历年考研英语疑难长句解析(一)

1.Whorf came to believe in a sort of linguistic determinism which, in its strongest form, states that language imprisons the mind, and that the grammatical patterns in a language can produce far reaching consequences for the culture of a society.

“译文”沃尔夫进而相信某种类似语言决定论的观点，其极端说法是：语言禁锢思维，语言的语法结构能对一个社会的文化产生深远的影响。

“解析”句子的主干为Whorf came to believe in a sort of linguistic determinism.which引导限制性定语从句，修饰linguistic determinism.在由which引导的定语从句中，谓语动词states跟了两个宾语从句，一是that language imprisons the mind，一是and that the grammatical patterns…society.注意：句中imprison the mind不能译成“把大脑（或思想）关进牢房”，只能译成“禁锢思想（或思维）”。

a sort of与a kind of的意思一样，如用在形容词前一般译为“有一点”或“有几分”，如用在名词前可译为“某种”。a kind of magic（某种魔术或魔力）。

far reaching意为“深远的”，far reaching consequences算是一个常用的搭配，但是注意consequence往往表示“后果”，即不一定是好的结果。“深远的影响”或“深远的意义”，常用far reaching significance来表示。

2.The American spymaster who built the Office of Strategic Services in the World War II and later laid the roots for the CIA was fascinated with information.

“译文”这位美国间谍头目对情报很是着迷，他曾在二战期间创立了战略情报局（或译：战略服务处），后来又为中央情报局打下了基础。

“解析”本句的主干结构是The American spymaster… was fascinated with information.spymaster的后边是一个定语从句，其中包含两个由and连接的并列结构。lay the roots for sth表示“为……打下基础”，类似lay a（the） foundation for sth.例如：What you have learned at school will lay the roots for your future.（你在学校所学的知识将对你的未来打下基础。）fascinate（着迷）的常用搭配是be fascinated with sb/sth，例如：He was fascinated with her smiles.（他为她的微笑而着迷。）当然，也可以说：Her smiles fascinate him.fascinate的形容词是fascinating，名词是fascination.

3.These days the Net, which has already remade such everyday pastimes as buying books and sending mail, is reshaping Donovans vocation as well.

“译文”互联网已经改变了购书和寄信这样的日常活动，如今也正在改变多诺万所从事的职业。

“解析”句子的主干是the Net…is reshaping Donovans vocation，由which引导的非限定性定语从句（which has already remade such everyday pastimes as buying books and sending mail）用来补充说明the Net.pastime意为“消遣，娱乐”，例如：Baseball has a huge following in the United States and is referred to as the national pastime.（棒球在美国深受欢迎，并且被称作是全民喜爱的运动项目。）

shape作名词有“形状，状态”的意思，作动词时可以表示“塑造，成型”等。His business is in bad shape.（他的生意一团糟。）Together with our own efforts，we can help shape the future of our country.（通过我们共同的努力，我们可以帮助塑造国家的未来。）