1．The Aswan Dam, for example, stopped the Nile flooding but deprived Egypt of the fertile silt that floods left-all in return for a giant reservoir of disease which is now so full of silt that it barely generates electricity.
　　【译文】以阿斯旺大坝为例，它阻止了尼罗河洪水泛滥，但也使埃及失去了洪水冲击过后留下的肥沃的淤泥，换回来的是这么一个巨大的病态水库。现在这个水库积满了淤泥，几乎不能发电了。

　　【析句】句子的主语是The Aswan Dam，谓语有两个（stopped和deprived）。破折号后面的成分作全句的状语，其中all应该理解为“所有这一切”，即指阻止尼罗河泛滥并使埃及失去肥沃的淤泥。许多人把a giant reservoir of disease译成“疾病滋生的水库”，这是不对的，实际上是指大坝淤泥太多，因而可以译成“病态的水库”。

　　【讲词】deprive意为“剥夺；使丧失”。The court ruling deprived us of any share in the inheritance.（法庭裁决剥夺了我们全部的继承权。）They were deprived of a normal childhood by the war.（由于战争，他们失去了一个正常的童年时代。）in return of意为“换取......”。I really do not know what to do in return of your kindness.（对于你的善意，我真的不知道何以回报。）

　　2．This week, in the heart of civilized Europe, Slovaks and Hungarians stopped just short of sending in the troops in their contention over a dam on the Danube.
　　【译文】本周，在文明欧洲的腹地，为了多瑙河上一处水坝所引起的争端，斯洛伐克人和匈牙利人差点动用军队。

　　【析句】句子的结构比较简单，但是句中的词组（stopped just short of）可能会影响理解。另外，有些同学可能不大清楚contention和the Danube的含义。

　　【讲词】short of意为“缺乏；达不到；除......以外；差一点”。We're short of money.（我们现在资金不足。）Nothing short of her best effort was required to make the team.（要组成一个队她必须全力以赴。）Short of yelling at him, I had no other way to catch his attention.（除了大声向他喊叫，我真想不出还有什么办法能引起他的注意。）She stopped short of throwing out the old photo.（她差点要把旧照片扔掉了。）contention争夺，竞争。The rebellion against the Qin dynasty is the direct cause of the ChuHan Contention.（反抗秦朝的斗争是楚汉相争的直接原因。）