英语长句求教大神指点一二itmadegoodsensetothousandsofpeasantfamiliestoineffeceworkful-timeatwhattheyhadbeenabletodoonlypart-timepreviouslybecauseoftherequirementtoworkforthegovernment:growriceforthemark

Question

英语长句求教大神指点一二
it made good sense to thousands of peasant families to in effece work
ful-time at what they had been able to do only part-time previously
because of the requirement to work for the government:grow rice for the
marketplace
这句话里的at what they had been able to do only part-time previously 修饰哪一个部分?

Answer 1

it made good sense to thousands of peasant families to in effect work ful-time at what they had been able to do only part-time previously because of the requirement to work for the government:grow rice for the marketplace
对于成千上万的农民家庭来说,相对以前因为政府的徭役而只能兼职种田,现在能基本上全职为市场提供稻米而耕种当然更有意义.
这里的 “what they had been able to do only part-time previously because of the requirement to work for the government” 是个同位语从句,它和冒号后面的 “grow rice for the marketplace" 是同位关系.what 前的 at 应该和前面的 work 构成 "work at" 短语.