上并不像一个履行更多经济责任的机会，更像是经济风险向他们已经不堪重负的肩膀上全面转移的速度正令人恐惧地增加。

41.Left, until now, to odd, low-level IT staff to put right, and seen as a concern only of data-rich
industries such as banking, telecoms and air travel, information protection is now high on the boss’s agenda in businesses of every variety.（2007 text4）
信息保护问题曾经被丢给那些临时的基层IT人员来处理，而且似乎也只是那些数据密集产业的关注，比如银行，电信和航空，如今却是各行各业老板们的头等大事。

42.Several massive leakages of customer and employee data this yea r– from organizations
as diverse as Time Warner, the American defense contractor Science Applications International Corp and even the University of California, Berkeley – have left managers hurriedly peering into their intricate IT systems and business processes in search of potential vulnerabilities. （2007 text4）
43.Surely it should be obvious to the dimmest executive that trust, that most valuable of
economic assets, is easily destroyed and hugely expensive to restore –and that few things are more likely to destroy trust than a company letting sensitive personal data get
into the wrong hands. （2007 text4）44.。