再談幾種cumulative sentences的方法

上一篇10個DSE英文5星作文必用句構(10): coordinate and subordinate cumulative sentence提過cumulative sentence有分coordinate及subordinate,前者是modifying phrase圍繞住main clause咁補充資料,subordinate則是每個modifying phrase都係修飾或補充之前那clause或phrase.

今日想補充的是,提供幾種cumulative sentence最後那modifying phrase的寫法。說最後的modifying phrase，當然不一定，但擺係最後,有round up一句句子的意味.

第一種: 明喻

例子:

"The boy sat down at the table, eagerly anticipating the 
feast, never suspecting it would be the last meal he 
would eat, acting as carefree as a lark.”

句子最後的acting as carefree as a lark是present participial phrase, 功能是俾一個比喻, 給讀者一種意像.

“The chef prepared the fish, carefully, stuffing it with 
wild rice, sautéing it briefly, its sweet aroma blending 
smoothly with the other enticing odors in the kitchen, 
the fish becoming more than food, ascending to the status 
of art, as if transformed by magic.”

除了as ..as, 明喻也可以as if...的形式出現.

"She watched this smile come, awkward as if he were 
smiling from inside a mask."

awkward as if he were smiling from inside a mask是appositive adjective加上as if子句.

"He spoke slowly, mechanically, without inflection, like 
a robot."

呢句的like a robot係prepositional phrase,

第二種:猜測

很多時modifying phrase是給予一個解釋,所以會用possibly, perhaps, possibly/perhaps because開始那modifying phrase.

"The dog froze in place, ears up to detect the slightest 
sound, eyes riveted on the clump of brush, possibly 
sensing danger."

possibly sensing danger是「副詞+participial phrase」,提供了subject一系列動作的猜測.有總結之功能.

"He suddenly ran off the stage, possibly because he had 
forgotten his lines, possibly because he had just noticed 
the audience for the first time, perhaps even because he 
was in some physical distress."

除了用participial phrase作解釋外, 也可直接用subordinate clause去解釋, 不過加上perhaps, possibly等副詞.

"The fire spread quickly, its flames fanned by the stiff 
breeze, consuming the small apartment in minutes, 
possibly the result of a candle left burning too close to 
blowing curtains."

the result of a candle left burning too close to blowing curtains是apposition,modifying phrase的一種. 加上possibly作出一種猜側.

比起possibly/perhaps, likely/more likely甚至actually是更肯定的猜測:

"The guard fainted, dropping his rifle, crumpling at the 
feet of the queen, likely a casualty of poor training and 
poor conditioning."

likely a casualty of poor training and poor conditioning也是「adverb+apposition」.

還有seeming, seemingly, appearing等,也可作表達猜測的modifying phrase的開頭. 

"Each essay explored another of the writer’s fears, seeming to reveal an almost infinite number of pathologies, each appearing more threatening than the last."

seeming to reveal an almost infinite number of pathologies, each appearing more threatening than the last也是participial phrase, 特別之處在於seem後面可以跟adjectives, 又可跟to infinitive, 因為seem是linking verb, 同樣appear也是linking verb:

"The young novelist produced bestseller after bestseller, 
appearing to have stumbled on the magic formula for 
literary success."

seemingly則變成了另一個像perhaps的副詞, 可駁appositive adjective phrase. 

"She built her business slowly, opening a new store only 
when its success was certain, seemingly incapable of 
miscalculations when assessing likely profits."

(內容參考:Landon, Brooks. Building Great Sentences, How to Write the Kinds of Sentences You Love to Read, Plume 2013)