如何搞定toefl阅读中的长难句
一、巩固语法知识
托福阅读长难句之所以看不懂,是因为句子结构分析不清楚。而句子结构分析不清楚,其根本原因就是语法知识掌握得不够牢固。要想把句子结构分析清楚,首先要掌握英语中的五大基本句型。这五种基本句型分别是:
1. 主+谓(例:I swim.)
2. 主+谓+宾(例:I ate an apple.)
3. 主+谓+宾+宾补(例:She found the computer useful.)
4. 主+谓+双宾(例:He gave me a book.)
5. 主+系+表(He is a doctor.)
掌握以上这几种基本句型可以帮助你迅速找到句子的主干,而找到句子的主干是分析句子结构的关键。长难句之所以会感觉到难,是因为句子中含有很多修饰性成分,这些修饰性成分往往给考生分析句子结构带来干扰。因此,考生有必要了解常见的修饰性成分都有哪些。
长难句中常见的复杂修饰性成分有:
1. 从句(定语从句、状语从句、同位语从句等)
例:This is particularly true for trees in the middle and upper latitudes, which tend to attain greater heights on ridges, whereas in the tropics the trees reach their greater heights in the valley. 这是一个由which引导的定语从句,先行词是前面的trees。
2. 介词短语
例:David Douglas, Scottish botanical explorer of the 1830s, found a disturbing change (in the animal life)(around the fort)(during the period)(between his first visit in 1825 and his final contact with the fort in 1832.)
在这句话中,括号里的都是介词短语,做修饰成分。in the animal life做定语修饰前面的名词change;around the fort做地点状语修饰谓语动词found,说明发现的地点;during the period和between his first visit in 1825 and his final contact with the fort in 1832做时间状语修饰谓语动词found,说明发现的地点。
3. 分词(现在分词、过去分词)
This“atmospheric engine”, invented by Thomas Savery and vastly improved by his partner, Thomas Newcomen, embodied revolutionary principles, but it was so slow and wasteful of fuel that it could not be employed(outside the coal mines)(for which it had been designed.)
这句话中的过去分词invented by Thomas Savery and vastly improved by his partner做后置定语修饰前面的名词engine。
4. 不定式
The growing power of the elite, who controlled the economy, would give them the means to physically coerce people to move to Teotihuacán and serve as additions to the labor force.
不定式做目的状语,表明给予他们方法的目的是什么。
二、扩大词汇量
不可否认,掌握句子结构对于分析长难句十分重要,但是要想彻底明白句子的含义,除了掌握句子结构之外,还要有丰富的词汇量。由于托福考试阅读文章偏学术性,因此不可避免地会出现一些学术词汇。然而,托福文章所涉及的文章体裁十分广泛,想穷尽所有考试中的学术词汇是不切实际的。我们只需在练习时把遇到的学术词汇进行整理,仅仅以“认识单词”为目标,不求会写、会说,这样来积累一定的学术词汇,以保证考试遇到相关学术词汇时头脑中有一个基本的概念。
托福阅读中的长难句要怎么拆分
长难句是托福阅读中最大的障碍之一,如果能解决了长难句就能变得无往不胜,那么新托福阅读长难句怎么拆分呢?下面我们通过5个长难句拆分的实例具体介绍一下,希望能帮助大家多积累一些新托福阅读技巧。
1. Over 800 full-time thatches are employed inEngland and Wales today,maintaining and renewingthe old roofs as well as thatching newer houses.
结构:全句只有1个谓语动词:are employed.句子主干为:Over 800 full-time thatches are employed.其中,maintaining,renewing the old roofs 和thatchingnewer houses是三个并列的现在分词短语作伴随状语。Aswell as 表示并列。
翻译:目前有800名全职茅屋匠人在英格兰和威尔士工作,进行维修,翻新旧屋顶并且还盖新的茅屋顶。
2. He had never been to school or university but had studied privately and by the time hewas twenty he was a skillful chemist and excellent linguist,speaking Swedish,Russian,German,France,and English.
结构:全句有4个谓语动词:had been,had studied,was和was.全句由三个并列的简单句组成。hewas twenty是一个由by the time引导的时间状语从句。其中句末的现在分词短语speaking Swedish,Russian,German,France,and English 作伴随状语,对excellent linguist进行解释说明。
翻译:他从来没有上过中学或大学,但是他都是自学的。到20岁时,他已经是一个很熟练的化学家,一个优秀的语言学家,会说瑞典语,俄语,德语,法语和英语。
3. The materials used – copper,stainless steel,concrete and glass- give the building astriking beauty.
结构:全句只有1个谓语动词:give.句子主干是:The materials give the building a strikingbeauty.其中,过去分词used作为后置定语修饰materials.现在分词striking作定语修饰beauty.破折号之间的并列的名词结构是materials的同位语,起补充说明作用。
翻译:使用的这些建材——铜,不锈钢,水泥和玻璃等——给这个建筑物增添了一种夺目的魅力。
4. After all,eighty was a special birthday,another decade lived or endured just as youchose to look at it.
结构:全句有2个谓语动词was和chose.句子主干为:eighty was a special birthday.Anotherdecade是birthday的同位语,后面的lived or endured是过去分词作后置定语修饰decade.最后是as引导的状语从句。
翻译:毕竟,八十大寿是一个特殊的生日,是又生活了十年还是忍受了十年全凭你选择怎么去看待了。
5. But at least they would distinguish the organizations entitled to a continuing voice inthe dialogue with the research community about the rights of animals in research from theorganizations that deserve no say.
结构:全句有2个谓语动词would distinguish和deserve.句子主干是:they would distinguish theorganizations…from the organizations that…。其中,entitled to a continuing voice是过去分词短语作为后置定语修饰第一个organizations.其后是一个复杂的介词短语,其主干是in the dialoguewith…about…。that引导的定语从句修饰第二个organizations.并且,还应注意到整句话的主要结构:distinguish…from…。
翻译:但是,至少他们会分辨出哪些组织有资格与研究机构继续进行对话,就科研活动中的动物的权力发表意见,而哪些组织不应进行这种对话。
遇到长难句,第一步先抓句子主干,找到主谓宾,然后依次分析各形容词或分词,句子结构就清晰可见。每天五句,长难句不再“难”,希望大家能坚持练习,肯定会有很大的提升。
托福阅读如何读懂三种题型的长难句
如果把托福的文章比喻成一座建筑物,“词汇”便是“砖块”,“句子”便是“梁柱”。对于一座建筑物而言少了一两块砖块并不会造成其倒塌,那么对于一篇文章而言某些单词没看懂也并不影响对于整个篇章的理解;而作为建筑物的支撑部分,梁柱却会影响该建筑物的稳定性,那么被比作梁柱的句子对于理解一篇文章而言是至关重要的,无法理解长难句会让考生首先降低阅读速度,其次影响篇章理解,最后最致命的影响是相关题型的解决----“句子简化题”,“事实信息题”,“推理题”,因为这三种题型都是在直接或间接地考察学生对于长难句的理解能力。本文将从这三种题型的角度讨论如何解读长难句。
“句子简化题”中的长难句----“先见森林,后见树木”
“森林”代表的是该句话的“结构”,“先见森林”即考生首先应该关注的是该句话最核心的主干;“树木”代表的是该句话具体的“词汇”,那么“后见树木”指考生应该在了解主干之后才关注词汇,并且只是一些key words.
<1> 因果结构
例题1 (OG: Desert Formation):
The extreme seriousness of desertification results from the vast areas of land and the tremendous numbers of people affected, as well as from the great difficulty of reversing or even slowing the process.
10. Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in the passage? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.
A. Desertification is a significant problem because it is so hard to reverse and affects large areas of land and great numbers of people.
B. Slowing down the process of desertification is difficult because of population growth that has spread over large areas of land.
C. The spread of deserts is considered a very serious problem that can be solved only if large numbers of people in various countries are involved in the effort.
D. Desertification is extremely hard to reverse unless the population is reduced in the vast areas affected.
解题步骤:
1. 观察题干,发现表示隐形因果的短语result from
2. 浏览选项,发现A和B选项含有因果关系
3. 分析原句:原句中“因”:1). 大量受到影响的土地vast areas of land; 2). 大量受到影响的人口tremendous numbers of people; 3). 很难去减慢或者颠覆沙漠化过程reverse or slow the process; 原句中“果”:沙漠化是一个严重serious的问题;分析A选项:“因”:1). reverse process; 2). affect large areas of land; 3). affect great numbers of people; “果”:沙漠化是一个significant的问题
<2> 让步转折结构
例题2 (TPO 17: Animal Signals in the Rain Forest):
In the green-to yellow lighting conditions of the lowest levels of the forest, yellow and green would be the brightest colors, but when an animal is signaling, these colors would not be very visible if the animal was sitting in an area with a yellowish or greenish background.
7. Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in the passage? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.
A. When an animal is signaling in an area with green-to yellow lighting condition, its signal will not be visible if the background is brightly lit.
B. In the lowest levels of the forest, an animal''s signals are not easily seen unless there is a yellowish or greenish background.
C. In the green-to-yellow lighting conditions at the lowest levels of the forest, only signals that are themselves green or yellow will be bright enough to be seen in most areas.
D. Although green and yellow would be the brightest colors near the forest floor, these colors would make poor signals whenever the forest background was also in the green-to-yellow range.
解题步骤:
1. 分析题干,发现表转折的逻辑关系词but; 前半句“yellow and green会是最亮的颜色在低层森林中”;后半句“但是如果动物所处的background是yellow or greenish, 那么动物发出该种颜色的信号将不明显”
2. 分析选项:只有D选项含有表让步转折的逻辑词although, 进而分析句意:前半句:“虽然green and yellow在森林底层颜色最亮”;后半句:“在环境也是green to yellow的情况下,这些颜色将是poor signals”
3. 原句与选项在句子的结构上符合:转折结构;在语义上符合:lowest level of the forest = forest floor, Not very visible = poor signals
<3> 比较结构
例题3 (TPO 17: Animal Signals in the Rain Forest):
In the second case, pollinators (insects, birds) obtain food from the flowering plant, and the plant has its pollen distributed and seeds dispersed much more efficiently than they would be if they were carried by the wind only.
9. Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in the passage? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.
A. The relationship between flowering plants and pollinators provides pollinators with food and flowers
托福英语长难句分析
(Of 结构作定语:of how there came to be such a concentration of pregnant
ichthyosaurs...)
但这些因素并不能解释这个有趣的问题:为何在一个特定的地点会如此集中地出现即将临产的怀孕鱼龙群。
分句 1:But these factors do not account for the interesting question
分句 2:of how there came to be such a concentration of pregnant
ichthyosaurs in a particular place very close to their time of
giving birth
分句 1 嵌套分句 2.
分句 2 是 Of 结构作后置定语修饰说明 question 的内容。
如何看懂托福阅读长难句
一个长难句映入眼帘,很多学生反映不知从何下手:看句子太慢,一个个单词地念,即使全认识,读完了还是不知道在讲什么!这对迅速提取信息,尤其是重点信息显然是非常不利的,对于不得不做的这份耗时耗力的“苦力活”,该如何给自己减负呢?
1树立句子整体结构感!从宏观角度,以意群为单位跳着读句子,直到读完,整体结构在脑海中清晰呈现,做到心里有数。例如,There are numerous
unsubstantiated reports that natural vitamins are superior to synthetic
ones,that fertilized eggs are nutritionally superior to unfertilized eggs,that
untreated grains are better than fumigated grains and the like。
当看到There
are就应该知道,咦,主干到手!后面跟的内容无非就是或长或短的名词短语;看到第一个that时,就应该明确:任何句子都有一套自己的主谓结构,从句是句子,也不例外!所以接下来映入眼帘的主谓结构不用管,全部归属第一个that,因此眼睛迅速略到了逗号后的第二个that,同上,继续跳读,不久就发现原来还有第三个that,好,这个“瞬间跳读”的过程就这样结束啦!在你大脑中呈现的框架应该是这样的:
There are…reports that…,that…,that…。
即,三个that在同时修饰reports。整体结构到手后,你就会迅速有种胸有成竹,信心大增的感觉,因为下面的工作就简单了,在此框架内将一条条意思理出即可。
2 任何句子都有句子重心!迅速提取主句的主干意思,把握整句逻辑。
无论摆在你面前的句子有多长,坚信任何句子都是有句子重心的,因此,首先抓住句子重心意思,对整个句子的理解方向就一定不会错!句子重心中的重中之重便是主句的主干。
A series of mechanical improvements continuing well into the nineteenth
century, including the introduction of pedals to sustain tone or to soften it,
the perfection of a metal frame and steel wire of the finest quality,finally
produced an instrument capable of myriad tonal effects from the most delicate
harmonies to an almost orchestral fullness of sound,from a liquid,singing tone
to a sharp, percussive brilliance。
这个长难句肯定让很多学生瞬间觉得晕头转向,但是其实根本不用有心理负担,因为你要做的事情就是理出句子重心的意思,其它意思先“靠边站”,最终在大脑中形成的各部分意思应是有主有次的,层次分明的,甚至可以分成更清晰的部分和稍模糊的部分,更清晰的部分当然是句子重心的部分,稍模糊的便是其它细节喽。
主次有别,句子重心意思记清,其它信息按重要性进行模糊处理,不用担心这会导致选错,因为考点都是围绕核心意思进行的。
看到这句开头的名词短语,感觉像是一个主语(因为主语一般都是名词来充当嘛),再瞄到continuing时,我们知道,doing和to
do在英语(精品课)中有个专门的名字为它们量身定做的,叫“非谓语”,顾名思义,不能当谓语,所以一看到它,就知道连同它引导的短语全面跳过;这时候就到including啦,道理同上,跳过!跳到这个逗号后的the
perfection,这个名词更不能充当谓语咯,再次略过连同后面的一连串乱七八糟的东西;最后看到了动词produced(副词finally当然更是次要成分,略过),然后后面又跟了an
instrument,太棒了,完美的谓语动词+宾语组合!
虽然到此为止,已经找到了句子重心,但是还没有看完句子,而要形成句子整体结构感,必定要看完。后面的capable of
引导的短语修饰前面的instrument(因为英语中各类修饰关系多数都是指向前面的单词),后面接着effects from…to,
from…to。这个无敌长句此时在你的脑海中应该是这样的:
A series of mechanical improvements continuing well into the nineteenth
century,including the introduction of pedals to sustain tone or to soften it,
the perfection of a metal frame and steel wire of the finest quality,finally
produced an instrument capable of myriad tonal effects from the most delicate
harmonies to an almost orchestral fullness of sound,from a liquid,singing tone
to a sharp, percussive brilliance。
加阴影部分是句子的重中之重,其意思要清晰地印在脑海里的最前端,不可有半点疏漏,下划线部分稍次之,也要做到意思明朗,在脑海中,其余内容全部排在主次有别的结构后面即可。这样,整个句子对大脑在短时间内的负荷量要求便不大了,且更易抓住重点。
因此,这两种方法,双管齐下,既可以提高理解质量,又可以提高理解速度。
总之,突破托福阅读高分,长难句理解是基础!
托福的一个长难句分析。
为了表达自然,调换了语序。翻译如下:
19世纪的雕刻传统中,制作陶器被认为是一种创作艺术,它后来被交给雕刻室使用石膏或铜浇铸,或者用大理石雕刻,而直接雕刻就摒弃了这种技术。
结构分析,严格的前后括号相对应,成分写在前括号之后:
(整个句子的主语The technique (后置定语of direct carving)) was a break with the nineteenth- century tradition (定语从句in which (并列分句第一句(从句主语the making of a clay model) was considered the creative act) and (并列分句第二句the work was then turned over to studio assistants to be cast in plaster or bronze or carved in marble))
把长句分开就清晰多了。两个并列分句可能看着不爽,你可以试试把从句中and和它后面的所有东西删掉或把and和它前面的所有东西删掉,就更简单了。
最新托福阅读长难句:恐龙灭绝与开花植物的关系
托福阅读长难句
For example, some have blamed dinosaur extinction on the development of flowering plants,which were supposedly more difficult to digest and could have caused constipation or indigestion — except that flowering plants first evolved in the Early Cretaceous, about 60 million years before the dinosaurs died out.
结构
复合句,带有which引导的定语从句,except that引导的条件状语从句,以及before引导的时间状语从句。
分析
some have blamed dinosaur extinction on the development of flowering plants,主句中some主语,have blamed 谓语,dinosaur extinction宾语,on the development of flowering plants 宾语。本部分意思:例如一些人将恐龙灭绝归咎于开花植物的发展。
which were supposedly more difficult to digest and could have caused constipation or indigestion 定语从句修饰plants,which为主语,系表结构 were supposedly more difficult to digest,与动宾结构 could have caused constipation or indigestion作并列谓语。本部分意思是据说这些植物更难消化,可能导致便秘或消化不良。
except that flowering plants first evolved in the Early Cretaceous, about 60 million years before the dinosaurs died out 条件状语从句中,flowering plants 主语,evolved 谓语,in the Early Cretaceous 时间状语 , about 60 million years 定语,修饰the Early Cretaceous。before the dinosaurs died out,时间状语从句中,the dinosaurs 作主语,died out 谓语。本部分意思是:除非开花植物在早白垩纪,恐龙灭绝前的大约6000万年前,就已经开始进化。
托福阅读长难句翻译
例如一些人将恐龙灭绝归咎于开花植物的发展,据说这些植物更难消化,可能导致便秘或消化不良,除非开花植物在早白垩纪,恐龙灭绝前的大约6000万年前,就已经开始进化。
托福阅读里一个长难句的分析
不是插入语,只不过是为了使句子更精彩而将原因状语放入句子中间,这样无形中就对不熟悉这种结构的同学造成了阅读障碍。其实我们自己在写作的时候,为了显得自己水平很高也会这样做,而且这种用法(原因状语,结果状语,时间状语等等插入到句子中间)在地道的英语文章中是很常见的。
这句话的正常语序是:In order for the structure to achieve the size and strength necessary to meet its purpose, architecture employs methods of support that have changed little since people first discovered them——even while building materials have changed dramatically,because they are based on physical laws.
一并帮你翻译一下:为了使建筑结构具有与其目的相适应的尺寸和力量,建筑师们采用了自从发现以来就几乎没怎么变化的支撑方法(尽管建筑材料已经发生了极大的改变),因为它们是基于物理规律的(言外之意是基于物理规律的东西是不可以轻易改动的)。
希望能帮到你,考试加油,我刚刚考过,有什么问题可以问我~~
托福英语长难句解析详细In order for the structure to achieve
(In order for the structure) (to achieve the size and strength necessary to meet its purpose), architecture employs methods of support that, (because they are based on physical laws), have changed little since people first discovered them—— (even while building materials have changed dramatically. )
一个句子重点在于主干,看懂了主干,就看懂了句子的主要成分。以下主干为句子中红色部分,括号里均是修饰成分。
修饰一:(In order for the structure),介词短语
修饰二:(to achieve the size and strength necessary to meet its purpose),非谓语做形容词性修饰structure
修饰三:(because they are based on physical laws),插入语,插入语记得先跳过去,断句别出问题,that和have changed是在一起的。
修饰四:(that have changed little sincepeople first discovered them.从句修饰support
修饰五:(even while building materials have changed dramatically. ),从句
括号外面的是主干:architectureemploys methods of support,注意support这里是名词。
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