比方說寫人的時(shí)候,我們常常為了立體全面的介紹一個(gè)人而大費(fèi)周章連續(xù)使用兩個(gè),三個(gè)甚至是四個(gè)句子來介紹。這樣一來不僅筆墨費(fèi)盡,而且還往往吃力不討好。試比較一下兩組不同的寫法:
1. William Shakespeare is British. He was considered to be one of the greatest writers in England. He was famous for his plays.
2. William Shakespeare, a British, who was considered to be one of the greatest writers in England, was famous for his plays.
通過對(duì)比大家會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)兩點(diǎn):
一、第二種寫法的質(zhì)量明顯更高,它滿足了我們?cè)趯懽髦袑?duì)長句的需求。
二、這兩組句子在內(nèi)容上沒有任何區(qū)別,區(qū)別的僅僅是形式。
但是同時(shí)大家也會(huì)思考:這只是一個(gè)例子,是否具有普遍性或者普遍意義?答案是肯定的。首先,這個(gè)句子的普遍性在于這個(gè)句子的本身的作用。它本身的形式可以放在任何一篇寫人記事的文章開頭,也可以放在任何一篇議論文中引入例子的時(shí)候用于介紹例子當(dāng)中的主要人物的背景。在新概念英語三冊(cè)中就可以找到不少的這樣的句子的范本,比如:
【Lesson17, NCEIII】Verrazano, an Italian about whom little is known, sailed into New York Harbor in 1524 and named it Angouleme.
【Lesson24, NCEIII】… the heroine, a dear old lady, who had always been so kind to everybody, had, in her youth, poisoned every one of her five husbands.
試比較:
1.Verrazano was an Italian. Little is known about him. He sailed into New York Harbor in 1524 and named it Angouleme.
2.The heroine was a dear old lady. She had always been so kind to everybody. She had, in her youth, poisoned every one of her five husbands.
經(jīng)過以上的分析之后,相信剩下的問題就只剩下一個(gè):面對(duì)這樣的句子我們應(yīng)該如何去操作呢?操作的部分分兩步:長句都是由短句合并而來,所以我們首先需要對(duì)簡單的短句進(jìn)行分析,然后再選擇合適的語法手段將之合并。通過分析不難發(fā)現(xiàn),這三個(gè)短句所討論的都是同一主體。這時(shí)候就可以使用各種可以做后置修飾或補(bǔ)充說明的語法手段將三個(gè)短句有機(jī)的結(jié)合起來。這些語法手段中包括了:分詞作后置定語,不定式做后置定語,同位語等等。