GRE考试阅读辅导：长难句实例分析65

　　The correlation of carbon dioxide with temperature, of course, does not establish whether changes in atmospheric composition caused the warming and cooling trends or were caused by their.

　　当然二氧化碳与大气温度之间的相互联系并不能确定到底是大气成分的变化引起了气候的变暖和变冷的趋势，还是大气成分的变化是由气候的冷暖变化造成的。

　　难句类型：复杂修饰、插入语、省略

　　解释：本句主句中的谓语establish在GRE、GMAT和LSAT的阅读文章中除了可以作建立的意思以外，还有一个更常用的意思，就是确定、确证的意思，等于determine, prove或confirm，另外，本句的省略很容易使读者将指代关系搞混：在最后的or were caused by their当中，存在两处省略：or之后省略了与whether一句中相同的主语changes ;最后的their之后又省略了与whether从句中的主语一样的changes。这里不管将their之后被省略的内容看成是warming and cooling trends还是看成composition都是错误理解。

　　意群训练：The correlation of carbon dioxide with temperature, of course, does not establish whether changes in atmospheric composition caused the warming and cooling trends or were caused by their.