英语阅读基本功—长难句过关之分隔结构

ExerciseI plan to see her soon in England, though not, she reminded me, again at 10 Downing Street.

The cessation of the employment of extraordinary means to prolong the life of the body when there is irrefutable evidence that biological death is imminent is the decision of the patient and/or her immediate family.

With rock,illusion of shared feelings, bodily contact and grunted formulas, which are supposed to contain so much meaning beyond the speech, are the basis of association.

要点：让步状语though not again at 10 Downing Street 被插入语she reminded me所分隔。而且该让步状语是一个省略的结构，全句应为though（it will） not（be）again at 10 Downing Street. 还应看出让步状语所转达的意思正是插入语的宾语所要转达的意思。 she reminded me （it will not be again at 10 Downing Street）。省略和插入的使用使全句的意思得以很好地衔接连贯、结构紧凑，无多余的成分。
参考译文：我打算不久和她在英国见面，不过她提醒我地点不再是唐宁街十号了。

要点：此句话的主谓被很长一段定语成分所分隔，句子主干应是“The cessation...is the decision of the patient and/or her immediate family”，由于主干中的is前没有逗号分开，而且前面又出现了一个is imminent，还由于同主语The cessation拉开的距离太远，所以不容易很快找到。When前面的部分如果不注意很容易错误地理解为一个句子，即“The cessation...means to prolong the life of body.”实际上means是个名词，意为“方法，手段”，不是动词“意味着”。而且means前面有个形容词extraordinary作定语，不可能是动词，尽管意思上说得通。when引导的状语从句里带了一个定语从句that biological death is imminent，它们一起插入了主语和谓语之间。把means错当动词和状语带定语的插入使得整句的结构复杂化了，致使主干句的主谓不容易看出来。
参考译文：在有不可反驳的证据表明病人即将进入生理死亡时，停止采取非常措施来延长其生命应该由病人和（或）其直系亲属来作出决定。

要点：主干结构应是illusions...,...contact and ... formulas are the basis of association,但实际上这个主谓结构被一个长定语 which are supposed ...beyond the speech 所分隔。定语 which are supposed to contain so much meaning beyond the speech 所限定的词应该是illusions...contact and ... formulas 三个部分，而不是某一个词。
参考译文：有摇滚乐的伴随、共同情感的幻觉、身体的接触及惯用的嘟囔话语---这一切包含着许多语言之外的意义，构成了人们相互交往的基础

Exercise

But the invalid（病弱的人） who, forgetful of self, takes a strenuous（热烈的） and indestructible（顽强的） interest in everything and everybody, as she did, and to whom a dull moment is an unknown thing, is a formidable（难对付的） adversary（敌手） for disease.

Although her characters were portrayed in many settings and situations, they all reflected, by the often tragic outcome of their lives, her profound conviction that no human could be happy if that happiness was rooted in the wretchedness of another.

The described dichotomy is clearly part of a much wider one:civilization fall apart yet their component societies live on; societies disintegrate but their citizens survive; individuals die while their cells, perversely, still metabolize; finally, cells can be disrupted yet the enzymes they release may, for a while, remain active.（看上去很长，其实结构要比前面两句简单些哦）

要点：此句由于表达的意思层次多，含义覆盖面大，因此结构比较复杂，但仍能找出主干结构。句子的主干结构是：the invalid...is a formidable adversary for disease,其余的部分都是修饰成分。 forgetful of self 是一个插入成分，把定语从句who takes a strenuous and indestructible interest in everything and everybody 的主语和谓语部分分隔开来。as she did也是一个插入成分，其作用同forgetful of self一样，对整个定语从句做修饰。"and to whom a dull moment is an unknown thing"是一个定语从句，它同who takes...everything and everybody是平行结构，其作用也是限定the invalid，因此the invalid一共带了两个定语从句，两个插入语，形成较为复杂的句子结构。
译文：但是一个身体有病的体弱的人，只要忘掉自己，像她那样对一切事物和所有的人都有热烈而顽强的兴趣，并且一生不知愁怨为何物，那么对于病魔他就是劲敌。

要点：这是一个主从复合句。reflected的宾语是her profound conviction.that no human could be ... of another是 conviction的同位语从句。该从句也是一个主从复合句。by the often tragic outcome of their lives是状语，说明reflected。by在此处的意思是by means of。 often是副词，修饰形容词tragic。由于reflected的宾语过场，所以把by短语插在reflected和它的宾语之间，结果使reflected和它的宾语被分隔。
译文：如果幸福是建立在另一个人的痛苦之上，那就没有人会有幸福，她的这种深切信念全都反映在一些人生结局通常都很悲惨的人物身上，虽然她笔下的人物出现在多种多样的背景和情节当中。

要点：在本句中，冒号后面的四个分句是并列的分句，用来说明冒号前面的主句的意思。
译文：上面所描述的对死亡的二分法显然不过是一个范围更大的二分法的一部分而已：整个文明社会崩溃了，而其组成部分还继续存在；社会崩溃了，而其中的公民还生存；人死了，而身上的细胞依然倔强地进行新陈代谢；最后，细胞死了，而细胞释放出的酶还能暂时保持活性。