For the women of my generation / who were urged to keep juggling through the 80s, downshifting in the mid-90s / is not so much a search / for the mythical good life——growing your own organic vegetables, and risking turning into one /——as a personal recognition of your limitations. (2001年真题)

　　【分析】本句主干由not so much...as...(其准确的翻译应为“与其……不如……”，而这种翻译成中文之后通常让人产生理解上的障碍。这种搭配出现在客观试题的阅读文章中，通常可以直接把它理解成“不是……而是……”，让句意更加清晰)固定搭配连接构成的一个长句。定语从句“who were urged to keep juggling through the 80s, downshifting in the mid-90s”修饰“the women of my generation”。插入部分“growing your own organic vegetables, and risking turning into one”，是对“the mythical good life”的具体说明。句子主干为：For the women of my generation is not so much a search for the mythical good life as a personal recognition of your limitations.

　　【翻译】对于我们这一代曾在整个80年代为生活奔波的女性来说， 90年代中期过着放慢生活节奏的生活，与其说是追求神话般的美好生活——自已种有机蔬菜，冒着变得毫无生机的危险——倒不如说我们都认识到了自己的局限。(注：one指代vegetable，引申是精神上像植物一样没有生气的人。)

　　Downshifting——also known in America as “voluntary simplicity”—— has, ironically, even bred a new area of / what might be termed / anti-consumerism.(2001年真题)

　　【分析】由于插入成分，句子显得稍长。对于有插入成分构成的长句，首先要忽略插入成分，直接理解主句，然后再理解插入成分。插入成分通常是对紧邻的前一句内容的进一步说明，在理解插入成分时，应该结合所说明的内容一起理解。句子主干为：Downshifting has bred a new area of / what might be termed / anti-consumerism.

　　【翻译】颇具讽刺意义的是，“放慢生活节奏”，在美国被称为“甘愿简朴”的生活方式居然产生出一个可称为“反消费主义”的新领域。

　　I have discovered, as perhaps Kelsey will / after her much-publicized resignation from the editorship of She / after a build up of stress, /that abandoning the doctrine of “juggling your life”, /and making the alternative move into “downshifting” brings with it far greater rewards than financial success and / social status. (2001年真题)

　　【分析】本句状语较多，再加上多个并列动名词短语充当宾语从句的主语，导致句式较长，难以形成连贯的语义。理解方法是学会断句和抓主干。本句主干是由discovered后面带一个宾语从句构成。主干为：I have discovered that / abandoning the doctrine of “juggling your life”, /and making the alternative move into “downshifting” brings with it far greater rewards than financial success and / social status.“as perhaps Kelsey will”是伴随状语从句的主干，“after her much-publicized resignation from the editorship of She / after a build up of stress”是两个并列介词短语作状语修饰“as perhaps Kelsey will”，“abandoning the doctrine of ‘juggling your life’, /and making the alternative move into ‘downshifting’”是两个并列动名词短语充当宾语从句的主语。

　　【翻译】我发现，放弃那种“忙碌地应付生活”的信念而选择“放慢生活节奏”会带来比金钱和社会地位更大的回报。经受过长期巨大压力，凯尔西从《女性》杂志编辑部退下来之后，恐怕她也将与我有同样的发现。

　　I have been transformed from /a passionate advocate of the philosophy of “having it all”, preached by Linda Kelsey / for the past seven years / in the page of She magazine, into a woman / who is happy to settle for a bit of everything. (2001年真题)

　　【分析】本句是由transformed from...into...(从……转变为……)固定搭配连接构成的长句。句子主干为：I have been transformed from a passionate advocate of the philosophy of “having it all” into a woman who is happy to settle for a bit of everything.“preached by Linda Kelsey”，分词作定语修饰“the philosophy of ‘having it all’”。“who is happy to settle for a bit of everything”定语从句修饰“woman”。

　　【翻译】我已经从 “拥有一切”哲学的积极倡导者，转化成一个对一切浅尝辄止就心满意足的妇女。过去七年里琳达·凯尔西在《女性》杂志再三宣扬这种哲学。

　　It identifies the under-treatment of pain / and the aggressive use of “ineffectual and forced medical procedures / that may prolong and even dishonor the period of dying” / as the twin problems of end-of-life care. (2002年真题)

　　【分析】本句主干部分是由identify...as...(把……识别为……)固定搭配连接构成的。同时identifies后面所接的两个并列宾语成分(the under-treatment of pain，the aggressive use of ineffectual and forced medical procedures)增加了句子的理解难度。句子主干为：It identifies the undertreatment of pain / and the aggressive use of “ineffectual and forced medical procedures / as the twin problems of end-of-life care. 定语从句“that may prolong and even dishonor the period of dying”，修饰“the aggressive use of ‘ineffectual and forced medical procedures’”而不是“the under-treatment of pain and the aggressive use of ‘ineffectual and forced medical procedures’”，这里要学会对定语从句所修饰词语范围的限定，通常结合文中的句意来确定。

　　【翻译】该报告把对病痛处理不力和坚持使用无效及强制性医疗手段从而有可能延长病人死亡时间，致使病人临终时痛苦不堪，确定为临终护理方面存在的两大问题。