250. But those captured were anything but terrorists, most of them illegal immigrants from Central or South America.

译文

被逮捕的并非恐怖主义者，其中大多数是来自中美与南美的非法移民。

点睛

本句的主干是those were anything but terrorists。过去分词captued为代词those的后置定语，两者为被动关系；most of them illegal immigrants from Central or South America对主语those起到了补充说明的作用，其中them指代的就是those，这句还可以替换为非限制性定语从句：most of whom were illegal immigrants from Central or South America。

anything but的意思是“决不，根本不”，属于肯定形式表达否定含义的情况。如：

The bridge is anything but safe. 这桥一点也不安全。

考点归纳

其他肯定形式表达否定含义的短语还有：

far from意为“远非……，完全不”。如：

His plan is far from satisfactory. 他的计划完全无法令人满意。

the last＋名词＋to不定式／从句，意为“最不……”。如：

That is the last thing to happen. 那是最不可能发生的事。

fail to意为“无法”。如：

We failed to negotiate with them. 我们无法与他们协商。

be free from意为“没有不”。如：

I was free from work last week. 我上个星期没有上班。

let alone意为“更别说，更谈不上”。如：

I never know him, let alone his family. 我从不认识他，更别提他的家人了。

in vain意为“徒劳，无法办到”。如：

She tried to find out the truth, but in vain. 她试图找出真相，但没做到。