be involved in:涉及,被卷入
The government is to ban payments to witnesses by newspapers seeking to buy up people involved in prominent cases such as the trial of Rosemary West.(2001年完形真题) 翻译:政府将禁止报纸付款给哪些牵扯到大案要案(比如Rosemary West)的证人,报业这么做是为了用金钱封住证人的口。 点睛:这里面的”by...”是作为前面”payments”的定语,不是修饰整个句子的状语。修饰关系要搞清。这句话中还包含一个很有用的短语”buy up”---“收购”,放在这句话中的语境里应该翻译成“收买”等类似含义。
be made of: 用...造成(可以看出是什么材料制作的)
Vitamins are similar because they are made of the same elements-usually carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and sometimes nitrogen.(1996年完形真题) 翻译:各种维生素都很相似,因为他们有同样的元素构成,一般是碳,氢,氧,有时还有一部分氮。 点睛:这句话没什么难的,在这儿我们要说的是还有一个表示“用...制造”的短语是”be made from”。区别就在于”be made of”如我们所讲的是“能看出是什么原料做的”,而”be made from”表示的是“不能看出是什么原料做的”。
be obliged to:感谢,不得不
We are obliged to them because some of these languages have since vanished, as the peoples who spoke them died out or became assimilated and lost their native languages.(2004年翻译真题) 翻译:我们之所以感激他们,是由于在此之后,这些语言当中已经不复存在了,这是由于说这些语言的部族要么消亡,要么被同化而丧失了自己的本族语言。 点睛:这句话的”oblige”本身有帮忙的意思。对”be obliged to”作为被动态出现,在这里是感激的意思。同学们可以这么记,我被你帮助了,自然要感激你。后面的”have since vanished”中的”since”在这应该是一个副词而不是连词,表达“从...之后”。
be related to: 与...有关
Hawthorne experiments has another surprise in store. Contrary to the descriptions on record, no systematic evidence was found that levels of productivity were related to changes in lighting.(2010年完形真题) 翻译:霍桑实验又让人大吃一惊,与实验记录所描述的相反,他们发现没有系统的证据来说明生产力水平与照明变化有关。 点睛:在这句话中,有一个英文句式中很常见的变化,就是从句与修饰词分离现象。我们看到这句话的主干”no systematic evidence”是个被动态,所以不要轻易地就认为”that”引导的就是宾语从句。如果你把那个不太被重视的主语找回来的话,比如随便的一个(I),这句话就变成—”I found no systematic evidence that levels of productivity were related to changes in lighting.” 我们可以看到,这是比较典型的同位语从句分离现象,这在其它从句(比如定语从句)身上也有发生。
be relevant to: 有关的,相应的
Your humour must be relevant to the audience and should help to show them that you are one of them or that you understand their situation and are in sympathy with their point of view.(2002年阅读1) 翻译:你的幽默必须与听众有关,能够向他们显示你是他们的一员,或者你了解它们的情况,赞同他们的观点。 点睛:这句话虽然有些长度,但是几种从句的出现并不复杂,同学们仔细拆解就好。”show”这个动词接双宾语,所以后面接上”that”引导宾语从句(注意“or”后面还有一个”that”)。