GRE閱讀長難句重磅解析（1）
If one begins by examining why ancients refer to Amazons , it becomes clear that ancient Greek descriptions of such societies were meant not so much to represent observed historical fact –real Amazonian societies – but rather to offer "moral lessons" on the supposed outcome of women's rule in their own society . (4)
如果我們先研究一下為什么古人會提到亞馬遜人，下面的一點(diǎn)就變得清晰了，那就是古希臘對于這種社會的廟睡不是太多的被用來表達(dá)觀察的歷史事實(shí)——真正的亞麻遜社會的——而是為了對于婦女在其社會中的統(tǒng)治的預(yù)期后果提供一種“道德教導(dǎo)”。
難句類型：
復(fù)雜修飾、插入語、抽象詞
解釋：
有兩個詞匯需要先解釋一下：something be meant to represent是use something to mean的被動語態(tài)。
mean在這里不是常用的"……的意思是"的意思，而是表示做某事所表達(dá)的目的、意圖，其英文釋義為：to serve or intend to convey, show, or indicate.
中的結(jié)構(gòu)為：something be meant not so much to,,, but rather to, 實(shí)際上是把be meant to和not rather 的兩個固定搭配套在一起，意思是：不是為了……而是為了……
另外，suppose的意思很抽象，不容易理解。此詞既有據(jù)信、被認(rèn)為的意思，也有預(yù)期的意思，還有表示貶義的假想的被想當(dāng)然的意思。
本句的supposed用法極其特殊，在此處的意思，用以上任何一個釋義來理解居然都可以成立，既是在說一個預(yù)期的社會狀態(tài)，又是在說一個虛構(gòu)出來的、本來不存在的社會狀態(tài)，其用法類似于中文中的一語雙關(guān)，是文章作者自以為文筆精妙之處。
意群訓(xùn)練：
If one begins by examining why ancients refer to Amazons, it becomes clear that ancient Greek descriptions of such societies were meant not so much to represent observed historical fact- real Amazonian societies- but rather to offer"moral lessons" on the supposed outcome of women's rule in their own society.