第二章
写作的基本规则(11）
规则二十二
把一个句子中要强调的词放在句末
作者想要强调的词或词组，在句中的恰当位置通常是句末。例如：
Humanity has hardly advanced in fortitude since that time, though it has advanced in many other ways.
人类在刚毅方面，从那时以来几乎没有进展，虽然在其它许多方面都有了发展。
Since that time, humanity has advanced in many ways, but it has hardly advanced in fortitude.
自从那时以来，人
类在许多方面都有了发展，但在刚毅方面则几
乎没有进展。
This steel is principally used for making razors, because of its hardness.
这种钢主要用来制造剃刀，因为硬度高。
Because of its hardness, this steel is used principally for making razors.
这种钢由于硬度高，因此主要用来制造剃刀
能置于这个强调位置上的词或词组通常是逻辑上的谓语——即句中提示未知信息的成分，如上述右栏中的例句所示。
长句之所以有力是因为它突出了主句。例如：
Four centuries ago, Christopher Columbus, one of the Italian mariners whom the decline of their own republics had put at the service of the world and of adventure, seeking for Spain a westward passage to the Indies to offset the achievement of Portuguese discoverers, lighted on America.
四个世纪以前，一名意大利海员—克里斯托弗·哥伦布，由于国内共和政体的衰亡，从事环球冒险航行，为西班牙寻找一条通向东印度群岛的西线航道，以抵销葡萄牙探险家的成就，结果碰巧登临美洲。
With these hopes and in this belief I would urge you, laying aside all hindrance, thrusting away all private aims, to devote yourself unswervingly and unflinchingly to the vigorous and successful prosecution of this war.
怀着这些希望和这种信念，我要敦促您，排除一切障碍，抛弃所有私念，坚定不移地、不畏惧地献身于这场声势浩大的战争，直至胜利。
句中另一强调的位置是句首。句中除主语外的
任一成分置于句首时，都受到强调。例如：
Deceit or treachery he could never forgive.
欺骗或背叛他是从不宽恕的。
Vast and rude，fretted by the action of nearly three thousand years，the fragments of this architecture may oftcn seem，at first sight，like works of nature.
这个建筑物的断垣残壁经过近三千年的侵
蚀显得庞大而又简陋，乍看起来，宛如大自然
的杰作。
Home is the sailor.
水手回到家了。
位于句首的主语可能是强调的，但不单是由于
它的位置。试观察下面这个句子：
Great kings worshiped at his shrine.
大王们在他的神龛前礼拜。
kings 这个词之所以受到强调，主要是由于它的意义和所处的上下文。
句子的主语要得到特别的强调，就必须放在句末的位置上。例如：
Through the middle of the valley flowed a winding strcam.
（山谷的中间流着一条弯弯曲曲的小河。）
总之，需要强调部分的适当位置是句末。这条
原则不仅适用于句中的词语，同样也适用于段落中的句子和文章中的段落。
英文原文：
The proper place in the sentence for the word or group of words that the writer desires to make most prominent is usually the end.
Humanity has hardly advanced in fortitude since that time, though it has advanced in many other ways.
Since that time, humanity has advanced in many ways, but it has hardly advanced in fortitude.
This steel is principally used for making razors, because of its hardness.
Because of its hardness, this steel is used principally for making razors.
The word or group of words entitled to this position of prominence is usually the logical predicate — that is, the new element in the sentence, as it is in the second example.
The effectiveness of the periodic sentence arises from the prominence it gives to the main statement.
Four centuries ago, Christopher Columbus, one of the Italian mariners whom the decline of their own republics had put at the service of the world and of adventure, seeking for Spain a westward passage to the Indies to offset the achievement of Portuguese discoverers, lighted on America.
With these hopes and in this belief I would urge you, laying aside all hindrance, thrusting away all private aims, to devote yourself unswervingly and unflinchingly to the vigorous and successful prosecution of this war.
The other prominent position in the sentence is the beginning. Any element in the sentence other than the subject becomes emphatic when placed first.
Deceit or treachery she could never forgive.
Vast and rude, fretted by the action of nearly three thousand years, the fragments of this architecture may often seem, at first sight, like works of nature.
Home is the sailor.
A subject coming first in its sentence may be emphatic, but hardly by its position alone. In the sentence
Great kings worshiped at his shrine
the emphasis upon kings arises largely from its meaning and from the context. To receive special emphasis, the subject of a sentence must take the position of the predicate.
Through the middle of the valley flowed a winding stream.
The principle that the proper place for what is to be made most prominent is the end applies equally to the words of a sentence, to the sentences of a paragraph, and to the paragraphs of a composition.
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