一、了解句子主要成分:

1. 主语、表语、宾语

(1) What is harder to establish is whether the productivity revolution that businessmen assume they are presiding over is for real. 商人们自认为他们领导了一场生产力革命，这场革命是否确有其事，这一点更加难以确定。

（2）The trouble is that part of the recent acceleration is due to the usual rebound that occurs at this point in a business cycle, and so is not conclusive evidence of a revival in the underlying trend. 问题在于，近年发生的生产力快速增长部分是由于商业周期通常到了这时候就会出现的反弹造成的，因而它不是经济复苏潜在趋势的结论性证据。

(3) Strengthening economic growth, at the same time as winter grips the northern hemisphere, could push the price higher still in the short term. 强劲的经济增长势头，随着北半球冬季的到来，有可能在短期内使石油价格涨得更高。

(4) When a new movement in art attains a certain fashion, it is advisable to find out what its advocates are aiming at, for, however farfetched and unreasonable their principles may seem today, it is possible that in years to come they may be regarded as normal. 当一场新的艺术运动形成某种时尚时，理应弄清其倡导者的目标所在，因为无论他们的准则在今天看来是多么牵强附会、不可思议，将来都有可能被视为正常的。

2. 定语 (1) One more reason not to lose sleep over the rise in oil prices is that, unlike the rises in the 1970s, it has not occurred against the background of general commodity price inflation and global excess demand. 另外一个不应因油价上升而失眠的原因是，与20世纪70年代不同，这次油价上升不是发生在普遍的物价暴涨及全球需求过旺背景之下。 The ability to solve any problem or even to recognize that a problem exists depends on memory. 解决任何问题，甚至是识别问题存在的能力都取决于记忆。

(2) The examples of Virtual Vineyards, Amazon. com, and other pioneers show that a Web site selling the right kind of products with the right mix of interactivity, hospitality, and security will attract online customers. 像Virtual Vineyards 和Amazon.com及其他开拓者的例子表明：一个销售适类商品的网站，如果将互动、热情服务、安全合理结合，肯定会吸引网上用户的。

(3) Moreover, most of the changes that companies make are intended to keep them profitable, and this need not always mean increasing productivity；switching to new markets or improving quality can matter just as much. 另外，公司的大部分改革是为了赢利，而达到赢利的目的不一定非要提高生产力，转入新的市场或改善产品质量也会有同样的功效。

(4) The individual now has more information available than any generation, and the task of finding that one piece of information relevant to his or her specific problem is complicated, timeconsuming and sometimes even overwhelming. 今天，个人可获得的信息比任何时代的人都多，而要找到一条与自己问题相关的信息既复杂又耗时，有时甚至相当困难。