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①After six months of arguing and final 16hours of hot parliamentary debates, Australia's Northern Territory became the first legal authority in the world to allow doctors to take the lives of incurably ill patients who wish to die.
▲句子的主體結構是Australia's Northern Territory became the first legal authority...，其中，句首是表示時間的介詞詞組作狀語：after six months of arguing and final 16 hours of hot parliamentary debates，后面的動詞不定式to allow doctors to take the lives of incurably ill patients who wish to die相當于定語從句which allows doctors to...，修飾legal authority，who引導定語從句who wish to die修飾前面的patients。
△理解句子的關鍵在于剔除龐雜的修飾成分，抓住句子的主干。
②Some have breathed sighs of relief, others, including churches, right-to-life groups and the Australian Medical Association, bitterly attacked the bill and the haste of its passage. But the tide is unlikely to turn back.
▲第一句話中，有用逗號松散地連接的兩個表示對比的句子：Some have breathed... others... bitterly attacked...，其中others之后是介詞詞組：including churches，right-to-life groups and the Australian Medical Association對others進行進一步的解釋。its passage中的its指代前面提到的the bill。第二句使用了被動語態，與第一句是轉折關系。
△tide本意是“潮水，潮汐”的意思，這里的引申含義是“趨勢，趨向”；turn the tide使形式轉變，改變局面。bill這里是“法案”的意思。另外要理解some和others的對比關系。
③In Australia — where an aging population, life-extending technology and changing community attitudes have all played their part — other states are going to consider making a similar law to deal with euthanasia.
▲這個句子的主體結構是... other states are going to consider...。句首的In Australia是介詞詞組表示地點狀語，后面where引導定語從句where an aging population, life-extending technology and changing community attitudes have all played their part，進一步解釋Australia的具體情況。
△注意破折號中說各種因素都發揮了作用，是指對其它州考慮制定關于安樂死的法律這件事而言的。另外注意consider的用法，consider后面一般接v.-ing的形式或that引導的賓語從句。
④After a "cooling off" period of seven days, the patient can sign a certificate of request. After 48 hours the wish for death can be met.
▲兩個句子都是簡單句。第一句中前面是介詞詞組作時間狀語：After a "cooling off" period of seven days。第二句使用了被動語態。
△"cooling off"這里是指“給病人充足的考慮時間以做出冷靜的決定”。meet這里是“滿足”的意思，可以和demand，need，requirement等和wish類似的詞連用。
n. 權力，權威，職權，官方，當局
