长难句20190510

精读文章：

If ambition is to be well regarded, the rewards of ambition—wealth, distinction, control over one’s destiny—must be deemed worthy of the sacrifices made on ambition’s behalf. If the tradition of ambition is to have vitality, it must be widely shared; and it especially must be highly regarded by people who are themselves admired, the educated not least among them. In an odd way, however, it is the educated who have claimed to have given up on ambition as an ideal. What is odd is that they have perhaps most benefited from ambition—if not always their own then that of their parents and grandparents. （2000年Text5）

长难句解析：

本句是一个并列复合句,句子主干为it must be widely shared; and it especially must be highly regarded by people.首先，句子一开头的是if引导的条件状语从句。其次，who are themselves admired是who引导的定语从句修饰people.最后的the educated not least among them是独立主格结构作状语。

核心词汇：

regard /rɪ'ɡɑrd/ v.看待 n.关于; 至于

ambition  /æm'bɪʃən/ n.雄心; 理想

distinction  /dɪˈstɪŋkʃən/ n.荣誉;区别

destiny /ˈdɛstɪnɪ/ n. 命运

sacrifice /'sækrɪfaɪs/n.牺牲v.牺牲，献出

vitality  /vaɪ'tæləti/ n.活力

odd  /ɑd/ adj.古怪的;不寻常的

ideal /aɪˈdɪəl/ n.理想adj.理想的

not least 〔用于强调重要〕尤其，特别

on one’s behalf 为了...；代表...

benefit from 从...中获益

参考译文：

如果雄心壮志受到认真对待的话，雄心壮志所带来的回报—财富、荣誉、对自身命运的控制—必须被认为是值得为实现雄心壮志所做出的牺牲的。如果雄心壮志的传统要有活力，它必须受到广泛的赞同，特别是得到那些自身受到钦佩的人们的高度认同，其中尤其是那些受过教育的人。但是，奇怪的是，正是这些受过教育的人声称对雄心壮志这一理想不报希望。奇怪的是，他们可能从雄心壮志中获益最多—如果不是他们自己的，那就是他们父母或者祖父母的雄心壮志。