Exercise

　　Our forefather had no idea that human population would increase faster than the supplies of raw materials; most of them, even until very recently, had the foolish idea that the treasures were “limitless” and “inexhaustible”

　　But one thing is certain: information and knowledge will become even more vital, and the people who possess it, whether they work in manufacturing or services, will have the advantage and produce the wealth.

　　They appear to do everything in a rush, with an eye on the clock, as if they had a short time to live.

　　要點(diǎn)分析和參考譯文

　　要點(diǎn)：分號(hào)前后為兩個(gè)并列句。在第二個(gè)分句中，even until very recently 時(shí)間狀語(yǔ)插入在主語(yǔ) most of them和謂語(yǔ)had之間。Them指代前一句的forefathers.
　　參考譯文：我們前輩不知道人口會(huì)比原材料供應(yīng)增長(zhǎng)得要快；甚至到最近以前大多數(shù)人還錯(cuò)誤得認(rèn)為自然資源是無(wú)限的，永遠(yuǎn)不會(huì)消耗盡。

　　要點(diǎn)：并列句and 之后的主語(yǔ) the people和謂語(yǔ)will have之間插入whether引導(dǎo)的狀語(yǔ)從句。
　　參考譯文：可是有一點(diǎn)是肯定的：信息和知識(shí)將變得更加重要。擁有信息和知識(shí)的人無(wú)論是在生產(chǎn)行業(yè)還是在服務(wù)行業(yè)工作，都會(huì)有優(yōu)勢(shì)并能創(chuàng)造財(cái)富。

　　要點(diǎn)：介詞短語(yǔ)“with an eye on the clock”為插入語(yǔ)，在句子中做狀語(yǔ)。“as if”引出方式狀語(yǔ)從句，謂語(yǔ)動(dòng)詞是虛擬語(yǔ)氣。
　　參考譯文：他們看上去做每件事都匆匆忙忙，眼睛盯著時(shí)鐘，仿佛他們的有生之年極其短暫似的。