表語從句

　　1. Perhaps the most commonly voiced objection to volunteer participation during the undergraduate years is that it consumes time and energy that the students might otherwise devote to "academic" pursuits.

　　[參考譯文]  反對在大學期間自愿參加社會服務(wù)的比較普遍的呼聲也許是認為社會服務(wù)占去了學生的時間和精力，否則，學生會利用這些時間去做學術(shù)研究。

　　[結(jié)構(gòu)分析] 這是一個主從復合句，主句的主干結(jié)構(gòu)是：Perhaps the most commonly voiced objection is that．．．，主句的主語objection之前的the most commonly voiced和之后的介詞短語to volunteer participation均作定語，during the under-graduate years是時間狀語；that表語從句的主干結(jié)構(gòu)是讓consumes time and energy(that the students might otherwise devote to“academic”pursuits)，其主語是it，指代前面的volunteer participation，謂語是consumes，賓語是time and energy，括號內(nèi)的that引導time and energy的定語從句，其主語是the students，謂語是might otherwise devote，賓語是that，指代前面的time and energy，to “academic”pursuits是介詞短語，作賓語補足語，實際上，devote．．．to．．．已構(gòu)成固定詞組，otherwise作狀語。

　　[知識鏈接]  voiced說出來的；Objection to．．．反對……；volunteer志愿者；undergraduate大學生；consume消耗，消費；otherwise否則，若不然；devote．．．to．．．把……奉獻給；academic pursuits學術(shù)研究。

　　2. The blunt truth of the matter is that human beings are not designed for tasks which require relentless vigilance: for the sophisticated human brain these are fatiguing and boring.

　　[參考譯文l  此事說明了一個真切的道理：人類并不是生來就適合做不間斷的高度警覺的工作。對于復雜的大腦來說，這些工作太乏倦無味了。

　　[結(jié)構(gòu)分析]  這是一個主從復合句，主句的主干結(jié)構(gòu)是：The truth is that．．．，that引導的表語從句的主干結(jié)構(gòu)是：human beings are not designed for tasks，之后的which引導定語從句，修飾前面的tasks，其主干結(jié)構(gòu)是which require．．；vigilance，relentless是vigilance的定語；冒號后面的內(nèi)容是一個獨立的句子，是對前面內(nèi)容的解釋，其主語是these，指代前面的tasks，謂語是are，表語是fatiguing and boring, for the sophisticated human brain是介詞短語，作范圍狀語。

　　[知識鏈接] blunt率直的，坦率的；relentless連續(xù)的，不間斷的；vigilance警覺；sophisticated復雜的；fatiguing令人疲倦的；boring乏味的。

　　3. All that happened is that we have substituted identifying and labeling, which can be done  very rapidly, for the tactile sort of feel-seeing that requires much more time and concentration.

　　[參考譯文]所發(fā)生的一切僅僅是我們用識別和作標記替代了觸覺類的感知，前者可以很迅速地完成，而后者則需要多得多的時間和專注。

　　[結(jié)構(gòu)分析]  這是一個主從復合句，可以切分為All that happened is that we have substituted identifying and labeling，(which can be done very rapidly，)for the tactile sort of feel-seeing (that requires much more time and concentration)，that happened作主語All的定語從句，難點在于that引導的表語從句；該從句的主干結(jié)構(gòu)是：we have substituted．．．for．．+謂語動詞have substituted．．．for．．．是固定搭配；第一個括號內(nèi)是which引導的定語從句，修飾前面的identifying and labeling，第二個括號內(nèi)是that引導的定語從句，修飾the tactile sort of feel—seeing。該句翻譯時要先譯主干結(jié)構(gòu)，which定語從句和that定語從句要放在比較后處理。

　　[知識鏈接]  substitute．．．for．．．用……替代……；identifying識別；labeling作標記；tactile觸覺的；feel-seeing感知；concentration專注。

　　4. What we should like to know is whether life originated as the result of some amazing accident or succession of coincidences, or whether it is the normal event for inanimate matter to produce life in due course, when the physical environment is suitable.

　　[參考譯文]  我們想知道的是生命究竟是起源于某個驚人的事件，或是一系列的巧合呢?還是當自然環(huán)境適合，無生命的物質(zhì)經(jīng)過相當一段時間就自然而然地產(chǎn)生了生命呢?

　　[結(jié)構(gòu)分析]  這是一個主從復合句，主干結(jié)構(gòu)是：What we should like to know is whether．．．or whether．．．，What引導主語從句，whether．．．or whether．．．引導并列的表語從句；第一個表語從句的主語是life，謂語是originated，as the result of．．．or．．．coincidence是介詞短語，作originated的方式狀語；第二個表語從句的主語是山指代后面的不定式to produce．．．course，謂語是is，表語是the normal event；for inanimate matter是介詞短語，作范圍狀語；句末的when引導非限定定語從句，修飾前面的course。翻譯時應(yīng)將when從句置于主句的前面，這也是英譯漢時常用的原則，即次要信息在前，主要信息在后。

　　[知識鏈接]  originate起源；as the result of．．．作為……的結(jié)果；amazing令人驚奇的；accident事故，事件'succession連續(xù)；coincidence偶然事件；inanimate無生命的；due適當?shù)模�適合的；course過程；physical environment自然環(huán)境；suitable適當?shù)摹?/p>

　　5. The problem is that modern man seems unable to redesign his institutions fast enough to accommodate the new demands, the new intelligence, the new abilities of segments of society which, heretofore, have not been taken seriously.

　　[參考譯文]  問題是，現(xiàn)代人似乎不能盡快及時地修正其已形成的各種習俗以適應(yīng)那些迄今尚未被認真對待的、來自社會各階層的新的需求、新的智慧和新的才干。

　　[結(jié)構(gòu)分析]  這是一個主從復合句，主句的主干結(jié)構(gòu)是：The problem is that．．．，難點在于that引導的表語從句。該從句也是一個主從復合句，可以切分為：modern man seems unable to redesign his institutions(fast enough to accommodate the new demands，the new intelligence，the new abilities of segments of society)(which，heretofore，have not been taken seriously)，括號外的內(nèi)容是主句，主語是modern man，謂語是seems unable to redesign，賓語是his institutions，his指代前面的modern man，fast enough是redesign的程度狀語，to accommodate．．．of society是不定式，作結(jié)果狀語，句末的which引導定語從句，修飾前面的并列賓語the new demands, the new intelligence, the new abilities，從句的謂語是have not been taken seriously, take sth. seriously是固定短語，參見知識鏈接，heretofore是副詞，作時間狀語。翻譯時應(yīng)將which從句轉(zhuǎn)化為前置定語來處理。

　　[知識鏈接]  man(單數(shù))人類；redesign重新設(shè)計，修正；institution習俗；accommodate 適應(yīng)；intelligence智慧，智商；segment of society社會各階層；heretofore迄今；take sth．seriously認真對待某事。