托福阅读长难句精讲：all but的用法

## 托福阅读长难句 Natural vegetation patterns could be displayed on a map of North America, but the enormous human modification of the North American environment in modern times has all but reduced this regionalization scheme to the level of the hypothetical. ## 专家解析 ### 【难点】 这句话的难点在于包含两套主谓结构，用一个连接词 but连接，前后两个分句并列。第二个并列句中出现了一个 all but 的搭配，很多同学不清楚这个固定搭配是什么意思，造成对句子理解不完整。 ### 【子句拆分】 并列句1：Natural vegetation patterns could be displayed on a map of North America. 并列句2：The enormous human modification of the North American environment in modern times has all but reduced this regionalization scheme to the level of the hypothetical. ### 【成分划分】 并列句1：Natural vegetation patterns [主语] could be displayed [谓语] on a map of North America. [状语] 翻译：自然植被格局可以在北美大陆的地图上展现出来。 连接词：but 并列句2：The enormous human modification [主语] of the North American environment in modern times [定语] has all but reduced [谓语] this regionalization scheme [宾语] to the level of the hypothetical. [状语] 翻译：在现代，人类对北美洲环境的巨大影响已经几乎将这种区域化组合减弱成仅存在假设当中的程度。 ### 【全句翻译】 自然植被格局可以在北美大陆的地图上展现出来，但是，在现代，人类对北美洲环境的巨大影响已经几乎将这种区域化组合减弱成仅存在假设当中的程度。 ## 知识点梳理 ### all but的用法 all but 的意思是 very nearly ，即为 almost 的含义，用作副词，表示“几乎”、“差一点”。 例句1：We had all but given up hope. 翻译：我们几乎要放弃希望了。 例句2：Without you the job would have been all but impossible. 翻译：如果没有你，这项工作几乎不可能完成。