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在一个复杂句子当中可能会同时含有多个名词从句，于是形成笔者称之为名词从句的“嵌套结构”。当然也可以是名词从句与定语从句或状语从句构成保护或被保护的关系，从而也形成“嵌套结构”。这样都会使句子变得更复杂，遇到时要仔细分析句子结构，方能理解句子的意思。至于如何快速理清句子结构，笔者提出了“连词与动词配比原则”。
所谓名词从句的“嵌套结构”，即指多个名词从句之间存在的包含与被包含的关系。请看例句：
1 I realized that what I said was not exactly what I meant to say .
妙语点睛 在 that 引导的宾语从句中同时含有 what 引导的主语从句 what I said 和 what 引导的表语从句 what I meant to say 。
精品译文 我后来意识到，当时所说的话并非是我真正想要说的。
2 The question is how what you have learned can be put into practice.
妙语点睛 在 how 引导的表语从句中含有 what 引导的主语从句 what you have learned 。 how 引导的从句的谓语是 can be put into practice ，而 what 引导的从句的谓语是 have learned 。
精品译文 问题是，你所学到的知识如何才能应用于实践。
我们再来看下面这道练习题：
3 Prof. Lee's book will show you can be used in other contexts.
A. that you have observed
B. that how you have observed
C. how that you have observed
D. how what you have observed
正确答案 D 。
妙语点睛 本题考查的就是多个名词从句的套用。这个句子的结构类似于上面第二个例句，都是在 how 引导的从句里嵌套了一个由 what 引导的主语从句。所不同的是，例句 2 里的 how 引导的从句是一个表语从句，这里的 how 引导的从句是宾语从句，作 show 的直接宾语。
精品译文 李教授的这本书能够让你知道如何把观察到的东西应用到其他场景中。
对于复杂的名词从句，尤其是当一个复杂句子里“嵌套”有多个名词从句时，我们一定要注意弄清楚各个不同层次的名词从句之间的逻辑关系。此时我们往往就要借助于名词从句的谓语动词和连词来帮助我们断句。因此，在分析句子结构时，我们可以先找到句中的各个谓语动词，然后再找连词。又因为连词后面必然是从句，而从句中必然有谓语动词，因此，在每个连词后面必然要找到一个与之相应的从句的谓语动词。当把连词与对应的谓语动词划分清楚之后，整个难句的结构也就迎刃而解了。在英语中，有 N 个谓语动词，就会对应有 N-1 个连词以及 N-1 个对应的从句，这就是笔者提出的“连词与动词的配比原则”，也就是说，在英语句子中，谓语动词的个数一定是多于连词个数的，通常是多出一个，因为这个多出的动词就是主句的谓语动词。请看例句：
1 That the seas are being overfished has been known for years. What researchers such as Ransom Myers and Boris Worm have shown is just how fast things are changing.
图解难句
妙语点睛 我们看到，在第一个句子中，与连词 that 对应的谓语动词是 are being overfished ，而主句的谓语是 has been known 。这里第二个句子是一个“嵌套”式的主系表结构，主语是 what 引导的从句 what researchers such as Ransom Myers and Boris Worm have shown ，表语是 how 引导的从句 how fast things are changing 。它们各自都有对应的谓语动词： what 引导的从句的谓语是 have shown ，而 how 引导的从句的谓语是 are changing 。主句的谓语是 is 。
精品译文 海洋正在被人们过度捕捞，许多年以来这已是尽人皆知的事实了。研究人员（如 Ransom Myers 和 Boris Worm ）所揭示的仅仅是情况变化得多么迅速。
当然，这种名词从句的“嵌套结构”里面还可以带有定语从句或者是状语从句，这样就形成了三大从句的“嵌套结构”。比如下面这个例句：
2 No one is in the least interest in the marks a little child gets on his test; what we are interested in is whether we can conclude from his mark on the test that the child will do better or worse than other children of his age at tasks which we think require "general intelligence".
图解难句
宾语从句的结构图示：
妙语点睛 这里的从句关系有些复杂，所以我们要抓住“连词与动词的配比原则”来断句。总体来说，这个句子是一个主系表结构，主语是 what 引导的从句 what we are interested in ，即是一个主语从句，其谓语动词是 are 。表语是 whether 引导的从句 whether we can conclude from his mark on the test that the child will do better or worse than other children of his age at tasks which we think require "general intelligence" ，即是一个表语从句，其谓语动词是 can conclude 。这个表语从句较为复杂，具体来说，表语从句的谓语 conclude 后面带了一个 that 引导的宾语从句 that the child will do better or worse than other children of his age at tasks 。这里的比较结构 than other children of his age 分隔了 better or worse 与 at 的语义搭配，实际上本来应该是 do better or worse...at tasks 。这里 than 引导的是一个比较状语从句。在 tasks 后面带有一个定语从句 which we think require "general intelligence" 。这里特别要注意的是，定语从句的谓语是 require ，而 we think 是插入语。关于定语从句的插入语，请参看第二章“定语从句”中的 2.17 节。总之，这个句子含有的从句包括（以及连词与从句的谓语动词的配对关系是）：主语从句（ what...are ），表语从句（ whether...can conclude ），宾语从句（ that...will do ），比较状语从句（ than...do ，这个 do 被省略了）以及定语从句（ which...require ）。
精品译文 我们对一个小孩在考试中取得的分数并不感兴趣，我们所感兴趣的是我们是否能够从他们的考试分数中作出判断：这个孩子在我们认为需要“一般智商”的练习任务中的表现是否将会好于或差于其他同龄孩子。
要求能熟练使用“连词与动词的配比原则”来分析结构复杂的从句。
Exercise 1.6
请分析下面句子结构，然后译成地道汉语。
1. On the other, it links these concepts to everyday realities in a manner which is parallel to the links journalists forge on a daily basis as they cover and comment on the news.
2. Initially I had doubted their claim, knowing for a fact that the center was located somewhere in New England.
3. On the other hand, he did not accept as well founded the charge made by some of his critics that while he was a good observer, he had no power of reasoning.
名词从句是三大从句中最为简单的。虽然如此，但笔者记得自己第一次学习名词从句时，常常搞不清楚什么是主语从句、什么是同位语从句等等，也常常混淆各个连词比如 that ， what 和 which 在用法上的区别。后来笔者发现了名词从句的本质特点之后，一切就变得非常简单明了。比如 that 和 what 的区别：因为 that 是后来添加到陈述句上的，所以当然不会在从句中充当成分；而 what 本来就是疑问句中的疑问词，是不可或缺的成分。因而，二者在用法上当然有巨大的差别。因此，以后若对名词从句感到模糊不清，读者只要从名词从句的本质——三种句子充当四种成分出发，一切问题便会迎刃而解。在具体学习时，主要是抓住两点：一是名词从句的位置特点，比如 that 引导的主语从句一般是置于句末的，宾语从句的各种位置关系，同位语从句可能与先行词被分隔等；二是名词从句的各个引导词在用法上的区别，尤其是 that ， what 和 which 用法的区别，这是各类考试经常出题考查的地方。
总之，读者只要真正吃透了名词从句的本质，并以此为中心，然后抓住两个“基本点”，即从句的位置和从句连词用法的区别，也就是笔者所谓的“一个中心，两个基本点”，那么名词从句就变得非常简单了。
本章的重点内容包括：认识名词从句的本质（ 1.1.1 小节）， that 引导的主语从句的各种句型（ 1.2.1 小节），宾语从句的各种位置特点（ 1.3.1-1.3.6 小节），同位语从句的三种结构（ 1.5.1-1.5.3 小节），“连词与动词的配比原则”（ 1.6.2 小节）。其中，如果真正用好了“连词与动词的配比原则”，会极大地有助于我们分析复杂难句。而这是一个难点，不是一日之功，需要多加训练。此外，同位语从句与先行词被分隔的结构也可能会给句子的理解造成障碍，读者也要特别小心。
本章内容不多，从阅读、理解各章节内容到完成所有的练习，大约可以安排三天到一周的时间。当然读者可以根据自己的英语水平，适当安排时间来学习。这里要强调的是，每学习完一部分内容，读者应该停下来思考一下，看看自己是否真正理解了这部分内容，而这可以通过每节后面的练习来检验。笔者建议读者不要一气呵成地读完所有内容，而不做练习。所以，要踏踏实实地学，不要囫囵吞枣、急于求成。尤其是英语基础不太好的读者，更应该多练习、勤思考！
综合练习
1. 选择最佳答案填空。
1. If you had told me just _______ I was to do they would never have found fault with my handling of the case.
A. that
B. what
C. which
D. whatever
2. _______ the London Zoo will adopt as a measurement at the critical moment is to try all ways preserving the animals in the zoo.
A. That
B. What
C. It's
D. Whether
3. How close parents are to their children a _______ strong influence on the character of the children.
A. have
B. has
C. having
D. to have
4. _______ that snow men were often spotted on the mountainside above 7, 000 meters by the local inhabitants.
A. It was used to be saying
B. It used to be said
C. It used to say
D. It was used to saying
5. The problem now is _______ we can adopt to overcome the difficulties in shortage of funds.
A. what measure
B. that measure
C. measure that
D. measure which
6. _______ theories approximate the truth is the day-to-day business of science.
A. Determining how closely
B. How closely to determine
C. How one determines close
D. One is close to determining
7. _______ the students think it their duty to study hard has laid the foundation for the university's high reputation.
A. That all
B. What
C. All that
D. What all
8. It's doubtful _______ the government of that country can accept them as permanent residents.
A. whether
B. that
C. how
D. what
9. It has always puzzled me _______ the old man tied a red silk ribbon on the young tree in his courtyard.
A. that
B. why
C. where
D. what
10. _______ was the "curiosity of all mankind to explore the unknown".
A. That moved the human spirit
B. What moved the human spirit
C. What the human spirit moved
D. Which moved the human spirit
11. _______ the mass of the nucleus is slightly less than the total mass of the protons and neutrons which made up the nucleus.
A. It found that
B. It was found that
C. It was found for
D. It finds that
12. His success was due to _______ he had been working hard.
A. that
B. the fact which
C. the fact that
D. the fact of
13. _______ makes mistakes must correct them.
A. What
B. That
C. Whoever
D. Whatever
14. He works too hard. That is _______ is wrong with him.
A. that which
B. that what
C. what
D. the thing what
15. The reason why I plan to go is _______ if I don't.
A. because she will disappoint
B. that she will be disappointed
C. because she will have been disappointed
D. for she will be disappointed
16. A: "What is that building?"
B: " _______ the garden equipment is stored."
A. There's in which
B. That's where
C. The building that
D. That's the building which
17. You can take _______ room you prefer.
A. to what
B. whichever
C. that
D. who
18. Free movie tickets will be given to _______ comes first.
A. whoever
B. whomever
C. whichever
D. whatever
19. We agreed to accept _______ they thought was the best tourist guide.
A. whatever
B. whomever
C. whichever
D. whoever
20. Yet no firm evidence had come to light _______ the men arrested were actually responsible.
A. which
B. as
C. what
D. that
21. _______ that as both birds and mammals become larger, their metabolic rates per unit of tissue decrease, and they generally live longer.
A. The truth
B. It is true
C. If true
D. To be true
22. _______ is the center of our planetary system was a difficult concept to grasp in the Middle Ages.
A. It is the sun and not the earth
B. Being the sun and not the earth
C. The sun and not the earth
D. That the sun and not the earth
23. It is a widely held theory _______ the ancestral prototype of the flowering Asterales was a woody plant, perhaps a small tree.
A. where
B. until
C. while
D. that
24. _______ that his story may be a fabrication?
A. Was it ever dawned upon you
B. Have they ever dawned upon you
C. Do they ever dawned upon you
D. Has it ever dawned upon you
25. _______ he was the assassin.
A. It had never occurred to me that
B. He had occurred that
C. To him occurred that
D. What occurred to him was
26. The question is _______ can be put into practice.
A. how you have learned
B. how that you have learned
C. that why you have learned
D. how what you have learned
27. _______ the trainer wanted to tell is _______ Asian elephants are easier to tame than African ones.
A. That, those
B. What, that
C. What, the
D. That, which
28. When reports came into London Zoo _______ a wild puma had been spotted forty-five miles south of London, they were not taken seriously.
A. what
B. as
C. which
D. that
29. The quantum theory states _______, such as light, is given off and absorbed in tiny definite units called quanta or photons.
A. energy that
B. that it is energy
C. it is energy
D. that energy
30. In the fourteenth century, _______that glass coated with silver nitrate would turn yellow when fired in an oven.
A. the discovery
B. it was discovered
C. with the discovery
D. if it was discovered
31. The early feminist leader Susan B. Anthony became increasingly aware through her work in the temperance movement _______ the same rights as men.
A. women were not granted that
B. that women were not granted
C. not granted women that were
D. that were not granted women
32. The early years of the United States government were characterized by a debate concerning _______ or individual states should have more power.
A. whether the federal government
B. either the federal government
C. that the federal government
D. the federal government
33. When I try to understand _______ that prevents so many Americans from being as happy as one might expect, it seems to me that there are two causes.
A. why it does
B. what it does
C. what it is
D. why it is
34. Fossils records indicate _______ existing in the past have become extinct.
A. that many species of organisms
B. many species of organisms that are
C. many species of organism are
D. there are many organisms
35. According to some educators, the goal of teaching is to help students learn what _______ to know to live a well-adjusted and successful life.
A. do they need
B. they need
C. they are needed
D. as they may need
2. 辨别改错。
36. Nutritionists (A) believe what (B) diet affects how (C) one feels physically (D) and emotionally.
37. Is there any proof (A) which (B) the food of the plant differs (C) from that of (D) animals?
38. A man cannot be really happy if that (A) he enjoys doing is ignored (B) by society as of (C) no value or importance (D) .
39. More and more people have realized (A) such (B) a fact of (C) heart diseases are related to (D) the way people live.
40. Widely acknowledged as a great (A) and important playwright, Eugene O'Neill brought to the United States stage it (B) was probably its first really (C) serious drama (D) .
41. We consider necessary (A) that (B) the instrument should (C) be adjusted each time (D) .