What motivated him, we were to understand, was his zeal for “fundamental fairness”—protecting the taxpayer, controlling spending and ensuring that only the most deserving claimants received their benefits. (2014 Text 1)
重点词汇：motivate, understand, fundamental, fairness, ensure, deserve
重点短语：zeal for
解析：“we were to understand”为插入语，主语为一个完整的句子，即主语从句“What motivated him”，谓语为“was”，宾语为由“his zeal for “fundamental fairness””,破折号后为对前文的解释说明，为三个动词现在分词的并列构成的并列结构，分别是“protecting the taxpayer”“ controlling spending ”和“ensuring that only the most deserving claimants received their benefits”。
翻译：我们应该理解，促使他这样做的是他对“基本公平”的热情——保护纳税人，控制开支，确保只有最值得的申请人才能得到他们的福利。