考研英语（一）长难句解析系列——2007年阅读Text1

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　　本文选自The New York Times，原文标题是A Star is Made: The Birth-Month Soccer Anomaly(明星是培养出来的：足球运动员出生月份的异常现象)。文章主要探讨了人的成就是取决于后天培养还是先天遗传的问题。作为阅读的第一篇文章，在长难句方面，文章难度也略低，重点是辨识出不同形式的定语，掌握状语的理解和翻译方法。下面就其中的5个句子进行详解：
　　【典型例句1】 Ericsson grew up in Sweden, and studied nuclear engineering until he realized he would have more opportunity to conduct his own research if he switched to psychology.
　　【例句分析】本句是由and连接的并列句，主干是Ericsson grew up in Sweden, and studied nuclear engineering。until … psychology引导时间状语从句;其中包含宾语从句he …psychology，省略了连词that;if引导条件状语从句，修饰宾语从句。
　　【例句译文】埃里克森在瑞典长大，一直研究核工程，直到后来他意识到如果转向心理学，他会有更多的机会从事自己的研究。
　　【典型例句2】 This success, coupled with later research showing that memory itself is not genetically determined, led Ericsson to conclude that the act of memorizing is more of a cognitive exercise than an intuitive one.
　　【例句分析】本句的主干是This success led Ericsson to conclude that…，that引导宾语从句。coupled …determined是过去分词做后置定语，修饰主语This success，其中包含showing … determined是现在分词做后置定语，修饰research。
　　【例句译文】这次成功，加上后来那些表明记忆力不是由遗传决定的实验，使得埃里克森得出结论：记忆行为与其说是一种直觉活动，不如说是一种认知活动。
　　【典型例句3】In other words, whatever inborn differences two people may exhibit in their abilities to memorize, those differences are swamped by how well each person “encodes” the information.
　　【例句分析】本句是一个主从复合句，whatever引导让步状语从句，主句是those differences are swamped by how …，其中how引导宾语从句。
　　【例句译文】换句话说，不管两个人的记忆力有什么先天性的差别，这些差别与个人信息“编码”的能力相比都是显得不足轻重。
　　【典型例句4】And the best way to learn how to encode information meaningfully, Ericsson determined, was a process known as deliberate practice.
　　【例句分析】本句的主干是Ericsson determined the best way was a process。to … meaningfully和known… practice分别是不定式后置定语和过去分词后置定语，修饰way和process。
　　【例句译文】埃里克森认为，学习如何有效地编码信息的最好方式是一个被称为“刻意练习”的过程。
　　【典型例句5】Ericsson and his colleagues have thus taken to studying expert performers in a wide range of pursuits, including soccer.
　　【例句分析】本句的主干是Ericsson and his colleagues have thus taken to studying expert performers，in a wide range of pursuits是介词短语做后置定语，including soccer是同位语，解释说明expert performers。
　　【例句译文】于是，埃里克森和他的同事开始研究包括足球运动员在内的各行各业的优秀人才。
　　综上所述，这篇文章的难点在于定语和同位语的区分。在今后的学习中，各位考生应该加大长难句练习，以句子为单位综合掌握词汇、语法和翻译方法。在业余时间，多多泛读优秀的英文文章，比如The Economist,提高对英文文章整理的感知和理解能力。
　　(本文作者为中公考研英语指导老师—申虹)
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