這是“讀外刊，學英文句型”欄目的第二期，關於該欄目第一期的說明可以見
1.雷聲大雨點小
在問題解決類題材中我們有時候會說“對於某事件的解決方案只有空談，很少有實際行動”，看看The Economist是如何表達這一層意思的：
The second entity is government. There is much talk about lifelong learning, though few countries are doing much about it. The Nordics fall into this less populated camp.
There is much talk about lifelong learning, though few countries are doing much about it. 意思是“目前關於終身學習有很多討論，但很少有國家對此有所行動”。其中talk是不可數名詞，所以前面要用much修飾。第二句 The Nordics fall into this less populated camp. 意思是“北歐國家屬於這一人數較少的陣營”，作者通過第一句的鋪墊，在第二句中能夠突出北歐國家的執行力。
對此我們可以總結出一個句式：There is much talk about…though few…are doing much about it…fall into this less populated camp. 例如：
(1) There is much talk about poverty reduction around the globe, though few countries are doing much about it. China falls into this less populated camp, where more than 500 million people were lifted out of poverty in the past 30 years, a remarkable achievement in human history.
(2) There is much talk about innovation among tech firm bosses, though few are doing much about it. Elon Musk falls into this less populated camp. By launching a series of programs such as Tesla electric cars and Space X rockets, he demonstrates how innovative thinking and bold risk-taking can thrive in today’s world.
2.發展類句型
在發展類話題中有時候需要對事物的趨勢進行總結，這個時候我們可以使用下面這個句型：
The story of how London expanded so swiftly at the turn of the 20th century is one of financial ingenuity, bold risk-taking and low skulduggery.
句子中one of something是地道英文中一個很常見的用法，但很少見到國內學生使用。one在這裡用於指代前面的story，即 The story of how London expanded so swiftly at the turn of the 20th century is a story of financial ingenuity… 使用one是為了避免用詞重複。柯林斯詞典中也有類似的例子：
Skulduggery是一個外刊中比較常見的詞，含義是“欺騙行為，詭計”。
The story of…is one of… 也是一個可以用來總結事物趨勢的句型，例如：
(1) The story of how China achieved its economic miracle at the turn of the 21st century is one of financial ingenuity, bold risk-taking and low skulduggery.
(2) The story of how smartphones have penetrated every aspect of our life is one oftechnological innovation and market competition.
3.今昔對比
在科技和發展類題材中經常會涉及到對某一現象進行對比，例如互聯網出現之前的生活與現在的生活的對比，過去的自然環境與現在的自然環境的對比，過去的家庭與現在的家庭的對比等等。對於這類內容，可以參考下面的一個句式：
Gone are the dark days where one had to stay in a lousy job just to get good health insurance. Novel employment arrangements are on the rise and here to stay, indicating a robust and flexible labour market that can do without the outdated and paternalistic employment model, rife with inefficiency and exploitation, in exchange for increased self-worth and opportunity.
Gone are the dark days where…是倒裝句，還原後相當於 the dark days where…are gone，Gone are the days後面用where或者when都可以，但從語料庫的統計來看用when會更為常見。段落中第二句長句寫得很漂亮，幾個從句句式變換多樣，值得背誦學習。句子中出現的here to stay是一個短語，含義是“被普遍接受”：
從這段話中我們可以提取出的句式為：
Gone are the days when/where…are on the rise and here to stay… 例如：
Gone are the days when people had to write letters to their friends and wait for weeks for a reply. Instant messaging services are on the rise and here to stay, making it possible for us to communicate with others anytime, anywhere.
4.舉例與結論
議論文寫作經常需要舉例子，並通過例子推導出結論。下面這一個句型可以用於做結論推導：
The story of Margaret Thatcher's fall from power sounds a long way from Tony Blair's brilliant career; but it does not take too great a leap of the imagination to see how the same fate could overtake him with similarly disastrous consequences for Labour.
上面這段話的大意是：撒切爾夫人失勢的故事對於布萊爾目前輝煌的政治生涯來說可能有些遙遠，但我們並不難想象同樣的命運會發生在他身上，對工黨帶來同樣災難性的後果。
其中 a leap of the imagination是一個固定表達，它的含義是“想象跳躍”：
it does not take a leap of the imagination to… 是一個常用句型，它的意思類似於it is not difficult to find… 該句型可以用於對上文提到的事實、假設、例子等進行推論，引出下文。例如：
(1) Driverless car technology is advancing at breakneck speed, and it does not take a leap of the imagination to see how it will change cities and public transportation systems.
(2) Considering the effects of global warming on polar ice caps over the past century, it does not take a leap of the imagination to picture how the Arctic landscape will be like in the next few decades.
5.教育類句型模板
下面這個句子出自The Economist一篇關於科技與大學教育的文章：
University education is designed to act as a slipway, launching students into the wider world in the expectation that the currents will guide them into a job.
這個句子寫得很形象，將大學教育比作船的下水滑道，學生可以經此進入廣闊海洋，並由洋流引領他們到達職場。這個句子同時也是一個很好的教育類話題模板：
…is designed to act as a slipway, launching…into the wider world in the expectation that the currents will guide…into/towards etc…
比如關於家庭教育我們可以說：
Family education can act as a slipway, launching children into the wider world in the expectation that the currents will guide them towards independence and maturity.
總結：
這期一共介紹了五個句型：
(1) There is much talk about…though few…are doing much about it…fall into this less populated camp.
(2) The story of…is one of…
(3) Gone are the days when/where…are on the rise and here to stay…
(4) it does not take a leap of the imagination to…
(5) …is designed to act as a slipway, launching…into the wider world in the expectation that the currents will guide…into/towards etc…
感興趣的同學可以對這些句型做造句練習，以進一步加深印象。
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