長難句分隔結構２

Exercise

It’s an activity you turn to for pleasure, not something that you have to do, like helping with the dishes.

While I was waiting to enter university, I saw advertised in a local newspaper a teaching post at a school in a suburb of London about ten miles from where I lived.

I launched into a variation of the speech I had made for years, about how excessive tax rates can take away the incentive to produce, and how cutting taxes can generate growth.

要點分析和參考譯文

要點：“an activity”及”not something”在句中作并列表語。介詞短語”like helping…” 與 “that” 從句共同作定語，修飾”something”，此定語被that ”從句分割”。
參考譯文：這是一種使你尋求快樂的活動，而不是諸如幫助刷盤子那種你非做不可的事情。

要點：此句的賓語” a teaching post” 之所以放在” in a local newspaper” 之后是因為它帶有較長的后置定語，其目的是為了避免句子“頭重腳輕”。
參考譯文：在我等待進入大學期間，我在一份地方報紙上看到一則廣告，說是在離我住處大約10英里的倫敦某郊區有所學校要招聘一名教師。

要點：the speech本應緊連著介詞about的短語，即the speech about how…and how…，但由于定語從句I had made for years 與 speech在意義連接上更為密切，所以把speech和about短語分隔開了。介詞about后面跟的是兩個并列的介詞賓語從句” how excessive tax rates can take away……”和” how cutting taxes can generate……”
參考譯文：我發表了一篇內容與幾年前不同的講話，談的是稅率過高會使生產失去刺激以及減稅會使經濟得到增長。