整体分析:
状语和主谓宾部分非常明显,下面对定语从句进行分析。
关系词where,剩下的部分分成下面几个语意结构:
our welfare system has evolved
from being based on the principle of unemployment insurance
to providing a permanent top-up to wages set so low they provide insufficient means by which to support a family
前两个结构也比较显而易见,下面分析第三个:
providing a permanent top-up to wages (set so low they provide insufficient means by which to support a family)
括号内是wages的后置定语,是一个结果状语“so...that...”结构,省略了that。对语句进行还原应该是:the wages are set so low that they provide insufficient means by which to support a family,这样就很容易看出they其实就是wages。
下面对they provide insufficient means by which to support a family进行分析:
by which to support a family是means的后置定语,which指的就是means,字面意思是“设置得很低的薪水提供了不足够的方式,通过这种不足够的方式来养家”,其实就是说薪水不足以养家。
追问感谢了哈!很详尽!