1. There are four rooms in the house, the biggest of which is a drawing room.
对于此句,你的翻译和分析基本是对的,但有一个小问题要补充:
你认为:其中最大屋子应该说 the biggest room of the rooms,所以应改写成:the biggest room of the which 才对。——这是误解,注意不要将“关系词”与“先行词”全划等号。在你的句子中,其实 which 就可以理解为 the rooms。我们用一个例子来说明吧:
Later he bought a car, which cost him $ 5000. 后来他买了辆车,这车花了他5000美元。
很显然,这个定语从句的先行词是 a car,但这里的关系代词 which 在此相当于 the car(而不是 a car),即原句等于:
Later he bought a car, and the car cost him $ 5000. 后来他买了辆车,这车花了他5000美元。
你不能这样说:
Later he bought a car, a which cost him $ 5000. (误)
Later he bought a car, the which cost him $ 5000. (误)
你问:biggest 后面的 room 是不是被省略了?是的这里的 the biggest 可以理解为the biggest room 或 the biggest one 之省略。
2. The workers, some of whom stayed there for two years, came from Africa.
非限定定语从句前常用逗号这个我是知道的,从句后面的这个逗号的使用就是使得主句从句之间更容易识别吗?可以不用吗?——你说得没错,这个非限制性定语从句的前后都用逗号的一个原因,就是为了让其容易识别(人们在朗读时会有所停顿,让人们识别出这个非限制性定语从句是起补充说明作用的)。