1.have reservations 字面意思是“持有不同意见”,其实就是“有不同意见”“不认同”的委婉说法
keep sth to oneself “保守秘密”“不说出”
understanding for its own sake 即understanding for understanding's sake 可以翻译成“为知而知”
2.climate hostile to the pursuit of understanding…… hostile to 后面一直到全句完都是作climate的后置定语
3.but keep them to themselves in what they perceive as a climate hostile to ……
这里出现了一个特殊从句,有些语法书里把它归为宾语从句,有些归为定语从句,还有些直接叫what从句
我们可以把这句看成what引导宾语从句,what 作从句中perceive的宾语
但是为了更好理解,我一般把what从句看作定语从句,这时what其实就是先行词和关系代词的综合,相当于the thing(s) that……或the person(people) that
于是,这一句也就是but keep them to themselves in the climate that they perceive as a climate hostile to ……
或者,第三种方法,可以把but keep them to themselves in （what they perceive as ）a climate hostile to the pursuit of understanding for its own sake and the idea of an inquiring,creative spirit 这句中括号里的看作是插入语,然后你再读读看,会不会已经有点明白这句的结构了啊?
4.因为不知道上下文,我只能试着翻一下,对一下这个翻译,我也是have reservations的……
许多人都有不同意见,但是他们不说出来.在他们看来,这种情况不利于追求“为知而知”的境界,也不利于获得一种创新求知的精神.
好像是在讲一些关于怎么学习的东西