原文:But if the prospect of leaping into the economic unknown is fear-inspiring, equally so is the prospect of letting that fear prevent us from acting when the failure to act could mean untold misery for future generations and perhaps environmental catastrophes which threaten our very existence.
尊敬的朋友您好,我觉得这句话可以这样翻译:同样可怕的是让这种惊恐阻止了我们去采取行动,那时这些失误可能意味着未来几代人要经受的无法预测(无法言喻)的苦难,也可能是威胁到我们所生存的环境灾难。
句子结构分析如下:句子的主干为:so is the prospect of letting that fear prevent us from acting,这是一个倒装结构,这里的so指代的是“But if...”从句中的fear-inspiring(令人恐慌的),"when the failure ...and ...very existence"是一个由when引导的状语从句,在这个状语从句中由and连接两个并列成分,其中,在and后面是which引导的一个限定性定语从句来修饰environment catastrophes(环境灾难)。
equally so is the prospect of letting that fear prevent us from acting when the failure to act could mean untold misery for future generations and perhaps environmental catastrophes which threaten our very existence. 先翻译一下再解释语法吧。假如被害怕吞噬,迟迟不敢行动,然而无行动意味着为后代带来前所未有的苦难,甚至有可能造成导致人类灭绝的环境灾难,这样的场景同样真实。equally so, so指代前面所提到的可能性,equally 修饰踏,说明接下来要说明的事情发生的可能性和前面一样大。the prospect 前景,整个句子的主干调整了语序以后是 the prospect is equally so.后面的都是讲述 是什么昂的前景。letting the fear prevent us from acting 我们被害怕吞噬,因而没有采取任何行动when the failure to act could mean 然后,这时候不采取行动的后果是 untold misery for future generations 后代前所未有的苦难perheaps environmental catastrophes 后面跟一个定语从句,说明是可以威胁到人类种族存续的环境灾难。
因为没有上下文,所以对prospect一词的理解有点迷惘,暂且不管prospect确切词义,其实这个长句就是:prospect is equally so( prospect同样如此),of letting that fear prevent us from acting是prospect的定语,
when the failure to act could mean untold misery for future generations and perhaps environmental catastrophes which threaten our very existence. 是状语,就是在这个条件下(when....), PROSPECT IS EQUALLY SO.