1月6日川普支持者突破警察防線，攻佔國會，並導致傷亡。當天經濟學人官網上發表了一篇相關文章，我們一起看一下第一段：
①INSTEAD OF THE dull, pro-forma ritual that normally marks the joint session of Congress that certifies a presidential victory, Washington today experienced what was at best a riot, at worst an insurrection. ②Soon after the joint session began, hundreds of President Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol building, chanting 「Stop the steal」, tearing down fencing, overwhelming the police and forcing their way in. ③Police evacuated staffers from Hill office buildings. ④Both chambers of Congress adjourned (they were debating an objection made by Paul Gosar, a far-right congressman from Arizona, to his own state’s certified results—an objection that won him a round of applause from his caucus). ⑤The secret service whisked Vice-President Mike Pence away. ⑥Police even reportedly began evacuating private homes near the Capitol.
①句以「riot」和「insurrection」概括出了國會面臨的嚴重局勢；②句展開，詳細描述了暴亂的場景；③-⑥句描述了政府的反應和做法。①INSTEAD OF THE dull, pro-forma ritual that normally marks the joint session of Congress that certifies a presidential victory, Washington today experienced what was at best a riot, at worst an insurrection.
今日的華盛頓，看不見那枯燥的、走形式的國會聯席會議以認證大選結果，取而代之的是混亂，往好處說只是一場騷亂，往壞處說卻是一場暴動。
本句話主幹很明確：Washington today experienced what was at best a riot, at worst an insurrection「what was at best a riot, at worst an insurrection」是what引導的名詞性從句（what此處=sth that），相當於一個名詞結構，在大句子中作experience的賓語。它的意思是：往好處說是騷亂的事件、往壞處說是叛亂的事件。at best, at worst均為副詞「在最好的情況下、在最壞的情況下」，修飾riot和insurrection。舉個例子：At best she would be an invalid; at worst she would die.
最好的情況是她成為一個殘疾人，最糟糕的情況是她會死亡。
riot和insurrection描述的都是兩種混亂的場面，前者程度較輕，指「騷亂、鬧事」，其目的是宣洩不滿，類似protest，對政權不構成威脅；後者較為嚴重，指「起義、叛亂」，目的是顛覆政權，類似uprising，比如秦末農民起義，就是insurrection/uprising.主幹前面通過instead of「而不是」點明「今時不同往日」：instead of the dull, pro-forma ritual / that normally marks the joint session of Congress / that certifies a presidential victory精簡一下是：instead of the ritualritual指經常做的同一件事，即「常規、例行之事」，比如一日三餐、每天兩點一線，這些都是 daily rituals.文中ritual有兩組修飾成分，一組是前置定語（形容詞）dull, pro-formadull就是boring的意思「枯燥的、乏味的」，還可同dreary替換；pro-forma源自拉丁語，意思為as a matter of form「形式上的」，比如，a pro forma debate「流於形式的辯論」，此處用拉丁語來修飾國會聯席會議，凸顯其嚴肅性，與主幹內容（at best a riot, at worst an insurrection）形成轉折。ritual的第二組修飾成分是後置定語（定語從句）：marks the joint session of Congressthe joint session of Congress指「國會聯席會議」，「聯席」指參議院、眾議院的聯席。②Soon after the joint session began, hundreds of President Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol building, chanting 「Stop the steal」, tearing down fencing, overwhelming the police and forcing their way in.
聯席會議開始後不久，數百名川普總統的支持者衝進國會大廈，高喊著「停止偷竊（大選成果）」，推倒圍欄，衝破警察防線，強行進入國會大廈。
句首先通過soon after結構點明時間：Soon after the joint session begansession可以指法院/政治機構的meeting，即「開庭、會議」。這句話的主幹是：hundreds of President Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol building.storm一詞在此用的極為精妙，此處作動詞，表示「攻佔、突襲、衝進/衝出」，氣勢宏大如同狂風暴雨一般。再看一個例子：Police stormed the building and captured the gunman.
警察突襲那棟樓房，抓獲了持槍歹徒。
storm作名詞時除了可以指「暴風雨」，也能引申出「困難險阻」的意思，補充一個實用的表達：ride out the storm「乘風破浪、度過難關」；除此之外還可以表示不可阻擋的勢頭：take sb/sth by storm = to be extremely successful very quickly「大獲全勝」。比如形容某部電影很受歡迎，可以說：The film took China by storm.
這部電影很快就風靡全國。
Capitol building指「國會大廈」，注意是Capitol而不是Capital。因為國會坐落在一處海拔25米的高地上，所以也被稱為Capitol Hill「國會山」，有時會幹脆把Capitol省略，直接說the Hill.在建築外形上，國會有一個尖尖，而白宮是一個平頂建築：（國會 legislature）
（白宮 executive branch）
回到文中來，stormed the Capitol building後面跟了四個並列的伴隨結構：chanting 「Stop the steal」, tearing down fencing, overwhelming the police and forcing their way in.chanting, tearing down, overwhelming, forcing補充了supporters的行為動作，使場景更加具體、有畫面感。這四個結構跟中文中排比句效果一樣，強勁有力。chant一詞在這裡用的恰到好處，看一下它的英文解釋：to sing or shout the same words or phrases many times，不光表示「反覆說」這個動作，它還帶有一種強烈的情緒和訴求，比如球員絕殺進球，球迷就會chant他的名字；對政策不滿，人們就會走上街頭chant口號。作者用chant一詞表現出了國會大廈前反覆叫喊口號的示威者的那種狂熱。tear在這裡是動詞，指「撕」，tear down就是「拆除」的意思，比如老城改造，一些舊房子就要被torn down了。overwhelm在這裡是熟詞僻義defeat an army completely的意思，比如：The army was overwhelmed by the rebels.
軍隊被叛亂者完全擊敗了。
文中 overwhelming the police 就可以理解成「衝破警察防線、擊敗警察」。force their way in...就是「強行進入某地」的意思，地鐵上經常能看到這樣的提示語：Never force your way into the train的意思是「不要強行上車、不要衝門」。連用四個動詞，動態感十足，給讀者很大的衝擊，如同炮彈連珠一般。這類排比句總能起到如此效果，我們看一個《紐約時報》的例子：As companies retrench, it affects workers and suppliers, which then have to tighten their own belts. Layoffs rise; wages decline; Consumers spend less.
當公司縮減開支的時候，會影響到供應商和員工，他們不得不勒緊褲腰帶過日子。裁員上升；工資下降；消費者也不願花費更多。（點此複習）
美國廣播公司（ABC News）還報導，有暴民順走了佩洛西老太太的講臺（lectern）：③Police evacuated staffers from Hill office buildings.
工作人員在警方協助下從國會辦公大樓疏散。
Hill首字母大寫，說明不是「山」的意思，而是指地點——國會山（Capitol Hill）。④Both chambers of Congress adjourned (they were debating an objection made by Paul Gosar, a far-right congressman from Arizona, to his own state’s certified results—an objection that won him a round of applause from his caucus).
國會兩院因此休會。休會前兩院正在對一位亞利桑那州極右翼國會議員保羅•戈薩提出的異議進行激烈辯論，這位議員拒絕承認本州的選舉結果，這為他贏得了黨團全體成員的熱烈掌聲。
這句話的主幹很簡單：Both chambers of Congress adjourned.chamber指one of the parts of a parliament，議會的「議院」，Both chambers of Congress即國會的兩院——參議院+眾議院，文中是對上文the joint session的替換。adjourn指stop a meeting「休庭、休會」，英劇《皇家律師》中經常能看到這個詞：括號裡，作者補充了休會前的情況：they were debating an objection made by Paul Gosar, a far-right congressman from Arizona, to his own state’s certified results—an objection that won him a round of applause from his caucus其主幹為：they were debating an objectionobjection指「異議」，後面加介詞to，表示「對某事的異議、對某事的反對意見」，看個例子：Local residents raised strong objections to the building application.
當地居民對這項建築申請提出了強烈反對。
文中 an objection to his own state’s certified results 意為「對該州已認證的大選結果的反對、反對該州已認證的大選結果」。an objection to his own state’s certified results中間還插入了一個後置定語，修飾objection：made by Paul Gosar, a far-right congressman from ArizonaPaul Gosar和a far-right congressman from Arizona「來自亞利桑那州極右翼國會議員」是同位語的關係，這部分的意思是：來自亞利桑那州極右翼國會議員Paul Gosar對該州已認證的大選結果的反對。後面又通過一個破折號進行補充：an objection that won him a round of applause from his caucuswin sb sth指「為某人贏得某事」，很簡單，記住就行。caucus在這裡指the members of a political party as a group「黨團成員」，所以這部分的意思是：這一異議為他贏得了黨團成員的激烈掌聲。Both chambers of Congress adjourned (they were debating an objection made by Paul Gosar, a far-right congressman from Arizona, to his own state’s certified results—an objection that won him a round of applause from his caucus).國會兩院因此休會。休會前兩院正在對一位亞利桑那州極右翼國會議員保羅•戈薩提出的異議進行激烈辯論，這位議員拒絕承認本州的選舉結果，這為他贏得了黨團全體成員的熱烈掌聲。⑤The secret service whisked Vice-President Mike Pence away. ⑥Police even reportedly began evacuating private homes near the Capitol.
副總統邁克·彭斯在特勤局帶領下快速撤離。據報導，警方甚至開始疏散國會大廈附近的私人住宅。
whisk 作名詞時指「攪拌器、打蛋器」，因此作動詞時有「攪動、揮動」的意思：而攪拌的速度是非常快的，所以它又引申出「匆匆帶走、快速帶走」（take sb / sth somewhere very quickly and suddenly），自帶副詞程度。文中whisk sb/sth away「將某人/某物迅速帶走」，可看出當時環境局勢的緊張。2020年4月4日的《經濟學人》中有篇文章，講到了外賣服務在疫情期間扮演的重要角色，文中有這麼一句話：People could have everything from coffee to congee whisked to them in under 30 minutes on the back of a scooter.
人們在下單30分鐘之內，就可以收到放在電動車後備箱裡送來的咖啡和稀飯等各類食物。
have everything from coffee to congee whisked to them是have sth done「使某事被做」的結構，這裡的whisk體現出送貨之快。《經濟學人》中也曾有篇文章講到了韓國學生的學業壓力，開頭有句話描述了學生的忙碌：After five hours of tuition, in English, maths or science, following a full day at school, the teens will be whisked home—to more study, past midnight.
上完五小時的英語、數學或科學輔導班之後，在滿滿一天的校園學習之後，這些少年又被快速帶回家，繼續學習，學到午夜之後。
這裡的whisk可以體現出學生的學習忙碌、節奏快。緊接著作者進一步強調，began evacuating private homes near the Capitol不光國會大廈，周邊的住宅居民也被疏散，可見局勢的嚴峻。