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觀察的歷史事實——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)治的預期后果提供一種“道德教導”。
難句類型：
復雜修飾、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、被認為的意思，也有預期的意思，還有表示貶義的假想的被想當然的意思。
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.