1. But embarrassing scandals and the popularity of the republican left in the recent Euro-elections have force him to eat his word and stand down.

in the recent Euro-elections 到底是形容embarrassing scandals and the popularity of the republican还是只是形容the popularity of the republican？

【答】是前者。基本结构是：

embarrassing scandals and the popularity of sb. in sth. ：某人在某事中（表现出来）的令人尴尬的丑闻和名声

划线部分是两个并列的名词，of sb. 为第一层修饰，in sth. 为第二层修饰。如果把 “共和党左派” 放在前面，用 sb’s/one’s 作定语，就很清楚了。本句，因 the republican left 较长，而采用 of sb. 作定语的格式。

2. The White House claimed that it could invalidate any otherwise legitimate state law that it disagrees with.

otherwise 在这句话是干什么用的？为什么不能去掉？

【答】这里，otherwise 是形容词，意思是“别的，不同的，另外的，另外一种的”，跟 other 的意思基本相同。otherwise 表示“与白宫不一致的、另外其他的（东西）”含义。

意思是：白宫声称，它可以让政府不认可的任何其他合法的州法律失效。

3. He was thirty-six, his youth had passed like a screaming eagle, leaving him old and disillusioned.

这句话出自史沫特莱所著的记述朱德生平的《伟大的道路》，按理来说应该是很权威的，但是这句话为什么有两个主句啊？

【答】我查了一下原句，确实是这个样子。是啊，两个单句之间用了逗号而没有连词，是不规范的书面语。我觉得，可能是印刷方面的失误。因为这本书稿年代久远，排版时出现错误也是完全可能的。如果是两个并列句，不用连词时，原则使用分号。我试着修改一下：

He was thirty-six, and his youth had passed like a screaming eagle, leaving him old and disillusioned.

He was thirty-six; his youth had passed like a screaming eagle, leaving him old and disillusioned.

这句话应该是朱老总本人的回忆，表达了他非常谦逊的品格和壮志未酬的感叹。不是作者的评价。