抽丝剥茧，巧中取胜

徐晨珏

伴随着近几年江苏省英语高考卷的出炉，我们不难看出，英语这门学科对学生的要求越来越高，尤其是在阅读理解这一方面。2013、2014年的阅读普遍反映文章长且难，2015年的文章学生都能看得懂，但在完成题目上却并非易事。因此，学生单单掌握较多的词汇是远远不够的，同等重要的是对篇章的理解，尤其是对长难句的处理。接下来，我们将结合题目，向大家介绍几种常见但却非常实用的长难句解题的技巧。对于长难句的处理，最重要的就是分清主干和分支。那么，如何做到呢？

一、抓住标点符号，巧妙剔除成分

首先，先来观察一组句子：

（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”是对前面English Heritage的具体解释说明，因此，在抓住句子主干的时候可以忽略。而这部分是由破折号来连接的；同理，在第二句中，“owner of...in Chicago，Evanston and Highland Park”也是对前面Brent Weiss的解释，也可以删去，而这部分则是由逗号来连接的。通过这两个例子，我们可以看出：在长难句中，为了抓住句子的主干，有时候我们可以通过特殊的标点符号（如：逗号用来隔开同位语，破折号用来隔开插入语等）来省略一些部分。

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（优先考虑的事） 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.

【解题】把破折号后面的成分“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：打破对于他而言是优先考虑的事情，因此选择A。

二、找寻修饰部分，分清主干分支

再来看一个句子：

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.

在这句话里，为了快速抓住句子的主干，我们可以忽略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，从而得出句子的主干：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，我们得出如下结论：起到修饰作用的成分一般都可以忽略，如：从句、非谓语动词、形容词（短语）、介词短语等。但要注意的是，一般只忽略在句中作定语和状语的成分。

尤其值得一提的是，把主干和修饰成分分开后，我们能对句子表达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.

运用上面的方法忽略一些修饰成分后，得出的主干是：doctors have used a variety of medicines. 进一步通过对修饰成分的分析和了解后，我们知道：还没有经过治疗方法的证实（with no proven treatment to rely on），这些药品只在其他疾病上得到批准（approved for other disease），他们希望通过这些药物能够对大脑受伤的病人有所帮助（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.

【解题】把句中两个where引导的从句删去以后，得出的句子主干是：It is just this kind of confusion that “where are we going，dad” shows us。然后具体再看修饰成分，得知：这种困惑是在现代家庭教育中父母对于孩子的引导程度和方向如何。因此，答案为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

【解题】通过原因状语从句because可以看出孩子热爱读书（keen on reading，loving books），以及热爱读书可以暗示未来教育方面的成功（an indicator of future educational success），故选择C。

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

【解题】把句中的修饰成分with that discover， according to the researchers， whos had an epileptic seizure and then appears to recover去掉以后，留下的句子主干为The problem is that someone should be monitored and not left alone。结合对于主干和分支的理解后，不难看出：这个发现的问题在于，曾经有过癫痫病，但后来似乎恢复的人，也应该被监控，而不是留着不管。因此，人们进一步改善设备的原因是：it failed to detect an epileptic patient who tends to be cured。

三、利用句中动词，有效分解长句

如果句子过长，结构也非常复杂，无法快速找出修饰成分的时候，可以利用句中出现的动词把一个长句分成若干个短句，以便于对句子有更好的理解。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.

如果只是单纯地找出主干，则句子被简化成This is a fact，所要表达的意思便无法清楚地呈现。因此，为了对句子有全面的了解，我们可以首先找出句中的动词：overlook， tend， ignore，其次根据这几个动词将句子拆分为：

（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，一个节目失败了，一些评论家经常会指责错了人，他们只会一味地归咎于作家或演员，而忽略了导演的作用。

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.

【解题】根据句中的动词go， set up， provide， reuse， reward， encourage，把句子分解为以下几个小句子：

（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.

从对各个小分句的理解中可以看出：法案提供的费用主要用于那些能够对产品进行循环再利用的组织或生产商，因此正确答案为A。

四、掌握固定搭配，划分句子层次

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.

同样，在这个句子中，通过寻找出not only ... but also，我们可以找出句子结构为：莫言的获奖不仅标志着中国长久以来渴望世界认可它的文学作品的愿望得到了实现，而且就西方读者而言，这也是一个重要的认可。通过这个固定搭配，得知莫言的获奖对中国和世界都有着重要的影响。

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

【解题】首先由句中的分号得知句子之间可能是并列关系，其次由第一句的not be possible得知后面的情况也是不可能的，所以符合neither...nor的结构关系，故选择B。

当然，解析长难句还有许多其他的方法，本文只是简单介绍了几种常见的方法，即从标点符号、区分主干和修饰成分以及固定搭配等方面来分析理解长难句。为了精确而有效地理解长难句所包含的意思，更重要的是在掌握基本技巧的基础上，能够联系上下文，站在主旨的高度来分析句子所要表达的内容。这样才能保证不管是在理解还是解题上，都能做到正确无误。

参考文献：

李雪梅.高中生英语阅读理解障碍及其对策研究[D].东北师范大学，2008.

编辑 李建军