六、本章练习

Passage 1

本文是关于大学历史系学生所需具备的写作能力的介绍，全文通俗易懂，翻译时也应注意措辞。

I find the language skills acquired fromhistory classes highly relevant in the real world．Because of the broad spectrumof subjects that history encompasses—political events，social changes，intellectual and artistic movements，etc—the student ofhistory has to command a wide vocabulary to describe and analyze these different subjects．For my history classes，I wrote papers on the military strategy that Athens and Sparta employed in the Persian War，the autobiography of the medieval philosopher Abelard，Russian peasant uprisings in the 1860s，the environmental crisis in the early Qing Dynasty，and numerous other topics．Intensive reading，writing，and discussion forced me to absorb and master new vocabulary and rhetorical tactics at a rapid pace．And happily，many historians are excellent stylists．Their precise and supple use of English makes their books models of English expository prose at its best．

Writing well is a fine skill，but is it important?Yes，very!Many companies that came to recruit at Yale，including most of the well-known Wall Street finance and consulting firms，made no secret of their preference for candidates with solid writing skills．Each year these firms hire a large number of new graduates with majors such as history，English，and political science，but no formal finance or business education．Curiously，the undergraduate economics or finance curriculumat elite private universities such as Yale，Harvard and Princeton has a strong theoretical bent and is not immediately applicable to a career in a private firm．Indeed，most elite universities don't even have an undergraduate business program．In the US one of the most influential and lucrative professions is law，a field in which writing skills are indispensable．Not surprisingly，law school is one of themost popular destinations for Yale gradsmajoring in history．

Passage 2

本文是关于中国汉字、绘画的介绍，其中有一些固定用法与表达，在翻译前应该查阅相关资料。

中国汉字是从图画、符号逐渐演变形成的，汉字的书写和发展过程导致了书法艺术的产生。中国历代都有大书法家，其书法艺术和风格成为所在朝代书法的典型代表。人们对书法的喜爱一直流传到今天。

不同于西方的油画，中国的传统绘画有其独特的表现形式。距今六七千年前新石器时代绘于陶器上的图画，是中国最早的绘画作品。由于最早的绘画和写字均使用同样的工具，并且都是以线条为主，故有“书画同源”之说。中国传统绘画作品一般都有题诗或题字，诗、书、画因而汇合成一个艺术整体，予人以更加丰厚的美学内涵。人物画、山水画和花鸟画均为传统绘画的重要画种，历代留下的此类绘画尤见传神。

当代中国的书法与绘画相当活跃。中国美术馆等艺术馆长年不断举办个人画展或联展;中国画每年都走出国门，到日本、韩国、美国、加拿大和欧洲等地展览。除中国画外，油画、版画、水彩画等西洋绘画在中国也得到了发展。部分画家将国画与西洋画技法糅合在一起进行创作，使画坛呈现出风格多样的艺术作品。

Passage 3

本文是经济学方面的介绍，文章用简单易懂的语言介绍经济学常识，译者在翻译时也应注意用易懂的语言解释复杂的经济现象。

The word economy comes from the Greek word for“one who manages a household”．At first，this origin might seempeculiar．But，in fact，households and economies have much in common．

A household faces many decisions．It must decide which members of the household do which tasks and what each member gets in return:Who cooks dinner? Who does the laundry?Who gets the extra dessertat dinner?Who gets to choose what TV show to watch?In short，the household must allocate its scarce resources among its various members，taking into account each member's abilities，efforts，and desires．

Like a household，a society faces many decisions．A society must decide what jobs will be done and who will do them．It needs some people to grow food，other people to make clothing，and still others to design computer software．Once society has allocated people(as well as land，buildings，and machines)to various jobs，it must also allocate the output of goods and services that they produce．Itmust decide who will eat caviar and who will eat potatoes．Itmust decide who will drive a Porsche and who will take the bus．

The management of society's resources is important because resources are scarce．Scarcity means that society has limited resources and therefore cannot produce all the goods and services people wish to have．Just as a household cannotgive every member everything he or she wants，a society cannot give every individual the highest standard of living to which he or she might aspire．

Economics is the study of how society manages its scarce resources．In most societies，resources are allocated not by a single central planner but through the combined actions ofmillions of households and firms．Economists therefore study how people make decisions:howmuch they work，what they buy，howmuch they save，and how they invest their savings．Economists also study how people interactwith one another．For instance，they examine how themultitude of buyers and sellers of a good together determine the price at which the good is sold and the quantity that is sold．Finally，economists analyze forces and trends that affect the economy as a whole，including the growth in average income，the fraction of the population that cannot find work，and the rate at which prices are rising．

Passage 4

本文是关于中国气候特点的介绍，其中出现了很多该领域常用的词汇，译者在翻译前应该有所准备和积累。

中国是最易受气候变化不利影响的国家之一，其影响主要体现在农牧业、林业、自然生态系统、水资源和海岸带等。

对农牧业的影响

气候变化对中国农牧业生产的负面影响已经显现，农业生产不稳定性增加;局部干旱高温危害严重;因气候变暖引起农作物发育期提前而加大早春冻害;草原产量和质量有所下降;气象灾害造成的农牧业损失增大。

未来气候变化对农牧业的影响仍以负面影响为主。小麦、水稻和玉米三大作物均可能以减产为主。农业生产布局和结构将出现变化;土壤有机质分解加快;农作物病虫害出现的范围可能扩大;草地潜在荒漠化趋势加剧;原火灾发生频率将呈增加趋势;畜禽生产和繁殖能力可能受到影响，畜禽疫情发生风险加大。

对森林和其他自然生态系统的影响

气候变化对中国森林和其他生态系统的影响主要表现在:东部亚热带、温带北界北移，物候期提前;部分地区林带下限上升;山地冻土海拔下限升高，冻土面积减少;全国动植物病虫害发生频率上升，且分布变化显著;西北冰川面积减少，呈全面退缩的趋势;冰川和积雪的加速融化使绿洲生态系统受到威胁。

Passage 5

本文是关于贫富差距的介绍，其中出现了一些简单的数字，译者在听的过程中应注意对数字的记录和处理。

Another non-nefarious cause of increasing income disparity may be our everhigher immigration rates．Immigrants tend to cluster in low-and high-income groups．Thus it is no surprise that in the seven most unequal states—New York，Arizona，NewMexico，Louisiana，California，Rhode Island and Texas—about 13 percent of the population is foreign-born(in California，it's25 percent)．Among the seven states with the smallest income disparities，the immigrant population is only 3.8 percent．

The shift away frommanufacturing is also a factor．Service workers span the gamut fromhotelmaids to brain surgeons，while the pay range is generally narrower in the manufacturing sector．States that are industrial tend to have more equal distributions of income．Data fromthe Bureau of Labor Statistics show that about 10 percent of workers in Arizona，Louisiana and New York have manufacturing jobs，whereas in more equal states like Indiana and Wisconsin the figure is 23 percent．

Also，in the seven states with the greatest income inequality，more than 80 percent of the population lives in or near metropolitan areas．In states with the most equality，only about half does．If we were to turn back the clock 100 years and again become a largely rural nation，we might not see such large income disparities，but that's because America's cities are our engines of wealth and offer greater prospects for those who succeed．

Inequality is not inequity．Artificial efforts to try to curb wealth gaps invariably do more harmthan good．Heavier taxationmight narrow the division between rich and poor，but it would be a hollow triumph if it stifled the economy．What Americans ought to care most about is maintaining our growth，not the red herring of gaps in income and wealth．

Passage 6

本文是关于礼仪方面的介绍，其中有不少解释性的语句，翻译时应注意意思表达的连贯性和准确性。

羞耻这个概念，通常被表达为“面子”。在中文中的大致含义是“地位”或者“自尊”，这和外国人的观念并不相同。在中国，最糟糕的事莫过于失了面子。所以，千万不要对一个中国人进行侮辱、羞辱或者对其大吼，让其尴尬等。因为这样会让他感觉到失了面子。千万不要证明某人错了，或者在公共场合对其吼叫。为了能有效地传达意见而不让中国人丢了面子，任何的批评都应该私下传递，而且方式要巧妙而谨慎。否则，你将事与愿违。

纵观中国的历史，维系社会的一个基本粘合剂就是关系这个概念，也就是人与人之间的关联。对中国人来说，有良好的关系是十分重要的。他们往往将拥有良好的社会关系看成一个人能力和影响力的象征。一个毫无关系的人将会被轻视，而且最多只能算半个中国人。

客气并不只是包含考虑周详、礼貌文雅和举止端庄，它还表现为谦逊和谨慎。对自己或者自己的圈内人表达的傲慢或者自夸都是不礼貌的。表达的时候通常要以否定的形式，比如“不要客气”，意思是“你不必对我这么关心、礼貌”或“不用谢”。

Passage 7

本文是关于市场的介绍，属于经济类学术翻译，要求译者平时对此类内容有所涉猎。

Although markets are usually a good way to organize economic activity，this rule has some important exceptions．There are two broad reasons for a government to intervene in the economy:to promote efficiency and to promote equity．That is，most policies aimeither to enlarge the economic pie or to change how the pie is divided．

The invisible hand usually leads markets to allocate resources efficiently．Nonetheless，for various reasons，the invisible hand sometimes does not work．Economists use the term“market failure”to refer to a situation in which the market on its own fails to allocate resources efficiently．

One possible cause of market failure is an externality．An externality is the impact of one person's actions on the well-being of a bystander．The classic example of an external cost is pollution．If a chemical factory does not bear the entire cost of the smoke it emits，it will likely emit too much．Here，the government can raise economic well-being through environmental regulation．The classic example of an external benefit is the creation of knowledge．When a scientist makes an important discovery，he produces a valuable resource that other people can use．In this case，the government can raise economic well-being by subsidizing basic research，as in fact it does．

Another possible cause ofmarket failure ismarket power．Market power refers to the ability of a single person(or small group of people)to unduly influence market prices．For example，suppose that everyone in town needs water but there is only one well．The owner of the well has market power—in this case a monopoly—over the sale ofwater．The well owner is not subject to the rigorous competition with which the invisible hand normally keeps self-interest in check．You will learn that，in this case，regulating the price that the monopolist charges can potentially enhance economic efficiency．

Passage 8

本文是关于多媒体的介绍，其中涉及不少专业术语，这就要求译者注意译前准备和平时的积累。

多媒体是计算机和视频技术的结合，实际上它是两个媒体;声音和图像，或者用现在的术语:音频和视频。多媒体本身有两个方面。和所有现代技术一样，它是由硬件和软件，或机器和思想混合组成。可以将多媒体技术和功能在概念上区分为控制系统和信息。多媒体之所以能够实现是依靠数字技术。多媒体代表数字控制和数字媒体的汇合，电脑是数字控制系统，而数字媒体是当今音频和视频最先进的存储和传播形式。事实上，有人就简单地认为多媒体是电脑和电视的结合。电脑的能力达到实时处理电视和声音数据流的水平，这时多媒体就诞生了。多媒体电脑需要具有比主流电脑更强的能力，多媒体电脑决定了主流电脑的发展。区别普通电脑和多媒体电脑的主要东西是声卡和只读光盘驱动器。光盘是多媒体的主要存储和交换媒体。没有这种方便的光盘，电脑工业就无法销售构成多媒体节目的几百兆字节的音频、视频和文字数据，你也无法买到多媒体。