【问】 He usually directs his attention towards problems which he notices have no satisfactory explanation.(上海交大《英语》(三),P. 291) [原译]他通常把注意力放在他注意到,但是还没有获得令人满意的解释的问题上。(教参) he notices是定语从句,还是插入句? 【答】 从译文看,译者显然是把从句he notices理解为problems的定语从句了。不错,英语里确实有带双重定语从句的句子。例如: 1.The only system I know which will help you to remember what you have heard at a lecture is the system of keeping notes. 我所知道的能帮助你记住听课中学到的东西的唯一方法就是记笔记。 2. The only person I know who has a skeleton in the cupboard is George Carlton. (NCE 3) 我所认识的人之中唯一有橱中骷髅的是乔治·卡尔顿。 3. She is the only girl I know who can play the guitar. 她是我所认识的唯一会弹吉他的女孩。 4. He is the best man I can find who can mend it within an hour. 他是我所能找到的能在一个小时之内把它修理完的最合适的一个人。 但是,请注意,这种句型与你所提问的句子的句型是有本质差别的。首先,在这种带有双重定语从句的句型里,第一个定语从句I know (I can find)应理解为省略了充当宾语的关系代词。它是用来限制the only girl (system,person,man)的意义的,而who从句或which从句则是用来限制the only girl (system,person,man) I know (I can find)的意义的。但是,在你所问的句子中,从句he notices既不是省略了关系代词,也不是用来限制the problem的意义的。其次,从结构上看,在带双重定语从句的句型里,第一个定语从句I know总是出现在第 二个定语从句的关系代语之前,而在你所提问的这类句子中,插入句he notices等总是出现在定语从句的关系代词之后。类例: 1. ...but as a machine which everyone will agree belongs in the well-organized and regulat-ed and sensible household. ……它们是机器,大家会一致认为,这种机器是有条不紊的、充满智慧的家庭的一员。 2. He and his friends wrote letters to every person in the United States who they knewwanted to save the trees. 他和他的朋友们向据他们所知希望保护这种树木的每一个美国人发信件。 3. The space that the author thinks we can never conquer is stellar space. 作者认为我们永远不可能征服的空间是恒星空间。 4. Choose the one answer (A,B,C or D) which you think is correct in the following. 在下列句子里选择一个你认为正确的答案(A,B,C或D)。 5. There was no trace of fingerprints,but the inspector found a dirty red bundle that con-tained jewellery which the old lady said was not hers. (New Concept English,Book 3) 虽然没有找到指纹的痕迹,但巡官却发现一个装着珠宝的肮脏的红包裹,老妇人说这个包裹不是她的。 6. They had some new face cream and a face powder that the chemist said was very good,but I never use anything but Guerlain from Paris. (EE) 他们有几种新出产的香脂和香粉。店老板说这些货都很好。但是除了巴黎出的古尔兰牌,我是什么也不用的。 7. So the number of stars that we know exist is now estimated at about 300 million millionmillion. 因此,现在我们已知存在的恒量数目估计约有三万亿亿颗。 8. The supervisor was advised to give the assignment to whoever he believe had a strongsense of responsibility. (TOEFL) 人们劝主管人把这项任务交给他认为有强烈责任感的人。 我们认为以上各句中的斜体字部分均为插入句,而非定语从句。弄清这一点,对于英译汉具有非常重要的意义。例如,你所问的句子可以改译如下: [试译]他通常把注意力集中在他发现尚未得到满意解释的问题上。 这里应当补充一点,就是在英语里确实可以遇到定语从句与插入句无法判别的情况。例如: Many neighbors I know would have reacted the same way. 在没有上下文的条件下,上句中的I know既可以分析为定语从句,也可以分析为插入句,因此可以有两种完全不同的译法: (a)我所认识的许多邻居都会做出同样的反应。 (b)我知道许多邻居是会做出同样的反应的。 我国有的英语学者在分析你所问的英语句子时,认为he notices是主句,而不是插入句①。这是值得商榷的。我们想在这里谈谈我们的看法。 首先,让我们来看看一些权威性英语著作对插入语(句)所下的定义: Longman Modern English Dictionary: parenthesis——a word,phrase or sentence,usual-ly having its own complete meaning,inserted into a sentence which is grammatically com-plete without this insertion,and marked off from it by punctuation,e. g. 'It was (surpris-ingly) effective',or 'it was,to our surprise,effective'.(P. 812) (一般具有完整的意义、插入到一个语法上业已完整的句子里去的词、短语或句子。通常用标点符号使之与句子分开。例如:……) Webster's New World Dictionary: parenthesis——an additional word,clause,etc. placedas an explanation or comment within an already complete sentence.(P.1032) (作为解释或评注插入到业已完整的句子里去的附加的词、从句等。) 我们认为,我们在上面所讨论的结构完全符合这里对插入语(句)所下的定义。从结构上看,he notices等从句完全是插进去的,它与基本句不发生通常的一致、支配、附加等语法关系。如果将he notices等从句去掉,则基本句在结构上仍然是完整的。从语义上看,he notices这一类从句作用仅仅在于表明说话人对句子内容所抱的态度或指出说话内容的来源、根据或评价。如把它们去掉,则基本句在意义上也是完整的。 其次,还有一种情况也颇有助于把he notices这一类型的从句解释为插入句:有些作者常常用逗号使插入句独立于基本句之外,例如: 1.At his trial he behaved nobly and firmly,refusing to defend himself before a courtwhich,he said,had no power to try him,and he received the death sentence with acalm courage. (EE) 在审问他的时候,他表现得高尚而又坚定,拒绝了在他认为无权审判他的法庭上为自己辩护,他镇静自若地接受了死刑的判决。 2. George showed me to the guest-room which,he said,was rarely used. 乔治把我带到客房,他说那个房间很少使用。 3. In this part of the cave,they could hear an insistent booming sound which they foundwas caused by a small water-spout shooting down into a pool from the roof of the cave. (New Concept English,Book 3,L. 42) 在洞穴的这个地方,他们能听到连续不断的咚咚声,他们发现这响声是岩洞顶部的一个小喷水孔向下面的水池喷水引起的。 请做下面的英语试题: They pointed out the damage which they supposed that had been done by last night’sstorm.(攻读硕士学位研究生入学考试英语试题,97)