原文
When facing the few truly essential decisions in life, many people also ignore the most important problem. For instance, when choosing whom to marry, “Is she or he reasonable?” is always outside the scope of consideration, even though it is the single most important factor. Instead, they focus on appearance , education, background, etc., without considering which factor will be the most important in the future. Of course, maybe this is because they themselves aren’t a reasonable person (yes, it’s true, most people aren’t very reasonable, and they stay this way throughout their lives).
Because they haven’t eradicated the most important problem, it sprouts like a seed, growing both a tree above ground and a deep root structure below, creating countless new problems. And so we see the same situation again and again: people surround the “problem tree” above ground, wasting lots of time and energy trying to find ways to solve perceived problems that wouldn't have existed at all if they made the right decision a long time ago. They don't even notice that the real problem is in the roots of the tree.
原文较长,句子也长,生词也多,有知难而退的心理很正常。我也一样。不过我知道要想精进,刻意练习是少不了的,习得一项本事不是那么容易,否则叫我们这些努力的人情何以堪?
加油吧,为了拓宽择偶范围,为了博闻强识,为了一个更好的未来,英语这门语言必须掌握。
生词:
1.truly adv. 真正;准确;
2.essential adj. 必不可少的;基本的;
3.ignore v. 忽视;置之不理;
4.for instance 例如;
5.reasonable adj. 讲道理的;不错的;
6.scope n. 范围;
7.factor n. 因素;
8.Instead adv. 相反;代替;
9.focus v. 集中;
10.appearance n. 外貌;外观;
11.eradicated v. 根除;
12.sprouts v. 出现;生长;
13.structure n. 结构;
14.creating v. 创作;造成;
15.countless adj. 无数的;
16.situation n. 状况;
17.surround v. 围绕;
18.energy n. 精力;
19.perceived v. 注意到;意识到;
20.existed v. 存在;
21.notice v. n. 注意;理会;
建议你先自己试着翻译并进行语法结构划分。真的,你哪怕练上一回,你都会比以前进步——反正退步绝无可能。
参考翻译:
在生活中,当面临一些真正必不可少的选择时,很多人却忽视了最重要的问题。比如在选择结婚对象时,"她(他)是讲道理的吗?"总是在考虑范围在外——尽管这是最重要的因素。相反,他们更看重的是外貌、学历、背景等等,并不考虑在未来哪个因素最重要。当然,也许这是因为他们自己都不是个讲道理的人(对,这是事实,绝大多数人都不是讲道理的,他们终生都是如此而已)。
因为他们无法根除最重要的问题,以至于这个问题像颗种子一样,地上参天大树,地下盘根错节,衍生出无穷无尽的新问题。于是,我们反复看到相同的状况:人们围绕地上的"问题之树",浪费大量的时间和精力试图去寻找办法去解决那些若是他们很久前就做出正确选择就不会存在的问题。他们甚至并不理会真正的问题是在树下的根里面。
按字面意思,我已经翻译出来。我们可以对比下原文:
八九不离十,有出入是正常的,我们要做的就是尽可能地把作者的真实意思表述出来。
全文共计七句话,我们来进行结构划分。
第一句,When facing the few truly essential decisions in life(时间状语), many people (主)also ignore(谓) the most important problem(宾).
注意,我把宾语前面的前置定语"most important"和宾语"problem "看作是一个整体,方便学习,用不着划分那么细腻。
第二句,For instance(状), when choosing whom to marry(时间状语), “Is she or he reasonable?”(主) is (谓)always outside(状) the scope(宾) of consideration(定), even though it is the single most important factor(让步状语).
第三句,Instead(状), they(主) focus (谓)on appearance(宾1) , education(宾2), background(宾3), etc., without considering (谓2)which factor will be the most important(宾从) in the future(定).
需要注意的是,理论上一句话里可以有无限个主语、谓语和宾语——就如上文你所看到的一样。
第四句,Of course(状), maybe this(主) is(谓) because they themselves aren’t a reasonable person(宾从) (yes, it’s true, most people aren’t very reasonable, and they stay this way throughout their lives)(插入语).
第五句,Because they haven’t eradicated the most important problem(原因状语), it (主) sprouts (谓) like a seed (宾), growing both a tree above ground and a deep root structure below, creating countless new problems.
第六句,And so we(主) see(谓) the same situation(宾) again and again(状): people surround the “problem tree” above ground, wasting lots of time and energy trying to find ways to solve perceived problems that wouldn't have existed at all if they made the right decision a long time ago(同位语).
整句话看起来吓死人的长,但冒号后面都是对宾语的补充,但它们并不是宾补,而是同位语。
第七句,They(主)don't even notice(谓) that the real problem is in the roots of the tree(宾从).
这句话有很多动词:don't, notice, is,如何判断真正的谓语?记住,第一个出现的独立动词或动词组合是谓语。如果单独的don't意思肯定不完整,因此don't even notice 是一个组合,肯定是谓语了。还不放心?that引导的那句话在谓语后面,必然是宾语从句——从句中的动词并不独立,因此不能充当谓语。
慢慢来,没你想的那么难。
往期文章:
1.《On Regular Investing 》翻译与语法解析;
2.《语法不用学?观念全错》;
3.《(必看)掌握此中英文逻辑之异同,胜过十年苦学》。