如何看懂英语长难句 英语长难句学习-3

Scholars believe that this cooperation allowed people to contend with a patchy environment in which precipitation and other resources varied across the landscape: if you produce a lot of food one year, you might trade it for pottery made by a distant ally who is having difficulty with crops---and the next year, the flow of goods might go in the opposite direction.

参考译文：

学者们相信，这种合作能够让人们在一种不规律的且降雨量和其他资源因地貌不同而有所变化的环境中作斗争: 如果某一年你收获了很多食物，那你可能会从远方一个不太容易获得农作物的盟友那里换回陶器一而来年货物可能流向相反的方向。

词汇学习：

1， contend: vi. 竞争；奋斗；斗争；争论 vt. 主张；为...斗争

例句：We contend that history written without the insights that emerge from systematicallyapplying economic theory and method will be incomplete and impoverished. 我们主张，没有系统运用经济理论和方法而获得洞见的历史写作是不完整的、苍白空乏的

近义词：

vi.竞争；奋斗；斗争；争论fightdebatecope

vt.主张；为...斗争 maintain submit advocate

2, patchy: adj 不规则的；有斑点的； 质量不一的

例句：But this leaves many liberals cold as they regard it as giving more money to insurance companies, detested for their high profits and patchy performance in paying out on claims.但这让许多自自由主义者心寒，因为这就像是在送钱给保险公司，而后者因为其高利润以及在赔付上的拖沓表现广受怨恨

同近义词：irregular

3, precipitation: n. 降雨量；沉淀

例句：More than half of the precipitation that falls on land is never available for capture or storage because it evaporates from the ground or transpires from plants; this fraction is called green water. 降落到地球上超过一半的降水都从不会被利用或者存储，因为雨水会在地面上被蒸发掉或者被植物散发掉；这一部分被称作绿色降水。

同近义词： rainfall

4, contend with 与...斗争；和...争夺

5, have difficulty with... 对...有困难；感到困难

语法分析：

这段话是一个主从复合句，句子的整体结构是：并列句1 宾语从句 定语从句，具体如下:

主句: Scholars believe

宾语从句: that this cooperation llowed pecople to contend with a patchy environment定语从句: in which precipitation and other resources varied across the landscape

冒号后而的句子是对前面的内容进一步解释说明， 也是一个复合句，整个句子的结构是条件状语从句 并列句2 定语从句 并列句3,具体如下:

条件状语从句: if you produce a lot of food one year

并列句2: you might trade it for pottery made by a distant aly

定语从句: who is having dificulty with crops

并列句3: and the next year, the flow of goods might go in the opposite dircction

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