英语阅读基本功—长难句过关之分词和从句

第五章 分词和从句

　　分词(包括现在分词和过去分词)和分词短语在英语中使用非常普遍，在句子中可以充当补语,定语,状语等成分。在成分复杂的句子中，有时分词的出现易同谓语动词的被动式或者进行时搞混，造成句子主干的判断错误。带有自己主语的分词独立结构由于同非限制性定语从句和插入语一样需要逗号同句子的其他成分分开，因此常会误认为是非限制性定语或插入语。有些从句，尤其是定语从句，其形式变化很多，在句子中也易同其他句子成分混淆。

Exercise

Facing the Atlantic, it is on the northeastern coast of the United States, and most of the city is built on islands.

He sat in front of them, dressed in a plain , ill-fitting suit, never moving,his dusty face masking his age.

After all, eighty was a special birthday, another decade lived or endured just as you chose to look at it.

要点: Facing the Atlantic为现在分词短语,在句中做方式状语.
译文:它濒临大西洋,位于美国东北海岸线上,城市的大部分建在海岛上.

要点:" dressed in ..., never moving, his dusty face...".为句子的三个伴随状语。第一个状语为过去分词，第二个为现在分词，第三个为独立主格结构。
译文：他坐在他们前面一动不动，穿着一套不合身的便服，风尘满面，让人看不出他的年纪。

要点："another decade lived or endured"是独立结构，作行为方式状语，lived和endured是过去分词。
译文：不管怎么说，八十大寿毕竟非同一般---你又活了十年或者又熬过了十年，是活是熬，全在于你怎么看了。

Exercise

Being very short of money and wanting to do something useful, I applied, fearing as I did so, that without a degree and with no experience in teaching my chances of getting the job were slim.

Rich bodies were carefully wrapped in yards of cloth, leaving diamond-shaped spaces which were decorated with precious stones and pieces of gold.

He merely swallows this theory because there is something about that appeals to the twentieth-century mentality.

要点:主句为" I applied"."Being...and wanting..."为分句短语作原因状语,"fearing"为分词作伴随状语.that引导的从句为"fearing"的宾语从句.
译文:我因为手头很拮据,同时也想干点有用的事,于是便提出了申请,但是提出申请时我也担心:自己一无学位二无教学经验,得到这份工作的可能性是微乎其微的.

要点:分词短语"leaving diamond-shaped spaces..."在句子中作补充说明状语.定语从句"which were decorated with precious stones and pieces of gold" 修饰"space".
译文:富有人的尸体用成匹的布料细心地包裹起来,留出一块钻石形状的空间用宝石及碎金将其装饰好.

要点:本句中because引导的是原因状语从句.省略了主语that/which的定语从句"appeals to..."修饰something. "there be +n..."结构是一种表达法.
译文:他丝毫不加怀疑地接受这一理论,只是因为这一理论中有一种迎合20世纪的精神力量.