It deprives Britain of a thread that wove the nation together, and linked it to its past①The queen is dead. ②The second Elizabethan era is over. ③In the hours and days to come, the royal family will do what it does best, and mask uncertainty and emotion with ritual and pageantry. ④There will be flags at half mast; ceremonies will unspool; bells will toll. ⑤But for now, there is unease.
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题目开门见山，交代了事件：The death of Elizabeth II 伊丽莎白二世去世，随后补充了事件的影响：marks the end of an era 标志着一个时代的落幕。
为什么女王去世会标志着一个时代的落幕？摘要部分对此展开解释：It deprives Britain of a thread that wove the nation together, and linked it to its pastit 指女王去世这一事件。deprive sb/sth of sth 是外刊中常用表达，意思是 to prevent sb from having or doing sth, especially sth important “剥夺、使丧失”，比如在父母的高压教育下，很多孩子只能学习不能娱乐，我们可以说：
A lot of these children have been deprived of simple pleasures.
这些孩子中有许多连一些简单的娱乐也无法享受。
文中句子的主干是 It deprives Britain of a thread，后面跟了一个定语从句进行补充：that wove the nation together, and linked it to its past.
文中 It deprives Britain of a thread that wove the nation together, and linked it to its past 其实是一个比喻，字面意思是：英国女王的去世，使英国失去了一根线，这根线把英国编织在一起，将现在与过去相连。
我们接着看正文的前两句话：
①The queen is dead. ②The second Elizabethan era is over.
这两句短小精悍，简要概括事件，呼应本文题目“The death of Elizabeth II marks the end of an era”。
第三句略长：
③In the hours and days to come, the royal family will do what it does best, and mask uncertainty and emotion with ritual and pageantry.
句子以时间状语开头：In the hours and days to come 在未来几个小时和几天的时间里。to come 表示未来时间，字面意思是“要来的”，也就是“未来才来、还没来”，《哈利波特与魔法石》第16章就出现过这个表达：
In years to come, Harry would never quite remember how he had managed to get through his exams when he half expected Voldemort to come bursting through the door at any moment.
In the hours and days to come 可以替换成 in the coming hours and days 或 many hours and days later.the royal family will do what it does bestwhat it does best 是what引导的名词性从句，为了便于理解，我们可以把 what 替换成 the things that，所以这句话可以写成：the royal family will do the things that it does best 王室将做 (the royal family will do) 他们能做得最好的事 (the things that it does best)。为了方便使用，我们可以把 do what sb does best 当成一个语块背过，表示“尽其所能”。《生活大爆炸》第五季中就出现过这个表达：mask uncertainty and emotion with ritual and pageantrymask 由名词“面罩、面具”引申出动词“掩饰、隐藏”的意思，看个例句：
Men often mask their true feelings with humour.
男人常常用幽默来掩饰他们真实的情感。
mask 可以和 hide, disguise 替换。pageantry 英文解释是：impressive and exciting events and ceremonies involving a lot of people wearing special clothes 即“盛典、隆重的仪式”，这个词了解即可。《经济学人》并没有像其它外媒报道一样，用夸张的辞藻来烘托悲伤，而是通过描写人们对感情的克制与遮掩（mask emotion with pageantry）来体现悲伤，角度新颖。想起网络上流传的一句话“成年人连悲伤都是要克制的”。
我们再来看第四句：
④There will be flags at half mast; ceremonies will unspool; bells will toll.
mast 指“桅杆、旗杆”，flags at half mast 则是“降半旗”的意思。此外我们也可以说 flag flown at half-mast 或 fly a flag at half-mast.spool 本是名词“线轴”，作动词则表示“把...绕到线轴上”，前面再加上否定前缀“un-”，意思变成“把...从线轴上绕下来”，也就是“展开、发生”。文中 ceremonies will unspool = ceremonies will happen / take place “人们将举行典礼”。这个词类似 fold→unfold，fold 是“折叠”，unfold 就是“展开、打开”，引申为事件或剧情“展开、展现、发生”，看一个例句：
He had watched the drama unfold from a nearby ship.
他从附近的一艘船上目睹了这一事件的发生。
toll 在新闻报道中常作名词，表示“伤亡人数”，比如四川泸定地震，导致74人死亡，可以说：
The death toll rose to 74 in the earthquake in Luding, Sichuan province.
在本文中 toll 是作动词使用的，表示“敲钟”，用法为 a bell tolls 或 sb tolls a bell.同时，unspool 和 toll 还押了尾韵，读起来朗朗上口，有一种节奏感。今年2月 China Daily 在报道冬奥会时也在题目中使用了押韵手法：标题里的 Thrill（惊险）、Spill（甩飞）、Chill（哆嗦）通过押韵的手法高度体现了单板滑雪的惊险与刺激，悦人耳目，夺人眼球。
我们再看最后一句话：
⑤But for now, there is unease.
但就目前而言，人们感到不安。最后我们再从语言艺术层面赏析一下这段话：①The queen is dead. ②The second Elizabethan era is over. ③In the hours and days to come, the royal family will do what it does best, and mask uncertainty and emotion with ritual and pageantry. ④There will be flags at half mast; ceremonies will unspool; bells will toll. ⑤But for now, there is unease.这段话采用长短结合的手法，其中①②两句为短句，随后③句转为长句，④⑤两句又变为短句，这种长短结合可以让整段话错落有致，使句子节奏忽快忽慢、忽明忽暗，语言更有张力。前两句采用短句的方式，交代了新闻事件，短促有力、掷地有声，更能给人心理上的冲击，就像一个东西戛然而止，把东西甩出来，但不说透，让你觉得意犹未尽。随后③句展开阐述，对前面进行一个补充，通过长短交错的反差来起到对比强调和吸引你继续往下读的作用。汤显祖曾评价戏曲的收尾，说“收尾”分两种，一种是“度尾”，一种是“煞尾”。“度尾”如画舫笙歌，从远地来，过近地，又向远地去，比如本段第③句话 In the hours and days to come, the royal family will do what it does best, and mask uncertainty and emotion with ritual and pageantry，如同波浪一样一波又一波向远方荡去，回味无穷；“煞尾”如骏马收缰，忽然停住，寸步不移，又如本段第④句 There will be flags at half mast; ceremonies will unspool; bells will toll，unspool 和 toll 将句子紧紧收住，节奏短促而有力。其实不只戏曲如此，文章也是如此，这在本段有很好的体现。今天就到这里，感谢阅读！戳“阅读原文”一起来充电吧!