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大学英语翻译教程
1.8.1.4 四、长城的修建
四、长城的修建

【翻译原文】

建造长城(the Great Wall)是为了防御来自蒙古(Mongolia)的北方人侵者。多年来,人们已经建造了一些较矮小的城墙,但是秦始皇(Qin Shi Huang)决定建造一座巨大的城墙来保卫他北边的疆土。长城始建于秦朝,后续的朝代进行继续建造。后来,明朝重建了长城。我们今天所说的长城绝大部分都是明朝建造的。长城是由农民、奴隶、犯人以及皇帝决定惩罚的人建造的。

【精彩译文】

The Great Wall was built to defend against the northern invaders from Mongolia.Smaller and shorterwalls had been builtover the years,while Qin ShiHuang decided to build a single giant wall to protect his northern borders.The construction of the GreatWall started in the Qin Dynasty and the following dynasties continued to work on it.Later,the Ming Dynasty rebuilt the wall.Most parts of the so-called GreatWall today were built in the Ming Dynasty.The wallwas built by peasants,slaves,criminals,and other people that the emperor decided to punish.