閱讀時候容易誤解的3個短語結構

閱讀裏麵的有的短語能通過字麵意思猜出來，比如give way to讓路於(yu) ，也就是被取代的意思，但還些跟字麵意思關(guan) 係不是很直接，比較難猜，比如trip up，看單詞本身比較難看出來是絆倒/使犯錯的意思，我甚至感覺它有點幫助的意思，就是引領著你在人生路途向上那麽(me) 個(ge) 感覺。對於(yu) 這種比較離譜的短語，如果咱本身就是文化人，見得多了，積累多，問題不大，但如果不巧不是文化人，確實不認識，就隻能看語境來猜，根據上下文的邏輯關(guan) 係，起碼確定一下短語的感情色彩。

我們(men) 來看三個(ge) 例子。

took…so long to

Despite the wealth of textual, structural, and historical evidence supporting the incorporation doctrine, skeptics have raised important questions about the peculiar manner in which the Court eventually came to apply the Bill of Rights to the states—a judicial process that did not begin in earnest until the mid-twentieth century. What took the justices so long to see the light? 比如像這裏麵的took…so long to到底該理解為(wei) “很久就做了這件事”還是“等了很久才做這件事”？關(guan) 鍵是第一句說的質疑者提出了一些重要問題，說the court（跟後麵的the justices對應）最終轉變為(wei) 把權利法案適用於(yu) 州，這個(ge) 司法過程到了二十世紀中葉才正經開始。可見講的是大法官們(men) 比較保守，擁抱變革很緩慢，所以後麵的took so long應該是說等了很久時間才去做一件事情的意思。如果是老早就see the light，就跟前麵說的很晚開始矛盾了。另外這裏的the light就是啟發的意思，see the light明白過來。閱讀裏麵有時候也會(hui) 出現shed light on這個(ge) 短語，把光打在一個(ge) 東(dong) 西上麵，就是闡釋、闡明的意思。

took so long這個(ge) 短語，還曾出現在一篇關(guan) 於(yu) 法律的文章裏。

Historian F. W. Maitland observed that legal documents are the best—indeed, often the only—available evidence about the economic and social history of a given period. Why, then, has it taken so long for historians to focus systematically on the civil (noncriminal) law of early modern (sixteenth- to eighteenth-century) England? Maitland offered one reason: the subject requires researchers to “master an extremely formal system of pleading and procedure.”…

第一句說一個(ge) 曆史學家認為(wei) 法律文件是最好甚至通常是唯一可利用的關(guan) 於(yu) 經濟和社會(hui) 史的資料。第二句作者就問了，那為(wei) 什麽(me) 曆史學家花了這麽(me) 久時間才去係統性地關(guan) 注在早期現代英國的民事法律上。這個(ge) 曆史學家給了一個(ge) 原因，就是民事法律相關(guan) 的研究需要大家掌握很複雜的辯護體(ti) 係。概括一下就是一個(ge) 東(dong) 西很重要，但一直被忽視，很久之後才被注意，有人認為(wei) 是因為(wei) 這玩意兒(er) 太複雜了，大家一開始搞不定。

 left much to be desired

類似的還有 left much to be desired這個(ge) 短語，直接看字麵的話，可能理解為(wei) “很被追捧”，也可能理解為(wei) “有很大進步空間，現在很垃圾”的意思。看看語境會(hui) 比較明顯。As an interpretation of the Constitution, Pollock left much to be desired, as the four dissenters in the case made clear. （首先這是案件少數派意見對整個(ge) 案件判決(jue) 的看法，都是異議了，所以很難是正麵的表達。）Justice Harlan’s dissent went so far as to describe the Pollock ruling as “a disaster to the country.” （其次這句話明確說了這是個(ge) 災難，可見left much to be desired不是在誇判例。）所以盡管字麵上怎麽(me) 都可以，多讀讀上下文，根據順承展開這樣一個(ge) 邏輯關(guan) 係比較容易判斷出來這個(ge) 短語是在委婉罵人的意思。

它還出現過在閱讀文章裏。In the lands around the Mediterranean, with light rains and mild winters, this had been fine, but in the wetter terrain north and west of the Danube and the Alps, such a plow left much to be desired, and it is to be wondered if it was used at all.

but前麵說還行，可見後麵是說不行。and it is後麵說甚至懷疑到底有沒有備用過，也就是比較垃圾的意思，and前麵很可能也是說比較垃圾。所以通過前後信息的分析也可以確定這個(ge) left much to be desired是說在一些特定地方，某種犁比較差。

hard to overstate

有一個(ge) 托福長難句是這樣的：The importance of this in a world that usually lived at the margins of sufficient diet is hard to overstate. 很多同學對hard to overstate的理解是，“實在太爛，難以拔高”；但還有另一種理解是“實在太好，怎麽(me) 高估都算不上高估”。僅(jin) 從(cong) 字麵意思看好像都合理，這時候就需要看上下文。

Another indicator of how compelling and important was the new horse agriculture was its sheer cost. Unlike oxen and other cattle, horses cannot be supported exclusively on hay and pasturage; they require, particularly in northern climates where pasturing seasons are short, cropped food, such as oats and alfalfa. Unlike grass and hay, these are grown with much of the same effort and resources applied to human nourishment, and thus their acquisition represents a sacrifice, in a real sense, of human food. The importance of this in a world that usually lived at the margins of sufficient diet is hard to overstate.

第一句說新的有馬農(nong) 業(ye) 到底有多重要和緊迫，看它的成本就明白了。後麵大概意思就是說馬很挑，給它弄吃的很費勁，同樣的精力本來可以給人類弄吃的，也就是說為(wei) 了給馬吃，人吃得少了。可見前麵都是在強調馬的成本高，馬很重要。相應最後一句跟前麵沒有明顯的轉折詞，優(you) 先理解為(wei) 順承，所以正確的理解應該是“實在太好，怎麽(me) 高估都不算高估”。具體(ti) 到語境裏的意思是，人類自己也才剛剛夠得上充足營養(yang) 就願意為(wei) 了馬而犧牲自己的利益，這種環境下，這麽(me) 操作的意義(yi) 怎麽(me) 高估都不為(wei) 過。

在一篇新聞裏也有一個(ge) “hard to overstate”。

It’s hard to overstate the importance of the rural vote to Bolsonaro. Agriculture increased to 27% of gross domestic product in 2021 vs. 20% in 2018, the year before he took office, according to researchers at the University of São Paulo. And farm revenue, boosted by soaring commodity prices, last year reached a record high of $230 billion. “Agribusiness supports Bolsonaro because of his conservative agenda and the legal security his government has provided,” says Tereza Cristina, who served as his agriculture minister for more than three years. “Titles granted by Bolsonaro have given hope to thousands of Brazilians who can now have land in their name.”

跟上麵的例子相反，hard to overstate不在段尾，在段首了。其實在段首可能更好理解，因為(wei) 段首的句子很多時候是觀點句，負責任的作者一般後麵都會(hui) 有個(ge) 具體(ti) 的展開。我們(men) 看到後麵都在說農(nong) 業(ye) 發展了，收入創紀錄，農(nong) 業(ye) 界的人都支持現任巴西總統。所以就算在字麵意思上不是很確定，通過句子之間的論點論據關(guan) 係，我們(men) 可以比較明確地知道段首是為(wei) 了強調鄉(xiang) 村選民對於(yu) 巴西現任總統具有很大的意義(yi) 。

做閱讀題的時候也是一樣，多根據上下文來理解句意/短語意義(yi) ，這樣正確率會(hui) 更高。