第309句 退隐
For the women of my generation who were urged to keep juggling through the '80s, downshifting in the mid 90s is not so much a search for the mythical good life-growing your own organic vegetables, and risking turning into one-as a personal recognition of your limitations.
译文：对于我这一代曾在整个80年代受到鼓励为生活奔波的女性来说，90年代中期出现的隐退与其说是寻求一种神话般的美好生活——自己种植有机蔬菜，搞不好自己也变成呆板懒散的人——不如说是认识到自身能力有限这一事实。
点睛：本句的主干为...downshifting…is not so much…as…。句首for the woman...作句子的状语，其中包含定语从句who were urged to keep juggling through the '80s。破折号后的动名词结构growing your own organic vegetables.and risking turning into one是插入语。
考点归纳：not to much... as...是一个常用的并列连词，其含义相当于rather than，意为“与其说是…倒不如说是…”。和其他连接词一样，它可以连接词与词、短语与短语以及句子与句子。
*连接词与词
Oceans don't so much divide the world as unite it.
与其说海洋分隔了世界，倒不如说海洋连接了世界各国。
*连接句子时，其连接的往往是because或that引导的从句，意思是“倒不是因为…而是因为…”，as后的that有时可省去。
It's not so much that the machine is out of order as(that)I have not learned to operate it.
倒不是机器出了故障，而是我还没有学会操作。
*该并列连词中的as可用but( rather)替换：not so much. but(rather)…。
It is not so much the actual population of the world but its rate of increase which is important.
重要的与其说是实际的世界人口总数，倒不如说是世界人口增长率。