前面说过,全部倒装就是把整个谓语都放在主语前面,构成VS结构;同时在谓语前面还有其他“非主语”成分(下面我用X来标记),于是就有了下面这样一个全部倒装的基本公式:
非主语(X) + 谓语(V) + 主语(S)
因此,全部倒装句一般都是XVS结构。请看真题例句:
真题 Among the 10 worst performers were some of the most populous states, including Texas, which was given the lowest grade (F) and has a disproportionate influence because its textbooks are widely sold elsewhere. (2023年英语一Text 1)
解析 句首是介词短语Among the 10 worst performers作表语,主语是were后边的名词短语some of the most populous states。
译文 在10个表现最差的州中,有一些是人口最多的州,包括得克萨斯州,该州被评为最低等级(F),而且由于其教科书在其他地方广泛销售,该州具有很大的影响力。
真题 Long gone are the days when a boss could simply give an employee contractual notice. (2022年英语一Text 4)
解析 句首有过去分词短语Long gone作表语,主语是are后边的名词短语the days,且其后接when引导的定语从句。
译文 老板只需按合同规定通知员工(被解雇)的时代已经一去不复返了。
真题 At issue before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit was the latest take of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on net neutrality, adopted on a party-line vote in 2017. (2021年英语一Text 4)
解析 首先要注意到这是一个倒装句: At issue + be +主语 ,即真正的主语是the latest take … neutrality这个名词短语,而At issue是介词短语作表语,基本含义是“处于争议中”。也就是说,这句话的正常语序是:
The latest take of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on net neutrality, adopted on a party-line vote in 2017, was at issue before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
这句话的难点是在主语The latest take of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on net neutrality上。这里take是名词,意为“看法,观点(the particular opinion or idea that somebody has about something)”,其后接介词on,比如:What's your take on the plan? (你对这个计划有什么意见?) 。由此可见,这里的on net neutrality与前面的take构成语义搭配,二者被介词短语of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)分隔了,这就增加了理解难度。这个难度是命题人故意设置的,因为该句原文是这样的:
At issue before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit was the Federal Communications Commission's latest take on net neutrality, adopted on a party-line vote in 2017.
可见,原文take on是在一起的,不会造成误读。命题人把原文中the Federal Communications Commission's (latest take on net neutrality)的's所有格换成了of所有格,从而改写为the latest take of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on net neutrality,进而导致take与on的分离。
实际上, 命题人这样改写很有问题,可谓是弄巧成拙 ,因为过去分词短语adopted …是修饰take的,改写后就会导致二者相隔过于遥远,请比较:
原文: At issue before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit was the Federal Communications Commission's latest take on net neutrality, adopted on a party-line vote in 2017.
改写: At issue before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit was the latest take of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on net neutrality, adopted on a party-line vote in 2017.
我们可以看到,在原文中,与take语义相关的on短语和adopted短语都是离take较近的,然而在改写之后,不仅on短语与take相隔甚远,adopted短语与take的距离更远了,这样一来,就很容易让人误以为adopted短语是用来修饰net neutrality 的。
判断adopted短语的修饰对象是这句的一个难点。我们可以结合下一个句子来看:
The Republican-penned order not only eliminated the strict net neutrality rules the FCC had adopted when it had a Democratic majority in 2015, …
从这里我们可以看出,FCC( 美国联邦通信委员会 )前后改变了自己的立场(take)。具体来说,2015年民主党总统奥巴马当政时期,该委员会由民主党掌控(it had a Democratic majority),通过了(had adopted)更为严格的互联网中立规则(strict net neutrality rules)。而到了2017年,此时共和党总统特朗普已上台,由共和党制定的网络中立规则(The Republican-penned order)删除了2015版中那些严格的规则。这里The Republican-penned order与原文the Federal Communications Commission's latest take on net neutrality [也即命题人改写的the latest take of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on net neutrality] 是同义替换表达,都是指2017年投票通过(adopted)的网络中立规则。也就是下文第四段第一句中所说的the 2017 order(On Tuesday, the appeals court unanimously upheld the 2017 order deregulating broadband providers)。
可见,这里the latest take 就是指2017年以政党路线的投票方式通过( adopted on a party-line vote in 2017)的规则,这里说latest“ 最新的 ”,是相对2015年该委员会adopted“ 正式投票通过 ”的strict net neutrality rules 来说的;同时也说明了,该规则自2017年以来到作者写这篇文章时(2019年10月)都没有改变(否则就不会有“最新的”一说)。这里take与rules是同义替换表达,二者都搭配了动词adopted,adopt在这里意思是“ 投票通过 ( to formally accept a suggestion or policy by voting)”。
译文 联邦通信委员会在2017年以政党路线的投票方式通过的网络中立的最新规则,成为美国哥伦比亚特区巡回上诉法院的争议焦点。
知识拓展:
网络中立性
网络中立性(Net neutrality),亦称为互联网中立性(Internet neutrality),是一种原则,要求互联网服务供应商及政府应平等处理所有互联网上的数据,不差别对待或依不同用户、内容、网站、平台、应用、接取设备类型或通信模式而差别收费。这一词是由哥伦比亚大学媒体法教授吴修铭(Tim Wu)于2003年所提出,作为存在已久的公共运输业者这个概念之延伸。
At issue倒装句
At issue常常用于全部倒装结构:即出现在句首,后接谓语动词be,真正的主语是be动词后面的内容,通常是名词短语或从句。基本意思是“争议的问题是……”或“问题的焦点是……”,等等。请看例句:
a. At issue here is the extent to which exam results reflect a student's ability. (此处问题的焦点是,考试成绩能在多大程度上反映学生的能力。)
既然是倒装句,那么这里be动词到底是用is还是are,取决于be动词后面的主语内容。比如Yahoo News的一篇新闻中有如下这句话,因为be动词后面的名词these programs是复数,所以be动词就用are:
At issue are these programs, just to name a few: health research; NASA; transportation; homeland security; education; food inspection; housing and heating subsidies for the poor; food aid for pregnant women; the FBI; grants to local governments; national parks; and veterans' healthcare.
即b. At issue are these programs, just to name a few: health research; NASA …
我们有时也可以采用what从句What is at issue去造句:
c. What is at issue is whether she was responsible for her actions. (争议的焦点是她是否对自己的行为负有责任。)
总之,at issue这些句式很有用,读者可以在作文中仿用。顺便提一下,加拿大广播公司(CBC)有个新闻栏目,就叫At Issue,顾名思义,就是讨论加拿大的时政热点话题。
请分析下面句子结构,并译成中文。
1. Perhaps most encouraging of all is a paper from 2022 by researchers at Stanford University that involved a mix of contrived help-seeking interactions and asking people to recall times they'd sought help in the past.(2025年英语二完形填空)
2. Much more important are the places we live, work and socialise—yet there is no clear cross-government strategy for improving these social determinants of health.(2025年英语二Text 2)
3. At issue is the TMT's planned location on Mauna Kea, a dormant volcano worshiped by some Hawaiians as the piko , that connects the Hawaiian Islands to the heavens.(2017年英语一Text 2)
4. Now comes word that everyone involved—Democrats, Republicans, the Postal Service, the unions and the system's heaviest users—has finally agreed on a plan to fix the system.(2018年英语一Text 4)
5. Across the Atlantic came successive groups of Englishmen, Frenchmen, Germans, Scots, Irishmen, Dutchmen, Swedes, and many others who attempted to transplant their habits and traditions to the new world.(2015年英语一翻译)
6. Among the annoying challenges facing the middle class is one that will probably go unmentioned in the next presidential campaign: What happens when the robots come for their jobs?(2018年英语一Text 1)
7. Especially significant was his view of freedom, which, for him, was associated with the rights and responsibilities of the individual: he advocated freedom of thought and of personal expression.(2014年英语一翻译49题)
8. Adding to a woman's increased dose of stress chemicals are her increased “opportunities” for stress.(2008年Text 1)
9. Far less certain, however, is how successfully experts and bureaucrats can select our peer groups and steer their activities in virtuous directions.(2012年英语一Text 1)
1. Perhaps most encouraging of all is a paper from 2022 by researchers at Stanford University that involved a mix of contrived help-seeking interactions and asking people to recall times they'd sought help in the past. (2025年英语二完形填空)
解析 这是一个主系表全倒装的句子,主句的主语是a paper,谓语是is,表语是Perhaps most encouraging of all。本句中还有一个修饰paper的定语从句that involved a mix of contrived help-seeking interactions and asking people to recall times they'd sought help in the past。该定语从句中的并列关系如下:
that involved a mix of [contrived help-seeking interactions and asking people to recall times they'd sought help in the past].
简言之,这篇论文涉及了(involved)两种活动的结合(a mix of):一种是contrived help-seeking interactions( 精心安排的寻求帮助的互动 ),另一种是asking people to recall times they'd sought help in the past( 要求人们回忆他们过去寻求帮助的时刻 )。其中they'd sought help in the past是定语从句,修饰times。
译文 也许最令人鼓舞的是2022年由斯坦福大学的研究人员撰写的一篇论文,该论文涉及两类活动:一是精心安排的寻求帮助的互动,二是要求人们回忆他们过去寻求帮助的时刻。
2. Much more important are the places we live, work and socialise—yet there is no clear cross-government strategy for improving these social determinants of health. (2025年英语二Text 2)
解析 这句采用了全倒装:句首Much more important是表语,系动词are后边的the places是主语,其后接定语从句(that/where) we live, work and socialise,省去了关系词that或where。
译文 更为重要的是我们的生活环境、工作环境和社交环境——然而,目前并没有明确的跨政府战略来改善这些决定人们健康的社会因素。
3. At issue is the TMT's planned location on Mauna Kea, a dormant volcano worshiped by some Hawaiians as the piko , that connects the Hawaiian Islands to the heavens. (2017年英语一Text 2)
解析 这是一个全部倒装句:At issue是表语,the TMT's planned location on Mauna Kea是主语。Mauna Kea是夏威夷岛中部的一座海拔为4,208米的休眠火山(也有词典上说是活火山),为夏威夷群岛上的最高峰。这里that前面虽然有逗号,但它是一个限制性定语从句。该句的原文如下:
At issue is the TMT's planned location on Mauna Kea, a dormant volcano revered by some Hawaiians as the piko , or “umbilical cord,” that connects the Hawaiian Islands to the heavens.
因为有了插入语or “umbilical cord(脐带),”,所以出现了逗号。命题人删除了这个插入语,却依然保留了这个逗号,这可能是命题人的疏忽。
译文 现在问题是,TMT(30米级的望远镜)计划建立的位置是在莫纳克亚山上,这是一座休眠火山,被一些夏威夷人奉为连接夏威夷群岛和天堂的“脐带”。
4. Now comes word that everyone involved—Democrats, Republicans, the Postal Service, the unions and the system's heaviest users—has finally agreed on a plan to fix the system. (2018年英语一Text 4)
解析 这里Now comes word是倒装句。主语是word,意为“消息”,是不可数名词,所以没有用冠词a修饰。在word后边接了一个同位语从句,来具体说明消息的内容。从句主语是everyone,双破折号中间的内容是everyone的同位语。分词involved作后置定语修饰everyone,不是从句谓语。从句谓语是has agreed on。短语动词agree on意为“就……达成一致”。不定式短语to fix the system作定语,修饰plan。这里the system指美国邮政。
译文 现在有消息说,相关各方(民主党、共和党、美国邮政、工会组织以及邮政的大用户)已经最终达成一个救助方案。
5. Across the Atlantic came successive groups of Englishmen, Frenchmen, Germans, Scots, Irishmen, Dutchmen, Swedes, and many others who attempted to transplant their habits and traditions to the new world. (2015年英语一翻译)
解析 介词短语Across the Atlantic作地点状语,后接谓语动词came,主语是successive groups …短语。
译文 一批又一批的英国人、法国人、德国人、苏格兰人、爱尔兰人、荷兰人、瑞典人和许多其他国家的人远渡大西洋,试图把他们的习惯和传统移植到新大陆。
6. Among the annoying challenges facing the middle class is one that will probably go unmentioned in the next presidential campaign: What happens when the robots come for their jobs? (2018年英语一Text 1)
解析 句首的介词短语Among the annoying challenges facing the middle class作表语,主语是one,指代challenge,其后接that引导的定语从句。
译文 中产阶级面临诸多恼人的挑战,其中有个挑战可能在下一届总统竞选期间不会被提及,那就是当机器人来接替他们的工作时会发生什么呢?
7. Especially significant was his view of freedom, which, for him, was associated with the rights and responsibilities of the individual: he advocated freedom of thought and of personal expression. (2014年英语一翻译49题)
解析 句首的形容词短语Especially significant作表语,主语是his view of freedom,其后接which引导的非限制性定语从句。
译文 尤为重要的是他的自由观,对他来说,自由与个人的权利和责任相关:他主张思想和个人表达的自由。
8. Adding to a woman's increased dose of stress chemicals are her increased “opportunities” for stress. (2008年Text 1)
解析 这里的主语不是Adding to a woman's increased dose of stress chemicals这个短语(如果是,那么谓语应该用单数 is),而是后面的复数名词短语her increased “opportunities” for stress(中心词是opportunities),因此谓语用复数are。可见,该句采用了全倒装。正常语序是:Her increased “opportunities” for stress are adding to a woman's increased dose of stress chemicals.
另外,这里的add to表示“增加了……(数量或强度等)”,比如:The bad weather added to our difficulties. (恶劣的天气给我们带来了更多的困难。)
译文 女性面临压力的“机会”增多导致她们因压力而产生的化学物质分泌量的增加。
9. Far less certain, however, is how successfully experts and bureaucrats can select our peer groups and steer their activities in virtuous directions. (2012年英语一Text 1)
解析 这句采用了全部倒装结构,句首形容词短语Far less certain作表语,is后边的how从句作主语,故这里的how从句是主语从句,且为名词性疑问句。其中副词短语how successfully修饰谓语部分can select …。关于how从句的详解, 参见第08章 。
译文 然而,专家和官员们如何顺利地选择我们的同辈群体,并把他们的行为活动引向良性发展方向,则更加不确定。