黑暗版阅读真题解析1998Text 1

难句解析：

①Perhaps it is humankind's long suffering at the mercy of flood and drought that makes the ideal of forcing the waters to do our bidding so fascinating.
▲这个句子中包含了一个强调句型，基本结构是it is... that...，强调部分的关键词是suffering，这个词就是后面that引导的从句的主语，因而这个句子的核心句其实就是Suffering makes the ideal so fascinating。suffering加上前后的修饰、限定成分是humankind's long suffering at the mercy of flood and drought（人类受水旱灾害控制的长期的苦难）；ideal后面跟了一个of引导的分词短语：forcing the waters to do our bidding（让河水听我们吩咐［的这个理想］）；suffering使得这个ideal如何呢？so fascinating。在掌握了这个整体框架之后，这个句子就很清楚了。
△通过分析结构我们知道此句强调的是suffering这个使得ideal如此fascinating的这个因果关系。一旦给that引导的从句找到了真正的主语suffering，这个句子的基本结构就出来了。

②It doesn't help that building a big, powerful dam had become a symbol of achievement for nations and people striving to assert themselves.
▲这个句子中第一个单词it指代的是文章中上面的一句话，即"从大型水坝中得到的教训是不一定大的就是好的"。help后面是一个从句，在这个从句中，主语是一个现在分词短语，核心句是Building a dam had become a symbol of achievement。分词短语striving to assert themselves是修饰nations and people的限定成分。
△注意it doesn't help的意思，此处意为"无法阻止"。

③The Aswan Dam, for example, stopped the Nile flooding but deprived Egypt of the fertile silt that floods left - all in return for a giant reservoir of disease which is now so full of silt that it barely generates electricity.
▲这个句子首先要注意的是有两个谓语：stopped和deprived；然后可以找出这个句子的核心句：The Aswan Dam stopped the Nile flooding but deprived Egypt of the silt。第一个silt后面有一个that引导的从句that floods left修饰silt；破折号后面的all代替的是破折号前面所说的the fertile silt，介词短语in return for后面的宾语带了一个which引导的从句，修饰的是这个宾语：a giant reservoir of disease，同时这个从句中还有一个so... that的结构。如果把这个which引导的从句分解开来就是The reservoir is now full of silt, so it barely generates electricity。
△此句理解的关键有三个：一是找到两个谓语：stopped和deprived；二是要明白all指的是前面所说的the fertile silt；三就是which引导的从句修饰的是the reservoir of disease这个名词短语。

④This week, in the heart of civilized Europe, Slovaks and Hungarians stopped just short of sending in the troops in their contention over a dam on the Danube.
▲这个句子理解上的困难可能出现在短语上。撇开前面的时间状语和地点状语不看，这个句子的核心句其实是Slovaks and Hungarians stopped sending troops。这里有两个短语需要理解：short of差一点就；send in派遣。后面的in their contention over a dam说的是他们sending in the troops的原因。再加上前后的状语短语，就有了一个完整理解。
△这个句子的短语和介词非常重要，除了结构分析中所说的两个短语之外，in the contentions，over a dam，on the Danube都对句子理解非常重要。

⑤Proper, scientific study of the impacts of dams and of the cost and benefits of controlling water can help to resolve these conflicts.
▲这个句子的核心句是Study can help to resolve conflicts。但是理解的重点却在study后面的修饰成分，因为study后面有两个并列关系的of，说明了study的内容：study of the impacts of dams和study of the cost and benefits of controlling water。第三个of修饰的是the cost and benefits两个名词，of后面是个动名词短语。这个修饰成分解决了，后面的句子就好理解了，再注意一下help to do sth.的用法。
△主要是四个of的用法，注意哪两个of是并列关系（of the impacts和of the cost and benefits）。