解讀長句

今日再同大家看一個長句，它同樣出自 UE 1997 Section C 的閱讀理解。句子是這樣寫的 (lines 46-52) ：

It [The West's failure] extends not just to the environment and physical infrastructure of modern Asian societies, which people are amazed to find leave British and many other European cities looking run down and dilapidated, but to the moral and social order they stand.

句子既用上 not just… but… 這個平行結構 (parallel structure) ，也用上兩個關係子句 (relative clause) 。而最令學生費解的，莫過於兩個動詞 find 和 leave 在 people are amazed to 之後連在一起。以下時間，我會替讀者拆解以上長句，並且講解動詞 find 和 leave 的一些特殊用法；與此同時，讀者可以順便複習一下關係子句這個語法問題。

首先，我們複習一下關係子句的用法。關係子句有兩種：限制性 (restrictive) 關係子句和非限制性 (non-restrictive) 關係子句。限制性關係子句具約束性，旨在給它跟隨的名詞下定義；剔走它，句子意思會變得不完整。非限制性關係子句則不具約束性，目的是給它跟隨的名詞提供附加資料；子句用兩個逗號 (comma) 分隔，屬選擇性質。下面是兩個例子：

1. My friends who live in London have just graduated from university.
2. My parents, who live in London, are both engineers.

例句 1. 中的關係子句是限制性的，它收窄名詞 friends 涉及的範圍，指明是於倫敦居住的朋友。若果剔走那關係子句，句子意思會變成「我的朋友剛大學畢業」，而非原來的意思「我於倫敦居住的朋友剛大學畢業」。例句 2. 中的關係子句是非限制性的，用兩個逗號分隔，它只不過給名詞 parents 額外提供住處資料，剔走它後句子意思仍舊完整，都是說「我的父母都是工程師」。

長句中 which people are amazed to find leave British and many other European cities looking run down and dilapidated 是非限制性關係子句，所以用兩個逗號分開，剔走它後句子仍舊完整。

換言之，上述長句是由兩個意思 (ideas) ，透過 which 這個關係代詞 (relative pronoun) ，連接而成。這兩個意思，一主一次，分別是：

It [The West's failure] extends not just to the environment and physical infrastructure of modern Asian societies, but to the moral and social order they [= British and many other European cities] stand.
西方國家之失敗，不僅在環境和基礎建設方面，更伸延至她們的道德和社會秩序。

People are amazed to find (that) the environment and physical infrastructure of modern Asian societies leave British and many other European cities looking run down and dilapidated.
人們驚訝的是，亞洲先進國家的環境和基礎建設使英國和很多歐洲其他城市顯得破舊失修。

上面兩個句子中，加底線部分為兩句共通之名詞詞組。我們可以把在次要意思那句中出現的那個名詞詞組 the environment and physical infrastructure of modern Asian societies 省略掉，用關係代詞 which 替代，再把關係代詞移到兩句之間，將它們連接起來。就是這樣，代表次要意思的那句變成了一個以關係代詞 which 為首的關係子句，在長句中間出現。把上述過程形式化，我們得出以下表述：

It extends not just to the environment and physical infrastructure of modern Asian societies_i, which_i people are amazed to find t_i leave British and many other European cities looking run down and dilapidated, but to the moral and social order they stand.

在上面形式化表述中，符號 t 代表關係代詞 which 移走後留下的痕跡 (trace) ；符號 i 邏輯上是一個變量 (variable) ，而擁有相同變量符號之句子成分代表擁有相同之指示對象 (referent) 。

接著，我們探討一下動詞 find 和 leave 的一些特殊用法，從而解釋為何兩個動詞看似連在一起。

動詞 find 其中一個意思，指覺得、瞭解到或（憑經驗）發現某事物或某人為某事物或做某事物。這個意思可以用以下幾個不同之結構方式來表達：

1. [V (that)]  I find (that) honesty is important. // The report found that 70% of the firms planned to hire more staff this year.
2. [V n adj]  We found the new bed very comfortable.
3. [V n to-inf]  They found their son to have lied to them. // We find her evidence to be based on a certain degree of oversensitivity.
4. [V n n]  She finds the man a good husband. // I have never found my diet a problem.

動詞 leave 其中一個意思，指使或讓某人或某事物處某狀態、某位置、某情況等。這個意思可以用以下幾個不同之結構方式來表達：

1. [V n adj]  Please leave the door open. // The bomb blast left 7 people dead.
2. [V n -ing]  He left her waiting outside in the rain. // Do not leave the engine running when your car is stopped.
3. [V n to-inf]  Leave the rice to cook for 20 minutes.
4. [V n prep/adv]  I left the lights on when I left the room. // The accident left them in a state of shock.

上述長句中，動詞 find 用上了 1. 的結構方式，而動詞 leave 則用上了 2. 的結構方式。在 1. 的結構方式 [V (that)] 中，動詞 find 後接一個 that-子句，子句的主動詞是 leave ，另外有一個以非限定形式 (non-finite) 出現的動詞 looking ；整個 that-子句之結構為：

… the environment and physical infrastructure of modern Asian societies _{[主語 (subject)]} leave _{[主動詞 (main verb)]} British and many other European cities _{[賓語 (object)]} looking run down and dilapidated _{[賓語補語 (object complement)]}

所以，當名詞詞組 the environment and physical infrastructure of modern Asian societies 因關係代詞 which 的出現而被省略掉之後，關係子句動詞 find 便看似跟 that-子句動詞 leave 連在一起。

最後，讓我們多看幾個關係子句配合動詞 find 使用之結構的例子，總結以上所學：

1. Another couple bought the bed_i which_i we found t_i very comfortable.
   (= Another couple bought the bed + We found the bed very comfortable)
2. The couple punished their son_i, who_i they found t_i to have lied to them.
   (= The couple punished their son + They found their son to have lied to them)
3. I have a different opinion of the man_i whom_i she finds t_i a good husband.
   (= I have a different opinion of the man + She finds the man a good husband)
4. I quit the firm_i which_i the report found t_i had been doing badly.
   (= I quit the firm + The report found (that) the firm had been doing badly)

這個時候，你應該能夠正確解讀最上那個長句了。還是不能，嗯？看看下面的中文翻譯吧：

西方國家之失敗，不僅因為亞洲先進國家的環境和基建使英國和很多歐洲其他城市顯得破舊失修，更因為西方國家容忍她們當前[不夠好]的道德和社會秩序。