唐静 考研阅读逐句译2000年第5篇第11句The attacks on ambition are many and come from various angles; its public defenders are few and unimpressive, where they are not extremely unattractive.

词汇：

angle //n.

    1 space between two lines or surfaces that meet 角（两线或面相交所形成的空间）

    *an angle of 45° 45°的角

    2 point of view 角度; 观点

    *Seen from this angle the woman in the picture is smiling. 从这个角度来看, 画中的女子面带微笑。

    * (fig 比喻) Try looking at the affair from a different angle. 试从另一角度来看这件事。

    3 corner (of a building or an object) （建筑物或物体的）角

    *She hit her knee against the angle of the bed. 她的膝盖撞到床角上了。

    4 (idm 习语) at an angle not straight up; sloping 不是直上直下的; 倾斜的

    *The famous tower of Pisa leans at an angle. 有名的比萨塔是斜的.

defender //n.

    1 one of the players in a game such as football who have to defend their team's goal from the opposing team 防守队员

    2 someone who defends a particular idea, belief, person 捍卫者

结构：

    The attacks on ambition are many and come from various angles;（第一个并列句）// its public defenders are few and unimpressive,（分号隔开的第二个并列句） //where they are not extremely unattractive（where连接的状语从句）.

译文：

    对雄心壮志的攻击比比皆是，并且角度各不相同；公开为之辩解的人寥寥无几，虽他们不至于毫无吸引力，但却不能给人们留下深刻的印象。

翻译思路：地点状语从句

这个句子有两个地方比较难，都集中在最后where they are not extremely unattractive上。其一，双重否定。not表示否定，unattractive具有否定意味，而中间的副词extremely与前面的not结合又有点部分否定的意味。理解与翻译倒是不难，直接翻译就能够理解“他们不是极端地不吸引人”，就是说“可能他们还有那么一丝丝吸引人的地方”。

其二，where引导的状语从句。我查了查，有人会觉得where引导的是定语从句。但是我第一眼感觉还是状语从句，因为where当定语从句的引导词有一个比较显著的特征，就是where前面有表“地点”或者表示“地点意味的抽象词”，但是我找不到where前面有表地点方面的词汇。所以，我还是觉得where应该是状语从句。摘录徐广联《大学英语语法——讲座与测试》中关于地点状语从句的讨论如下：

地点状语从句由where, wherever和everywhere引导，可以放在主句前，也可以放在主句后。where指“在某个地方”，wherever指“在任何一个地方”，everywhere指“每一…地方”。例如：

    You should put the book where it was. 你应该把书放在原来的地方。

Wherever you go, you should do your work well. 不论到什么地方都要把工作 做好。

where除了表示地点外，还可以表示条件、对比、让步等。例如：

Where t here is love, there is faith. 只要有爱情就会有真诚。(条件)

There is never peace where men are greedy. 人类贪欲不止，世界和平无望。(条件)

Where I was fascinated by the lecture, my brother showed intolerable indifference. 我哥哥对这个演讲毫无兴趣，而我则被深深地吸引住了。(对比)

We want to stay at home, where children would rather spend the holiday in the country. 我们想留在家里，而孩子们却宁愿去乡间度假。(对比)

Go where you should, keep on studying. 无论你到哪里, 你都应该继续学习。(让步)

Unfortunately, where we should expect gratitude, we often find the opposite. 遗 憾的是, 虽然我们本该得到感激, 却常常得到的是怨恨。(= though we should…) (让步)

Birth is nothing where virtue is not. 如果没有品德, 出身再好也等于零。(Birth is nothing if virtue is not.) (条件)