What motivated him, we were to understand, was his zeal for “fundamental fairness”—protecting the taxpayer, controlling spending and ensuring that only the most deserving claimants received their benefits
（英语一，14 年阅读 T1） 重点词汇： motivate v t
刺激；使有动机；激发…的积极性 zeal n
热情；热心；热诚 fundamental adj
基本的，根本的 taxpayer n
纳税人 claimant n
原告,索赔人,提出要求者 句子结构分析： 此句子正常顺序为 we were to understand what motivated him was
understand 后跟宾语从句，从句的主语是 what motivated him，谓语动词是 was，破折号后起解释作用，进一步解释了 fundamental fairness的内容，protecting, controlling 和 ensuring 是并列非谓语动词
参考译文： 我们要明白，激发他的动机是他对“基本公平”的热情 - 保护纳税人，控制支出并确保只有最有价值的索赔人才能获得利益
Symbolic of national unity as they claim to be, their very history—and sometimes the way they behave today — embodies outdated and indefensible privileges and inequalities
（英语一，15 年阅读
