历年GRE考试试题阅读部分难句精选100句(四)

　　31. Studies by Hargrave and Geen estimated natural community grazing rates by measuring feeding rates of　individual zooplankton species in the　laboratory and then computing community grazing rates for field conditions　using the known population density　of grazers.

　　由哈格雷夫和吉恩所进行的研究，对自然条件下的群落捕食速率进行了估计，其手段是通过测量出实验室内单独的浮游动物种类的捕食速率，然后利用已知的食草动物种群密度，计算出实地状况下的群落捕食速率。

　　难句类型：复杂修饰

　　解释：本句对阅读者的阅读能力提出了更高的要求，不但要求读者读清楚句子的复杂的结构，而且对读者的词汇能力也提出了更高的要求。

　　By以前结构无需解释，by以后有两个作介词宾语短语的动名词结构，measuring和后面表示并列和顺接的and then之后的computing，说的是计算方法;前一个measuring说的是先算出实验室中浮游动物品种的单位捕食速率，后面的computing前其实省略了一个by，而且在这个动名词结构中还包括一个分词结构using the known population density of grazers，用已知的捕食者的种群密度计算出其野外的群体捕食速率。整个的by以后的计算过程简单了就是：实验室单位速率野外密度=野外群体速率

　　另外本句中的词汇也颇有迷惑性;虽然没有太难的单词，但是很多单词都是同义词和反义词，容易让人读混;

　　estimate/measure/compute; feeding rates/grazing rates; zooplankton/grazers; natureal/field; laboratory community; individuall

　　意群训练：Studies by Hargrave and Geen estimated natural community graz-ing rates by measuring feeding rates of　individual zooplankton species in the　laboratory and then computing community grazing rates for field conditions　using the known population density　of grazers.

　　32. In the periods　of peak zooplankton abundance，that is，in the late spring and in the summer，Haney recorded maximum daily community grazing rates，for nutrient-poor　lakes and bog lakes，respectively，of 6.6 percent and 114 percent of daily phytoplankton production.

　　在浮游动物数量激增的高峰期，亦即在春季后期以及夏季，哈尼记录了最大程度上的每日群落食草比率，对于营养物不充足的湖和沼泽湖而言，分别为每日浮游植物繁殖量的6.6%和114%.

　　难句类型：插入语

　　解释：句中有两组插入语，每组两个插入语，尤其是第二组，把rate of从中间劈开。不过因为句义尚好理解，所以本句只是有一点别扭，但不算太难。

　　意群训练：In the periods　of 　peak zooplankton abundance，that is，in the late spring and in the summer，Haney recorded maximum daily community grazing rates，for nutrient-poor　lakes and bog lakes，respectively，of 6.6 percent and 114 percent of daily phytoplankton production.

　　33. The hydrologic cycle，a major topic in this science，is the complete cycle of phenomena through which water passes，beginning as atmospheric water vapor，passing into liquid and solid form as precipitation，thence along and into the ground surface，and finally again returning to the form of atmospheric water vapor by means of evaporation and transpiration.

　　水文循环，作为该学科中的一个主要课题，指的是水所经过的诸现象的整个循环过程，开始时是作为大气中的水蒸气，转而作为雨、雪、露、雹一类的降水量经过液体和固体形态，由此而沿着地层表面分布或进入地层表面，最终通过蒸发和散发作用再度回复到大气水蒸气的形态。

　　难句类型：复杂修饰、插入语、省略

　　水文循环，作为该学科中的一个主要课题，指的是水所经过的诸现象的整个循环过程，开始时是作为大气中的水蒸气，转而作为雨、雪、露、雹一类的降水量经过液体和固体形态，由此而沿着地层表面分布或进入地层表面，最终通过蒸发和散发作用再度回复到大气水蒸气的形态。

　　解释：beginning开始的一系列分词都是修饰主语The hydrologic cycle的，分别是beginning/passing/passing/returning。值得注意的是，thence along and into the grund surfacee 是thence passing along and entering into the ground surfacee的省略形式，但是看上去意思却很清楚。类似这样的省略，是出题者合理地利用了省略来达到改编学术论文时压缩文章篇幅的目的。

　　意群训练：The hydrologic cycle，a major topic in this science，is the complete cycle of phenomena through which water passes，beginning as atmospheric water vapor，passing into liquid and solid form as precipitation，thence along and into the ground surface，and finally again returning to the form of atmospheric water vapor by means of evaporation and transpiration.

　　34. Only when a system possesses natural or artificial boundaries that associate the water within it the hydrologic cycle may the entire system properly be termed hydrogeologic.

　　只有当一个系统拥有自然的或人工形成的边界来把边界中的水与水文循环联系起来的时候，才有可能把整个的系统恰当的成为与水文地质学有关。

　　难句类型：复杂修饰、倒装

　　解释：only放在句首时，主句的情态动词may倒装，这是我们高中就已经学过的东西。然而句首的only与倒装的may距离如此之远，这在以前却没有见过，所以读上去让人不习惯。另外一个难点在于，前面的由when所引导的时间状语从句中，宾语boundaries后面跟了一个定语从句，that associate the water within it with the hydrologic cycle,而且从句中的associate with又被water within it所分开，读者还要分神去考虑it所指的是什么，所以读到后面倒装的may的时候，难免不知所云。

　　意群训练：Only when a system possesses natural or artificial boundaries that associate the water within it with the hydrologic cycle may the entire system properly be termed hydrogeologic.

　　35. The historian Frederick J. Turner wrote in the 1890s that the agrarian discontent that had been developing　steadily in the United States since about 1870 had been precipitated by theclosing of the internal frontier――that is，the depletion of available new land　needed for further expansion of the American farming system.

　　史学家弗雷德里克.杰.特纳于十九世纪九十年代著述道，美国约自18世纪70年代以来一直在持续不断发展的农民不满，由于国内边远地区的封闭而更趋加剧――亦即是说，美国农业系统进一步扩展所必需的可资利用的新土地几近耗竭。

　　难句类型：复杂修饰

　　解释：典型的句子套句子。主句是F.J.T. wrote that，宾语从句中主干是the agrarian discontent had been precipitated by the closing of the internal frontier，在从句的主语the agrarian discontent后面又来了一个定语从句。

　　意群训练：The historian Frederick J. Turner wrote in the 1890s that the agrarian discontent that had been developing　steadily in the United States 　since about 1870 had been precipitated by theclosing of the internal frontier――that is，the depletion of available new land　needed for further expansion of the American farming system.

　　36. In the early 1950s，historians who studied preindustrial Europe began， for the first time in large numbers，toinvestigate more of the preindustrial European population than the 2 or 3 percent who comprised the political　and social elite：the kings，generals，judges，nobles，bishops，and local　magnates who had hitherto usually filled history books.

　　难句类型：复杂修饰、插入语

　　译文：二十世纪五十年代早期，研究前工业化时代欧洲的史学家，首次以众多的人数，开始调查前工业化时代欧洲人口中的大多数，而非那些构成了政治与社会精英阶层的百分之二或三的人口，即国王、将军、法官、贵族、主教、以及地方上的达官显贵，而正是这部分人一直到那时为止普遍充斥于史学著作。

　　解释：句子中有两个插入语，一个是跟在preindustrial Europe之后的which we may define here as Europe in the period from roughly 1300 to 1800,这个插入语的直接作用是解释前面的preindustrial Europe的年代，而起到的客观作用则是把主句中的主语和谓语分割得很远;第二个插入语是在began，for the first time in large numbers, to investingate中间，把一个好好的began to斩为两段。

　　这句话另外一个难以理解的地方是more of the preindustrial European population than the 2 or 3 percent，表示的是在工业化以前的欧洲人口中超过了那2%到3%的人，亦即占97%到98%的人民群众。

　　意群训练：In the early 1950s，historians who studied preindustrial Europe began， for the first time in large numbers，toinvestigate more of the preindustrial European population than the 2 or 3 percent who comprised the political　and social elite：the kings，generals，judges，nobles，bishops，and local　magnates who had hitherto usually filled history books.

　　37. Historians such as Le Roy Ladurie　have used the documents to extract case　histories， which have illuminated the attitudes of different social groups and have revealed how the authorities administered justice. 一类的史学家利用这些文献史料从中挖掘出某些个案史来，阐明了不同社会群体的态度，并揭示出当局是如何执行审判的。

　　解释：逗号以后的内容都是修饰逗号以前的case history的。在which引导的非限定性定语从句中有一个插入语，我们可以看到这个插入语中又套了一个插入语but not confined to。

　　意群训练：Historians such as Le Roy Ladurie　have used the documents to extract case　histories， which have illuminated the attitudes of different social groups and have revealed how the authorities administered justice.

　　38. It can be inferred from the passage that a historian who wished to compare crime rates per thousand in a European city in one decade of the fifteenth century with crime rates in another decade of that century would probably be most aided by better information about which of the following?

　　难句类型：复杂修饰

　　译文：从文章中可以推断出来，一个希望比较十五世纪以前一个十年的某个欧洲城市中的每千人的犯罪率与另外一个十年中的犯罪率的历史学家将会被以下那种信息的提高所最好的帮助?

　　解释：句首的it是形式主语，其具体内容是从that开始到句子结束的全部内容。That从句中，主语a historyian之后修饰它的超长的定语从句是这个句子难以读懂的原因。Compare crime rates with crime rates中间被修饰第一个crime rates的两个修饰成分perthousand in a European city in one decade of the fifteenth century分隔得很远。在with之后的第二个crime rates后面，省略了与前面重复的per thousand in a European city。

　　意群训练：It can be inferred from the passage that a historian who wished to compare crime rates per thousand in a European city in one decade of the fifteenth century with crime rates in another decade of that century would probably be most aided by better information about which of the following?

　　39. My point is that its central　consciousness―its profound understanding of class and genderas shaping influences on peoples lives―owes much to that earlier literary heritage，a heritage that，in general，has not been sufficiently valued by most contemporary literary critics.

　　难句类型：复杂修饰、插入语

　　译文：我的论点是，其作品的中心意识――它将阶级和性别作为人们生活的决定性影响而作出的深邃理解――在很大程度上借鉴了那个早期的文学遗产，而这一遗产就总体而言还尚未获得大多数当代文学评论家的足够重视。

　　解释：宾语从句中的主语和谓语被长插入语分开，造成阅读障碍。插入语中有一个固定搭配understanding of A as B，是把A理解成B的意思。不过本句中as的宾语不容易理解：shaping influences on peoples lives可以理解成形成了对人们生活的影响也可以理解成对人们生活的塑造性影响。当然后面的理解是正确的，然而在阅读现场想要在瞬间做出正确判断，还有赖于考生的阅读理解力和词汇功底的深浅。插入语后面还有一个固定搭配：A owes much to B，指前者有很多东西是来自于后者，得益于后者的。

　　意群训练：My point is that its central　consciousness―its profound understanding of class and genderas shaping influences on peoples lives―owes much to that earlier literary heritage，a heritage that，in general，has not been sufficiently valued by most contemporary literary critics.

　　40. Even the requirement that biomaterials processed from these materials be nontoxic to host tissue can be met by techniques derived from studying the reactions of tissue cultures to biomaterials or from short-term implants.

　　即使是这样的要求，即从这些材料中加工出来的生物材料应该对受移植者的组织无害，也能够通过从研究组织培养对生物材料的反应而来的，或从研究短期移植而来的技术来满足。

　　难句类型：复杂修饰、省略、专有名词、固定搭配

　　解释：主语the requirement后面带着一个长长的修饰主语的同位语;由于requirement的同位语中要求使用虚拟语气，所以其中的系动词成了原型。如此之长的修饰成分过后，谓语can be met与主语的关系已经很难理清了。从by开始的状语结构更为复杂;修饰techniques的后置的定语derived from studying the reactions of tissure cultures to biomaterials or derived from studying short-term implants实际上是由or所连接的两个固定搭配the reactions of tissure cultures to biomaterials;第二个derive from中还套了另外一个固定搭配the reactions of tissure cultures to biomaterials;第二个derive from则干脆把derive给省略了。此外，本句的专有名词奇多，这使得阅读的难度非常高。

　　意群训练：Even the requirement that biomaterials processed from these materials be nontoxic to host tissue can be met by techniques derived from studying the reactions of tissue cultures to biomaterials or from short-term implants.