3.10.9　A is to B what/as C is to D结构

此句型用来表达事物之间的类比关系，从字面上理解就是“A与B之间的关系，就类似于C和D之间的关系”。比如大家都熟悉的“军民鱼水情”这句话，该如何把它译成英语呢？请看下面这个例句：

1　The people is to the people's army what water is to fish.

妙语点睛　这句话的字面意思就是“人民与人民军队之间的关系，就像鱼和水的关系一样”，简言之，就是“军民鱼水情”。

我们再来看其他例句。谈到哈佛大学，其案例教学最为著名，于是有了这样类比的句子：

2　Case study is to Harvard what the Leaning Tower is to Pisa.

精品译文　案例教学之于哈佛大学，就如同比萨斜塔之于比萨一样著名。

3　Personality is to man what perfume is to a flower.

精品译文　人的品格，犹如花的芳香。

4　Stress is inevitable, but you don't have to be a victim of it. So what are the tools that can calm our nerves and open our minds? Here comes the good news: we all have the inner resources that are needed--courage, optimism, humility, humor, intuition, acceptance, forgiveness, love and yes, patience. These inner resources are to our souls what medicine is to our bodies.

精品译文　压力不可避免，但你也不一定非得深受其害。那么要想做到精神安宁、心胸开阔，到底有何良方呢？秘诀在于：我们自身都有克服消极情绪的内在武器，这就是勇气、乐观、谦卑、幽默、直觉、容忍、宽恕、爱还有忍耐。这些秘密武器对我们心灵的作用，就如同药对于我们身体的作用一样。

这一句型有一个变体结构，可以改写为“what/as C is to D, so is A to B或A is to B”。请看例句：

5　As water is to fish, so is the people to the people's army（或the people is to the people's army）.

精品译文　军民鱼水情。

6　As blood vessel is to a man's body, railway is to transportation（或so is railway to transportation）.

精品译文　人体的血管对于整个人体来说，就如同铁路网络对于交通一样重要。

7　What Newton was to mechanics and Darwin to biology, Freud was to psychology.

精品译文　弗洛伊德对于心理学的作用，就像牛顿之于力学，达尔文之于生物学一样。

思维总结

比较状语从句应该是九大状语从句中内容最多的，涉及各类句型结构。读者应该重点掌握有关as的各个句型，比如as much as结构和not so much...as结构。还要掌握no more...than的句型特点，这是个难点句型，考试中经常见到。另外，还要熟练掌握表示倍数比较的三种句型。

思维训练

Exercise 3.10

1. 选择最佳答案填空。

1. The number of registered participants in this year's marathon was half 　　　.

A. of last year's

B. those of last year's

C. of those of last year

D. that of last year's

2. An adult human must take eight steps to go 　　　 as a giraffe does in one stride.

A. as far

B. the farther

C. how far

D. farther

3. The harder you work, 　　　 you have of passing your exam.

A. more chance

B. more chances

C. the more chance

D. the chances

4. The knee is 　　　 most other joints in the body because it cannot twist without injury.

A. more likely to be damaged than

B. much likely to be damaged than

C. likely to be more damaged than

D. more than likely to be damaged

5. Smoking is so harmful to personal health that it kills 　　　 people each year than automobile accidents.

A. seven more times

B. seven times more

C. over seven times

D. seven times

6. Just as the soil is a part of the earth, 　　　 the atmosphere.

A. as it is

B. the same is

C. so is

D. and so is

7. I would have paid 　　　 for my car if the salesman had insisted, because I really wanted it.

A. as much twice

B. much twice

C. twice as much

D. two times

8. Any preexisting illness, even 　　　 the common cold, increases the chances of contracting another disease.

A. as mild one as

B. as one mild as

C. as a mild one as

D. as mild a one as

9. After retirement my father earns only 　　　 as he used to. However, he lives happily enjoying his leisure time.

A. a half as much

B. a half as many

C. half as many

D. half as much

10. The greater population there is in a locality, 　　　 for water, transportation, and disposal of refuse.

A. the great need

B. the greater need there is

C. greater the need

D. the greater the need there is

11. In China the South generally receives much less snow than 　　　 the North.

A. does

B. it does

C. does in

D. it does in

12. Robin 　　　 give up his scheme than the spider would give up his attempts.

A. will no longer

B. can no more

C. would rather

D. would no more

13. The air inside a house or office building often has higher concentrations of contaminants 　　　 heavily polluted outside air.

A. than does

B. more

C. as some that are

D. like of

2. 翻译下列句子，注意分析句型。

14. Just as we nurture our bodies with the right vitamins and nutrients, so we need to nurture our minds with good thoughts.

15. Science is built with facts just as a house is built with bricks, but a collection of facts cannot be called science any more than a pile of bricks can be called a house.

16. A causeless event or thing, we cannot think of any more than we can of a stick with only one end.

17. The greatness of a people is no more determined by their number than the greatness of a man is determined by his height.

18. What Newton was to mechanics and Darwin to biology, Freud was to psychology.

19. Stress is inevitable, but you don't have to be a victim of it. So what are the tools that can calm our nerves and open our minds? Here comes the good news: we all have the inner resources that are needed: courage, optimism, humility, humor, intuition, acceptance, forgiveness, love and yes, patience. These inner resources are to our souls what medicine is to our bodies.





3.11　方式状语从句

方式状语从句表示动作的方式，引导词有as, like, as if, as though和the way等。请看例句：

1　When in Rome, do as the Romans do.

妙语点睛　这是一个英语谚语，意思是说“When traveling, follow the customs of the local people.” 相当于汉语中的“入乡随俗”。

精品译文　入乡随俗。

我们来看上面这个例句在口语中的应用：

2　Hazel: Yak burgers? What's a yak?

Nina: It's a kind of long haired ox. Tibetans put yak butter in their tea as well as eating yak.

Hazel: Yak! Yuk! I wouldn't touch it with a barge-pole!

Nina: Come on! Be adventurous! When in Rome do as the Romans do!

Hazel: I'm not in Rome. I'm in Beijing. And when we get to Lhasa you can try it first!

精品译文　黑兹尔：牦牛汉堡？牦牛是什么？

尼娜：是一种长毛的牛。藏民在茶里添加牦牛油，也吃牦牛肉。

黑兹尔：牦牛！哈哈！我才不碰那东西呢！

尼娜：别啊！有点冒险精神好不好？入乡随俗嘛！

黑兹尔：我没在“乡下”，我是在北京，所以不用随俗。咱们到了拉萨你可以先试试！

其他例句：

3　Do it the way you were taught.

精品译文　按照教给你的那样做。

4　He looks as though / as if he is an actor.

精品译文　他看上去像个演员。

我们来看一个like作连词引导方式状语从句的例句。笔者很喜欢这句话，它表达了一种人生态度：

5　Work like you don't need the money.

Love like you've never been hurt.

Dance like nobody's watching.

Sing like nobody's listening.

Live like it's heaven on earth.

精品译文　去工作吧，犹如你不需要金钱。

去爱吧，犹如你从未曾被伤害过。

去舞蹈吧，犹如无人在一旁观看。

去歌唱吧，犹如无人在一边谛听。

热爱生活吧，犹如这里是人间乐土。

在英语中，as是最常用的方式状语从句的连词。下面将详细讨论其引导的方式状语从句的用法。

一、as引导方式状语从句

在英文中，as引导的方式状语从句是用来修饰句子的谓语部分的。请看例句：

6　Darwin had a phrase to describe those ignorant of evolution: they "look at an organic being as a savage looks at a ship, as at something wholly beyond his comprehension".

妙语点睛　这里的as a savage looks at a ship作状语，表示方式，修饰主句的谓语部分look at an organic being。此外，这里有一个形容词短语ignorant of evolution作定语，后置修饰those。

精品译文　达尔文有句话描写那些不懂得进化论的人们：他们“看待一种生物就像野蛮人看着船一样，把它视为他们完全不能理解的东西”。

7　As used in this context, the word "challenging" means "demanding". The author is fairly skilled at word diction.

妙语点睛　这里的as引导的是一个方式状语从句，且是一个省略的形式，完整的结构应该是As it is used in this context...。

精品译文　这里的challenging一词用在这样一个上下文中，意思是demanding。从这能看出作者是很善于措辞的。

8　Church as we use the word refers to all religious institutions, be they Christian, Islamic, Buddhist, Jewish, and so on.

妙语点睛　这是2001年的考研真题中的一道语法选择题。这里的as we use the word作状语，表示方式，修饰主句的谓语部分refers to all religious institutions。

精品译文　我们所使用的“教派”一词指所有的宗教团体，不管他们是基督教、伊斯兰教、佛教还是犹太教等。

二、as引导方式状语从句可倒装

as引导方式状语从句可以采用倒装结构，此时的结构一般是“as+助动词+主语”，as往往是代替被省略的谓语部分。

9　Some Asian nations and regions reiterated their opposition to a war, as did many of their citizens who worry Bush has already given up on hopes for a peaceful resolution to the crisis.

妙语点睛　这里as引导的从句的主语是many of their citizens，被后置，故是一个倒装结构，完整的句子相当于as many of their citizens...reiterated their opposition to a war。

精品译文　一些亚洲国家和地区重申了他们反对战争的立场，他们的许多公民也持同样的立场，因为他们担心小布什已经放弃了和平解决这一危机的希望。

10　To determine the consequences of sleep deficit, researchers have put subjects through a set of psychological and performance tests requiring them, for instance, to add columns of numbers or recall a passage read to them only minutes earlier. "We've found that if you're in sleep deficit, performance suffers," says Dr. David. "Short-term memory is weakened, as are abilities to make decision and to concentrate."

妙语点睛　这里as引导的从句的主语是abilities，被后置，故是一个倒装结构，完整的句子相当于as abilities to make decision and to concentrate are weakened。

精品译文　为了测定睡眠不足带来的后果，研究人员让受试者接受一系列心理测试以及能力测试，这些测试内容包括做数字加法以及回忆几分钟前刚刚听过的文章。“我们发现，如果睡眠不足，那么能力测试就会受到影响”，大卫博士说，“瞬间记忆的能力会下降，决策力和集中力同样也会减弱”。

三、as的特殊用法：用于否定结构

我们都知道，as一般翻译成“正如”。但是as还有一种比较特殊的用法，就是用于否定结构中，此时as就不译成“正如”。as用于否定结构中，有两种句式，我们先来看第一种：as前面的句子是否定的，as所在的句子本身是肯定的。

11　As a linguist, he acknowledges that all varieties of human language, including non-standard ones like Black English, can be powerfully expressive--there exists no language or dialect in the world that cannot convey complex ideas. He is not arguing, as many do, that we can no longer think straight because we do not talk proper.

妙语点睛　我们看到，这里的主句用了否定的is not arguing，而as引导的从句用了肯定的as many do，此时as无法译成“正如”，相反，要译成“不像”。

精品译文　作为一名语言学家，他承认所有的人类语言，包括非标准的语言（如黑人英语），都可以明确地表情达意——世界上没有一种语言或方言不能表达复杂的意思。他并没有像许多人那样，认为因为我们话说得不好，就不会正确地思维了。

12　Far from advocating a withdrawal from American culture, as did some of his contemporaries, he recommended a cultural pluralism through which artists could enrich the culture of America.

妙语点睛　首先，这句话里虽然没有否定词not，但是far from表示否定，而从句用肯定的did。其次，as引导的从句也是一个倒装结构，主语是some of his contemporaries。

精品译文　他并没有像同时代的人那样提倡与美国文化完全分离，而是主张一种文化多元主义，艺术家们借此可以丰富美国文化。

13　But none of them rushed to the depot, waving to him and calling out his name as they would have normally greeted any other such recognized surprise arrivals, because they had all heard that he no longer cared to mix with home people.

图解难句



妙语点睛　我们看到，这里的主句用了否定的none，而as引导的从句用了肯定的as they would have normally greeted any other such recognized surprise arrivals，此时as无法译成“正如”，在这一句中as的翻译要灵活处理。

精品译文　但他们谁也没有冲向车站向他招手、喊他的名字，就像平常看到别的意外到来的熟人那样迎接他，因为他们早已听说他已不屑于和家乡人打交道了。

as用于否定结构中的另一个句式是：as前面的句子是肯定的，as所在的句子本身是否定的。

14　A sob rolled up in me. I flung up my hands and cried as I never had in my life.

妙语点睛　我们看到，这里的主句用了肯定的cried，而as引导的从句用了否定的never had。此时as无法译成“正如”，而要转译为“但，然而”。

精品译文　此时我非常想哭，于是我就用双手捂住脸，大声哭起来，而我以前从未这么哭过。

再来看更多的例句：

15　She described the scene as no other people described it.

精品译文　她这样描写这个场景，而没有其他人会这样描写。

16　He could love the child as he did not love Charles.

精品译文　他可以爱上这个孩子，然而他却不爱查尔斯。

17　John had taken to that young woman as he did to few people.

精品译文　约翰深爱这个年轻女子，而他很少这么爱一个人。

思维总结

本节重点讨论的是as引导的方式状语从句。读者需要重点理解as用于否定句中的两种句型。

思维训练

Exercise 3.11

选择最佳答案填空。

Pure iron cannot be hardened by heating and cooling, as 　　　, because iron lacks the necessary carbon.

A. steel it can

B. can steel

C. with steel can

D. so can steel

写给读者的话

一、三大从句的比较

到本章为止，我们已详细讨论了英语中的三大从句：名词从句、定语从句和状语从句。因此，有必要对其进行一个比较，以便于读者更好地认识这三大从句的特点。具体如下：

最简单的是名词从句。这一点毫无疑问。

最难的是定语从句。相比较而言也是最重要的，但要真正全面掌握并运用好定语从句，着实有点不容易。

最繁杂的：是状语从句。光凭它有九大类，就够费费脑筋的了，何况还有各个不同连词的用法以及句型结构。不过，状语从句在结构上理解起来并没有定语从句那么难，正如笔者一再强调，读者只要掌握连接词即可翻译句子。

最后，我们再来比较一下三大从句的独立性问题。名词从句和定语从句必须依附一个主句，是绝不能独立存在的。比如下面这个名词从句：

The truth is that marriage, at the start, is an empty box.

这里的表语从句that marriage, at the start, is an empty box是不能脱离主句the truth is而存在的。

再比如奥黛丽·赫本谈到女人的美时说的这番话：

The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears.

这里的定语从句she wears是不能与主句部分the beauty of a woman is not in the clothes分割开来的。

而对于状语从句，主句与从句原本就是两个独立的句子，只不过因为二者之间有着特定的逻辑语义关系，所以添加了相应的连词把它们连在一起。比如I've brought my umbrella与It's not raining都是独立的句子，如果把二者放在一起，则它们之间存在有一种让步的关系，所以可以添上一个让步连词（比如though）来连接它们，比如可以说I've brought my umbrella though it's not raining.所以，比起名词从句和定语从句，状语从句具有更大的独立性，可以独立存在。

二、九大状语从句的比较

九大状语从句各自具有自己的特点，不大相同，颇有“龙生九子，九子各不同”的味道：

与时态关系最密切的：是时间状语从句，而其他的状语从句则没有一定的时态搭配关系。其次，条件状语从句可能与各种时态搭配有些联系。

出现频率最低的是地点状语从句，其次是方式状语从句。

结构句型最多的是比较状语从句，其次是让步状语从句，二者的句型结构最多，也最常见。

关系最密切的是目的状语从句与结果状语从句，二者的引导词类似，请读者注意辨别。

最后，还有一个原因状语从句，它的特点是有一个特殊的否定转移问题，初学者对此不易理解，所以需要特别对待。遇到句子按正常理解翻译不通的时候，可以考虑是否是否定转移。

三、本章学习思路

正如笔者在本章一开始就说明的，从本质上来讲，状语从句就是用不同的连词将几个分句连接起来，以表达分句之间特定的逻辑语义关系。因此，掌握引导九类状语从句的有关连接词的用法特点和意义是学习状语从句的关键。只要记住这些连接词就能够识别是何种状语从句，从而正确地分析句子的结构并理解句子的意思。在具体的学习过程中，要掌握不同状语从句的各个常用的连词和句型结构，一方面便于自己在阅读中遇到这些句子时能够正确理解和翻译，另一方面便于自己在英语写作等应用过程中使用。

四、本章重点及难点

总的来说，有关各个状语从句的常用连词都需要掌握。此外，下面这些句型结构需要读者重点掌握：



状语从句的省略结构；

各个时间从句的连词的用法特点及其时态搭配关系；

because引导的从句的否定转移现象；

so与such的区别；

结果从句的倒装句型；

表示让步的as引导的倒装句；

no more...than句型的正确理解。



本章的难点包括：时间状语从句的各个连词的用法特点以及主从句的时态搭配关系；because引导的从句的否定转移现象；no more...than句型的特点与正确翻译（这个句型很容易被误解）。对于这些难点内容，读者应该有更多的耐心去研读本章的例句和讲解。

五、本章学习时间安排

状语从句的内容比较多而杂，所以建议读者花较多的时间来学习。时间状语从句，读者可能就需要一周的时间来研读，来认真分析、比较各个不同的时态搭配关系，以及由此产生的语义差别。此外，让步状语从句和比较状语从句也比较复杂，句型结构很多，这两者加在一起也需要一周左右的时间。其余的内容需要再花一周的时间来学习。因此，对于状语从句，共需要三周时间来学习，包括做完所有的练习并认真搞懂答案。

在花费三周时间认真学完第一遍之后，建议读者同样要反复研读几次，这样在自己写作造句时，方能做到信手拈来、运用自如。

综合练习

1. 选择最佳答案填空。

1. His father had promised to buy him a computer 　　　 he behaved himself.

A. provided

B. while