影响
Such variations in size, shape,chemistry, conduction speed, excitation threshold,and the like as had been demonstrated in nerve cells remained negligible in significance for any possible correlation with the manifold dimensions of mental experience.(5)
难免类型:复杂修饰
译文:类似于这些已经被在神经细胞中证明的在大小、形状、化学过程、产生的速度、兴奋阈值及其类似的方面上所发生变化,当他们被用来与大脑的体验以可能的方式联系起来的时候,他们在重要性上仍然是微不足道的。
解释:即使是初练难免的人其实也很熟悉such thing as something这样的语言方式,可是当中间的小东西thing居然变成了一个长达十二个单词的大东西的时候,实在令人搞不清后面的as及其后的something 到底为哪方神圣。再加上以such as 为中心的长主语距离系动词remain太远,更增加了本句的难度。请读者反复阅读,直到读出这样的感觉:顺序阅读原文时,原文似乎就是几大块,就好像是such things as a remain negligible in a certain sense.
It was possible to demonstrate by other methods refined structural differences among neuron types ; however , proof was lacking that the quality of the impulse or its condition was influenced by these differences , which seemed instead to influence the developmental patterning of the neural circuits .(5)
有可能通过其他方法来证明神经元种类间的细微的结构差异;可是,这样的证据是缺乏的,即神经冲动的性质或者状态是受这些差异所影响的,而这些差异看起来却能影响神经网络的发育模式。
难免类型:复杂修饰、倒装
解释:与很多人的印象相反,lack从来就不能作形容词,它只有动词或名词的词性。其形容词的形式是lacking,意思是缺乏的、不足的。
本句的在however 之前和之后的两个分句,是两个倒装结构,前一个是小倒装,正常语序是:to demonstrate refined structural differences among neuron types by other methods: however后面是个大倒装,lacking之后的that引导的同位语人名是修饰主语proof的,但是因为它太长,所以为了避免头重脚轻,被放到lacking之后,正常的语序应该是proof that the quality of ..was lacking