考研英语长难句讲解 第102期

 　　18. While Washington and Jefferson privately¹ expressed distaste for slavery, they also understood that it was part of the political and economic bedrock of the country they helped to create.

　　【分析】多重复合句。while 引导让步状语从句，主句主干为 they also understood that，此时的 that 引导宾语从句，宾语从句中又包含省略了关系词的定语从句 they helped to create，修饰先行词 country。

　　【译文】尽管华盛顿和杰佛逊私下里都对奴隶制表示反感，但他们也认识到，奴隶制是他们一手缔造的国家的政治经济基础的一部分。

　　【点拨】distaste 意为“厌恶，不喜欢”，可与 taste 一起联想记忆。

　　19. The southern states would not have signed the constitution without protections for the "peculiar² institution," including a clause that counted as three fifths of a man for purposes of congressional representation.

　　【分析】复合句。主句主干为 The southern states would not have signed the constitution；介词结构 including a clause...对作进一步解释，其中 that 引导的定语从句修饰 clause。本句中用到了虚拟语气，would not have signed 表达的是与过去事实相反的假设，介词短语 without protections for the "peculiar institution" 表达了隐含的条件，相当于if they had not had protections for the "peculiar institution"。

　　【译文】如果不保护他们的“特殊制度”，南方各州是不会签署联邦宪法的。“特殊制度”中有一条规定：在选举国会代表时，一个奴隶可作五分之三个公民。

　　【点拨】1) clause 常见是意思为“分句，从句”，本句中意为“（法律、合同等的）条款、款项”。2) for purposes of“为了...”。

　　【临摹】这幅图只是为了说明起见。

　　语法拓展

　　with 或 without 表达隐含条件的用法

　　with 或 without 在句中作状语，可以表示真实的条件，也可以表示虚拟的条件，理解为“如果...”或“若是没有...”。例如：Without his help, I don't know how to get started. 没有他的帮助，我无从下手（真实的条件）。Without your help, we couldn't have completed the task ahead of time. = if it had not been for our help...若是没有你的帮助，我们不可能提前完成任务（非真实条件）。

　　19. This picture is for purposes of illustration only.

1 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。

2 peculiar   

adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的

参考例句：

• He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
• He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。