But even he was unable to discover how long the gorilla lives,or how or why it dies,nor was he able to define the exact social patterns of the family groups,or indicate the final extent of their intelligence.
答案:
要点:本句前半句中or how or why it dies位于表示否定意义的unable后,相当于and he was unable to discover how it dies and he was unable to discover why it dies,翻译时将这里的or译为“以及”,更合乎汉语习惯。后半句中nor后面的or不宜译为“或者”,而应将or indicate译为“也未能说明”。nor was he...为倒装结构。