在面对长难句时，考生一定不能只见单词，不见结构，句子主干部分永远比修饰部分要重要。
1、But these factors do not account for the interesting question of how there came to be such a concentration of pregnant ichthyosaurs in a particular place very close to their time of giving birth.
(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
o 分句1中嵌套着分句2.
o 分句2是of结构作后置定语修饰说明question的内容。
2、Amid rumors that there were prehistoric mammoths wandering around the unknown region and that somewhere in its wilds was a mountain of rock salt 80 by 45 miles in extent，the two captains set out.
(同位语从句rumors that…)
当时有一些传言，说有史前的猛犸在这一陌生的区域活动，而且在这一区域的某个地方有一座巨大的盐石山，其面积达80英里长50英里宽。就在这些传言中，两位上尉出发了。
· 分句1：Amid rumors
· 分句2：that there were prehistoric mammoths wandering around the unknown region
· 分句3：and that somewhere in its wilds was a mountain of rock salt 80 by 45 miles in extent
· 分句4：the two captains set out.
整个句子的主句是分句
"Amid" 表示“在 ......之中", 是介词，它引导的分句1嵌套着分句2和分句3，并且在整句话中作状语。 而分句2和分句3是并列关系的同位语从句来修饰分句1中的rumors，作rumors的同位语从句，用来说明谣言的具体内容。
3、Totally without light and subjected to intense pressures hundreds of times greater than at the Earth’s surface，the deep—ocean bottom is a hostile environment to humans，in some ways as forbidding and remote as the void of outer space.
(定语后置in some ways…)
【译句】由于完全没有光，而且承受着比在地球表面大数百倍的极大压力，深海底部对人类而言是一个充满敌意的环境，在某些方面就像外层空间一样险恶和遥远。
· 分句1：Totally without light and subjected to intense pressures
· 分句2：hundreds of times greater than at the Earth’s surface
· 分句3：the deep—ocean bottom is a hostile environment to humans
· 分句4：in some ways as forbidding and remote as the void of outer space
o 分句2修饰分句1结尾的短语intense pressures，
o 分句1是分句3的状语
o 分句3是整个长句子的主句
o 分句4是分句3的后置定语，修饰分句3的a hostile environment to humans
主句前后分别有状语和定语的修饰成分，但是本句其实不是复合句。句子的核心意思是深海对于人类而言是一个充满敌意的环境。
4、As a result，claims that eating a diet consisting entirely of organically grown foods prevents or cures disease or provides other benefits to health have become widely publicized and form the basis for folklore.
(同位语从句claims that…)
结果，那些认为只食用绿色食品就能防治疾病或增进健康的观点广为人知，并成为一些民间说法的基础。
· 分句1：that eating a diet consisting entirely of organically grown foods prevents or cures disease or provides other benefits to health
· 分句2：claims have become widely publicized and form the basis for folklore
分句1作为分句2主语 "claim" 的同位语从句嵌套在分句2中。因此本句的主句就是分句2. 同位语从句是that eating a diet consisting entirely of organically grown foods prevents or cures disease or provides other benefits to health：吃有机食品就能防治疾病或增进健康。
5、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.
(并列同位语从句reports that…，that…，that…)
关于天然维生素优于人造维生素，受精蛋比未受精蛋的营养价值更高，未经熏蒸消毒处理的谷物比经过处理的好等等报道屡见不鲜，但都没有得到证实。
· 分句1：There are numerous unsubstantiated reports
· 分句2：that natural vitamins are superior to synthetic ones
· 分句3：that fertilized eggs are nutritionally superior to unfertilized eggs
· 分句4：that untreated grains are better than fumigated grains and the like
分句1是整个长句的主句，分句2、分句3和分句4是并列关系，共同构成分句1的同位语从句。本句的意思是有很多没有经过证实的报道，然后并列了三个未经过证实的报道的从句。
6、Basic to any understanding of Canada in the 20 years after the Second World War is the country's impressive population growth.
(倒装结构Basic to any understanding…is…)
要理解二战之后20年中的加拿大，就必须了解该国惊人的人口增长。
· 分句1：Basic to any understanding of Canada in the 20 years after the Second World War
· 分句2：is
· 分句3：the country's impressive population growth
分句1，2，3共同构成倒装句，正常的语序应该是3，2，1，即：该句的正常语序是The country's impressive population growth is basic to any understanding of Canada in the 20 years after the Second World War.
本句是一个简单句，只不过使用了倒装，谓语动词是is.
7、The desperate plight of the South has eclipsed the fact that reconstruction had to be undertaken also in the North，though less spectacularly.
(同位语从句fact that…)
南方极为严重的困境使北方同样需要开始重建(尽管不像南方那么引人注目)这一事实显得不太重要。
· 分句1：The desperate plight of the South has eclipsed the fact
· 分句2：that reconstruction had to be undertaken also in the North
· 分句3：though less spectacularly (省略)
o 分句2是嵌套在分句1中的，做分句1中的fact的同位语从句。
o 分句3是分句2中的让步状语从句，并有省略现象存在，完整的说法是： though the reconstruction is less spectacular.
8、In the seventeenth century the organ, the clavichord, and the harpsichord became the chief instruments of the keyboard group，a supremacy they maintained until the piano supplanted them at the end of the eighteenth century.
(同位语a supremacy)
17世纪时风琴、敲弦琴和拨弦琴成为键盘乐器类的主要成员，这种至高无上的地位一直由它们保持，直到18世纪末被钢琴所取代。
· 分句1：In the seventeenth century the organ, the clavichord, and the harpsichord became the chief instruments of the keyboard group，
· 分句2：a supremacy
· 分句3：they maintained until the piano supplanted them at the end of the eighteenth century
分句2是分句1的同位语，用来修饰说明分句1中的the chief instruments of the keyboard group，分句3是省略了 "that" 的定语从句，修饰分句2.
9、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.
(介词结构from…to…作定语)
持续到19世纪的一系列机械上的改进，包括引入踏板以维持音调或使其柔和，改善金属框架，以及使用最佳牲能的钢丝，最终产生了一种具备无数音调效果的乐器——这些效果涵盖了从最精致的和声到几乎全部的管弦乐音响，从明快流畅的吟唱音调到尖锐的打击乐器的恢弘气氛。
· 分句1：A series of mechanical improvements continuing well into the nineteenth century;
· 分句2：including the introduction of pedals to sustain tone or to soften it;
· 分句3：the perfection of a metal frame and steel wire of the finest quality;
· 分句4：finally produced an instrument capable of myriad tonal effects;
· 分句5：from the most delicate harmonies to an almost orchestral fullness of sound;
· 分句6：from a liquid，singing tone to a sharp, percussive brilliance。
本句的真正的主句结构其实是由分句1和分句4构成，即A series of mechanical improvements continuing well into the nineteenth century finally produced an instrument capable of myriad tonal effects. 分句2和分句3并列修饰说明分句1中的A series of mechanical improvements，而分句5和分句6并列，修饰说明了分句4中的an instrument capable of myriad tonal effects.
10、The new accessibility of land around the periphery of almost every major city sparked an explosion of real estate development and fueled what we now know as urban sprawl.
(宾语从句what we now know as)
现在可以获得这些环绕几乎每个大城市边缘地区的土地，这一可能性激发了一场房地产开发的热潮并造成了我们现在称为城区无计划扩展的现象。
· 分句1：The new accessibility of land around the periphery of almost every major city sparked an explosion of real estate development and fueled
· 分句2：what we now know as urban sprawl
分句2嵌套在分句1里，即分句1是主句，分句2是宾语从句，主句结构经过精简应该是The new accessibility of land sparked an explosion of real estate development and fueled urban sprawl.
整句话的谓语动词是 sparked 和 fueled, 两个并列的动词。
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