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600字范文 > 如何应对全球气候变化? | as从句

如何应对全球气候变化? | as从句

时间:2018-08-10 12:48:26

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如何应对全球气候变化? | as从句

最近一期的《经济学人》(The Economist)杂志讨论到全球气候变化问题(The climate issue)。

文章中出现了下面这句话:

That the changing climate touches everything and everyone should be obvious—as it should be thatthe poor and marginalized have most to lose when the weather turns against them.

这里的as从句值得注意一下,因为它关系到后边that从句(thatthe poor and marginalized have most to lose...)的从句类型和逻辑语义关系。请判断该that从句的类型:

下面我就来简单分析一下这个as从句和that从句:

as it should be thatthe poor...。

有人认为这个that从句是表语从句:

的确,that从句是在be动词之后,按理应该就是一个表语从句。但是,这只是表象,其中有诈!

这个诈就来自as。那么这个as引导了一个什么从句呢?有人认为是原因状语从句,因此译成了“因为......”:

实际上,这个as从句需要结合上文这句:

That the changing climate touches everything and everyone should be obvious

才能做出判断。这句该如何分析呢?有人这样断句:

That the changing climate touches everything

(气候变化影响一切)

and

everyone should be obvious

(每个人都应该是显而易见的)

即认为and连接的是两个并列分句:the changing climate touches everything分句与everyone should be obvious分句并列,比如下面这位同学的翻译:

显然,这位同学误判了and的并列关系,同时也忽略了句首that连词的作用。

上面这些解读都是错误的,都误判了句子结构。

实际上,这里and连接everything and everyone,作touches的宾语。整个that从句That the changing climate touches everything and everyone作主语,即为一个主语从句,其后接谓语内容should be obvious。可见,should前面的主语不是everyone,不能把everyone should be obvious断成一个句子。

既然是主语从句,那么我们就可以采用it作形式主语来改写,请比较:

a.That the changing climate touches everything and everyone should be obvious.

=b. It should be obvious that the changing climate touches everything and everyone.

写成b句这样的结构,大家应该就更容易判断它是一个主语从句了,因为这是一个典型的“It+be +形容词 +that从句”的主语从句句型。

现在问题是:按理说,b句更常见,那么作者为何要采用a句这种句式结构呢?

这就与as从句有关了。其实,这里as要指代前面的obvious,同时还充当should be后边的表语——这个结论非常重要!

据此,我们推导出:

as it should be that...

=it shouldbe obvious that...

从这个推导中,我们能够看到下面三个重点:

第一,由此可知,采用上面a句这样的句式结构,能够使得obvious与as紧靠在一起,便于二者建立指代关系:

a.That the changing climate touches everything and everyone should be obvious -asit should bethat ...

你想想看,如果写成b句样子:

b.Itshould be obviousthatthe changing climate touches everything and everyone -as it should be that...

你还能找到as指代obvious吗?

可见,英语句子的结构选择,都是受到其上下文语境制约的。当然,这背后又涉及到一些根本的造句原理,比如就近修饰原理。

第二,这里的as既指代前面主句内容(如这里指代obvious),同时又在从句中充当句子成分,这就让我们联想到它很像一个关系词的作用。据此,我们可以认为这里as引导的是一个非限制性定语从句(实际上,这个as从句有不同的分类标准,比如它具有比较意味,因此可以归为比较从句的一种,对此不再展开赘述)。

第三,搞清楚了这里的as从句结构转换关系,那么我们就知道其后边的that从句类型了,该that从句也是一个主语从句,可以说它是b句结构It should be obvious that...的一个变体结构:

c.asit should be thatthe poor and marginalized have most to lose when the weather turns against them.

=c1.it shouldbeobviousthatthe poor and marginalized have most to lose when the weather turns against them.

显然,c1句的句式结构与上面的b句结构完全一样:

b.Itshould be obviousthatthe changing climate touches everything and everyone.

都是采用了it should be obvious that...这个主语从句句型。

可见,c句是一个被“乔装改扮”了的主语从句。其实,下文还有一个隐藏更深的被乔装改扮了的主语从句,这是下面这个that从句:

What is less obvious, but just as important, is that, because the processes that force climate change are built into the foundations of the world economy and of geopolitics, measures to check climate change have to be similarly wide-ranging and all-encompassing.

为了讨论方便,我用X来替代从句的内容:

d.What is less obvious, but just as important, isthat X

对这句话的一般分析是:what引导的是一个主语从句What is less obvious, but just as important,然后is后边的that从句是一个表语从句。这只是从表面结构上的分析。但若从深层的逻辑语义分析,这里that从句其实是由主语从句转化过来的。那么这个表语从句怎么又变成了主语从句呢?

要回答这个问题,我们需要知道what从句具有强调功能,我一般称之为“what强调句”。比如说:

A. Money is important.(钱很重要。)

现在要对主语money进行强调,我们就可以借用what这样改写:

B. What is important is money.

我们看到,money由A句中的主语位置跑到了B句中的表语位置。在结构上,B句就等同于d句。具体来说,B句中的what主语从句what is important就等同于d句中的主语从句What is less obvious but just as important;而B句中的money就等同于d句中的that X。现在仿造A句,就可以把d句改写为:

d1. That Xisless obvious but just as important.

可见,这里That X就是一个地道的主语从句。

分析至此,我们看到,这两句话其实是由三个that引导的主语从句搭配三个obvious谓语内容:

That the changing climate touches everything and everyoneshould be obvious—as it should bethat the poor and marginalized have most to lose when the weather turns against them. What is less obvious, but just as important, is that, because the processes that force climate change are built into the foundations of the world economy and of geopolitics, measures to check climate change have to be similarly wide-ranging and all-encompassing.

在前两个obvious谓语内容中,作者采用了should be,来表明相应的两个that从句所表达的内容应该是显而易见的,是人人皆知的常识;然后作者借用what强调句来强调说,第三个that从句的内容则不是那么显而易见(less obvious)。

翻译这句话,关键是要看到这三个obvious(其中第二个obvious被as替换了)对全句的逻辑语义衔接作用。以这三个obvious为支点,贯连了三个that主语从句:

That the changing climate touches everything and everyone

that the poor and marginalized have most to lose when the weather turns against them

that...measures to check climate change have to be similarly wide-ranging and all-encompassing

当然,后两个that主语从句是经过了“乔装改扮”的。

下面这位同学的译文对这种语义衔接处理的比较好:

下面这个译文对三个obvious语义衔接处理的不及上文,译文显得有点拖沓、松散:

再比如这个译文也没有很好处理:

另外,这两句中共有8个从句:

下面这位同学对这8个从句分析的都正确:

最后简单总结一下。本期内容讨论了:

1. as it should be这样的定语从句:

这里as指代前面形容词,同时充当从句的表语。这样的as从句有时不易察觉,容易被误判。比如,我前面写过这篇文章:考研辅导专家都会误读的这个句子你能读懂吗?(点击即可阅读),其中提到过有考研辅导专家对这类as从句的误读:

Whenpublicopinionisparticularlypolarised,asitwasfollowingtheendoftheFrancoregime,monarchscanriseabove“mere”politicsand“embody”aspiritofnationalunity.

这里as指代polarized,因此as it was =it was polarized,而it指代public opinion。可是,这位考研专家竟然认为it是形式主语,而following...这个介词短语才是真正的主语!完全误读。

2. 提到了what强调句:

关于what强调句的详细构造过程,见《名词从句超精解》what从句的内容。

上图内容就是摘自《名词从句超精解》what强调句的内容:

3. 讨论了三个obvious在句中的语义衔接作用,以及对应的三个主语从句(其中有两个that主语从句经过了改装)。

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