31. The second half of the 20th century saw a collection of geniuses, warriors, entrepreneurs and visionaries labor to create a fabulous machine that could function as a typewriter and printing press, studio and theatre, paintbrush and gallery, piano and radio, the mail as well as the mail carrier.
【分析】复合句。句子主干为 The...century saw a collection...。to create...carrier 为不定式短语作目的状语,其中 that 引导定语从句,修饰machine。
【译文】20世纪下半叶,各路英才、战士、企业家以及空想家们联合起来努力创造了一种绝妙的机器,这种机器可用作打字机和印刷机、制片厂和影剧院、画笔和画廊、钢琴和收音机、邮件和邮差。
【点拨】1) entrepreneurs “企业家”。2)visionaries“空想家。理想主义者”。3) labor 作名词时意为“劳动”,作动词时意为“劳动,努力”。4)function 作名词时意为“功能”,作动词时意为“起作用”,常与 as 连用。
32. Not only did they develop such a device but by the turn of the millennium they had also managed to embed in a worldwide system accessed by billions of people everyday.
【分析】并列句。句子使用了not only...but also...结构,由于 not only 位于句首,所以前一个分句采用了部分倒装。by the turn of the millennium 为时间状语,放在主语 they 之前使句子结构更加平衡。accessed by...day 为过去分词短语作后置定语,修饰 system。
【译文】他们不仅仅发明了这么一种装置,而且还在千禧之交成功将其置入了一个世界性的系统之中,这个系统的日访问量可达数十亿。
【点拨】1)embed“埋进,使嵌入”。2)access“进入,接近”。