我们把标题扩展开来,涉及两种名介搭配结构:
1D. 主句介词of表达数量关系(part of + what)
2D. 从句介词of表达数量关系(part of wh-)
首先,表达数量关系的介词一般都是用of。其次,这里所谓的数量关系一般都是指“部分(数量)+ of + 整体(数量)”这类结构,因此在这里我用part来作为 部分数量词 的代表(实际使用中,可以是part之外的其他各种数量词,比如half、80%、the majority、最高级等等),进而把句子基本结构写成part of what或part of wh-(如which或whom)。前者引导的是 名词从句 (因为what从句作of的宾语),而后者引导的是 定语从句 。请看下面这道选择题:
We choose this hotel because the price for a night here is down to $20, half of ___ it used to charge.
A. that B. which C. what D. how
这是一道高考题。我们分别填入which和what来比较一下从句结构差异:
a. We choose this hotel because the price for a night here is down to $20, half of which it used to charge.
b. We choose this hotel because the price for a night here is down to $20, half of what it used to charge.
首先,这里有half表达部分数量含义,然后接of which或of what。
其次,根据“看主句,定类型”原理,a句中的which指代了上文$20,构成的是 定语从句 ;而b句中的what不能往上文指代,所引导的整个从句what it used to charge作of的宾语,构成的是 宾语从句 。
这种差异进而导致两句中的half of是完全不同的分析视角。具体阐述如下。
a句中的half of同关系代词which都是 属于定语从句里的一部分 ,比如我们可以把half拿回到charge后边,说成:
a1. … to $20, of which it used to charge half .
也即half of which合起来充当charge的宾语,该定语从句还原成简单句相当于说:
a2. It (=the hotel) used to charge half of which ( =$20 ).
表示过去收费是20美元的一半,即10美元。
与之不同的是,b句中的half of是 主句中的内容 ,不与what一起构成从句里的内容,因此要这样断句:
b1. … , half of [ what it used to charge ]
其中what充当charge的宾语,即可得出:
→It (=the hotel) used to charge what .
可见,half of后边的宾语不是what连词本身,而是what引导的整个从句,故what it used to charge是宾语从句。然后在这个宾语从句中,what本身充当charge的宾语,这就是“看从句,定连词”的视角。
作为主句内容的一部分,half of与其宾语从句what it used to charge合起来构成一个名词短语,充当前面$20的 同位语 ,也即逻辑关系是:
b2. $20 =half of [ what it used to charge ]
比较a2和b2,两者意思完全不同:a2 的意思是 “这家酒店过去收费是20美元的一半 (half of $20) ” ,也就是说 过去收费是10美元 ;而b2的意思是 “20美元是这家酒店过去收费的一半” ,也就是说 过去收费是40美元 。
可见,填入which和what都是语法结构正确的句子,且都有意义。那么,哪个语义与前面主句语义吻合呢?我们来看主句,句意为 “我们选择这家酒店是因为它现在每晚的价格 降到了 20美元”, 既然是 “降到了20美元 (down to $20) ” ,那显然与b句句意吻合。主句和what引导的宾语从句合起来意思是 “我们选择这家酒店是因为它现在每晚的价格降到了20美元,这相当于之前价格的一半” 。可见,本题填入what是正确的。我们还可以在同位语half of what …前面添加which is,写成:
b3. We choose this hotel because the price for a night here is down to $20, which is half of what it used to charge.
回头再看a、b两句,看似差别不大的half of which和half of what,分析视角如此大不同:a句中, half of which作charge的宾语; b句中, 不是half of what而是what作charge的宾语 。
以后大家遇到half of what …或part of what …等结构,都要按照我上面的分析去理解,即 of后边的宾语不是what一词本身,而是what引导的整个从句。 然后整个half/part of what … 往往是充当同位语,来对主句中的某部分作补充说明。
为此,我们可以写成“ X, part of Y ” (Y是what从句表达出来的) ,基本逻辑是表示“ X作为Y的一部分 ”。比如这里表示20美元就是之前房价的一部分,即一半(因为使用了half)。
像b句half of what这样的断句视角在考研真题中也出现过。比如2012年英语二阅读文章Text 2中这句:
真题 It was not until the mid-1980s, when amplifying age and sex differences became a dominant children's marketing strategy, that pink fully came into its own, when it began to seem inherently attractive to girls, part of what defined them as female , at least for the first few critical years.
解析 不能认为what作of的宾语,进而误以为part of what作defined的主语,[ part of what ] defined them as female这样断句是错误的。现在大家都知道了,正确的断句应该是:part of [ what defined them as female ]。根据上面讲的 “X, part of Y” 逻辑关系,这里表示it (=pink) began to seem inherently attractive to girls是what defined them as female的一部分,即整个名词短语part of [ what defined them as female ]作前面句子的同位语,相当于说:when it began to seem inherently attractive to girls, [ and became seen as ] part of what defined them as female …, 即女孩似乎天生就喜欢粉红色,这成了定义女性特质的一部分。简言之就是,女性特质之一就是天生喜欢粉红色。关于这个句子的详解,参看 第06章的when从句专题(第147页) 。
请分析下面考研真题句子中“of wh-”部分的结构,并将句子译成中文。
1. After bills, Tony has £60 a week to spend, £40 of which goes on food.(2013年英语二Part B)
2. According to a report on UK food production from the University of Leeds, UK, 85 per cent of the country's total land area is associated with meat and dairy production. That supplies 80 per cent of what is consumed, so even covering the whole country in livestock farms wouldn't allow us to cover all our meat and dairy needs.(2021年英语二Text 2)
3. Of course, I need to concede that my collection of “Smiling Victorians” makes up only a tiny percentage of the vast catalogue of photographic portraiture created between 1840 and 1900, the majority of which show sitters posing miserably and stiffly in front of painted backdrops, or staring absently into the middle distance.(2021年英语一Text 3)
4. One difficulty is that almost all of what is called behavioral science continues to trace behavior to states of mind, feelings, traits of character, human nature, and so on.(2002年翻译61题)
5. They're all groaning about soaring health budgets, the fastest-growing component of which are pharmaceutical costs.(2005年Part B)
6. That means a higher proportion of what is in the sea is being caught, so the real difference between present and past is likely to be worse than the one recorded by changes in catch sizes.(2006年Text 3)
1. After bills, Tony has £60 a week to spend, £40 of which goes on food. (2013年英语二Part B)
解析 断句如下:
… Tony has £60 a week to spend, [£40 of which goes on food].
这里of which属于2D型,即从句介词of表达数量关系。其中of前面£40表达部分数量,which指代£60,表达总共数量。因此括号中的定语从句还原成简单句是:
£40 of £60 (= of which ) goes on food.
译文 扣除账单后,托尼每周还剩60英镑可花,其中40英镑用于购买食品。
2. According to a report on UK food production from the University of Leeds, UK, 85 per cent of the country's total land area is associated with meat and dairy production. That supplies 80 per cent of what is consumed, so even covering the whole country in livestock farms wouldn't allow us to cover all our meat and dairy needs. (2021年英语二Text 2)
解析 断句如下:
That supplies 80 per cent of [ what is consumed ] …
这里of what属于1D型,即主句介词of表达数量关系。其中of前面的80 per cent表达部分数量,而括号中的what从句表达全部数量。在该从句中,what一词作主语,而整个what从句作介词of的宾语,故为宾语从句,且为名词性定语从句。最后,整个名词短语80 per cent of [ what is consumed ]作supplies的宾语。
译文 根据英国利兹大学关于英国食品生产的报告,该国85%的土地都与肉类和奶制品生产有关。这只满足了80%的消费量,因此即使国家的所有土地都用来建立畜牧场也无法让我们满足所有的肉类和奶制品需求。
3. Of course, I need to concede that my collection of “Smiling Victorians” makes up only a tiny percentage of the vast catalogue of photographic portraiture created between 1840 and 1900, the majority of which show sitters posing miserably and stiffly in front of painted backdrops, or staring absently into the middle distance. (2021年英语一Text 3)
解析 断句如下:
… my collection of “Smiling Victorians” makes up only a tiny percentage of the vast catalogue of photographic portraiture created between 1840 and 1900 , [the majority of which show sitters posing … distance].
这里of which属于2D型,即从句介词of表达数量关系。其中of前面the majority“大部分”表达部分数量,which指代photographic portraiture created between 1840 and 1900,表达总共数量。因此括号中的定语从句还原成简单句是:
the majority of the photographic portraiture created between 1840 and 1900 (= of which ) show sitters posing … distance
注意,这里show的搭配用法是show somebody doing something,表示照片或画像中的人物动作。posing … 和staring … 两个短语并列。另外,concede动词后边接that引导的宾语从句。从句主语my collection of “Smiling Victorians”说的是作者收集的维多利亚时代人们面带微笑的照片。谓语动词短语makes up表示“占据……比例”。过去分词短语created between 1840 and 1900修饰portraiture。这里的portraiture是一个集合名词,意为“肖像画,照片(portraits that are made)”。主语the majority这里指复数概念的“照片(portraits or photographs)”,因此谓语也采用了复数形式show。
译文 当然,我得承认,我所收集的“微笑的维多利亚人”照片在创作于1840年至1900年间的大量肖像摄影作品中只占很小的一部分,该时代大部分照片展示的都是人们坐在彩绘背景幕布前,摆出痛苦而僵硬的姿势,或一脸茫然地凝视着不远处。
4. One difficulty is that almost all of what is called behavioral science continues to trace behavior to states of mind, feelings, traits of character, human nature, and so on. (2002年翻译61题)
解析 断句如下:
One difficulty is that almost all of [ what is called behavioral science ] continues …
这里of what属于1D型,即主句介词of表达数量关系。其中of前面的almost all表达部分数量,而括号中的what从句表达全部数量。在该从句中,what一词作主语,而整个what从句作介词of的宾语,故为宾语从句,并为名词性定语从句,且为其中更特殊的 what描述句 ,是对behavioral science进行描述。最后,整个名词短语almost all of [ what is called behavioral science ]作主语,后接谓语动词continues。
译文 难题之一在于,几乎所有的所谓行为科学仍从心态、情感、性格特征和人性等方面寻找行为的根源。
5. They're all groaning about soaring health budgets, the fastest-growing component of which are pharmaceutical costs.(2005年Part B)
解析 断句如下:
They're all groaning about soaring health budgets , [the fastest-growing component of which are pharmaceutical costs].
这里of which属于2D型,即从句介词of表达数量关系。其中of前面the fastest-growing component表达部分数量,which指代soaring health budgets,表达总共数量。因此括号中的定语从句还原成简单句是:
The fastest-growing component of soaring health budgets (= of which ) are pharmaceutical costs.
看到这里,也许有人会纳闷:component是单数,那为什么后边用了复数are?其实该句是一个全部倒装句,正常的语序是:
Pharmaceutical costs are the fastest-growing component of soaring health budgets (= of which ).
可见,真正的主语是复数名词costs。综上分析,该句不是表达常规的数量关系,没有具体的数量词,而是表达在全部的医疗预算(health budgets)当中增长最快的那部分预算,这也是一种数量关系,或者说部分与整体的关系。
译文 他们都在抱怨医疗预算飙升,其中增长最快的部分是药品费用。
6. That means a higher proportion of what is in the sea is being caught, so the real difference between present and past is likely to be worse than the one recorded by changes in catch sizes.(2006年Text 3)
解析 断句如下:
That means (that) {a higher proportion of [ what is in the sea ] is being caught}
这里of what属于2D型,即从句介词of表达数量关系。其中of前面的a higher proportion表达部分数量,而括号中的what从句表达全部数量。在该从句中,what一词作主语,而整个what从句作介词of的宾语,故为宾语从句,且为名词性定语从句。最后,整个名词短语a higher proportion of [ what is in the sea]作主语,后接谓语动词is being caught,所构成的从句作means的宾语,省去了连词that。
译文 这意味着海洋中更高比例的生物正在被捕捞,因此现在和过去之间的真正差异可能比渔获量变化记录的差异更大。