考研英语（一）长难句解析系列——2010年翻译

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本文选自《沙郡岁月——李奥帕德的自然沉思》(A Sand County Almanac: With Other Essays on Conservation from Round River)。该书为美国现代“环保之父”阿尔多·李奥帕德的代表作，堪称西方环保主义的“圣经”。主要讲述人们不应该用经济价值衡量自然物种价值，由于没有经济价值就任其走向灭绝。大自然及其动植物都是生态系统不可或缺的一部分。全文中长难句集中于划线部分，即5个翻译题。相比于阅读理解中长难句，难度适中。下面就其中的典型例句进行分析：
　　【典型例句1】：Scientists jumped to the rescue with some distinctly shaky evidence to the effect that insects would eat us up if birds failed to control them.
　　【例句解析】：句子主干成分为 Scientists jumped to the rescue。with some distinctly shaky evidence 是with介词短语作状语，修饰主句。to the effect that，that引导同位语从句，而if引导同位语从句中的条件状语从句。
　　【难点点拨】：shaky是动词shake的形容词，意为“不稳固的”，此处修饰evidence，意为“证据站不住脚”。to the effect that...此短语考生几乎都没掌握，意为：“大意是…，意思是…”
　　【例句释义】：科学家们匆匆前来救援，但他们提出的证据明显站不住脚，大意为如果没有这些鸟控制虫子数量，虫子可能会吃光一切。
　　【典型例句2】：We have no land ethic yet, but we have at least drawn near the point of admitting that birds should continue as a matter of intrinsic right, regardless of the presence or absence of economic advantage to us.
　　【例句解析】： but连接并列句，but前是分句1，but后是分句2，句子主干成分为we have at least drawn near the point。of admitting…是of介词短语后置定语，修饰point。Regardless of… 引导让步状语从句。
　　【难点点拨】：draw the point of：得出一种观点;regardless of：不管…;as a matter of…：作为…;
　　【例句释义】：我们还没有形成一种土地伦理，但是我们至少几乎都承认这样一种观点：无论鸟类对我们是否有经济价值，它们都有权利继续生存下去。
　　【典型例句3】：Time was when biologists somewhat overworked the evidence that these creatures preserve the health of game by killing the physically weak, or that they prey only on “worthless” species.
　　【例句解析】：句子主干成分是Time was when biologists somewhat overworked the evidence。两个that引导同位语从句，并由or相连。by killing…是介词短语作方式状语。
　　【难点点拨】：Time was when… 等于 There was time when...，属于非正式用语，意为曾经…，从前…。
　　【例句释义】：曾几何时，生物学家有点滥用这一证据：这些生物通过猎杀弱者来保持物种活力，或者说它们只是猎杀“毫无价值”的物种。
　　【典型例句4】：In Europe, where forestry is ecologically more advanced, the non-commercial tree species are recognized as members of native forest community, to be preserved as such, within reason.
　　【例句解析】：句子主干成分为the non-commercial tree species are recognized as members of native forest community。In Europe, where…中where引导非限定性定语从句，修饰Europe。are recognized as…被动语态作谓语。of native forest community介词短语作定语修饰member。to be preserved as such不定式作目的状语。within reason介词短语作方式状语。
　　【难点点拨】：非限定性定语从句同限定性定语从句的主要区别：限定性定语从句中从句不能省略，如果省略整个句子意思不完整;非限定性定语从句中从句可以省略，如果省略整个句子意思仍然完整。考生作区分时，可以先去掉从句，看句子是否完整，从而判断。
　　【例句释义】：在欧洲，林业在生态学方面更发达，公益林作为原始森林群落成员得到合理保护。
　　【典型例句5】：It tends to ignore, and thus eventually to eliminate, many elements in the land community that lack commercial value, but that are essential to its healthy functioning.
　　【例句解析】：句子主干成分是It tends to ignore, and thus eventually to eliminate…，it代词为形式主语，and连接to ignore和to eliminate。 many elements in the land community是句子的宾语。that lack commercial value, but that are essential…是两个由that引导的定语从句，由but并列，修饰many elements。
　　【例句释义】：这种体系很容易忽略土地群落中的许多元素，最终导致它们的消亡。这些因素虽然没有商业价值，但却对土地的健康运转至关重要。
　　总之，本次翻译题的考查点均为高频考点：定语从句、状语从句、被动语态、并列结构、后置定语等。考生需要掌握并熟练这些考点，提高自身长难句的分析能力。本篇文章在词汇方面多考查熟词生意，即引申含义。建议考生加强词汇短语积累，尤其是已知单词的未知含义和用法。在课余时间，考生可以多关注实时性文章，如环保、生态等国家所倡导的话题文章。
　　(本文作者为中公考研英语指导老师—路达)
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