1、Section 2 Notes to difficult sentences from Unit 4 Earthquake1. But the one million people of the city, who thought little of these events, were asleep as usual that night. 但是城里的百万群众，没有理会这些事件，那天夜里还和以往一样，安然入睡了。句中who引导的“非限制性定语从句”。非限制性定语从句只是对主句内容，或先行词的补充、解释或附加说明。主句与先行词或从句之间一般用逗号分开，常常单独翻译。没有它，主句意思仍然完整。引
2、导非限制性定语从句的关系代词有as，which，who， whom，whose等，作定语从句的主语、宾语、表语及定语。关系副词有when，where等，作定语从句的状语。关系代词和关系副词在定语从句中一般不能省。2. It seemed as if the world was at an end! 似乎世界的末日到来了。句子中的as if引导的是表语从句。表语从句在复合句中作表语的名词性从句，放在系动词之后，一般结构是“主语连系动词表语从句”。可以接表语从句的连系动词有be, look, remain, seem等。as if 引导表语从句不可省略。另外，常用的还有the reason is
3、that 和It is because 等结构。例如：1) The question is whether we can make good preparation in such a short time. 2) This is why we cant get the support of the people. 3) But the fact remains that we are behind the other classes. 4) The reason he is late for school is that he missed the early bus.3. All hope
4、 was not lost. 并非所有的希望都失去了。这是典型的“部分否定”句。在英语里有一些用来表示“全体”或“完全”意义的总括词，如all, every (及everybody, everything等)，both, always, quite, wholly, entirely, altogether, completely等，凡含有这些词的否定句并非表示全部否定。如：1. Not all the ants go out for the food. 并非所有的蚂蚁都出外觅食。2. Money is not everything. 金钱并非万能。从上面例子中可以看出部分否定有下列两种形式：
5、一、 直接把否定词not 放在被否定词之前。如：3. Not all birds can fly. 并不是所有的鸟都会飞。4. Not both children are clever. 两个孩子并不都聪明。5. He doesnt quite understand. 他并非全部理解。6. We are not altogether interested. 我们并不完全感兴趣。二、 用not 来否定谓语。如：7. I cant catch everything in the book. 我没有完全掌握书中的内容。8. All that glitters is not gold. 闪光的未必都是
6、金子。 4. Slowly, the city began to breathe again.慢慢地，这个城市又开始呼吸了。本句“breathe”是英语暗喻用法。暗喻是根据两个事物之间的某些共同特点，把一个事物的名称用在另一个事物上。靠读者自己去意会。这种比喻是含蓄的。在英语专著中对隐喻的较新的定义是：“将一个词从其本义转为一般不能换用但却相似的另一个词，强调其认同，即两者相似。但不是明喻。”汉语的暗喻和英语的暗喻都不漏比喻的痕迹，把甲直接说成“是”乙或“变成”了乙。常用的比喻词在汉语里有“是”、“变成”、“变为”、“成为”、“成了”、“当作”等，英语常用“Be”做喻词，也用 become，t
7、urn into等。暗喻在翻译中也可采取直译。例如：He has a heart of stone. 他有铁石心肠。It was not long before he saw the fruit of his patient efforts. 不久他便看到了辛勤劳动所获得的成果。The fountain of knowledge will dry up unless streams of new learning continuously replenish it. 知识之泉要连续不断注入新的学习的溪流才不会枯竭。 词义辨析 breath，breathe这两个词都是表示“呼吸”的意思，但词性和
8、读音不同。 breath是名词； breathe是动词。初学英语的人容易将breathe的e丢掉，以致与breath混淆不清。请看下面例句：After we had climbed to the top of the hill，we stopped to gather breath我们爬到山顶后便停下来歇口气。Only in the countryside can we have a breath of fresh air只有在郊野我们才能呼吸到新鲜的空气。He has run himself out of breath他跑得上气不接下气。The old lady breathed her last this morning老太太今天早上断气了。In an attack of asthma，she breathed hard哮喘发作，她感到呼吸困难。Its healthy to breathe deeply in the morning. 早上作深呼吸对身体有益。