长难句分析1Our linguistic（语言上的）and cultural blindness and the casualness with which we take notice of the developed tastes, gestures, customs and languages of other countries, are losing us friends, business and respect in the world. 【分析】这是一个复杂的简单句；句子的主干是Our blindness and casualness are losing us. with which 引导一个定语从句修饰casualness. take notice of 意思是“注意到”。 【译文】我们对语言、文化的无知，以及那种对其他国家形成的品味、手势、风俗和语言的漫不经心的态度，正使我们在世界上失去朋友，错过商机，丧失威信。 2A simple trip around the yard in a pair of those babies eliminates all need to call for a lawn care specialist, and provides the perfect-sized holes to give any lawn oxygen without all those messy chunks of dirt lying around. 【分析】这是一个复杂的简单句；句子的主干是A simple trip eliminates all need and provides holes. messy chunks of dirt：乱七八糟的脏东西。 【译文】只要穿这种娇小的鞋在院子里走一走，就完全没必要请修剪草坪的专家了，因为这会形成大小合适的洞为草坪提供氧气，周围还不会留下那些乱七八糟的脏东西。 3But my own worry today is less that of the overwhelming problem of elemental literacy than it is of the slightly more luxurious problem of the decline in the skill even of the middle-class reader, of his unwillingness to afford those spaces of silence, those luxuries of domesticity and time and concentration, that surround the image of the classic act of reading. 【分析】这是一个带有比较级的句子，主干是：But my own worry today is less that than. 【译文】但我今天所担心的不是广泛泛滥的文盲问题，而是更加奢侈一点的问题，即：对中产阶级读者读写技能下降了的担忧，他们不愿把安静的地方、难得的家庭生活的机会、时间和注意力用来读书，而典型的读书活动正需要这些。 4This violation of concentration, silence, solitude（独处的状态）goes to the very heart of our notion of literacy; this new form of part-reading, of part-perception against background distraction, renders impossible certain essential acts of apprehension and concentration, let alone that most important tribute any human being can pay to a poem or a piece of prose he or she really loves, which is to learn it by heart. 【分析】这是一个并列句。第一个分句的主干是：this violation goes to the heart of literacy.，第二个分句的主干是this new form renders,let alone 【译文】这种对精神集中、安静、独处状态的妨碍同阅读概念直接冲突；在娱乐背景下半读书半分散精力的读书新方式不可能专心致志地理解，更不要说任何一个人对真正喜爱的一首诗或一篇散文所能表示的最大赞赏是将其背诵下来。 5And with doubtful prospects for a short-term financial return, with the cold war a rapidly fading memory and amid a growing emphasis on international cooperation in large space ventures, it is clear that imperatives other than profits or nationalism will have to compel human beings to leave their tracks on the planets reddish surface. 【分析】句子的主干是it is clear that imperatives will have to compel human beings to leave tracks on the planets reddish surface.；两个with分别引导两个伴随状语。 【译文】由于短期经济回报有疑问、冷战在人们记忆中迅速消失，以及越来越强调在大规模空间探险中的国际合作；很清楚，不是经济利益或国家利益，而是必须履行的使命将迫使人类在那个红色行星的表面留下足迹。 6The issue of whether life ever existed on the planet, and whether it persists to this day, has been highlighted by mounting evidence that the Red Planet once had abundant stable, liquid water and by the continuing controversy over suggestions that bacterial fossils rode to Earth on a meteorite（陨石）from Mars. 【分析】句子的主干是This issue has been highlighted.由两地whether引导的从句做of的宾语；两个that所引导的从句分别做evidence和suggestions的同位语。 【译文】由于越来越多的证据表明这个红色行星上曾经有稳定而丰富的液态水，又因人们对落到地球上的火星细菌化石陨石的说法一直有争论，所以火星上是否存在过生命、是否延续至今的问题一直引人注目。 7What he has demonstrated, he believes, is that lack of control over an event, not the experience itself, is what weakens the immune system. 【分析】that和what分别引导两个表语从句；he believes是插入语，应该前置。 【译文】他认为，他所证明的是缺乏控制事件的能力会削弱免疫系统，而非经历本身。 8Jay Weiss, a psychologist at Duke University School of Medicine, has shown that animals who are allowed to control unpleasant stimuli dont develop sleep disturbances or changes in brain chemistry typical of stressed rats. 【分析】that引导的宾语从句中又包含一个who引导的定语从句，修饰animals。 typical of sb.意思是“以为特征的”。这句话中这个词组之前省略了，which is，是两个现象的定语从句。 【译文】杜克大学医学院的心理学家琼伟斯已经证明：被允许控制不快刺激的动物不会出现睡眠障碍，大脑化学成分也不发生变化，这些正是老鼠紧张的典型表现。 9The reasons why they dont, and why the environment has not been ruined, have to do with prices, technological innovation, social change and government regulation in response to popular pressure. 【分析】句子的主干是The reasons have to do with prices, technological innovation, social change and government regulation. 两个why均引导定语从句修饰reasons. in response to popular pressure做regulation的后置定语。 【译文】为什么它们没发生，为什么环境被毁灭，这同价格、技术创新、社会变革和政府因公众压力所制定的规章有关。 10What has happened is that every time a material seems to be running short, the price has risen and, in response, people have looked for new sources of supply, tried to find ways to use less of the material, or looked for a new substitute. 【分析】这是简单的复杂句，句子的主干是What has happened is that。主语是what引导的主语从句，谓语是that引导的名词性从句；该从句中every time 引导一个时间状语从句，为第三层从句。 【译文】所发生的事情是这样的：每当一种原料看来将要短缺，价格就上升，相应地人们就寻找新的供应来源，尽量找到少用这种材料的方法，或者寻找替代品。 11Not too many decades ago it seemed obvious both to the general public and to sociologists that modern society has changed peoples natural relations, loosened their responsibilities to kin (亲戚) and neighbors, and substituted in their place superficial relationships with passing acquaintances. 【分析】