例句1:No less remarkable than the development of the compact disc has been the use of the new technology to revitalize, in better sound than was ever before possible, some of the classic recorded performances of the pre-Latin era.
这个长句当中使用了一个短语搭配no less … than …(不比…差),也就是说这个长句其实就是在比较两个事物,两个事物是相当的、平等的,所以找到两个事物,这个句子就读懂了。不难发现句子当中提到的两个名词短语为compact disc和classic recorded performances,而其它成份则为这两个名词短语的修饰语。
例句2:Despite protests from some waste-disposal companies, health officials have ordered that the levels of bacteria in seawater at popular beaches be measured and the results published.
此句状语从句的主语为protest,主句主语为official,宾语为从句,宾语从句主语为level,of短语修饰level,in短语修饰bacterial,at短语修饰seawater,be measured and published为从句谓语。译文: 尽管有一些废品处理公司的反对,负责健康方面的官员们还是要求对受公众欢迎的海滩的海水所含细菌的数量进行检测,并且要求把这些结果公布于众。 考研 教育网
例句3: The temperature of the exhaust gases is well above 500 c, meaning that solid oxide fuel cells are very attractive for electricity and heat generation as, in addition to supplying electricity; the leftover amounts of heat created during the process could be used to produce heat for industries, provide hot water suppliers or warm buildings.
词句主句含义为气体温度很高,其余的部分则为meaning分词作状语的状语从句。从句的主语为solid oxide fuel cells,表语为attractive,补语为electricity and heat generation,后面又是一个as引导的原因从句,从句的主语为heat,created during the process为heat的修饰语,谓语为could be used to,宾语为并列的三个事项produce heat for industries, provide hot water suppliers 和warm buildings. 译文:那些废弃的温度远远高于500 c,这就意味着:对于发电和供热来说,固体氧化燃料电池是很不错的,因为除了供电外,在该过程中所产生的剩余热量可用于工业供热、供应热水、或者给建筑物供暖。
而上述例句为no less引导的一个倒装句型,句子真正的主语为:the use of the new technology, 谓语部分为has been, 表语为remarkable.
而对于单词而言,考研阅读当中喜欢考查普通单词不普通的含义。
例如2004年第43题:
The expression “tip service” most probably means ________
A. advisory B. compensation C. interaction D. reminder
原文:For any job search, you should start with a narrow concept——what you think you want to do——then broaden it. “None of these programs do that,” says another expert. “There is no career counseling implicit in all of this.” Instead, the best strategy is to use the agent as a kind of tip service to keep abreast of jobs in a particular database; when you get E-mail, consider it a reminder to check the database again. “I would not rely on agents for finding everything that is added to a database that might interest me,” says the author of a job-searching guide.
What does the author mean by “most people are literally having a ZZZ”?
A: They are getting impatient.
B: They are noisily dozing off.
C: They are feeling humiliated.
D: They are busy with word puzzles.
原文:The humiliation continues. At university graduation ceremonies, the ABCs proudly get their awards first; by the time they reach the Zysmans most people are literally having a ZZZ. Shortlists for job interviews, election ballot papers, lists of conference speakers and attendees; all tend to be drawn up alphabetically, and their recipients hose interest as they plough through them.
The loss of U.S. predominance in the world economy in the 1980s is manifested in the fact that the American ______
A. TV industry had withdrawn to its domestic market.
B. Semiconductor industry had been taken over by foreign enterprises.
C. Machine-tool industry had collapsed after suicidal action.
D. Auto industry had lost part of its domestic market.
原文:It was inevitable that this primacy should have narrowed as other countries grew richer. Just as inevitably, the retreat from predominance proved painful. By the mid 1980s Americans had found themselves at a loss over their fading industrial competitiveness. Some huge American industries, such as consumer electronics, had shrunk or vanished in the face of foreign competition. By 1987 there was only one American television maker left, Zenith. (Now there is none: Zenith was bought by South Korea‘s LG Electronics in July.) foreign-made cars and textiles were sweeping into the domestic market. America’s machine-tool industry was on the ropes. For a while, it looked as though the making of semiconductors, which America had invented and which sat at the heart of the new computer age, was going to be the next casualty.
从原文的划线句中我们找到了问题C项的出处,原文句中有个短语on the ropes,有的同学可能会想,在绳子上,是不是在引申地表达上吊自杀呢,选项C则不失时机地给出了suicidal的候选答案,如果真的能够用这种方法解释英文短语的话,中英互译要笑话百出了。On the rope这个短语最初源自拳击比赛,选手为了不倒在地上标志失败,则会靠在场地的围栏上,这时的拳手必定是奄奄一息的状态,所以On the rope这个短语的意思为“濒临失败”。