In his autobiography, Darwin himself speaks of his intellectual powers with extraordinary modesty. He points out that he always experienced much difficulty in expressing himself clearly and concisely, but (46) he believes that this very difficulty may have had the compensating advantage of forcing him to think long and intently about every sentence, and thus enabling him to detect errors in reasoning and in his own observations. He disclaimed the possession of any great quickness of apprehension or wit, such as distinguished Huxley. (47) He asserted, also, that his power to follow a long and purely abstract train of thought was very limited, for which reason he felt certain that he never could have succeeded with mathematics. His memory, too, he described as extensive, but hazy. So poor in one sense was it that he never could remember for more than a few days a single date or a line of poetry. (48) On the other hand, he did not accept as well founded the charge made by some of his critics that, while he was a good observer, he had no power of reasoning. This, he thought, could not be true, because the “Origin of Species” is one long argument from the beginning to the end, and has convinced many able men. No one, he submits, could have written it without possessing some power of reasoning. He was willing to assert that “I have a fair share of invention, and of common sense or judgment, such as every fairly successful lawyer or doctor must have, but not, I believe, in any higher degree。” (49) He adds humbly that perhaps he was “superior to the common run of men in noticing things which easily escape attention, and in observing them carefully。”

　　Writing in the last year of his life, he expressed the opinion that in two or three respects his mind had changed during the preceding twenty or thirty years. Up to the age of thirty or beyond it poetry of many kinds gave him great pleasure. Formerly, too, pictures had given him considerable, and music very great, delight. In 1881, however, he said: “Now for many years I cannot endure to read a line of poetry. I have also almost lost my taste for pictures or music。” (50) Darwin was convinced that the loss of these tastes was not only a loss of happiness, but might possibly be injurious to the intellect, and more probably to the moral character。

　　真题解析

　　46. He believes / that (this very )difficulty may have had the compensating advantage (of forcing him to think long and intently about every sentence, // and thus enabling him to detect errors in reasoning and in his own observations。)

　　句子结构分析

　　(1)本句是一个主从复合句，含有一个that引导的宾语从句；其主干是he believes that (difficulty may have had the advantage)。

　　(2)宾语从句“that this very…his own observations”含有of引导的两个后置定语“of forcing him to…his own observations”；由于是分词短语作定语，且太长，翻译时要找到与主句的逻辑关系，翻译成非定语成分。

　　词语用法解释

　　(1)very

　　adj. 表示“真正的，真实的，恰好的”等等。

　　adv. 表示“很，甚，及其，非常，完全”等。例如：The very idea of cheating people again is distasteful to him。(他一想到还要欺骗人就感到很不是滋味。)

　　表示加强语气，意思是“就是，正是”，原文正是此种用法。

　　(2)compensate

　　vi.&vt. 表示“补偿，赔偿，酬报”等。如：to compensate  sb. for (为……向某人赔偿)，Nothing can compensate the young mother for the loss of her favrourite daughter。(年轻的妈妈丧失了自己心爱的女儿是任何东西也弥补不了的。)本句是其现在分词作定语，译成“弥补的，补偿的”。

　　(3)advantage

　　n。表示“优势，有利条件，利益，便利”等等。如：Many women think this is an advantage for men. (许多妇女认为这是男人的优越之处。)This hall combines the advantages of the ball room and of a meeting place。(这个大厅既可作舞厅，又可作会场。)

　　常用短语：take advantage of (利用，欺骗)，at an advantage (有利地)，be of advantage to (对……有利)，gain an advantage over/of (胜过， 优于)。

　　(4)enable 见2009年49题解释。

　　(5)detect

　　vt。表示“发现，察觉，注意到”。例：The dentist could detect no sign of decay in her teeth。(牙医在她的牙齿上找不到蛀蚀的迹象。)表示“侦察出，查明(常与in连用)”。例如：He was detected in the act of stealing。(他在偷窃时被当场发觉。)此处是“查明，发现”的意思。

　　(6)reason

　　n。表示“理由， 原因， 动机， 理智， 前提”等。如：There are reasons for this great interest in the ideas, feelings, and actions of youth。(对年轻人的思想、感情和行动发生这样巨大的兴趣， 自有它的道理。)

　　vt。表示“说服， 推论， 辩论”。如：reason with sb. for/against sth. (因赞成/反对……同某人讲道理/辩论)。

　　vi。表示“推论， 劝说， 思考”。如：to reason a person out of fear(劝人别害怕)。

　　常用短语：it stands to reason (合乎道理)，with reason (有理由，合乎情理)。例如：He thinks, with reason, that I don’t like him。(他有理由认为我不喜欢他。)

　　本句可译成“推理”。

　　参考译文

　　他(达尔文)认为，正是这种困难起了弥补作用，使他长时间专注地思考每个句子，从而能在推理和亲自观察中发现自己的错误。

　　47. He asserted, // also, that his power to follow a long and purely abstract train of thought was very limited, / for which reason he felt certain // that he never could have succeeded with mathematics。

　　句子结构分析

　　(1)本句是一个复杂的主从复合句，包括两个that引导的宾语从句、一个for引导的原因状语从句，主句的主干是he asserted that (his power was very limited)。

　　(2)主句所含的宾语从句中，主干是his power was very limited; to follow a long and purely abstract train of thought是不定式作后置定语，由于太长，可以处理成非定语成分。

　　(3)原因状语从句中所含的宾语从句是he never could have succeeded with mathematics，由于太长，将其放在宾补certain之后。

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