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以下是澳际小编搜集整理的GRE难句解读——提高GRE阅读必须要过的第一关,大家练习时,要以“以实战的要求为目的”为大原则,难句子不仅出现在阅读中,还出现在句子填空、逻辑但体中,因此,对难句子得攻克变得相当重要。
81、 But the recent discovery of detailed similarities in the skeletal structure of the flippers in all three groups undermines the attempt to explain away superficial resemblance as due to convergent evolution — the independent development of similarities between unrelated groups in response to similar environmental pressures. (4)
但是,最近在所有这三类动物身上,对鳍肢的骨骼结构所存在的细致共同点的发现足以削弱这样一种企图,即把表面上的近似作为趋同进化所致的结果来将其解释掉。而所谓的趋同进化(convergent evolution),是指在互不相关的生物群体之间,作为对类似的环境压力作出的反应,彼此独立的发展形成某些相同特征。
难句类型:复杂修饰
解释:读者大概也看出来了,本句的最大特点就是长,复杂修饰的长主语,复杂修饰的长宾语,中间以谓语undermines相连。修饰attempt的不定式中的to explain away something as…意思是把某件事情当作后面的东西解释掉。本句在文中起到了一个极为重要的作用,后面有一道题专门对本句提问。现场这种句子能否顺利看懂,会对考生考试的分数起到直接影响。
意群训练:But the recent discovery of detailed similarities in the skeletal structure of the flippers in all three groups undermines the attempt to explain away superficial resemblance as due to convergent evolution — the independent development of similarities between unrelated groups in response to similar environmental pressures.
82、 Human genes contain too little information even to specify which hemisphere of the brain each of a human’s 10’’ neurons should occupy,let alone the hundreds of connections that each neuron makes. (5)
人类因基所包含的信息是如此之少,以致于就连去具体规定人类1011的神经细胞中任意一个细胞应占据大脑的哪个半脑都无法做到,更不用提每个神经细胞所会形成的数百种连接。
难句类型:倒装、省略
解释:本句在固定搭配too little information even to specify之后,是一个大型倒装,正常的语序应该是:
Human genes contain too little information even to specify that each of a human’s 10’’ neurons should occupy which hemisphere of the brain, let alone the hundreds of connections that each neuron makes.
固定搭配too..to是太怎么样以至不能如何的意思,其后的specify后面的内容实际上是一个宾语从句。文章的作者把从句中的宾语提到主语和谓语之前,并省略引导词that,使得句子非常难以读懂。最后的let alone的意思是表示递进的“更不要说,何况”。
意群训练:Human genes contain too little information even to specify which hemisphere of the brain each of a human’s 10’’ neurons should occupy,let alone the hundreds of connections that each neuron makes.
83、 For the woman who is a practitioner of feminist literary criticism, the subjectivity versus objectivity, or critic-as-artist-or-scientist, debate has special significance; for her, the question is not only academic, but political as well, and her dinition will court special risks whichever side of the issue it favors.(5)
对于一个从事女权主义文学评论的妇女来说,主观性还是客观性,或者说评论家应该做艺术家还是作科学家的争论有着特殊的重要性;对她来说,此问题不仅仅是学术上的,而且还是政治上的,并且她所给出的定义,不管有利于问题的哪一方面,都会招致特殊的风险。
难句类型:复杂修饰、插入语、倒装、省略、抽象词、易淆指代
解释:首先解释一下几个词汇:versus:在这里不是前面的against的意思,它和后面的or都是“是….还是…”的意思,其英文释义为:in contrast to or as the alternative of free trade versus pretection 。court:招致(风险、失败),英文释义:to act as to invite or provoke (courts disaster)。
分号前面的句子的主语被插入语”or critic-as-artist-or-scientist”分开,正常情况下应该是the subjectivity versus objectivity debate。这种名词修饰名词的情况在GRE和GMAT考试中是常见的,如前面讲过的句子中出现的mind-body problem。
最后的条件状语从句whichever side of the issue it favors看上去不难,但却不好理解,首先是whichever被提前的表示方法,相当于no matter it favors which side of the issue 的倒装,no matter被省略,which提前并改成了whichever,后面的side of the issue也被提前到主谓it favors之前,issue在此之前面的主要问题,即主观性还是客观性的问题,而it前面的名词太多,一下子不好辨别,其实就是指本句的主语her dinition。
意群训练:For the woman who is a practitioner of feminist literary criticism, the subjectivity versus objectivity, or critic-as-artist-or-scientist, debate has special significance; for her, the question is not only academic, but political as well, and her dinition will court special risks whichever side of the issue it favors.
84、 If she dines feminist criticism as objective and scientific – a valid, verifiable, intellectual method that anyone, whether man or woman , can perform – the dinition not only precludes the critic-as-artist approach, but may also impede accomplishment of the utilitarian political objectives of those who seek to change the academic establishment and its thinking, especially about sex roles.(4)假如她把女权主义文学评论定义为客观的和科学性的——一个有效的、可证实的、理性的、无论男女都可以使用的方法——那么,这个定义不仅将排挤掉批评家作为艺术家的方法,而且可能会阻碍那些寻求改变学术界的现状的及其思维,特别是有关性别角色的思维的人们的实用主义的政治目标的成就。
难句类型:复杂修饰、插入语、抽象词
解释:这句话在原文中紧接着上例的难句,句中的插入语虽然长,但是并不打断正常的语义,因此不算难懂;但是but also之后的分句中的宾语accomplishment的修饰成分实在太复杂,而且充斥着各色的极端抽象的词汇,没有一定的词汇功底,这句话的意思是不容易看懂的。
意群训练:If she dines feminist criticism as objective and scientific – a valid, verifiable, intellectual method that anyone, whether man or woman , can perform – the dinition not only precludes the critic-as-artist approach, but may also impede accomplishment of the utilitarian political objectives of those who seek to change the academic establishment and its thinking, especially about sex roles.
85、 These questions are political in the sense that the debate over them will inevitably be less an exploration of abstract matters in a spirit of disinterested inquiry than an academic power struggle in which the careers and professional fortunes of many women scholars-only now entering the academic profession in substantial numbers-will be at stake,and with them the chances for a distinctive contribution to humanistic understanding,a contribution that might be an important influence against sexism in our society. (5+)
这些问题之所以带有政治性质,因为不可避免地,围绕这些问题展开的争论与其说是一种在客观冷静科研精神指导下对抽象问题的探索,倒不如说是一种学术上的权力斗争。在此斗争中,许多女学者中——只是在现在才开始以众多的人数进入学术界——的学术生涯和职业命运将处于存亡攸关的危急关头,与她们相伴随的是对人文理解作出一种独特贡献的机遇,这一贡献则很有可能成为消除我们社会中所存在的性别主义的一股重要影响。
难句类型:复杂修饰、插入语、省略、抽象词
解释:相信有不少同学在阅读现场看到这个长达10行,不算标点就有81个单词的庞然大句的时候,不禁心为之颤、色为之变、气为之短、胆为之寒。曾经有人把GRE戏称为God Read English,我们果然在这个句子中看到了“天书”的风采。
经笔者认真的统计,本句是一切英语考试中所出现的最长的句子。而值得一提的是,笔者自己当初在模考中读到此处时,却根本没有感觉到这个句子的长短,只是在模考结束以后回头看文章的时候,才发觉这个文章中的第三段整个就是一句话。其原因在于笔者当时已经对GRE考试中出现的阅读难句做过认真的、系统的训练,而经过难句训练的人在读文章的时候、既不看句子的长短,也不想句子的结构,只看句子的意思。其道理在于,他读过太多遍的长句子,以至于对句子的长度早已麻木,而且也太熟悉这些句子的语法结构,不用想就知道这些结构所表达的含义,这才是我们训练难句的最终目的。
本句的主句极短,难就难在从in the sense that开始到整句话结束为止的状语上。That引导的从句作sense的同位语,从句中的主架构还是前面曾经讲过的less…than…的结构,译成“与其说是…还不如说是”and后面是一个独立的介词结构,作者用它来强调女评论家的重要性。可以理解成作者在with them are the chances.中省略了系动词are.
意群训练:These questions are political in the sense that the debate over them will inevitably be less an exploration of abstract matters in a spirit of disinterested inquiry than an academic power struggle in which the careers and professional fortunes of many women scholars-only now entering the academic profession in substantial numbers-will be at stake,and with them the chances for a distinctive contribution to humanistic understanding,a contribution that might be an important influence against sexism in our society.
86、 Perhaps he believed that he could not criticize American foreign policy without endangering the support for civil rights that he had won from the federal government.(4-)他有可能相信,他不能够即批评美国的对外政策,同时又不危及到他从联邦政府那里已经获得的对民权运动的支持。
难句类型:复杂修饰、正话反说(双重否定)
解释:单从语言上来讲,这句话并不难,但是我们可发觉作者在句子中拐弯抹角的,双重否定的表达,想说的一定不是字面上的意思:这是一个标准的正话反说“他有可能相信,他不能够既批评美国的对外政策,同时又不危及到他从联邦政府那里已经获得的对民权运动的支持。”的实际意思就是:他可能相信,如果他批评美国的对外政策,就有可能会危及到(他从联邦政府那里已经获得的)对民权运动的支持。其实这是一个较为简单的思维转换,也是GRE和GMAT的阅读和逻辑中经常出现的表达方法。希望读者通过反复的训练,迅速习惯这种语言方式。
意群训练:Perhaps he believed that he could not criticize American foreign policy without endangering the support for civil rights that he had won from the federal government.
87、 However, some broods possess a few snails of the opposing hand, and in predominantly sinistral broods, the incidence of dextrality is surprisingly high.(5)可是,一些窝中会有一些相反旋向的蜗牛,而且在主要是左旋的窝种,出现右旋的几率是令人惊奇的高。
难句类型:正话反说(或暗含的强对比)
解释:本句貌不惊人,实无难句之伟岸雄姿,然而不知在考试中难倒了多少英雄好汉,原文的表面意思简单至极,一些窝中会有一些相反旋向的蜗牛,在左旋为主的窝当中,出现右旋的几率是令人惊奇地高,关键是作者只是单纯地想说左旋窝的右旋几率吗?什么是高,是绝对值还是相对值?如果是相对值,那么是与什么相比呢?
这么一提示,读者可能会发现作者的言外之意,作者的真实意图,是想将两种窝的情况做一个对比,把句子补全就是:在左旋窝中会出现右旋,右旋窝中有左旋,而左旋窝中的右旋数量远远高于右旋窝中的左旋数量,这篇文章对这句话出了一道题,答案就是右旋窝中的左旋数量少于左旋窝中的右旋数量。
ETS的出题者的语言表述常常像初恋中的腼腆少女,言语间闪烁其辞,留有余味。让我们的考生自己云猜想,恐怕不是出于羞涩;其真实用心和正确含义,关乎读者的考试成败,不可不察。
意群训练:However, some broods possess a few snails of the opposing hand, and in predominantly sinistral broods, the incidence of dextrality is surprisingly high.
88、 In experiments,an injection of cytoplasm from dextral eggs changes the pattern of sinistral eggs,but an injection from sinistral eggs does not influence dextral eggs.
在实验中,用取自右旋卵子的细胞质进行的注射,可改变左旋卵子的模式;用取自左旋卵子的细胞质进行的注射却不能影响到右旋卵子。
难句类型:省略、易淆词
解释:本句与上一句来自于同一篇文章,蜗牛的右旋与左旋,在阅读这篇文章的过程当中,所有同学都在竭尽全力地分清左、右的区别,然而这里的时候,ETS的出题者终于突破了读者的心理防线,彻底地搞混了左右之间的关系。
其实在这里之所以容易搞混,还有一个人为的重要原因,就是这句话使用了大量的省略;方中的changes the pattern of sinisteral eggs后面,实际上省略了一个to dextral,而最后的分句an injection from sinisteral eggs does not influencee dextral eggs,则是an injection of cytoplasm from sinisteral eggs does not influencee the pattern of dextral eggs的省略形式。
意群训练:In experiments,an injection of cytoplasm from dextral eggs changes the pattern of sinistral eggs,but an injection from sinistral eggs does not influence dextral eggs.
89、 Recently some scientists have concluded that meteorites found on Earth and long believed to have a Martian origin might actually have been blasted free of Mars’s gravity by the impact on Mars of other meteorites. (4+)
最近,某些科学家得出结论认为,那些在地球上发现的并一直被相信源自火星的陨石(meteorite),实际上有可能是由于其它的陨石撞击火星而致使其被震离火星的重力作用范围。
难句类型:复杂修饰
解释:这个句子难就难在以that引导的宾语从句,从句中的主语是meteorites,修饰它的成分有两个,一个是found on Earth,另一个是long believed to have a Martian origin,两个冻死的成分之间以and 相连接。注意,这里不能把原句理解成是meteorites found on Earth and meteorites long believed to have a Martian origin的省略形式,这个表达是说有两种陨石,一种是地球上发现的,另一种来自于火星,原文所指的是同一批陨石的两个特征,发现于地球,来自于火星。
句子最后的by the impact on Mars of other meteorites读上云令人感到不舒服的原因,是the impact of other meteorites中的impact of 被修饰impact的on Mars分隔开了。
意群训练:Recently some scientists have concluded that meteorites found on Earth and long believed to have a Martian origin might actually have been blasted free of Mars’s gravity by the impact on Mars of other meteorites.
90、 Under the force of this view,it was perhaps inevitable that the art of rhetoric should pass from the status of being regarded as of questionable worth (because although it might be both a source of pleasure and a means to urge people to right action,it might also be a means to distort truth and a source of misguided action)to the status of being wholly condemned. (4)
在这种观点的力量作用下,一件或许是不可避免的事情发生了:修辞艺术竟然从被视和具有让人怀疑的价值这样一种地位(因为尽管它有可能既构成一种歪曲真理的手段和误导行为的来源)转变到彻底遭谴责的地位。
难句类型:插入语
解释:本句的插入语堪称GRE和GMAT考试中最长的插入语之一。笔者曾在本书前面的讲解中强调过,这种插入语(三行以上)一定要在阅读中毫不犹豫地跳过,读完整个句子后再来读它。否则不但句意无法衔接,而且类似于本句中的from…to…的固定搭配,也会在插入语的干扰下远隔千山万水,在读者的大脑中永无聚首之日。
意群训练:Under the force of this view,it was perhaps inevitable that the art of rhetoric should pass from the status of being regarded as of questionable worth (because although it might be both a source of pleasure and a means to urge people to right action,it might also be a means to distort truth and a source of misguided action)to the status of being wholly condemned.
以上便是GRE难句解读——提高GRE阅读必须要过的第一关第九部分,希望对各位考生有所帮助。
Amy GUO 经验: 16年 案例:4272 擅长:美国,澳洲,亚洲,欧洲
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