新SAT阅读考试历史篇章词汇艰涩、句子复杂、话题陌生、结构模糊，是绝大多数考生在考场上树立自信和斩获高分的一大拦路虎。为了帮助考生们更好地迎战即将到来的SAT考试，笔者将微观解析这类篇章词汇和句子的几大显著特点。
就词汇而言，历史篇章话题比较特殊，因而用词相对专业。
通常文章中会涉及到国家政府、行政、立法和司法相关的政治术语，如jurisdiction, legislation, impeachment, inquisitor, the House, the Senate, congress等，这类词汇在理解时，除了简单地翻查字典，了解对应的中文意思外，还需要适当拓展，了解单词背后的含义。
以the House、the Senate和congress为例，在美国，the House实际上是the House of Representatives的省略，指美国的众议院，the Senate指美国的参议院，congress指美国国会；但单从字面上翻译，这三个词的意思还是很难掌握，到底何为众议院，何为参议院，何为国会；美国国会是美国立法机关，行使立法权，由参议院和众议院两院构成，议案（bill）一经提出，需经过委员会审议、全院大会审议等程序，一院通过后，送交另一院，依次经过同样的程序；法案经两院通过后交总统签署；若总统不否决，或虽否决但经两院2/3议员重新通过，即正式成为法律。
除此之外，历史篇章年代相对久远，故而部分词汇比较古老。
一些文章在语言表达上仍沿用古英语的词汇，如hither相当于现代英语的here，只是hither不能用作名词，“Here is good”而不是“Hither is good”；又如hath，have第三人称单数现在式，读文章时直接等同于has理解。
对于历史篇章的特殊词汇，除了上课认真听教师讲解相关词汇背景知识外，更重要的是平时做题时认真整理自己的生词本，利用零碎时间记忆生词，事半功倍。
就句式而言，历史篇章的长句和难句偏多。
长句复杂的语法结构较为突出地体现在如下两方面：从句混合叠加及并列省略结构共存。
从句混合叠加句子示例如下：
It is wrong, I suggest, it is a misreading of the Constitution for any member here to assert //that for a member to vote for an article of impeachment means //that that member must be convinced //that the President should be removed from office. （可汗学院 阅读习题汇编Passage 4）
如句子中的分隔符“//”所示，本句实则由三个宾语从句叠加而成。
If we consider the peculiar situation of the United States, and what are the sources of that diversity of sentiment //which pervades its inhabitants, we shall find great danger to fear //that the same causes may terminate here in the same fatal effects //which they produced in those republics. (可汗学院 阅读习题汇编Passage 27)
如句子中的分隔符“//”所示，本句中包含两个定语从句和一个宾语从句。
以上两句话均为从句叠加的长句，考试篇章中若此类句子出题，阅读时切记耐心读句，根据从句引导词划分句子结构，寻找句子主干，理解主谓宾，理清句子信息的逻辑关系，最后理解从句的次要信息。
并列省略结构共存的句子，示例如下：
Hence it is that we find that the method of measuring what we see happening by what are called ethical standards, and of proposing to attack the phenomena by methods thence deduced, is so popular. (可汗学院 阅读习题汇编Passage 30)
句中双横线表示并列成分，省略了相同的短语“the method of”。
Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans—born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage, and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world. （可汗学院 阅读习题汇编Passage 70）
句中双横线标明的是这句话的第一个并列结构，用来修饰“a new generation of Americans”；句中波浪线部分指出了句子的第二个并列结构，用来说明“the human rights”。
以上两句话为并列和省略结构并存的长句，考试篇章中若此类句子出题，阅读时可根据并列标志词“and”找到前后的并列成分，加以比较，确定省略部分。
除长句外，历史篇章中不规则的难句也是随处可见。
难句之所以难，是因为语句惯常添加插入语和采用倒装句式。
在历史篇章中，插入成分通常为句子添加条件状语或者起到解释说明前文的作用，示例如下：
Here the great conservator of woman’s love, if permitted to assert itself, as it naturally would in freedom against oppression, violence, and war, would hold all these destructive forces in check, for woman knows the cost of life better than man does, and not with her consent would one drop of blood ever be shed, one life sacrificed in vain. (RSAT OG 2-4)
句中if permitted to assert itself添加了假设条件，“如果守护者能够坚持自己权力的话”。
In proportion as the mind is accustomed to trace the intimate connexion of interest, which subsists between all the parts of a Society united under the same government—the infinite variety of channels which serve to circulate the prosperity of each to and through the rest—in that proportion will be little apt to be disturbed by solicitudes and apprehensions which originate in local discriminations. （可汗学院 阅读习题汇编Passage 28）
句中插入成分the infinite variety of channels解释说明the intimate connexion of interest。
考试篇章中此类句子出题时，若插入语表示条件，通常标志词是if或者as，可以将插入语当作条件状语从句理解，翻译时放在整句话的开头；若插入语解释说明前文，只需要找到插入语解释的对象理解即可。
另外，倒装句主要体现在否定倒装，示例如下：
Not with her consent would one drop of blood ever be shed, one life sacrificed in vain. (RSAT OG 2-4)
句中双横线表明的是倒装成分，正常语序是One drop of blood would not ever be shed with her consent, one life (would not ever be) sacrificed in vain.
No sooner would this become evident than the Northern Hive would excite the same ideas and sensations in the more southern parts of America which it formerly did in the southern parts of Europe. （可汗学院 阅读习题汇编Passage 29）
句中双横线表明的是倒装成分，正常语序是This would no sooner become evident than the Northern Hive would excite the same ideas and sensations in the more southern parts of America which it formerly did in the southern parts of Europe.
Nor does it appear to be a rash conjecture that its young swarms might often be tempted to gather honey in the more blooming fields and milder air of their luxurious and more delicate neighbors. （可汗学院 阅读习题汇编Passage 29）
句中双横线表明的是倒装成分，正常语序是It nor does appear to be to be a rash conjecture that its young swarms might often be tempted to gather honey in the more blooming fields and milder air of their luxurious and more delicate neighbors.
对于这类不规则的倒装句，通常在倒装结构前后寻找句子的主干成分，还原成正常语序再加以理解。
以上便是笔者对新SAT阅读历史篇章词句特点的总结，希望对广大考生有所帮助。
作者 刘恋
新SAT阅读考试历史篇章词汇艰涩、句子复杂、话题陌生、结构模糊，是绝大多数考生在考场上树立自信和斩获高分的一大拦路虎。为了帮助考生们更好地迎战即将到来的SAT考试，笔者将微观解析这类篇章词汇和句子的几大显著特点。
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