1 For hundreds of millions of years, turtles (海龟) have struggled out of the sea to lay their eggs on sandy beaches, long before there were nature documentaries to celebrate them, or GPS satellites and marine biologists to track them, or volunteers to hand-carry the hatchlings (幼龟) down to the water’s edge lest (for fear that) they become disoriented by headlights and crawl towards a motel parking lot instead.
【分析】本句为复合句， 主架为 ⋯ turtles have struggled ⋯ 。For hundreds of millions
of years 为介词短语作时间状语。 before ⋯为时间状语从句，该从句采用的是 there
be结构，主语为 or 连接的三个名词（词组）：natural documentaries，GPS satellites
and marine biologists和 volunteers，主语后的不定式均为主语的后置定语。 lest “ 以
免”引导状语从句，采用虚拟语气。
【译文】数百万年以来，海龟们都挣扎着从海里爬出来，到沙滩上产卵，那时候
还没有自然纪录片来记录它们的活动，没有 GPS卫星和海洋生物学家跟踪它们，
没有志愿者用手把小海龟放到水边以防它们被桅灯搞得迷失方向而爬向旅馆的停
车场。
【收获】disoriented 使迷失方向；motel 汽车旅馆；long before 很久以前/before long 不久
2 The figures prompted Oceana to petition the government to upgrade the level of protection for the North Atlantic loggerheads from “threatened” to “endangered”—meaning they are in danger of disappearing without additional help.
【分析】本句为复合句，主架为 The figures prompted Oceana⋯。to petition the
government为不定式作 prompted的状语，to upgrade the level of protection ⋯ 为不
定式作 petition 的状语。 they are in danger ⋯ help 作 meaning的宾语，相当于省略
了引导词 that 的宾语从句。
【译文】这些数字迫使 Oceana向政府请求将对北大西洋大海龟的保护程度由 “受
到威胁 ”提升到“濒临灭绝 ”，这意味着如果没有额外的保护， 它们将面临消失的危
险。
【收获】petition 请求；upgrade 提升；