长难句20190926
【昨日回顾】
The hapless user believed only that they were allowing Facebook to look through their contacts to make it easier to reach them. In this instance, it is hard to blame Facebook entirely for taking advantage of a feature that Google had deliberately built.
这些倒霉蛋用户们只是以为，他们允许Facebook查看他们的联系人信息就能使他们更轻松联系到这些人。在这种情况下，就不能完全责怪是Facebook把Google有意打造的特性利用到了极致。
【今日长难句】
Both firms had a vital interest in collecting as much information as possible about their users – and everyone whom their users knew, on or off the network – and helping marketers to use it.
【难点词汇】
firm n. 公司
vital adj. 重要的，重大的
interest n. 利益；兴趣
on or off the network 在线上或线下
marketer n. 营销人员
【参考译文及解析】
Both firms had a vital interest in collecting as much information as possible about their users – and everyone whom their users knew, on or off the network – and helping marketers to use it.
两家公司在两个方面都有着重大的利益：尽可能多地搜集用户信息——以及他们的用户在线上或线下认识的所有人的信息，然后帮助他们的营销人员使用这些信息。
1. 句子主干为主谓宾结构，即：Both firms/ had/ a vital interest in ….; in collecting …. to use it 为介词短语，为修饰成分，表“在……方面”。因该修饰成分较长，在翻译时采用单独处理的方式至于汉语译文的最后。
2. about 的两个宾语为their users 和everyone whom their users knew
3. …in collecting … and helping … 之中的and连接介词in的并列宾语 collecting 和helping
【明日长难句】
What was then advertised or sold with the help of this once private information, whether it was goods or politicians, was of rather less interest. “Once the rockets are up, who cares where they come down?”, as Tom Lehrer sang.