難句解析：
①What is harder to establish is whether the productivity revolution that businessmen assume they are presiding over is for real.
▲這個句子的主語和表語都是從句。主語是what引導的名詞性從句，表語是whether引導的狀語表語從句。在表語從句中，主語是the productivity revolution，核心句是Whether the productivity revolution is for real，其中productivity revolution后面跟了一個that引導的定語從句，這個從句中的主語是businessmen，謂語是assume，后面跟一個賓語從句，而that所替代的productivity resolution就是這個賓語從句中over這個介詞的賓語。
△理解這個句子的關鍵在于要弄清其中環環相套的從句關系，就是revolution后面that引導的定語從句，以及從句中assume后面的賓語從句，這樣就找出preside over的賓語其實就是productivity revolution。
②The trouble is that part of the recent acceleration is due to the usual rebound that occurs at this point in a business cycle, and so is not conclusive evidence of a revival in the underlying trend.
▲這個句子有一個很長的表語從句，由that引導。從句中有兩個分句，中間用and so連接。第一個分句中又有一個that引導的定語從句，修飾的是rebound，第二個分句的主語與第一個分句的主語一樣，都是part of the recent acceleration。這樣我們可以得到這個句子的主干部分：The trouble is that part of acceleration is due to rebound, and is not conclusive evidence.
△理解這個句子的關鍵在于要清楚表語從句中第一個分句所套的修飾rebound的定語從句，再者就是第二個分句的主語與第一個分句的主語一致，并注意conclusive的意思。
③There is, as Robert Rubin, the treasury secretary, says, a "disjunction" between the mass of business anecdote that points to a leap in productivity and the picture reflected by the statistics.
▲理解這個句子先要找出它的核心句：There is a "disjunction" between the mass and the picture，中間的人名及其職位可以當作插入語。between后面的名詞帶有一個that引導的定語從句，修飾的是business anecdote，that在這個從句中充當的是主語；and后面的名詞the picture后面跟的是過去分詞reflected，表示的是一種被動關系。
△找出between和and的賓語（分別是the mass of business anecdote和the picture reflected by the statistics），這個句子就容易理解了。
④New ways of organizing the workplace — all that re-engineering and downsizing — are only one contribution to the overall productivity of an economy, which is driven by many other factors such as joint investment in equipment and machinery, new technology, and investment in education and training.
▲這個句子看似龐大，分析之下就簡單了。先找出核心句：New ways are one contribution，再來看其它部分：new ways后面of organizing the workplace限定了new ways的內容；破折號之間的部分是進一步說明new ways of organizing the workplace的一些具體內容；contribution后面的to接的是名詞賓語，這之后有一個which引導的定語從句，修飾的是前面的名詞an economy。在這個定語從句中by后面的賓語是factors，后面的such as跟隨的三個名詞短語就是列舉的內容。
△找出主干句之后就不會受到長句所造成的混亂影響，關鍵是要弄清楚contribution to后面的內容，尤其是which引導的定語從句，修飾的是economy。
⑤His colleague, Michael Beer, says that far too many companies have applied re-engineering in a mechanistic fashion, chopping out costs without giving sufficient thought to long-term profitability.
▲這個句子的主要部分在于謂語says后面的賓語從句，從句中的重要成分是在狀語短語部分，即in a mechanistic fashion，因為后面跟的一個現在分詞短語chopping out costs是進一步說明fashion的內容，without后面的動名詞短語是補充成分，表示的是一種伴隨狀態。
△關鍵在于chopping out costs這個現在分詞短語的理解，要明白這是in a mechanistic fashion的進一步說明。
來源:可可英語 http://www.ccdyzl.cn/kaoyan/201406/307273.shtml