今日长难句：

He was able to do this because of a combination of factors—most important, timing and opportunity—but the single-mindedness and determination with which he carried out his self-imposed mission was fundamentally character-based; millions of Marconi's contemporaries had the same class, gender, race, and colonial privilege as he, but only a handful did anything with it.

他之所以能够做到这一点，是因为一系列原因——最重要的是，把握住时机和际遇——但他执行自行强加的使命时所表现出的专注与决心则基本上是性格使然；数以百万计与马可尼同时代的人拥有和他一样的阶级、性别、种族和殖民特权，但只有极少数人利用了这些特权。

第一步 简单划分句子成分，进行断句

He was able to do this /because of a combination of factors/—most important, timing and opportunity—but the single-mindedness and determination /with which he carried out /his self-imposed mission /was fundamentally /character-based; millions of Marconi's contemporaries/ had the same class, gender, race, and colonial privilege /as he, but only/ a handful /did anything with it.

第二步 抓动词，找到主语，再来从句、插入语和介词短语结构、形容词、副词等修饰成分

He was able to do this /because of a combination of factors/—most important, timing and opportunity—but the single-mindedness and determination /with which he carried out /his self-imposed mission /was fundamentally /character-based; millions of Marconi's contemporaries/ had the same class, gender, race, and colonial privilege /as he, but only/ a handful /did anything with it.

当我们毫无头绪的时候，动词和动词短语就是我们的方向标

找到Be able to, was, carry out, had, did，顺藤摸瓜找到主语，看到一个基本的句子结构：

Be able to的主语是He, was后面是was character-based=was based on character可以理解成被动语态，基于性格。

“他能够做成这件事因为...但是专心和决心根本上来讲是性格使然。”

had的主语是millions of Marconi's cotemporaries 与他同时代的人

did的主语是a handful 意思是很少人

最后，我们再去补全细节，将刚才跳读略读的内容还原，得到完整清晰的内容。

He was able to do this /because of a combination of factors/—most important, timing and opportunity—but the single-mindedness and determination /with which he carried out /his self-imposed mission /was fundamentally /character-based; millions of Marconi's contemporaries/ had the same class, gender, race, and colonial privilege /as he, but only/ a handful /did anything with it.

核心要点：

1. carry out

The government is carrying out policies to help the poor children in the mountain area to get an education.

2. determination

With determination and hard work, she finally became a lawyer last spring.

3. privilege

It is not a privilege but a responsibility to work as an official in one of the highest rankings of the government.

4. combination

The dish is a perfect combination of the eastern and western culture.

更多精彩内容，欢迎关注【可可双语精读】微信公众号。另外，我们开通了【可可英语APP】微信视频号哦，欢迎关注~