一直以来，中国考生都是对托福的长难句痛恨不已，以至于有人说出得长句者得天下这样的言论，虽说其中有夸大的成分，但长句理解确实是托福阅读非常重要的一环。SeatleUniversity的EliHinkel写过这样一篇文章，SimplicityWithoutElegance:FeaturesofSentencesinL1andL2AcademicTexts,这篇文章用数据分析了L1(firstlanguage)和L2(secondlanguage)使用者（基于ESL学生）在学术写作时的特点，以下是其中的一个例子和数据：
Children’sopinionsarealwaysacontroversialtopic.Childrenareimportanttotheirparents,andsomebelievethatolderchildrenarematureenoughtoflourishtheiropinionswithoutparents’interference.Somearguethatchildrenareincapableofdistinguishingrightfromwrong,andthereforeitistheresponsibilityforparentstoconstructtheirchildren’sopinions.Thetwobeliefsarecontradictorytoeachother,andmanyparentsareanxiousaboutthisdilemma.(ExcerptedfromanativeChinesespeaker)
从以上中国学生写的段落和数据分析不难看出亚洲学生在学术写作时对于简单句的使用是大于nativeEnglishspeakers的，换言之亚洲学生对于简单句的把握是没有问题的。有趣的是，如果让一个处于intermidiatelevel的亚洲学生从一句托福阅读长句中抽出最一般的简单句时，结果却是令人失望的。所以许多学生读不懂长句，写不好长句的现象是很普遍的。
那么到底怎样才能基于文章理解长句呢？笔者的态度是SimplicityWithoutElegance,去寻求长句的simplicity,简而言之就是把握basicunit,何为basicunit?无非就是组成长句的单词和基本句型。就像你有了简单的代数、几何的基础，才能去学习线性代数、立体几何；明白了基本的投资学，才能够涉及衍生金融。可是很多同学又会说，我的词汇量不错，简单句掌握得也不错，但是依然理解不了长句，那到底是什么环节出了问题？
一、基本策略
在分析如何看懂长句之前，先请读者看下面一段话：
SocratesbeginsbyaskingGlaucontoimagineacaveinhabitedbyprisonerswhohavebeenimprisonedsincechildhood.Theseprisonersarechainedinsuchawaythattheirlegsandnecksarefixed,forcingthemtogazeatthewallinfrontofthem.Behindtheprisonersisafire,andbetweenthefireandtheprisonersisaraisedwalkway.Alongthiswalkwayisalowwall,behindwhichpeoplewalkcarryingobjects‘...includingfiguresofmenandanimalsmadeofwood,stoneandothermaterials.’Inthisway,thewalkingpeopleareparedtopuppeteersandthelowwalltothescreenoverwhichpuppeteersdisplaytheirpuppets.Thepeoplewalkingarebehindthewallonthewalkway,sotheirbodiesdonotcastshadowsonthewall,buttheobjectstheycarrydo.Theprisonerscannotseeanyofthisbehindthem,andareonlyabletoviewtheshadowscastuponthewallinfrontofthem.Thesoundsofthepeoplewalkingechoofftheshadowedwall,theprisonersfalselyperceivethesesoundstobethatoftheshadows.Socratessuggeststhat,fortheprisoners,theshadowsofartifactswouldconstitutereality,becausetheyhavenotseenthelight.Theywouldnotrealizethatwhattheyseeareshadowsoftheartifacts,whichareinspiredbyrealhumansandanimalsoutsideofthecave.
喜欢哲学的同学看到这段话应该就知道讲的是Plato的囚徒困境，简而言之就是从小就被囚禁的囚犯只能看见他所面对的墙以及墙上所展现的现实生活中的事物的影子，然后把墙上的影子理解成他意识中的“现实”。这里我们不从哲学角度分析，而从阅读理解的角度来看这段话，一眼看上去其实不难，大部分是细节性的描述。那我们应该怎么读词、句子以及段落去smooth整段对话，使之变得更加易懂以节约阅读的时间成本呢？这段话里的主题词应该归结于law,如prisoner,imprison,chain,puppeteer（从puppy联想，小狗很容易被操纵，到puppetize操纵，再转到puppeteer操纵木偶的人），其他一些细节性描述的词主要是对人的行为的描述，比较简单，这样我们其实就确定了单词的基本话题范畴。下面进行句子的解剖。
1.Socrates（苏格拉底）askGlauconaboutPrisoners.
2.Prisonerscannotseeanyofthisbehindthem,andareonlyabletoviewtheshadows.
3.Socratessuggeststhatshadowsofartifactswouldconstitutereality.
如果你在扫读文章时，潜意识地在脑中自动给这三句话加下划线，那么很快你就能知道这段话要传递的内容。我们暂且不从哲学角度去探讨whatonearthisreality,在托福学习中，同学们如果不及时转身，自然会落入囚徒困境，你看到的只会是句子、段落和文章的shadow。而如果你跳出困境，去抽象化的理解文章，getthatsimplicity,那你就会知道什么是句子、段落和文章的reality.
下面我们转到具体的三个例子来进一步阐述阅读长句的基本策略：
1.Aseriesofmechanicalimprovementscontinuingwellintotheneenthcentury,includingtheintroductionofpedalstosustaintoneortosoftenit,theperfectionofametalframeandsteelwireofthefinestquality,finallyproducedaninstrumentcapableofmyriadtonaleffectsfromthemostdelicateharmoniestoanalmostorchestralfullnessofsound,fromaliquid,singingtonetoasharp,percussivebrilliance.
WordsTopic:Engineer(mechanical;soften;metal;finest;instrument)
Reality:这段话我们需要把握的是mechanicalimprovementscontinuingwellintotheneenthcenturyandfinallyproducedanawesomeinstrument.笔者不排斥对于语法锱铢必较的方法，但是笔者认为Soulofreadingishittingthatinstinct!就像BerkleeCollege训练出来的学生演唱soul未必会比一个不受训练的soulsinger好，原因就在于Theformercannotgetthatsoul!
2.Infact,throughouttheanimalkingdom,fromspongestocertaintypesofworms,shellfish,andallvertebrates(creaturespossessingaspinalcolumn),thereisevidencethattransplantsofcellsorfragmentsoftissuesintoananimalareacceptedonlyiftheyefromgicallypatibleorcloselyrelatedindividuals．
WordsTopic:Biology(shellfish;spinal;cell)
Reality:transplantsofcellsorfragmentsoftissuesintoananimalareacceptedonlyiftheyefromgicallypatibleorcloselyrelatedindividuals.
3.AfewartcollectorsTamesBowdoinIIIofBoston,WilliamByrdofVirginia,andtheAliensandHamiltonsofPhiladelphiaintroducedEuropeanarttraditionstothosecolonistsprivilegedtovisittheirgalleries,especiallyaspiringartists,andestablishedintheirrespectivemunitiestheideaofthevalueofartandtheneedforinstitutionsdevotedtoitsencouragement.
WordsTopic:Art;History(collectors;colonists;privileged;gallery)
Reality:AfewartcollectorsintroducedEuropeanarttraditionstothosecolonistsandestablished...
