史學 政治學 人類學各一個學術型超複雜文法結構長難句
以下三句是我仿人文社科學術寫作的句型自行撰寫的，不是引自特定書籍，所以可以放心拿來練習。每句都依「找主句、斷行、拆短句、翻譯」的順序處理。
例句一（歷史）
原句
The printing press, introduced to Europe in the fifteenth century and initially regarded by the Church as a useful instrument for disseminating devotional texts, ultimately undermined the very authority that had welcomed it by enabling reformers to circulate vernacular translations of scripture that ordinary believers, previously dependent on clerical interpretation, could read for themselves.
斷行排列
The printing press,
introduced to Europe in the fifteenth century
and initially regarded by the Church as a useful instrument
for disseminating devotional texts,
ultimately undermined the very authority
that had welcomed it
by enabling reformers to circulate vernacular translations of scripture
that ordinary believers,
previously dependent on clerical interpretation,
could read for themselves.
主句
The printing press ultimately undermined the very authority.
拆成短句
印刷術動搖了那股權威。（主句）
印刷術在十五世紀被引進歐洲。（過去分詞片語，等於被動式關係子句）
教會起初把它視為有用的工具。（另一個過去分詞片語，與上一個以 and 並列）
那工具用來傳播虔修文本。（for + 動名詞）
那股權威當初歡迎過它。（that 關係子句，修飾 authority）
印刷術讓改革者得以散布聖經白話譯本。（by + 動名詞，表方式）
一般信徒可以自己讀這些譯本。（that 關係子句）
信徒先前倚賴神職人員的詮釋。（previously dependent 是插入的形容詞片語）
中譯
印刷術於十五世紀傳入歐洲，教會起初視之為傳播虔修文本的有用工具，但它最終卻動搖了當初歡迎它的那股權威，因為改革者得以藉此散布聖經的白話譯本，而原本倚賴神職人員詮釋的一般信徒，如今可以自己閱讀。
例句二（政治學）
原句
What distinguishes consolidated democracies from those merely holding periodic elections is not the mere existence of formal institutions such as courts and legislatures, but the extent to which political actors, having lost an election, are willing to accept the verdict of voters, relinquish power peacefully, and continue to compete within rules that they did not write and cannot unilaterally change.
斷行排列
What distinguishes consolidated democracies
from those merely holding periodic elections
is not the mere existence of formal institutions
such as courts and legislatures,
but the extent
to which political actors,
having lost an election,
are willing to accept the verdict of voters,
relinquish power peacefully,
and continue to compete within rules
that they did not write
and cannot unilaterally change.
主句
What distinguishes A from B is not X but Y.（名詞子句當主詞，動詞是 is，用 not…but… 連接兩個補語）
拆成短句
某個因素把鞏固的民主與其他政體區分開來。（what 子句，即全句主詞）
其他政體只是定期舉行選舉。（those merely holding 是縮略的關係子句）
這個因素不是正式制度的存在。（not X）
法院和立法機關就是正式制度的例子。
這個因素是一種程度。（but Y）
在這個程度上，政治行動者願意接受選民的裁決。
他們已經輸掉了選舉。（having lost，完成式分詞，表時間或原因）
他們願意和平交出權力。（與 accept 並列）
他們願意繼續在規則內競爭。（與 accept 並列）
這些規則不是他們寫的，他們也不能單方面更改。（that 關係子句，內含兩個並列動詞）
中譯
鞏固的民主政體之所以有別於僅僅定期舉行選舉的政體，關鍵不在於是否存在法院、立法機關等正式制度，而在於政治行動者輸掉選舉之後，是否願意接受選民的裁決、和平交出權力，並繼續在自己既未制定、也無法單方面更改的規則之內競爭。
例句三（人類學）
原句
Having spent two years among the fishing communities of the northern coast, where kinship obligations, long assumed by earlier ethnographers to be relics of a vanishing tradition, continued to structure everything from the distribution of the daily catch to the arrangement of marriages, the anthropologist concluded that what had been dismissed as irrational custom in fact constituted a sophisticated system of risk-sharing.
斷行排列
Having spent two years among the fishing communities of the northern coast,
where kinship obligations,
long assumed by earlier ethnographers
to be relics of a vanishing tradition,
continued to structure everything
from the distribution of the daily catch
to the arrangement of marriages,
the anthropologist concluded
that what had been dismissed as irrational custom
in fact constituted a sophisticated system of risk-sharing.
主句
The anthropologist concluded that…（句首很長的分詞片語只是修飾，真正的主詞要等到逗號之後才出現）
拆成短句
人類學家得出結論。（主句）
他在北部海岸的漁村社群待了兩年。（Having spent 是完成式分詞片語，主詞就是 the anthropologist）
在那些社群裡，親屬義務仍然左右著一切。（where = in which）
這個「一切」從每日漁獲的分配，到婚姻的安排。（from…to… 界定範圍）
早期民族誌學者長期以為這些義務是消逝傳統的遺跡。（過去分詞片語插在主詞與動詞之間）
某些東西過去被斥為非理性習俗。（what 子句，作 concluded 的受詞子句中的主詞）
那東西其實是一套精密的風險分擔制度。
中譯
人類學家在北部海岸的漁村社群中生活了兩年，那裡的親屬義務，雖然早期民族誌學者長期認為只是逐漸消失的傳統遺跡，卻仍然左右著從每日漁獲的分配到婚姻安排的一切，他因此斷定，過去被斥為非理性習俗的東西，其實是一套精密的風險分擔機制。
三句的共同提醒
句首若是 Having… 或 Introduced…，先別急著把它當主句，要往後找到真正的主詞。
逗號夾住的片語（例句一的 previously dependent…、例句三的 long assumed…）多半是插入修飾，可以先擋住、最後再讀。
看到 what、that、how 開頭的子句，先判斷它是主詞、受詞還是修飾語。
要不要我再出三題不附解析的練習，讓你先自己試著拆，再對答案？
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