英语长句的阅读技巧

遇到英语长句时运用快速阅读技巧，能够有效地掌握信息。阅读水平的提高涉及到阅读速度和理解能力两个主要方面。在进行限定时间的阅读时，如果理解的速度跟不上，解答问题或确定选择项时就可能束手无策，这样势必会影响阅读的质量。

英语长句的正确阅读方法是：按意群去读，即根据常见的语法结构和句型划分出意群，弄清句子的主谓关系，把握每一意群中的关键词。在大多数情况下，把注意力放在语篇的理解上，不要过分拘泥于对语法和词法的详尽分析。那种逐词逐句的阅读方式不利于抓住句子的主要意思，影响阅读的速度和准确性，浪费时间。掌握长句的阅读技能，并能将其运用自如是至关重要的，这是在有限的时间内获得准确信息的关键。

1排除分割现象的干扰

英语长句多为复合句，其结构交错重叠，不易理解。阅读时，如果对某些长句感到困惑不解，应该学会抓句子的主要结构，弄清句中主语———谓语———（宾语）这一基本框架，排除某些分割现象的干扰。

分割现象使本来应该紧密相连的语法成分隔开来而形成位移。在快速阅读时如果不加注意会引起误解或者理解障碍。分割现象产生的原因主要是：（1）由于英语的习惯用法；（2）为了使句子保持平衡，避免头重脚轻；（3）词组或短语的一部分被修饰词分割后嵌在另一结构之中。这些分割现象使句子结构间的关系变得复杂化，增加了句子的难度。在排除分割现象的干扰时，最好先理清原句的主要结构，搞清楚各语法成分之间的关系，然后对句子进行简化处理，抓住其主要意思。例：

1．The recent growth of export surpluses on the world food market has certainly been unexpectedly GREat，partly because a strange sequence of two successful grain harvests in North America is now being followed by a third．

分析：该句中的定语或状语主要结构分割开来的情况有9处：

1）of export surpluses（定语）；2）on the world food market（定语）；3）certainly（状语）；4）unexpectedly（状语）；5）partly（状语）；6）strange（定语）；7）of two successful grain harvests（定语）；8）in North America（定语）；9）now（状语）。这些定语或状语（有时还会有插入语）使得一些本来应紧密相连的句子成分被拆开了。如果去掉这些分割现象，原句的主要结构是：The recent growth．．．has．．．been．．．GREat，．．．because a．．．sequence．．．is．．．being followed by a third．排除这些众多的分割现象，简化句子结构后，句意便可一目了然。

2．Yet，despite familiarity with the dictionary，the average person is likely to have many wrong ideas about it，and no real concept of how to use it profitably，or interpret it correctly．For example，it is often believed that the mere presence of a word in a dictionary is evidence that it is acceptable in good writing．Though most dictionaries have a system of marking words obsolete，or in use only as slang，many people，especially if their use of a particular word has been challenged，are likely to conclude if they find it in a dictionary that it is accepted as being used by writers of established reputation．

Q：One wrong idea the average person has about the dictionary is that ．

A）no one is actually familiar with dictionaries

B）words in a dictionary are taken from good writings

C）there is no change in the compilation of dictionaries

D）people know little about how dictionaries interpret words

答案：B）

分析：该题第三句中有两处插入if状语从句的分割现象，使句子复杂化。排除分割现象的干扰，该句的主要结构是：．．．many people ．．．are likely to conclude that it is accepted as being used by writers of established reputation，与选择项B）相吻合。

2识别平行结构

英语句子中的平行结构是指一些语法成分或结构相同的单词、短语、长句或句子排列在一起形成的修辞现象。识别出平行结构有助于理解长句，把握句意的统一性和完整性，排除阅读当中的障碍。

例：

1．In a family where the role of men and women are not sharply separated and where many household tasks are shared to a GREater or lesser extent，notions of male superiority are hard to maintain．The pattern of sharing in tasks and in decision makes for equality，and this in turn leads to further sharing．In such a home，growing boys and girls learn to accept equality more easily than their parents and to prepare more fully for participation in a world characterized by co-operation rather than by“the battle of sexes”．

Q：According to the passage，notions of male superiority are ．

A）not maintained by most American women

B）difficult to maintain in a home where the woman does most of the work

C）completely alien to American mothers and fathers

D）difficult to maintain in a home where household tasks are shared by the mother and father

答案：D）

分析：该段第一句中的两个where．．．为一平行结构；第二句中的（sharing）in tasks and in decision又构成平行结构；第三句中的（learn）to accept．．．和．．．to prepare是一平行结构；后面的by co-operation和by“the battle of the sexes”又是一平行结构。

2．There are signs that psychiatrists，psychologists，social workers， and specialists on the family are becoming more aware of the part men play and they have decided that women should not receive all the credit—nor all the blame．

Q：Today，people who specialize in family problems ．

A）reaffirm the belief that a woman's place is in the home

B）would re-establish the father as the autocratic ruler of the family

C）are becoming more aware of the importance of the father's role in the family

D）believe that the mother deserves all the credit or blame for the raising of children

答案：C）

分析：该句中有两对平行结构：1）that引出平行的两个同位语从句；2）．．．all the credit与．．．nor all the blame构成平行结构。