However amazed our descendants may be at / how far from Utopia we were, they will look just like us. (2000年真题)

　　【分析】该句理解难点在于分清however和how引导的是疑问句还是感叹句。这里两者引导的是两个感叹句充当状语从句(however和how表示感叹语气“无论……”，只不过前者表达的语气更加强烈些)。

　　【翻译】不论我们的后代对我们距理想状态之遥远感到多么惊讶，他们的长相将和我们一样。

　　In the twentieth century, local studies have increasingly become acceptable to professionals only if they incorporate, and reflect on, the wider geological picture.(2001年真题)

　　【分析】对于if引导的状语从句的理解方法，我们可以采用两遍法。首先从主句到从句顺读一遍，然后先从if从句开始，再由从句到主句逆读一遍，含义自然就明了(increasingly 越来越……)。

　　【翻译】在20世纪，区域地质学研究只有在包含并思考范围更广泛的地质学问题时，才会越来越被专业人员所接受。(注：picture，这里是引申用法，指情况或研究的问题。)

　　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。