考研英语（一）长难句解析系列——2011年完型

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本文选自2009年3月25日Scientific American上一篇名为How Humor Makes You Friendlier, Sexier的文章，主要讨论了笑这一行为的作用：放松肌肉，此外还可以通过引起其他身体反应而改善人的情绪。全文中在长难句方面，难度不是很大。作为2011年考研英语试卷的第一道题，句子难度适中，不会给考生造成过多理解上的困难，进而影响考试心情以至发挥不佳。但是作为考研英语的完型题目，全文中还是有一些长句需要大家认真分析和理解的，下面就其中的典型例句进行分析：
　　【典型例句1】：Laughter does produce short-term changes in the function of the heart and its blood vessels, boosting heart rate and oxygen consumption.
　　【例句解析】：本句主干成分为Laughter does produce short-term changes，由does对谓语动词进行强调。in the function of the heart and its blood vessels 是介词短语作后置定语修饰short-term changes。boosting heart rate and oxygen consumption是动名词短语作同位语解释说明changes的内容。
　　【难点点拨】：blood vessel：血管;heart rate：心率;oxygen consumption：耗氧量。
　　【例句释义】：笑确实会引起心脏和心血管功能方面的短期变化，增强心率以及增加耗氧量。
　　【典型例句2】：But because hard laughter is difficult to sustain, a good laugh is unlikely to have measurable benefits the way, say, walking or jogging does.
　　【例句解析】：本句包含一个because引导的原因状语从句，主句为 a good laugh is unlikely to have measurable benefits the way, say, walking or jogging does。其中主句又包括一个the way引导的方式状语从句;say属插入语，进行举例。
　　【难点点拨】：hard laughter：大笑;measurable：显著的;say：比如说。
　　【例句释义】：但是因为大笑很难持续，所以笑声不可能像散步或慢跑那样具有显著的好处。
　　【典型例句3】：Studies dating back to the 1930’s indicate that laughter relaxes muscles, decreasing muscle tone for up to 45 minutes after the laugh dies down.
　　【例句解析】：本句主干成分为Studies indicate that laughter relaxes muscles，其中又包含一个that引导的宾语从句。dating back to the 1930’s是现在分词短语作后置定语修饰studies。decreasing muscle tone for up to 45 minutes after the laugh dies down是现在分词短语作结果状语，修饰前面的宾语从句;其中又包含一个after引导的时间状语从句。
　　【难点点拨】：date back to：追溯到;muscle tone：肌肉紧张度;die down：逐渐消失。
　　【例句释义】：追溯到20世纪30年代的多种研究都表明：笑声可以放松肌肉，它消失后可以缓解肌肉紧张度长达45分钟。
　　【典型例句4】：In an experiment published in 1988, social psychologist Fritz Strack of the University of Würzburg in Germany asked volunteers to hold a pen either with their teeth—thereby creating an artificial smile—or with their lips, which would produce a disappointed expression.
　　【例句解析】：本句主句的主干成分为social psychologist Fritz Strack asked volunteers to hold a pen。In an experiment published in 1988是介词短语作地点状语，其中published in 1988又是过去分词作后置定语修饰experiment。of the University of Würzburg in Germany是of介词短语作后置定语修饰Fritz Strack，其中in Germany又是作后置定语修饰the University of Würzburg。either with their teeth—thereby creating an artificial smile—or with their lips, which would produce a disappointed expression中either…..or……连接两个并列的with短语：with their teeth和with their lips。此外，thereby creating an artificial smile由两个破折号隔开，属插入语，而且也是结果状语;which would produce a disappointed expression是非限制性定语从句。
　　【难点点拨】：the University of Würzburg：维尔茨堡大学;artificial：人造的，虚伪的。
　　【例句释义】：在1988年公开的一个实验中，德国维尔茨堡大学的社会心理学家弗里茨·斯特劳克让志愿者用牙齿咬住一支钢笔——因此会形成一个虚假的笑容——或者用嘴唇含住一支钢笔，这会形成一副失望的表情。
　　【典型例句5】：Those forced to exercise their smiling muscles reacted more enthusiastically to funny cartoons than did those whose mouths were contracted in a frown, suggesting that expressions may influence emotions rather than just the other way around.
　　【例句解析】：本句主句为Those forced to exercise their smiling muscles reacted more enthusiastically to funny cartoons，其中主干成分为Those reacted more enthusiastically to funny cartoons，而forced to exercise their smiling muscles是过去分词作后置定语修饰those。than did those whose mouths were contracted in a frown, suggesting that expressions may influence emotions rather than just the other way around是than引导的比较状语从句修饰主句，其中由于用助动词did代替上文中出现的reacted to funny cartoons，所以从句采用全部倒装的形式;此外，whose mouths were contracted in a frown, suggesting that expressions may influence emotions rather than just the other way around是whose引导的定语从句修饰those;此定语从句中，suggesting that expressions may influence emotions rather than just the other way around又是现在分词短语作结果状语修饰前面的whose mouths were contracted in a frown;结果状语中，that expressions may influence emotions rather than just the other way around是that引导的宾语从句，其中rather than又是作并列连词连接两个句子：expressions may influence emotions和(it is)just the other way around，而just the other way around中省略了it is。
　　【难点点拨】：contract：收缩;frown：皱眉;the other way around：倒过来，从相反方面，此处指“情绪影响表情”。
　　【例句释义】：与那些嘴巴收缩成皱眉形状的志愿者相比，被迫练习笑肌的志愿者对于有趣动画的反应更为激烈，这表明表情也可能会影响情绪，而不仅仅是情绪影响表情。
　　总之，由于本文中对于后置定语、定语从句、状语从句、宾语从句、倒装等知识点考查较多，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》、《科学美国人》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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