考研英语(一)长难句解析系列——2016年Text3

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　　(本文作者为中公考研辅导名师——张玉环)　　
　　本文选自2015年The Economist上一篇名为The Halo Effect的文章，主要讨论了企业的社会责任，指出研究证明企业承担社会责任可以帮助其在受到法律制裁时减少制裁力度。全文中在长难句方面，难度并不小。作为2016年考研英语试卷的第三篇阅读，句子难度必然会较前面题型有所提升，但是难度并不大。下面就其中的典型例句进行分析：
　　【典型例句1】：But even if you accept Firedman’s premise and regard corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies as a waste of shareholders’ money, things may not be absolutely clear-cut.
　　【例句解析】：本句主句为things may not be absolutely clear-cut。even if you accept Firedman’s premise and regard corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies as a waste of shareholders’ money是even if引导的让步状语从句，修饰主句。
　　【难点点拨】：premise：陈述，观点;corporate social responsibility (CSR)：企业社会责任;clear-cut：明确的，清楚的;
　　【例句释义】：但是即使你同意弗里德曼的这种观点，并认为企业承担社会责任的政策是在浪费股东们的金钱，事情并非完全如此清晰。
　　【典型例句2】：It argues that since prosecutors do not consume a company’s products as part of their investigations, they could be influenced only by the halo effect.
　　【例句解析】：本句主干为It argues that they could be influenced only by the halo effect，其中包含一个that引导的宾语从句。since prosecutors do not consume a company’s products as part of their investigations是since引导的原因状语从句，修饰宾语从句。
　　【难点点拨】：prosecutor：公诉人;halo effect：光晕效应;
　　【例句释义】：研究认为，由于公诉人并不消费那些作为其调查部分的公司产品，因此他们只能收到光晕效应的影响。
　　【典型例句3】：Their analysis ruled out the possibility that it was firms’ political influence, rather than their CSR stand, that accounted for the leniency: Companies that contributed more to political campaigns did not receive lower fines.
　　【例句解析】：本句主句为Their analysis ruled out the possibility。that it was firms’ political influence that accounted for the leniency是that引导的同位语从句，没解释possibility;其中又包括一个it was…that…的强调句型。rather than their CSR stand作为插入语，与firms’ political influence并列，表示转折关系。Companies did not receive lower fines由冒号连接，与it was firms’ political influence that accounted for the leniency构成并列句，并对其进行解释。that contributed more to political campaigns是that引导的定语从句，修饰companies。
　　【难点点拨】：rule out：排除;stand：立场;account for：解释，导致;
　　【例句释义】：他们的分析排除了某种可能性，即恰是这些公司的政治影响力，而非它们的企业社会责任立场，促成了这种仁慈：那些支持政治运动更多的公司并没有得到更低的罚金。
　　【典型例句4】：“We estimate that either eliminating a substantial labour-rights concern, such as child labour, or increasing corporate giving by about 20% results in fines that generally are 40% lower than the typical punishment for bribing foreign officials,” says one researcher.
　　【例句解析】：本句主干为We estimate that either eliminating a substantial labour-rights concern or increasing corporate giving by about 20% results in fines;其中包括一个that引导的宾语从句;而either…or…又连接了两个并列的主语：eliminating a substantial labour-rights concern和increasing corporate giving by about 20%。such as child labour作为同位语，解释a substantial labour-rights concern。that generally are 40% lower than the typical punishment是that引导的定语从句，修饰fines。for bribing foreign officials作为后置定语，修饰the typical punishment。
　　【难点点拨】：eliminate：消除;substantial：实质性的;corporate giving：企业捐赠;bribe：贿赂;
　　【例句释义】：某个研究人员说到：“我们估计，要么消除一个实质性的劳工权益问题，例如童工问题，要么增加20%的企业捐赠，都会促成罚金减少，一般要比因贿赂外国官员而造成的典型罚款低40%。”
　　【典型例句5】：Nor does it reveal how much companies are banking on the halo effect, rather than the other possible benefits, when they decide their do-gooding policies.
　　【例句解析】：本句主干为Nor does it reveal how much companies are banking on the halo effect, rather than the other possible benefits，属倒装结构;此外，how much companies are banking on the halo effect, rather than the other possible benefits是how引导的宾语从句;其中，the other possible benefits由rather than连接，与the halo effect构成并列。when they decide their do-gooding policies是由when引导的时间状语从句，修饰how宾语从句。
　　【难点点拨】：bank on：指望，依赖;do-gooding：慈善的;
　　【例句释义】：它也没有揭示，各公司在决定慈善政策时，多大程度上是在依靠着光晕效应，而非其它可能的益处。
　　总之，由于本文中对于后置定语、被动语态、定语从句、状语从句等知识点考查较多，因此对此大家课下需要多多复习。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》、《科学家》等，积累英语国家新闻中常用到的表达。