有些考生把生词也作为阅读中的一个难点，但在阅读过程中，由考纲范围所限，生词在掌握本书推荐的词汇书后，这一难点完全可以忽略不计。一般来说，考生在阅读时通常会遇到以下几大难点，下面将对此进行逐一分析。  

长句的解析

由于考研本身所具有的局限性，以及西方的语言习惯（简单、直接、重心突出），这就决定了文章中结构非常复杂的长句出现的机率很小。即使有，也只占极小部分，用于区分选拔出那些英语非常优秀的考生。对于普通考生来说，如在考试中由于这种难度而有一两道题目做不出来的话是很正常的。考生首先要做的，就是拿下那些绝大部分属于常规性试题的分数，拿下自己该得到的分数。对于大多数考生来说，考研英语阅读文章中有些语句较长，但结构并不复杂，考生对这类句子的理解，关键在于掌握一定的技巧，形成连贯的语义理解。其基本应对策略是先抓句子的主干，把握句子的重心，再对插入成分或并列结构进行理解。

这类句子可分为两类：一类是由一些固定的词组搭配所构成的长句，如 so（such）...that（如此……-以致……-），not only...but also（不仅……-而且……-）， not...but（不是……-而是……-），so as...to（如此……-以致……-），transform...from...into...（把……-从……-改变为……-），not so much...as...（不是……-而是……-）as...as...（像……-一样）等；另一类是由多个插入成分或并列结构过多构成的长句。对于前者我们只需抓住固定搭配所连接的主干，分步理解；后者则直接抓住句子的主干，分步理解。

下面就近23年来阅读真题文章中所出现的“长难句”逐一进行分析（“/” 表示断句标示，适当的断句可以帮考生很好地理解句意）。

The Olympian athletic festival / held every four years / in honor of Zeus, king of the Olympian Gods, /eventually lost its local character, became first a national event and then, after the rules against foreign competitors had been abolished, international.（1987年真题）

【分析】本句实际是由几个简单的并列句组成的一个长句，省略了共同的主语The Olympian athletic festival。补充省略部分，该句可理解为以下简单句的句意组合：

The Olympian athletic festival held every four years in honor of Zeus, king of the Olympian Gods.

The Olympian athletic festival eventually lost its local character.

After the rules against foreign competitors had been abolished, the Olympian athletic festival became first a national event and then, international.

【翻译】奥林匹克运动会最初是为了纪念Zeus（奥林匹亚的一个神），每四年主办一次，最终它丧失了原-有的地方色彩，逐渐成为一种国家级体育盛事。而后，在一些反对国外竞技者参与的规则被废除之后，逐渐变成了一种国际性的体育盛事。

Aristotle, for example, whose natural science /dominated the Western thought for two thousand years, believed that / man could arrive at an understanding of reality/ by reasoning from self-evident principle / that everything in the universe has its proper place, hence one can deduce that / objects fall to the ground because that's where it belongs.（1987年真题）

【分析】首先抓住句子主干，对于插入部分我们可以暂时忽略掉。本句主干为：Aristotle believed that man could arrive at an understanding of reality by reasoning from self-evident principle，然后再逐步理解其他成分。“whose natural science dominated Western thought for two thousand years”是对Aristotle的补充说明。“everything in the universe has its proper place, hence one can deduce that objects fall to the ground because that's where it belongs”是对self-evident principle的同步解释。该句可理解为以下简单句的句意组合：

Aristotle believed that man could arrive at an understanding of reality by reasoning from self-evident principle.

Aristotle's natural science dominated the Western thought for two thousand years.

Self-evident principle is that everything in the universe has its proper place, hence one can deduce that objects fall to the ground because that’s where it belongs.

【翻译】举个例子吧，亚里士多德，他的自然科学理论统治了整个西方思想长达两千年之久。他认为，人们可以通过一些显而易见的法则推断来达到对现实的理解。这种不证自明的法则就是，任何事件在宇宙中总有其合适的位置。因而人们可以推断出，物体掉到地上是因为物体本身就属于大地的。

Both you and she know that / if you are not sure what you want, you are not likely to find it.（1988年真题）

【分析】that if 属于常考结构，对于这种结构的理解关键在于学会对that if 结构进行断句。在理解的时候，that if 之间语义应稍作停顿，把if与后面引导的状语从句语义连贯起来。

【翻译】你和她都知道，如果你不能确定你所想要的东西，那么你就没有可能找到它。

The mineral elements from the soil / that are usable by the plant / must be dissolved in the soil solution / before they can be taken into the root. (1991年真题)

【分析】句子主干为：The mineral elements must be dissolved in the soil solution before they can be taken into the root.定语从句“that are usable by the plan”是修饰“The mineral elements”；“from the soil”是介词短语作状语。该句可理解为以下简单句的句意组合：

 The mineral elements from the soil must be dissolved in the soil solution before they can be taken into the root.

The mineral elements are usable by the plan.

【翻译】土地里被植物所用到的矿物质元素只有在土地里先期溶解，才能被植物的根吸收。

C.R.Darnes has suggested that / it is as proper to term the plant a water structure / as to call a house composed mainly of brick / a brick building. (1991年真题)

【分析】这里是由as...as...（像……-一样，正如……-一样）连接两个并列成分构成的长句。该句的主干为：C.R.Darnes has suggested that / it is as proper to term the plant a water structure / as to call a house a brick building.“composed mainly of brick”是分词作状语修饰“a house”。这里把“砖与房子的关系比做水与植物的关系说明水对于植物的重要性”。

【翻译】C.R.Darnes认为，正如把一栋主要由砖建造的建筑称为砖瓦建筑一样，我们可以把植物看作一种水体结构。

To be promoted or to fall behind / is not a matter of salary but /even more a matter of self-respect. This constant need to prove / that one is as good as or better than one's fellow-competitor / creates constant anxiety and stress, the very causes of unhappiness and illness. (1993年真题)

【分析】第一句主要是not...but...（不是……-而是……-）的理解。第二句主干：This constant need to prove creates constant anxiety and stress.句子主干中“This constant need to prove”是不定式短语作主语。 “that one is as good as or better than one's fellow-competitor”是对This constant need to prove的同步说明。“the very causes of unhappiness and illness”是对“constant anxiety and stress”的同步说明。

【翻译】晋升与贬职不仅仅是薪水的改变，更多的是有关自尊的事情。这种不断地证明一个人和自己的对手一样优秀或者比其更优秀的需要，使人产生了一种长久的焦虑和压力，正是这种焦虑和压力导致了人的不快乐和疾病。

I suggest / transforming our social system from a bureaucratically managed industrialism /in which maximal production and consumption are ends in themselves into / a humanist industrialism / in which / man and full development of his potentialities——those of love and of reason——are the aims of all social arrangements.(1993年真题)

【分析】本句是由transform...from...into...（把……-从……-改变为……-）固定词组搭配所构成的长句。transform...from...into...连接的短语作“suggest”后面所接的宾语从句的主语，主语较长妨碍-了对句意的理解。句子主干为：I suggest transforming our social system from a bureaucratically managed industrialism into a humanist industrialism are the aims of all social arrangements.句中“in which maximal production and consumption are ends in themselves”是对a bureaucratically managed industrialism的描述。“in which man and full development of his potentialities——those of love and of reason”是对a humanist industrialism的描述。

【翻译】我建议，把我们的社会体系从一种以追求最大产值和消费的官僚工业化体系转变成为一种人性化的工业体系。在这种人性化工业体系当中，人及人潜能（情感和理性）的充分发展才是我们社会组织的目标。

The great interest in exceptional children / shown in public education over the past three decades / indicates the strong feeling in our society that / all citizens, whatever their special conditions, deserve the opportunity to fully develop their capabilities. (1994年真题)

【分析】句子主干为：The great interest indicates the strong feeling in our society. 介词短语“in exceptional children”作状语修饰 “the great interest”。过去分词短语“shown in public education over the past three decades”作定语修饰“the great interest”。“all citizens , whatever their special conditions, deserve the opportunity to fully develop their capabilities”是同位语“the strong feeling”的说明。

【翻译】在过去的三十年，人们在公共教育领域对特殊儿童所表现出来的强烈兴趣表明，在我们社会里，人们有一种强烈的愿望。那就是，所有的公民，无论他们自身状况如何，都应该获得全面发展自己能力的机会。

If its message were confined merely to information——and that in itself would be difficult if not impossible to achieve, for even a detail such as the choice of the color of a shirt is subtly persuasive——advertising would be so boring that / no one would pay any attention.(1995年真题)

【分析】对于由较长的插入成分所构成的长句，我们可以首先跳过破折号内的插入内容，直接抓住破折号以外的主体内容来理解句子主干部分。本句主干为：If its message were confined merely to information, advertising would be so boring that no one would pay any attention.再把插入部分“and that in itself would be difficult if not impossible to achieve, for even a detail such as the choice of the color of a shirt is subtly persuasive”代入主句中，并结合前后句意理解。

【翻译】如果广告所传递的信息仅限于告知，那么广告将变得让人厌烦以至于不会有人去注意它。当然，即使有可能的话广告本身要做到这一点（广告仅仅传递一种告知信息而不带任何劝诱成份）也是有困难的。因为，即使是一个小小的细节，如对衬衣颜色的选择也是一种隐性的诱导。

The change met the technical requirements of the new age / by engaging a large professional element and / prevented the decline in efficiency that / so commonly spoiled the fortunes of family firms in the second and third generation / after the energetic founders. (1996年真题)

【分析】本句是由两个并列成分构成的长句。句子主干为：The change met the technical requirements of the new age and（这里省略掉了共同的主语the change）prevented the decline . 介词短语“by engaging a large professional element”作状语修饰整个主句。介词短语“in efficiency”作状语修饰 “the decline”（这里要学会如何结合句意区分介词短语作状语是修饰整个句子还是修饰其中的一部分，这里and之后是一省略主语的独立句子，状语不可能跃过一个句子去修饰另外一个句子，因此这里的 in efficiency修饰的是 the decline）。“so commonly spoiled the fortunes of family firms in the second and third generation after the energetic founders”是定语从句修饰“the decline in efficiency”，对其具体内容的说明。

【翻译】这种革新通过雇佣大量的职业人士，满足了新时代工艺的需要，同时也阻止了效率的下降。而这种效率的下降，通常在富有活力的创始人之后的第二代或第三代领导时期对家族企业产生不利的影响。

The railway companies, though / still private business managed for the benefit of shareholders, were very unlike old family business.（1996年真题）

【分析】首先理解句子主干：The railway companies were very unlike old family business.再把插入成分“though still private business managed for the benefit of shareholders”代入句中理解，形成连贯的语义。

【翻译】尽管一些铁路公司仍然是私有的，而且是为了其股东利益而管理，但他们已经-和传统的家族企业有很大的不同了。

The paid manager / acting for the company / was in more direct relation with the men and their demands, but even he had seldom that familiar personal knowledge of the workmen / which the employer had often had / under the more patriarchal system of the old family business / now passing away. (1996年真题)

【分析】句子的主干为：The paid manager was in more direct relation with the men and their demands, but even he had seldom that familiar personal knowledge of the workmen. 现在分词短语“acting for the company”作定语修饰“the paid manager”。“which the employer had often had under the more patriarchal system of the old family business”是修饰familiar personal knowledge of the workmen的定语从句。“now passing away”是现在分词短语作状语，也是修饰familiar personal knowledge of the workmen。这里要学会...business与 now passing away之间的断句。前句到business已经-结束（因为该句结构已十分完整，已不可能再接其他成分），now passing away则是一个独立的状语。

【翻译】作为代表公司一方的职业经-理人，他们和工人以及工人的需求方面（比起企业的所有者）有着更加直接的联系，但他们很少有他们雇主在传统家族体制下曾经-对工人有过的熟悉程度，这种熟悉情况现在也不再存在了。

At Time Warner, however, such questions are simply the latest manifestation of the soul searching that has involved the company ever since the company was born in 1990. (1997年真题)

【分析】句子主干为：Such questions are simply the latest manifestation of the soul searching.定语从句“that has involved the company ever since the company was born in 1990”修饰“manifestation of the soul searching”。

【翻译】但是，在时代华纳，这种问题仅仅是内心自我探究的一种最新的表现。而这种探究自公司1990年诞生以来就一直伴随着企业的成长。

What is harder to establish /is whether the productivity revolution / that businessmen assume they are presiding over / is for real. (1998年真题)

【分析】本句不长，但结构却较复杂。句子主干为：What is harder to establish is whether the productivity revolution is for real.句子主干的主语由主语从句“what is harder to establish”构成，而表语从句由“where”引导的从句“what is harder to establish”构成，整个句子仍然是系表结构。“that businessmen assume they are presiding over”是修饰“the productivity revolution”的定语从句。

【翻译】难以确定的是，商界人士认为他们所主导的生产力革命是否真的产生效果了。

There is, as Robert Rubin, the treasury secretary, says, a “disjunction” between the mass of business anecdote / that points to a leap in productivity / and the picture reflected by the statistics. (1998年真题)

【分析】句子主干部分是由between...and...（在……-之间）固定搭配连接而成。句子主干为：There is a “disjunction” between the mass of business anecdote and the picture.“that points to a leap in productivity”是定语从句修饰“the mass of business anecdote”的。“reflected by the statistics”过去分词作定语修饰“the picture”。

【翻译】正如财长Robert Rubin所说，在商界传言的生产力进步与政府统计数据所反映的情况存在着脱节。