2008 阅读 Text 4 精讲
第四段
①For one thing, the South could not afford to part with its slaves. ②Owning slaves was “like having a large bank account,” says Wiencek, author of An Imperfect God: George Washington, His Slaves, and the Creation of America. ③The southern states would not have signed the Constitution without protections for the “peculiar institution,” including a clause that counted a slave as three fifths of a man for purposes of congressional representation.首先，南方承担不起放弃奴隶的代价。《一个不完美的上帝：乔治华盛顿，他的奴隶，和美国的创造》一书的作者维塞克说，拥有奴隶 “就像拥有一个巨大的银行账户”。如果没有对 “特殊制度” 的保护，南方各州是不会签署宪法的，其中包括一项条款，即在国会代表中，一个奴隶可以算作五分之三个人。
①For one thing, the South could not afford to part with its slaves.首先，南方承担不起放弃奴隶的代价。
For one thing：首先；一则
the south：指美国南部，美国种植园奴隶制——美国从殖民地时期到1863年解放奴隶为止，在南部地区使用奴隶劳动、种植一种或少数几种供出口的农作物的大农业组织形式。所以，南方是奴隶制最深的地方。
part with sth：放弃；交出。
afford vt. 买得起；承担得起（to）
②Owning slaves was “like having a large bank account,” says Wiencek, author of An Imperfect God: George Washington, His Slaves, and the Creation of America.《一个不完美的上帝：乔治华盛顿，他的奴隶，和美国的创造》一书的作者维塞克说，拥有奴隶 “就像拥有一个巨大的银行账户”。
own vt. 拥有，这里是分词（动名词）短语做主语
account n. 账户；账目；报告；解释（考研重点词汇，几乎所有意思都考过）
这里是直接引语，用了全倒装
author部分是W的同位语，具体说这个人是谁
③The southern states would not have signed the Constitution without protections for the “peculiar institution,” including a clause that counted a slave as three fifths of a man for purposes of congressional representation.如果没有对 “特殊制度” 的保护，南方各州是不会签署宪法的，其中包括一项条款，即在国会代表中，一个奴隶可以算作五分之三个人。
sign vt. 签字；签名
the constitution：宪法
protect vt. 保护。—— protection n. 保护
peculiar adj. 特殊的
including部分是分词做状语，这里相当于一个非限定性定语从句：
including a clause that counted a slave as three fifths of a manfor purposes of congressional representation.
clause n. 条款
that后面是定语从句
count sb/sth as sb/sth：看作；认为；算作；被视为
three fifths of a man：3/5个人，就是两个奴隶才算一个自由人
purpose n. 目标；用途。
congress n. 国会。—— congressional adj. 国会的。
represent vt. 代表。—— representation n. 代表。
总结：第四段是说，南方需要奴隶制度，不能废除，不然，南方各州就不签署宪法。
