考研英语（一）长难句解析系列——2008年翻译

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　　本文选自Beacon Lights of History(1902)，原文标题是Charles Darwin: His Place in Modern Science (查尔斯·达尔文在现代科学中的地位)，介绍了达尔文对自己智力的评价，其兴趣爱好的变化及这种变化对智力和性情的影响。除了5个要求翻译的划线句子意外，大多是达尔文的自述的原话，不乏难以理解的部分。下面就其中的难句进行详解：
　　【典型例句1】 So poor in one sense was it that he never could remember for more than a few days a single date or a line of poetry.
　　【例句分析】本句是一个主从复合句，主干是it was so poor. that引导的是结果状语从句。“So+形容词“放在句首要使用全部倒装。that引导的从句中，for more than a few days 是状语，分隔开了谓语never could remember和宾语部分a single date or a line of poetry，正常的理解顺序是：he never could remember a single date or a line of poetry for more than a few days.
　　【例句译文】在某种意义上，他自己的记忆力如此糟糕，以至于他对一个日期或是一行诗句的记忆最长不过几天。
　　【典型例句2】 This, he thought, could not be true, because the “Origin of Species” is one long argument from the beginning to the end, and has convinced many able men.
　　【例句分析】本句是一个主从复合句。主干是This, he thought, could not be true，because引导的是原因状语从句，从句中and并列谓语is和has。主干中，he thought是插入语，理解时放到句首，即：he thought this could not be true，this could not be true是省略了连接词的宾语从句。
　　【例句译文】他认为，这种说法不可能是正确的，因为《物种起源》从头到尾是一个长篇论证并且说服了很多有才华的人。
　　【典型例句3】He was willing to assert that “I have a fair share of invention, and of common sense or judgment, such as every fairly successful lawyer or doctor must have, but not, I believe, in any higher degree.”
　　【例句分析】本句的主干是He was willing to assert that…，that引导宾语从句。从句中，主干是I have a fair share。of invention和 of common sense or judgment做后置定语，修饰share。such as every fairly successful lawyer or doctor must have中，as引导限制性定语从句，修饰such，such指代的是invention和common sense or judgment。but not, I believe, in any higher degree是口语中非正式的表达，省略了主语，完整的句子应该是I believe my fair share of invention, and of common sense or judgment is not in any higher degree.
　　【例句译文】他坦言说，“我具备每个非常成功的律师和医生所必须拥有的创造力、常识和判断力，但是，我认为，我的各种能力水平并不比他们高。”
　　【典型例句4】 Writing in the last year of his life, he expressed the opinion that in two or three respects his mind had changed during the preceding twenty or thirty years.
　　【例句分析】本句的主干是he expressed the opinion。Writing in the last year of his life是介词短语做时间状语，表示一个过程;that引导的是同位语从句，主干是his mind had changed，in two or three respects是介词短语做状语，during the preceding twenty or thirty years是时间状语。
　　【例句译文】在生命的最后一年的写作中，他表示了这样一个观点：在过去的二三十年间，他的思想在两三个方面发生了变化。
　　(本文作者为中公考研英语指导老师—申虹)