The researchers’ argument stems from a simple observation about social influence: with the exception of a few celebrities like Oprah Winfrey—whose outsize presence is primarily a function of media, not interpersonal, influence—even the most influential members of a population simply don’t interact with that many others.
劈树:本句共包含三个谓语成份:“stems from”,“is”,“don’t interact with”,可以将本句切分为三个独立的小分句。
第一分句为:The researchers’ argument stems from a simple observation about social influence;
第二分句为:with the exception of a few celebrities like Oprah Winfrey—…—even the most influential members of a population simply don’t interact with that many others;
第三分句为:whose outsize presence is primarily a function of media, not interpersonal, influence;
造竹:第一分句为主句;第二分句为第一分句“a simple observation about social influence”的同位语从句;第三分句为“whose”引导的定语从句,修饰“Oprah Winfrey”。
各分句中难词(词组)及在句中的含义:
stems from (源于,基于)
with the exception of (除了)
celebrities (名人)
influential (具有影响力的)
interact (交往)
outsize (超乎寻常的,非凡的)
outsize presence (非凡的表现,非凡的魅力)
第一分句为:The researchers’ argument stems from a simple observation about social influence;
“argument”在句中的含义为“观点”;
“a simple observation about social influence”中“about social influence”是“observation”的后置定语;
“a simple observation about social influence”翻译为“对社交影响的一个简单观察”;
第二分句为:with the exception of a few celebrities like Oprah Winfrey—…—even the most influential members of a population simply don’t interact with that many others;
“with the exception of a few celebrities like Oprah Winfrey”为状语;
“a few celebrities like Oprah Winfrey”可以翻译为“个别像Oprah Winfrey这样的名人”;
“even the most influential members of a population simply don’t interact with that many others”中“even”翻译为“即使”,“a population”含义为“一个群体”,“simply”是副词,表程度,含义为“根本”;
“even the most influential members of a population simply don’t interact with that many others”可以翻译为“即使是一群人中最具影响力的人也根本不会与那么多的其他人交往”;
第三分句为:whose outsize presence is primarily a function of media, not interpersonal, influence;
本句整体是以双破折号所引导的插入语的形式存在的定语从句,由“whose”来引导,修饰“Oprah Winfrey”
“not interpersonal”又本分句中的插入语结构;
“whose outsize presence is primarily a function of media influence”翻译为“她的非凡魅力主要来自于媒体影响的作用”;
“not interpersonal”可以翻译为“而非人际交往”;
第一分句翻译为:研究人员的观点基于对社交影响的一个简单观察;
第二分句翻译为:除了个别像Oprah Winfrey这样的名人——...——即使是一群人中最具影响力的人也根本不会与那么多的其他人交往;
第三分句翻译为:她的非凡魅力主要来自于媒体影响的作用,而非人际交往;
原文回顾:The researchers’ argument stems from a simple observation about social influence: With the exception of a few celebrities like Oprah Winfrey—whose outsize presence is primarily a function of media, not interpersonal, influence—even the most influential members of a population simply don’t interact with that many others.
全句翻译为:研究人员的观点基于对社交影响的一个简单观察:除了个别像Oprah Winfrey这样的名人——她的非凡魅力主要来自于媒体影响,而非人际交往——即使是一群人中最具影响力的人也根本不会与那么多的其他人交往。
句式结构考点:同位语从句,定语从句;插入语
难度级别: