考研英语（一）长难句解析系列——2004年阅读Text2

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　　本文选自The Economics，原文标题是Surnames, as easy as ZYX(姓氏：字母排序的歧视)。文章主要讲述社会生活中一种隐蔽的不平等现象：姓氏字母排序歧视。对于广大考生而言，题材贴近生活，较有趣味，难度较小。作为阅读的第二篇文章，在长难句方面，文章难度也略低，重点是要对长难句进行断句，找到句子的主干，辨识出不同形式的定语、同位语和状语方法。下面就其中的6个句子进行详解：
　　【典型例句1】This, for those as yet unaware of such a disadvantage, refers to discrimination against those whose surnames begin with a letter in the lower half of the alphabet.
　　【例句分析】本句是一个复合句，主干是This refers to discrimination。for those as yet unaware of such a disadvantage是状语，其中的as yet unaware of such a disadvantage做后置定语，修饰those。against those whose … alphabet做后置定语，修饰discrimination;其中包含whose引导的定语从句，修饰those。
　　【例句译文】对于那些至今还没意识到这种不利的人来说，它(姓氏字母排序歧视)指的是对这些人的一种歧视：他们的姓氏以一个位于字母表后半部分的字母开始。
　　【典型例句2】It has long been known that a taxi firm called AAAA cars has a big advantage over Zodiac cars when customers thumb through their phone directories.
　　【例句分析】本句的主干是It has long been known that a taxi firm has a big advantage over Zodiac cars，其中It是形式主语，that引导主语从句。called AAAA是后置定语，修饰taxi firm;when… directories引导时间状语从句。
　　【例句译文】人们早已知道，当顾客翻动电话薄(叫出租车)时，名为AAAA的出租车公司远比名为Zodiac的出租车公司占优势。
　　【典型例句3】Thus the American president and vice-president have surnames starting with B and C respectively; and 26 of George Bush’s predecessors (including his father) had surnames in the first half of the alphabet against just 16 in the second half.
　　【例句分析】本句是一个由and连接的并列句。分句1的主干是the American president and vice-president have surnames。starting with B and C respectively做后置定语，修饰surnames;分句2的主干是26 of George Bush’s predecessors (including his father) had surnames，in the first half of the alphabet是地点状语，against just 16 in the second half是比较状语。
　　【例句译文】所以，美国总统和副总统的形式分别以B和C开头，在乔治·布什的前任(包括其父亲)中，有26位总统的姓氏位于字母表的前半部分，只有16位总统的姓氏位于字母表的后半部分。
　　【典型例句4】The world’s three top central bankers (Greenspan, Duisenberg and Hayami) are all close to the top of the alphabet, even if one of them really uses Japanese characters. As are the world’s five richest men (Gates, Buffett, Allen, Ellison and Albrecht).
　　【例句分析】本句的主干是The world’s three top central bankers are all close to the top of the alphabet。even if引导让步状语从句。As在第二句中，作为替代词(替代close to the top of the alphabet)出现，置于句首要采用完全倒装，表示“也是如此”的意思。
　　【例句译文】世界上三大中央银行行长(格林斯潘、德伊森贝赫、速水优)的姓氏都靠字母表顺序的前面，即使其中一位实际上用的是日本文字。世界首富前五名(盖茨、巴菲特、艾伦、艾莉森和阿尔布雷克特)也是如此。
　　【典型例句5】One theory, dreamt up in all the spare time enjoyed by the alphabetically disadvantaged, is that the rot sets in early.
　　【例句分析】本句的主干是One theory is that the rot sets in early，其中that引导表语从句。dreamt up in all the spare time做后置定语，修饰theory;enjoyed by the alphabetically disadvantaged做后置定语，修饰time。
　　【难点突破】“the rot sets in early”谚语，意为“不良情形老早就开始了”。
　　【例句译文】一种理论认为这种歧视老早就开始了，这种理论是那些那些姓氏在字母排序上处于劣势者在“享受”闲暇时设想出来的。
　　【典型例句6】Shortlists for job interviews, election ballot papers, lists of conference speakers and attendees: all tend to be drawn up alphabetically, and their recipients lose interest as they plough through them.
　　【例句分析】本句是一个由and连接的并列句。分句1的主干是Shortlists for job interviews, election ballot papers, lists of conference speakers and attendees tend to be drawn up alphabetically，all是同位语;分句2的主干是their recipients lose interest，as引导时间状语从句。
　　【例句译文】求职者面试名单、投票选举名单和与会发言人和与会者名单，它们往往都是按照字母顺序拟定的，而且当拿到名单的人费劲地看这些名单时，他们也逐渐失去兴趣了。
　　综上所述，这篇文章的难点在于短语做后置定语。因此大家在今后的学习中，各位考生应该加大长难句练习，尤其是短语做后置定语的判定，以句子为单位综合掌握词汇、语法和翻译方法。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《美国新闻与世界报道》、《经济学人》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—申虹)