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)
我们看一下这个句子。Of all the changes that have taken place in English-language newspapers during the past quarter-century,这部分充当整个句子的状语,也就是说它不是句子的主要内容。因此,阅读的时候可以略过,直接关注逗号后。那么perhaps the most far-reaching has been the inexorable decline in the scope and seriousness of their arts coverage这句话的主干内容是什么?应该是 the most far-reaching has been the (inexorable) decline“影响最为深远的变化是衰退”。在这里,inexorable这个词如果不认识怎么办?没关系。因为它是以-able结尾的形容词,阅读过程中,形容词或副词不认识基本上没什么影响。我们要把握的是句子的主要内容。in the scope and seriousness of their arts coverage充当状语,“文艺报道在范围和严肃性方面的衰退”。考虑到有的同学可能基础不够扎实,因此,在这里对句子的分析相对具体些。整个句子的状语Of all the changes that have taken place in English-language newspapers during the past quarter-century,其中that引导定语从句,take place发生,quarter表示“四分之一”这个概念,during the past quarter-century就表示“在过去的25年”。那么这句话就是说“过去的25年里,发生在英文报纸上的所有变化当中,影响最为深远的是文艺报道范围和严肃性方面无情的衰退。”另外,这个句子出现在文章开头,而且是个独句段。而独句段要么交代背景,要么与文章中心相关。因此,大家阅读的时候一定要注意把握。