1.2 How do youidentify the trunk in a long sentence? P1-7

P1 Now let’s look at Section 1.2 How do youidentify the trunk in a long sentence? Since a trunk delivers the main idea ofa long sentence, it is of great importance to identify the trunk in a longsentence. The following five strategies can enable us to identify the sentencetrunk:

1.If a long sentence is preceded with a noun, a noun phrase or a noun clause,then this noun, noun phrase or noun clause is probably the subject.

2.If a long sentence is preceded with an adverbial clause, e.g., an adverbialclause of time, place, cause, concession and so on, we shall skip the adverbialclause and identify the trunk in the rest of the sentence.

3.If a long sentence is preceded with an incidentaladverbial, e.g., a participle phrase, a prepositional phrase, an adjectivephrase, with structure, absolute structure and so on, and the subject in theincidental adverbial agrees with the subject in the main clause, we shall skipthe incidental adverbial and identify the trunk from the rest of the sentence.

4.A long sentence joined by coordinating conjunctions or such punctuation as and,but, or, so, etc. usually have a number of trunks. In this way, we mightidentify the trunks according to the logical connections of the conjunctions orpunctuation respectively.

5.If the sentence trunk is very short, we shall identify more facts and detailsfrom the long sentence’s modifiers, such as an appositive clause or adverbialclause.

P2 Let’s take a look at the first example:

 These discoverieshave led to the field (known as neuroeconomics), (whichstudies the brain’s secrets to success in an economic environment) (thatdemands innovation and being able to do things [differently from competitors].

 Inthis example, the noun phrase “these discoveries” is put at the beginning ofthe long sentence, then this noun phrase is the subject, subsequently, we canidentify the predicate verb and object.

Sincethe identification of a sentence trunk is served to improve reading efficiency,we consider “the field known as neuroeconomics” as a bigger “sense group”instead of chopping this object into a too small segment.   

Sothe trunk of this long sentence is SVO - Thesediscoverieshave led to thefield (known as neuroeconomics)。这些发现导致了神经经济学的出现。

P3 Let’s look at the second example:

 [Although the same law（规律） holds for a living organism], theresult of this law is not inexorable（不可改变的 ） in thesame way.

Here,an adverbial clause ofconcession is put at the beginning of the long sentence, we shall skip this eadverbial clause and identify the trunk from the rest of the sentence.

So the trunkof this sentence is SVP - the result of this law is not inexorable in the same way. 但是并不会以同样的方式产生不可改变的结果。

P4 Let’s look at the third example:

 [Travelling aroundThailand in the 1990s],William Janssen wasimpressed withthe basic rooftop solar heating system that wereon many homes, where energy from the sun was absorbed by a plate and then usedto heat water for domestic use.

 Here,an incidental adverbial is put at the beginning of the sentence, and thesubject in the incidental adverbial “William Janssen” agrees with that in themain clause , so we may skip the incidental adverbial and identify the trunkfrom the rest of the sentence.

So the trunk of this long sentenceis SVO - WilliamJanssen wasimpressed withthe basic rooftop solar heatingsystem.William Janssen对屋顶太阳能加热系统印象深刻。

P5 Here is the fourth example:

Breakingaway from industrial agriculture (as the solution to hunger)may be very hard for some countries, but [inBritain], (where the immediate need to supply food is less urgent, and thecosts and the damage of intensive farming have been clearly seen), itmay bemore feasible.   

This long sentence is joined by the coordinating conjunction “but”, soit has two trunks and we shall identify them from the two separate clausesrespectively.

The trunk inclause 1 is SVP - Breaking away from industrial agriculture (as the solution to hunger)may be hard.摆脱现代化农业生产方式，同时解决饥饿问题是件（很）难的事情。

The trunk inclause 2 is SVP, too - itmay bemore feasible. 放弃现代化农业更为可行。

P6 Example 5:

Wemake a [very] (conservative) assumption thatweare looking for a life form(thatis [pretty well]like us), [since if it differsradically from us] wemay[well] not recognize it as a life form, quite apartfrom whether we’re able to communicate with it.

 Here, the trunk ofthis long sentence is SVO- wemake a(conservative) assumption. 我们保守地假定。

However,the trunk is very short and it’s hard for us to explore more details from thetrunk. Therefore, we shall investigate more specific information from the longsentence’s modifiers---the appositive clause “thatweare looking for a life form (that is [pretty well]like us)”introducedby the first “that”---“我们正在搜寻的生命形式与人类非常相似”。

P7 So much for this section. Thank you. Bye!