2016考研英语长难句解析1

本文选自《经济学人》(The Economist)，主要讲述由于美国人的随意性，美国英语的语言也变得相当随意，正式诗歌等文学语言正在消亡。全文中在长难句方面，难度较大，从句嵌套较多。下面就其中的典型例句进行分析：

【典型例句1】：In his latest book, Doing Our Own Thing: The Degradation of Language and Music and Why We Should, Like, Care, John McWhorter, a linguist and controversialist of mixed liberal and conservative views, sees the triumph of 1960s counter-culture as responsible for the decline of formal English.

【例句解析】：句子主干是：John McWhorter„sees the triumph of 1960s counter-culture as...。In his latest book介词短语作状语。斜体部分的书名Doing Our Own Thing: The Degradation of Language and Music and Why We Should, Like, Care作book的同位语。a linguist and controversialist„作John McWhorter的同位语，对主语补充说明。of mixed liberal and

conservative views介词短语作后置定语，修饰a linguist and controversialis。of formal English介词短语作后置定语，修饰decline。

【难点点拨】：degradation：恶化，退化;controversialist：善辩者

【例句释义】：语言学家麦荷特喜好辩论，他的观点混杂着自由派与保守派的看法。在他最近的书《做我们自己的事：语言和音乐的退化，以及为什么我们应该喜欢或在意?》中，这位学者认为60年代反文化运动的胜利要对正式英语的退化负责。

【典型例句2】：Mr. McWhorter’s academic speciality is language history and change, and he sees the gradual disappearance of “whom,” for example, to be natural and no more

regrettable than the loss of the case-endings of Old English.

【例句解析】：句子主干是：Mr. McWhorter’s academic speciality is„,and„。其中and连接前后两个分句。for example为插入语。More„than为比较结构。the loss of the case-endings of Old English为多重后置定语结构。of the case-endings介词短语作后置定语，修饰loss。of Old English介词短语作后置定语，修饰case-endings。

【难点点拨】：regrettable：令人遗憾的，可惜的;case-endings：词格尾缀

【例句释义】：麦荷特先生的学术专长在于语言史和语言演变。举例来说，他认为“whom”一词的逐渐消失是自然的，并不比古英语中词格尾缀的消失更让人惋惜。

【典型例句3】：While even the modestly educated sought an elevated tone when they put pen to paper before the 1960s, even the most well regarded writing since then has sought to capture spoken English on the page.

【例句解析】：句子主干是：even the most well regarded writing since then has„。While引导让步状语从句。when引导时间状语从句。

【难点点拨】：elevated：高雅的，高尚的;since then：从此以后

【例句释义】：20世纪60年代之前，即使是受过一般教育的人在下笔时都会寻求一种高雅腔调;而在此之后，即使是最受关注的文章也开始经常使用口语。

【典型例句4】：As a linguist, he acknowledges that all varieties of human language, including non-standard ones like Black English, can be powerfully expressive -- there exists no language or dialect in the world that cannot convey complex ideas.

【例句解析】：句子主干是：he acknowledges that„。As a linguist作状语。that引导宾语从句。including non-standard ones like Black English为插入语，补充说明human language。破折号后的分句补充说明前面的宾语从句。that引导定语从句，修饰no language or dialect in the world。

【难点点拨】：acknowledge：承认，认可;dialect：方言

【例句释义】：作为语言学家，麦荷特认为各种各样的人类语言，包括像黑人语言这样的非标准语言，都具有强大的表达力——世上没有传达不了复杂思想的语言或方言。

【典型例句5】：Russians have a deep love for their own language and carry large chunks of memorized poetry in their heads, while Italian politicians tend to elaborate speech that would seem old-fashioned to most English-speakers.

【例句解析】：句子主干是：Russians have a deep love for their own language and carry large chunks of memorized poetry in their heads„。while连接前后分句，组成并列句。that引导定语从句，修饰speech。

【难点点拨】：chunk：相当数量;large chunks of：大量;tend to ：趋向„;

elaborate：精心制作的，详述

【例句释义】：俄罗斯人深爱自己的语言，并在脑海中存储了大量诗歌;意大利的政客往往精心准备演讲，即使这在大多数讲英语的人们眼里已经过时。

总之，本篇阅读文章多考察高频考点，如定语从句、宾语从句和后置定语等。考生应熟练掌握知识点，并灵活运用于对文章的理解当中。掌握长难句分析能力之余，要牢牢打好词汇基础。多阅读《经济学人》等热点期刊杂志，扩大词汇量，培养语感。