考研英语（一）长难句解析—2007年阅读Text 4
本文选自2005年6月23日The Economist上一篇名为Information Security——The Leaky Corporation的文章，主要通过多起数据泄露事件论述了公司数据保护的重要性，进而指出与之相关的两个问题：管理者的数据保护意识以及相关立法问题。全文中在长难句方面，难度还是较大的。作为2007年阅读部分的第四篇文章，其中的复杂句不算少，句子较长且语法现象较多，因此给考生们造成了理解上的困难。下面就其中的典型例句进行分析：【典型例句1】：Just as bosses and boards have finally sorted out their worst accounting and compliance troubles, and improved their feeble corporation governance , a new problem threatens to earn them – especially in America—the sort of nasty headlines that inevitably lead to heads rolling in the executive suite: data insecurity.
【例句解析】：本句主干为a new problem threatens to earn them。Just as bosses and boards have finally sorted out their worst accounting and compliance troubles, and improved their feeble corporation governance是由as引导的时间状语从句，修饰主干;其中and连接两个并列的谓语成分。especially in America是由两个破折号隔开的插入语，同时又是状语短语，修饰主干。the sort of nasty headlines that inevitably lead to heads rolling in the executive suite: data insecurity是名词短语作同位语，解释前面的a new problem;其中that inevitably lead to heads rolling in the executive suite是定语从句，修饰nasty headlines;data insecurity作同位语，解释the sort of nasty headlines。
【难点点拨】：sort out：解决; compliance：合规，规章;feeble：薄弱的;roll：起伏，轮换;executive suite：管理团队。
【例句释义】：正当老板和董事会刚刚解决了最糟糕的财务和规章问题并加强了薄弱的公司管理后，新的问题又正威胁着他们——特别是在美国——数据不安全这种难应付的报纸头条难以避免地会导致管理团队中高层的轮换。
【典型例句2】：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.
【例句解析】：本句主干为information protection is now high on the boss’s agenda。in businesses of every variety是介词短语作状语，修饰主干。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是由and连接的两个过去分词短语作状语，修饰主干;其中 until now属插入语，同时又是时间状语，修饰本分词短语;such as banking, telecoms and air travel是同位语，解释data-rich industries。
【难点点拨】：odd：暂时的;put right：校正，整理。
【例句释义】：之前，信息保护一直留给临时的、底层的信息技术人员管理，并且被认为是诸如银行、电信、航空等数据丰富的行业所独有的问题;如今在各行各业中，信息保护已成为老板的首要议事日程。
【典型例句3】：Several massive leakages of customer and employee data this year—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.
【例句解析】：本句主干是Several massive leakages have left managers hurriedly peering into their intricate IT systems and business processes，其中hurriedly peering into their intricate IT systems and business processes属于现在分词短语作宾语补足语。of customer and employee data是介词短语作后置定语，修饰leakages。this year是副词短语作后置定语，修饰leakages。from organizations as diverse as Time Warner, the American defense contractor Science Applications International Corp and even the University of California, Berkeley由两个破折号隔开，属于插入语，同时又是介词短语作后置定语，修饰leakages;其中as diverse as Time Warner, the American defense contractor Science Applications International Corp and even the University of California, Berkeley又作后置定语，修饰organizations。in search of potential vulnerabilities介词短语作目的状语，修饰主干。
【难点点拨】：leakage：泄露;defense contractor：国防承包商;peer into：检查;intricate：复杂的;vulnerability：隐患。
【例句释义】：今年几起大规模的客户和雇员资料的泄露事件发生在各种各样的机构里，包括时代华纳公司、美国国防承包商科技应用国际公司以及加利福利亚大学伯克利分校等，这些事件使得管理者们匆忙检查他们复杂精密的信息技术系统以及业务流程，以寻找可能存在的安全隐患。
【典型例句4】：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.
【例句解析】：本句主干为it should be obvious that trust is easily destroyed and hugely expensive to restore and that few things are more likely to destroy trust，其中and连接两个并列的that主语从句，而it是句子的形式主语。to the dimmest executive表示be obvious这一动作的方向。that most valuable of economic assets是名词短语作同位语，解释trust。than a company letting sensitive personal data get into the wrong hand是介词短语作比较状语，修饰前面的few things are more likely to destroy trust;其中a company letting sensitive personal data get into the wrong hand属于独立主格结构。
【难点点拨】：dimmest：最愚昧的，最迟钝的;get into the wrong hands：落入不法之手。
【例句释义】：即使最迟钝的管理人员也应该明确：信任，经济财产中最有价值的部分，最易遭到破坏并且恢复成本极高——而且没有什么事情会比公司让敏感的个人数据落入不法之手更能毁掉信任。
【典型例句5】：Meanwhile, the theft of information about some 40 million credit-card accounts in America, disclosed on June 17th, overshadowed a hugely important decision a day earlier by America’s Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that puts corporate America on notice that regulators will act if firms fail to provide adequate data security.
【例句解析】：本句主干为the theft overshadowed a hugely important decision。of information about some 40 million credit-card accounts in America是介词短语作后置定语，修饰theft;其中about some 40 million credit-card accounts in America又作后置定语，修饰information。disclosed on June 17th是过去分词短语作后置定语，修饰theft。by America’s Federal Trade Commission (FTC) 作后置定语，修饰decision。a day earlier是时间状语短语，修饰后面的by America’s Federal Trade Commission (FTC)。 that puts corporate America on notice是定语从句，修饰decision。that regulators will act if firms fail to provide adequate data security是同位语从句，解释decision的内容;其中又包括一个if引导的条件状语从句，修饰regulators will act。
【难点点拨】：disclose：公开，揭露;overshadow：使……黯然失色;America’s Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ：美国联邦贸易委员会;corporate America：美国公司;put……on notice：警告…。
【例句释义】：6月17日披露了一起涉及全美4千万信用卡账户信息的盗窃案，这让前一天美国联邦贸易委员会通过的一个非常重要的决定顿时黯然失色。该决定警告全体美国公司：如果它们无法提供足够的数据安保措施，那么监管机构就将采取行动。
总之，由于本文中对于后置定语、状语、定语从句、同位语从句等知识点的考查较多，因此大家课下需要多多复习，尤其是要弄懂其中的难点。此外，如果时间充足的话，可以多读一些外国核心期刊文章，如《经济学人》、《美国新闻与世界报道》等，积累英语国家新闻中常用到的表达。
(本文作者为中公考研英语指导老师—张玉环)
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