例句: This alone demonstrates that the television business is not an easy world to survive in, a fact underlined by statistics that show that out of 80 European television networks, no less than 50 took a loss in 1989. (2005年第48題)
分析: 該句是復合句,含有多個從句,a fact underlined by statistics that后接一定語從句,show后又接一賓語從句,其中no less than可譯為“不少于,至少”;take a loss 譯為“虧本,賠本”。
例句: I have never seen these beautiful round multi colored Chinese cloisonne(景泰藍) vases in my first three years in China.
分析: 該句是簡單句。
譯文: 在中國的最初三年中,我從來沒有見過這些顏色各異的圓形中式景泰藍花瓶。
二、主客觀意義易混淆的形容詞
主觀意義,如:
contemptuous (表示輕蔑的)
desirous (渴望的)
envious (羨慕別人的)
expressive (表情豐富的)
forgetful (健忘的)
imaginative (富于想象的)
perceptive (感覺敏銳的)
persuasive (能說服的,有說服力的)
respectful (表示尊敬的)
tolerant (容忍的,容許的) 客觀意義,如:
contemptible (輕視的,卑劣的)
desirable (值得要的,想要的)
enviable (令人羨慕的)
expressible (可表達出來的)
forgettable (可忘記的)
imaginable (可想象出來的)
perceptible (可感覺的)
persuasible (可說服的,聽話的)
respectable (可敬的)
tolerable (可容忍的)
例句: The authors are witheringly contemptuous of the bogus equation of tidiness and morality, for example, in corporate “clean desk” policies.
分析: 該句是簡單句。
譯文: 作者毫不留情地批評了將整潔與道德相等同的做法,例如,公司內“清潔辦公桌”的政策。
例句: We should be alert to the possibility that individuals, organizations or governments tend to pied a worthy goal in excuse of their contemptible means and selfish interests.
分析: 該句是復合句,that individuals,organizations or governments tend to...作possibility的同位語。
the aged,the weak,the sick and the disabled (老弱病殘)
the living (活著的人)
例句: The old are cared well in a home for the poor and aged.
譯文: 老人在養(yǎng)老院里得到了很好的照料。
例句: The poor are very happy, but the rich are sad.
譯文: 窮人很快樂,富人卻不快樂。
少數(shù)詞接單數(shù)動詞,如: the departed/the deceased (死者), the beautiful (美好的事物), the unexpected (意外情況)。
例句: The deceased has been sent to the funeral parlor.
譯文: 死者已經(jīng)被送往殯儀館。
四、復合形容詞
有些形容詞由兩部分或更多部分組成,稱為復合形容詞,如:
three-year-old child (三歲的孩子)
six-storied building (六層的樓房)
one-eyed donkey (一只眼的驢)
其他如: prep. /adj. /n. /adv.+p.p.(分詞)
off-putting (令人討厭的)
nit-picking (找茬的,吹毛求疵的)
free-living (生活無拘束的)
hard-wearing (耐穿的)
star-crossed (命運不佳的,倒霉的)
tender-hearted (心腸軟的,慈善的)
well-intentioned (善意的,好心的)
例句: People who live in small towns often seem more friendly than those living in densely populated areas. (1999年第27題)
分析: 該句是復合句,其中those living...相當于those who live in...。
譯文: 住在小鎮(zhèn)上的人似乎往往比住在人口稠密地區(qū)的人更為友好。
例句: In this way these insects show an efficient use of their sound-producing ability, organizing two sounds delivered at a high rate as one call. (1997年第16題)
分析: 該句是簡單句,organizing two sounds delivered...作伴隨狀語。
例句: Critics also argue that commercial genetic testing is only as good as the reference collections to which a sample is compared. (選自2009年Text 2)
分析: 該句是復合句,that commercial genetic testing...作argue的賓語,to which a sample is compared是一個修飾the reference collections的定語從句。
譯文: 批評家們還指出,商業(yè)基因檢測的好壞取決于用于樣本對比的參考樣本的好壞。
例句: Scientists generally agree that the Earth's climate will warm up over the next 50 to 100 years as much as it has warmed in the 2,000 years since the Ice Age.
分析: 該句是復合句,that the Earth's...Ice Age 作agree的賓語從句。
例句: It's a message even more bitter than a clove cigarette, yet, somehow, a breath of fresh air. (選自2006年Text 4)
分析: 該句是簡單句,even more bitter than...修飾a message。
譯文: 讀這一消息的滋味甚至比抽丁香煙還要苦,但卻不知怎么地帶來了一股清新的氣息。
例句: These recordings are cheap, available everywhere, and very often much higher in artistic quality than today's live performances; moreover, they can be “consumed” at a time and place of the listener's choosing. (選自2011年Text 1)
例句: According to several studies concluding that parents are less happy than childless couples, single parents are the least happy of all. (選自2011年Text 4)
分析: 該句是簡單句,其中,分詞短語concluding that parents are less happy than childless couples作后置定語,修飾studies,從句that parents are less happy than childless couples又充當concluding的賓語。
譯文: 結論為 “為人父母者不如無子女者幸福”的多項研究表明,單親父母最不幸福。
例句: Their lives are no less empty than those of their subordinates.
例句: It soon becomes clear that the interior designer's most important basic concern is the function of the particular space.
分析: 該句是復合句,其中it為形式主語,真正的主語為that the interior designer's most important...。
譯文: 室內設計者最基本的關注點就是某一特定空間的功能,這一點很快就清楚了。
例句: I believe that the most important forces behind the massive M&A wave are the same that underlie the globalization process: falling transportation and communication costs, lower trade and investment barriers and enlarged markets that require enlarged operations capable of meeting customers' demands. (選自2001年Text 4)
分析: 該句是復合句,主干部分為I believe that..., that require enlarged...demands是修飾falling transportation...and enlarged markets的定語從句,形容詞短語capable of meeting customers' demands修飾operations,其中be the same that...意為“……與……是相同的”。
例句: In class, she is the least talented girl in mastering foreign language that I have ever taught.
分析: 該句是復合句,that I have ever taught是修飾girl的定語從句。
譯文: 她是我在班里教過的在外語學習方面最缺乏天分的女孩。
3. 比較級表示最高級含義。
形式為: 比較級+ than any other+單數(shù)名詞。
例句: The campus of this university is much more beautiful than any other campus.
譯文: 這所大學的校園是最漂亮的。
4. 最高級形容詞前加定冠詞the,但作表語不和他人或物作比較時,可省去the。
例句: I have been busiest these days for writing papers.
譯文: 寫論文的這些天是我最忙的時間。
(四)同類比較
同類事物才能放在一起作比較,不同類的不能放在一起進行比較,例如:
Are your jobs more important than Jack?
(說法錯誤。你的工作不能和Jack比較;應該是和Jack的工作相比較,因此該句正確的說法為: Are your jobs more important than Jack's?)
The climate of Shanxi Province is much better than Henan Province.
(說法錯誤。山西的氣候不能和河南省比較;應該是和河南省的氣候相比較,因此該句正確的說法為: The climate of Shanxi Province is much better than that of Henan Province. )
例句: Meanwhile, many settlers had slighter religious commitments than Dane's, as one clergyman learned in confronting folk along the coast who mocked that they had not come to the New World for religion. (選自2009年Text 4)
分析: 該句是復合句,其中主干是many settlers had slighter religious commitments than Dane's。 Dane's 后省略了religious commitment,as one clergyman learned...是一個方式狀語從句, who mocked...是一個修飾folk的定語從句,they had not come to the New World for religion是that引導的賓語從句,作mock的賓語。