考研英语（一）长难句解析系列——2006年阅读Text4

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　　本文选自Time，原文标题是The Art of Unhappiness(悲伤的艺术)。文章主要讲述的是现代社会中，人们需要艺术来提醒痛苦。对于广大考生而言，题材比较抽象，难度较大。但是，作为阅读的第三篇文章，在长难句方面，文章难度也却略低，最长的句子不过41个单词。重点是辨识出不同形式的定语，掌握状语从句的理解和翻译方法。下面就其中的5个句子进行详解：
　　【典型例句1】 But somewhere from the 19th century onward, more artists began seeing happiness as meaningless, phony or, worst of all, boring, as we went from Wordsworth’s daffodils to Baudelaire’s flowers of evil.
　　【例句分析】本句是一个复合句，主干是more artists began seeing happiness as meaningless, phony or boring。as引导时间状语从句。somewhere 和from the 19th century onward分别是副词和介词短语做状语。
　　【例句译文】但是大约从19世纪以来，当我们从华兹华斯的《水仙花》转向波德莱尔的《恶之花》时，越来越多的艺术家们开始认为快乐是无意义的、虚伪的甚至是无聊的。
　　【典型例句2】The rise of anti-happy art almost exactly tracks the emergence of mass media, and with it, a commercial culture in which happiness is not just an ideal but an ideology.
　　【例句分析】本句是一个复合句，主干是The rise tracks the emergence and a commercial culture。of anti-happy art是后置定语，修饰rise;almost和exactly是两个副词做状语;of mass media是后置定语，修饰emergence;in which引导定语从句，修饰a commercial culture。with it是插入语。
　　【例句译文】反快乐艺术的出现几乎恰好跟随着大众媒体的出现，与之相伴而生的是商业文化，在这种文化中，快乐不仅是一种理想，而且是一种意识形态。
　　【典型例句3】 In the West, before mass communication and literacy, the most powerful mass medium was the church, which reminded worshippers that their souls were in danger and that they would someday be meat for worms.
　　【例句分析】本句是一个复合句，主干是the most powerful mass medium was the church。In the West和 before mass communication and literacy都是介词短语做状语。which引导定语从句，修饰church，其中包含由and并列的两个宾语从句。
　　【例句译文】在西方，在大众媒体和人们读书认字之前，最有影响力的大众媒介是教堂，它提醒着教徒他们的灵魂处在危险之中，并且他们有一天将会成为虫子的肉食。
　　【典型例句4】Today the messages the average Westerner is surrounded with are not religious but commercial, and forever happy.
　　【例句分析】本句的主干是the messages are not religious but commercial, and forever happy，the average Westerner is surrounded with省略了关系词的是定语从句，修饰messages。
　　【例句译文】如今，包围普通西方人的信息不是宗教性的，而是商业性和永远快乐的。
　　【典型例句5】Today, surrounded by promises of easy happiness, we need art to tell us, as religion once did, Memento mori: remember that you will die, that everything ends, and that happiness comes not in denying this but in living with it.
　　【例句分析】本句的主干是we need art，surrounded by promises of easy happiness 是伴随状语，to tell us是目的状;as引导定语从句，修饰Memento mori。 冒号连接的remember that you will die, that everything ends, and that happiness comes not in denying this but in living with it是一个祈使句，作为同位语，就是说明Memento mori。其中包含that引导的3个宾语从句。
　　【例句译文】如今，我们被轻易快乐的承诺包围着，需要艺术去告诉我们，正如宗教曾经说的那样：Memento mori，即：记住你总会死去，一切都会结束，快乐并不是否定这些，而是与之共存。
　　综上所述，这篇文章的难点在于如何区分定语、状语和同位语，以及标点符号，尤其是冒号起到的解释说明的作用。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。
　　(本文作者为中公考研英语指导老师—申虹)