抽絲剝繭，巧中取勝

徐晨玨

伴隨著近幾年江蘇省英語高考卷的出爐，我們不難看出，英語這門學科對學生的要求越來越高，尤其是在閱讀理解這一方面。2013、2014年的閱讀普遍反映文章長且難，2015年的文章學生都能看得懂，但在完成題目上卻并非易事。因此，學生單單掌握較多的詞匯是遠遠不夠的，同等重要的是對篇章的理解，尤其是對長難句的處理。接下來，我們將結合題目，向大家介紹幾種常見但卻非常實用的長難句解題的技巧。對于長難句的處理，最重要的就是分清主干和分支。那么，如何做到呢？

一、抓住標點符號，巧妙剔除成分

首先，先來觀察一組句子：

（1）Using the latest laser-scan machine，researchers from English

Heritage—an organization that advise the government about maintaining historic sites in Britain—carefully studied every inch of every stone in the structure， and found something that no one else had noticed.

（2）Brent Weiss， owner of Uncle Dans，an outdoor-gear retailer with locations in Chicago，Evanston and Highland Park，said he was more selective about the workers that he hires.

在第一句中，“an organization that advise the government about maintain historic sites in Britain”是對前面English Heritage的具體解釋說明，因此，在抓住句子主干的時候可以忽略。而這部分是由破折號來連接的；同理，在第二句中，“owner of...in Chicago，Evanston and Highland Park”也是對前面Brent Weiss的解釋，也可以刪去，而這部分則是由逗號來連接的。通過這兩個例子，我們可以看出：在長難句中，為了抓住句子的主干，有時候我們可以通過特殊的標點符號（如：逗號用來隔開同位語，破折號用來隔開插入語等）來省略一些部分。

例1.For Wade，Miami Heat guard，breaking the cycle of “babies having babies” —one that he says ran in his family and his African-American community—was at first a priority（優先考慮的事） and then a challenge.

Q：What did Wade think of the cycle of“babies having babies”？

A.He wished he could get away from it.

B.He thought it was reasonable in African-American community.

C.He thought it was a challenge to adapt to it.

D.He wanted to follow the tradition that ran in his family.

【解題】把破折號后面的成分“one...community”忽略，由此句子主干是breaking the cycle was at first a priority and then a challenge，得知：打破對于他而言是優先考慮的事情，因此選擇A。

二、找尋修飾部分，分清主干分支

再來看一個句子：

Speaking on a radio talk show this morning，Dr. Chow said the separation of poultry（家禽） from humans policy，which will be determined after a decision whether to set up a central slaughtering（屠宰） house or several regional ones，would be based on the demand for live chickens.

在這句話里，為了快速抓住句子的主干，我們可以忽略speaking on a radio talk show this morning，which will be determined after a decision whether to set up a central slaughtering house or several regional ones，從而得出句子的主干：Dr. Chow said the separation of poultry from humans policy would be based on the demand for live chickens。了解了忽略部分在句中所起的作用后，我們得出如下結論：起到修飾作用的成分一般都可以忽略，如：從句、非謂語動詞、形容詞（短語）、介詞短語等。但要注意的是，一般只忽略在句中作定語和狀語的成分。

尤其值得一提的是，把主干和修飾成分分開后，我們能對句子表達的意思有更清楚的了解。如：

With no proven treatment to rely on，doctors have used a variety of medicines approved for other disease in the hopes that they would help brain injury patients.

運用上面的方法忽略一些修飾成分后，得出的主干是：doctors have used a variety of medicines. 進一步通過對修飾成分的分析和了解后，我們知道：還沒有經過治療方法的證實（with no proven treatment to rely on），這些藥品只在其他疾病上得到批準（approved for other disease），他們希望通過這些藥物能夠對大腦受傷的病人有所幫助（help brain injury patients）。

例2.It is just this kind of confusion where the parents have gone in the modern family education，and where the parents will guide their children to go that “Where are we going，Dad？” shows us.

Is the following statement True or False？

The programme shows us the confusion where the parents and children will go to play.

【解題】把句中兩個where引導的從句刪去以后，得出的句子主干是：It is just this kind of confusion that “where are we going，dad” shows us。然后具體再看修飾成分，得知：這種困惑是在現代家庭教育中父母對于孩子的引導程度和方向如何。因此，答案為False。

例3.Reading for fun matters because children who are keen on reading can expect lifelong pleasure and loving books is an excellent indicator of future educational success.

Q：Reading for fun is important because book-loving children

__________.

A.take greater advantage of the project

B.show the potential to enjoy a long life

C.are likely to do well in their education

D.would make excellent future researchers

【解題】通過原因狀語從句because可以看出孩子熱愛讀書（keen on reading，loving books），以及熱愛讀書可以暗示未來教育方面的成功（an indicator of future educational success），故選擇C。

例4.The problem with that discovery，according to the researchers，is that someone whos had an epileptic seizure（癲癇發作） and then appears to recover should be monitored and not left alone.

【解題】把句中的修飾成分with that discover， according to the researchers， whos had an epileptic seizure and then appears to recover去掉以后，留下的句子主干為The problem is that someone should be monitored and not left alone。結合對于主干和分支的理解后，不難看出：這個發現的問題在于，曾經有過癲癇病，但后來似乎恢復的人，也應該被監控，而不是留著不管。因此，人們進一步改善設備的原因是：it failed to detect an epileptic patient who tends to be cured。

三、利用句中動詞，有效分解長句

如果句子過長，結構也非常復雜，無法快速找出修飾成分的時候，可以利用句中出現的動詞把一個長句分成若干個短句，以便于對句子有更好的理解。如：

This is a fact overlooked by most journalistic critics of television drama， who tend（unlike film critics） to give all the credit or blame for success or failure of a production to the writer and actors， ignoring the contribution， for good or ill， of the director.

如果只是單純地找出主干，則句子被簡化成This is a fact，所要表達的意思便無法清楚地呈現。因此，為了對句子有全面的了解，我們可以首先找出句中的動詞：overlook， tend， ignore，其次根據這幾個動詞將句子拆分為：

（1）This is a fact.

（2） The fact is overlooked by most journalistic critics.

（3） The critics tend to give all the credit or blame for success or failure of a production to the writer and actors.

（4） The critics ignore the contribution of the director.

由此可知，一個節目失敗了，一些評論家經常會指責錯了人，他們只會一味地歸咎于作家或演員，而忽略了導演的作用。

例5.The fees would go toward setting up recycling programs，providing grants to non-profit agencies that reuse the tubes and rewarding manufacturers that encourage recycling.

What does the bill concern？

A.The reprocessing of the huge amounts of electronic waste in the state.

B.The regulations on dumping dangerous substances into landfills.

C.The funding of local initiatives to reuse waste electronic devices.

D.The sales of the second-hand electronic devices to foreign countries.

【解題】根據句中的動詞go， set up， provide， reuse， reward， encourage，把句子分解為以下幾個小句子：

（1）The fees would go toward setting up recycling programs.

（2）Programs provide grants to non-profit agencies.

（3）Agencies reuse the tubes.

（4）Programs reward manufacturers.

（5）Manufacturers encourage recycling.

從對各個小分句的理解中可以看出：法案提供的費用主要用于那些能夠對產品進行循環再利用的組織或生產商，因此正確答案為A。

四、掌握固定搭配，劃分句子層次

如：Mo Yans prize winning not only marks a happy ending for Chinese literatures long desire for global recognition， but also is an important acknowledgement， on the part of its Western audience， that one needs to look beyond newspaper headlines and financial markets to understand the complex phenomenon in China.

同樣，在這個句子中，通過尋找出not only ... but also，我們可以找出句子結構為：莫言的獲獎不僅標志著中國長久以來渴望世界認可它的文學作品的愿望得到了實現，而且就西方讀者而言，這也是一個重要的認可。通過這個固定搭配，得知莫言的獲獎對中國和世界都有著重要的影響。

例6.Without taxation，it would not be possible to pay the soldiers and policemen who protect us；______ the workers in government officers who look after our health， our food， our food，our water，and all the other things that we cannot do for ourselves；nor the ministers and members of parliament who govern the country for us.

A.neither B.nor

C.never D.not

【解題】首先由句中的分號得知句子之間可能是并列關系，其次由第一句的not be possible得知后面的情況也是不可能的，所以符合neither...nor的結構關系，故選擇B。

當然，解析長難句還有許多其他的方法，本文只是簡單介紹了幾種常見的方法，即從標點符號、區分主干和修飾成分以及固定搭配等方面來分析理解長難句。為了精確而有效地理解長難句所包含的意思，更重要的是在掌握基本技巧的基礎上，能夠聯系上下文，站在主旨的高度來分析句子所要表達的內容。這樣才能保證不管是在理解還是解題上，都能做到正確無誤。

參考文獻：

李雪梅.高中生英語閱讀理解障礙及其對策研究[D].東北師范大學，2008.

編輯 李建軍