TOEFL & IELTS 长难句之所以难的一个最重要的原因就是因为太长，导致同学们读了后面，忘了前面，不能准确把握住句子的重点。句子长的一个重要原因是因为部分连词连接了几个句子或者几个成分。TOEFL & IELTS 阅读里常见的连接词有：and、or、not only„but also、but, 甚至分号等。但这些连词连接的长成分也不是没有任何用处，有时候也可以利用它们的逻辑关系来相互推理所看不懂的半句话的意思，或者直接忽略掉看不懂的部分。
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例 1.
Apprentices were considered part of the family, and masters were responsible not only for teaching their apprentices a trade but also for providing them some education and for supervising their moral behavior.
【解析】
难点一：本句是由 and 连接了两个主干 Apprentices were considered part of the family 和 masters were responsible not only for teaching their apprentices a trade but also for providing them some education and for supervising their moral behavior;
难点二：在第二个主干里，由 not only„but also 和 and 连接了三个 V+ing 作介词 for 的宾语。
【处理】
由于这两个半句是由 not only„but also„并列的，因此意思比较接近，看懂任何一个半句里的内容即可。
例 2.
Eliminating the secrecy surrounding pay by openly communicating everyone's remuneration, publicising performance bonuses and allocating annual salary increases in a lump sum rather than spreading them out over an entire year are examples of actions that will make rewards more visible and potentially more motivating.
【解析】
该句由 and 和 rather than 连接了四个动名词短语 Eliminating the secrecy surrounding pay by openly communicating everyone's remuneration, publicising performance bonuses, allocating annual salary increases in a lump sum 和 spreading them out over an entire year 作本句话的主语，因此主语比较长，造成了理解上的障碍。
【处理】
看懂任何一个主语，基本上就可以把握本句话的意思了。
例 3.
In the mythology of giftedness, it is popularly believed that if people are talented in one area, they must be defective in another, that intellectuals are impractical, that prodigies burn too brightly too soon and burn out, that gifted people are eccentric, that they are physical weaklings, that there's a thin line between genius and madness, that genius runs in families, that the gifted are so clever they don't need special help, that giftedness is the same as having a high IQ, that some races are more intelligent or musical or mathematical than others, that genius goes unrecognised and unrewarded, that adversity makes men wise or that people with gifts have a responsibility to use them.
【解析】
该句由 or 连接了十三个名词性从句作主语(it 是形式主语)，这些话在理解上构成了障碍，很多同学会读得痛不欲生，欲死欲仙。
【处理 】
看懂任何一个主语，看不懂的可以忽略，根据看懂的基本可以推测作者的意图。
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