复杂的宾语从句以及表语从句的拆分和理解 例54

例54　Rather than concluding that children make parents either happy or miserable, Senior suggests we need to redefine happiness: instead of thinking of it as something that can be measured by moment-to-moment joy, we should consider being happy as a past-tense condition.

【结构分析】这句话开头是个介词短语Rather than concluding...，后面是宾语从句that children make parents either happy or miserable，后面是句子的主干，又是个是个宾语从句Senior suggests we need to redefine happiness。冒号后面表示补充说明，先是个介词短语instead of thinking of it as something...，后面是定语从句that can be measured by moment-to-moment joy，再后面是冒号后面的句子的主干we should consider being happy as a past-tense condition。

【亮点回放】此句话的亮点在于冒号前后都有很长的介词短语，前面的介词短语里面有宾语从句，后面的介词短语里面有很长的定语从句，两个介词短语都不简单。

【核心词汇】

either happy or miserable　快乐呢还是痛苦呢

redefine happiness　重新定义幸福

measured by moment-to-moment joy　个个瞬间的快乐组合的可以被衡量的东西

a past-tense condition　一种过去式的状态

【参考译文】Jennifer Senior没有指出养孩子到底是使得父母快乐呢还是痛苦呢，她倒是认为，我们需要重新定义幸福：幸福不应该是一个个瞬间的快乐组合的可以被衡量的东西；我们应该把幸福视为一种过去式的状态。