Day 17

英文重现

So even to suggest the possibility of a cultural revolution in America must appear not only factually absurd but blasphemous as well.Revolution is as heretical a doctrine in America as abolishing the monarchy would be in England.

——SAT 2009年1月题，Section 9

解析

1.本句话的主语是一个不定式短语“to suggest …in America”。不定式作主语，常表示某一次具体的动作，例如：“To teach the three children is my job this afternoon”（教这三个孩子是今天下午我的工作）。另外，不定式作主语时，常用“it”作形式主语，而将真正的不定式主语放在句子后部。例如：“It is good to help others”（帮助他人是件好事）。

2.“not only…but also…”表示“不仅……而且，既……又”，用于连接两个词性对等的并列部分，该结构中的“also”有时可以省略，或将“also”换成“too”、“as well”（置于句末），有时也可见到省略“but”甚至“but also”都省略的情况。有时为了强调，还可将“not only”置于句首，此时其后的句子通常要用部分倒装的形式（“but also”部分不用倒装），例如：“Not only was there no lights,but also there is no food and water”（这里不但没有灯光，也没有食物和水）。

3.第二个句子涉及一个“as…as”引导的同等程度的比较，表示不同人或物是同一性质，意为“……和……一样……”，此处是“revolution”和“abolishing the monarchy”在性质上的类比，二者都是“a heretical doctrine”。“as…as”可以说是两个句子的融合，如最后一个句子就是以下两个句子的融合：

a.Revolution is a heretical doctrine in America.

b.Abolishing the monarchy would be a heretical doctrine in England.

在将这两个句子融合时，第二个“as”后面相同的部分“a heretical doctrine”（“as heretical a doctrine”和“as a heretical doctrine”基本上是一样的）被省略了。

词意辨析

参考翻译

因此，在美国即便是暗示文化革命的可能性，事实上不仅会显得很荒谬，而且也（会显得）很亵渎神明。革命在美国是异端行为，就像在英国废除君主制一样。

实战演练

…Second,and more important,we're reluctant to give up the American myth of a slow and steady(but inevitable)progress toward an earthly perfection.Americans have always tolerated many more disagreements over the nature of their goals than over how they could be achieved.The process was expected to be rational,well ordered,and continuous.So even to suggest the possibility of a cultural revolution in America must appear not only factually absurd but blasphemous as well.Revolution is as heretical a doctrine in America as abolishing the monarchy would be in England.Nevertheless,despite the overwhelmingly conservative assumptions of most Americans,we are in fact in the throes of a genuine and dramatic revolution in our culture,and it behooves us to understand it before passing judgment.

In lines“So even…England”,the author suggests that most Americans are essentially____.

(A)suggestible

(B)malcontented

(C)cautious

(D)unorthodox

(E)illogical

答案：C

答案解析

根据原文中的信息“Revolution is as heretical a doctrine in America”（美国人视革命为异端行为）可推测出：美国人是比较保守的，只有选项C“谨慎的”与此意思相关，选项A“易受影响的”、B“不服的，不满的”、D“异端的，非正统的”、E“不合理的，不合逻辑的”都不适合。比较容易误选的是选项D，将革命视为异端并不能得出美国人本身是异端的。