第五节　翻译实践

一、选择下列句子的最佳译文

1.These hospitals expenses made inroads on my savings.

（A）医院的这些费用严重地消耗了我的积蓄。

（B）我住院花的这些费用用掉了我的积蓄。

（C）这些住院费耗掉了我大部分积蓄。

2.When it came to reading,they were as good as blind.

（A）来读书时，他们和瞎子一样好。

（B）一拿起书本，他们可都成了瞎子。

（C）说到读书，他们可都是瞎子。

3.The new leaders may be better educated,more technologically inclined,and more cosmopolitan.

（A）这些新的领导人可能接受教育的层次更好，技术上更有天赋，更能以四海为家。

（B）这些新的领导人可能接受教育的层次更高，技术上更有天赋，见多识广。

（C）这些新的领导人可能知识层次更高，技术上更有天赋，胸襟更为宽广。

4.In some poverty-striken areas now,not a few people are found failing to achieve food security.

（A）现在在一些贫困地区，还有相当多的人被发现未能达到食物安全。

（B）现在在一些地区，相当数量的人仍还没有解决温饱问题。

（C）现在在一些贫困地区，相当数量的人仍然没有解决温饱问题。

5.Watching television,of course,is an evening ritual for people throughout the world.

（A）晚上看电视当然已成了人们的习惯，全世界都如此。

（B）晚上看电视当然已成了全世界人民的习惯。

（C）晚上看电视当然已成了全世界人民的仪式。

6.His words are worth taking with a grain of salt.

（A）他的话不能全信，应该打些折扣。

（B）他的话值得持保留看法。

（C）他的话值得不全信。

7.Everyone of us,eacept my poor hoodwinked grandmother,heard of the bad news.

（A）我们每一个人，除了我那可怜的受欺骗的奶奶，都得知了这个不幸的消息。

（B）除了我那可怜的受其欺骗的奶奶，我们大家都得知了这一不幸的消息。

（C）我们大家都得知了这一不幸的消息，只有我那可怜的奶奶还蒙在鼓里。

8.It was quite a few years before he finally finished his novel.

（A）过了好几年他才终于写完了这本小说。

（B）在他最后完成这本小说之前，已经是好几年了。

（C）在他最终完成这本小说之前，又是好几年了。

9.A pretext was the last thing that Peter was likely to want.

（A）彼得好像不需要什么借口。

（B）彼得好像需要最后的借口。

（C）彼得可能想要的最后一件东西就是借口。

10.Of many thousand spare parts does not come up to the standard but one.

（A）在成千上万个备件中，除了一个备件不合格，其他没有一个不合格。

（B）在成千上万个备件中，只发现一个不合格。

（C）在成千上万个备件中，就一个合格。

二、将下列各句译成汉语，注意区别英汉之间翻译的差异

1.The burning question of my childhood had been richly answered.（ ①把burning从定语位置上分离出来； ②译为主动句）

2.We feel sure that you will be prepared to accept settlement on the $0.40 basis as this is normal practice on all sales of Frozen Rabbit.（译成原因状语）

3.The pursuit of science withdraws interest from external things.（把pursuit译为动词；而且要译出它内含的“原因”。）

4.He found a book especially useful and relaxing during the periods of waiting which all of us experience daily-waiting for meal,buses,doctors,hair-cuts,telephone calls,dates,performances to begin,or something to happen.（把定语从句分开来译）

5.The normal pattern of eye contact when two people are engaged in conversation is that the speaker only looks at the listener from time to time,in order to assure himself that the latter is listening and grasping what is being said.（pattern不一定非要译出；what is being said要实译，而且译成主动式。）

6.We have been in touch with our legal advisers on this matter,and they have informed us that we are not legally responsible for any claims you might bring us.（分译法）

7.I would be grateful if you could telephone or fax me to let me know the date.（逆序法）

8.I am pleased to inform you that the dispute has not been settled and we should be back to normal production within a few days.（顺序法）

9.Either party may terminate this contarct if the other party fails to fulfill or perform any of its obligations hereunder in the event that such failure remains unremedied sixty days after the service of a written note by the party to the defaulting party specifying the failure in question and requiring it to be remedied.（变序法）

10.As the darling of the world investment community,the “tiger economies” of Asia pegged their currencies to the dollar as an easy way to curb inflation,borrowed short to fund long-term megaprojects and expected high growth for ever as a birth-right.（darlings在这里应变通，如译成“宠儿”。“tiger economies” of Asia应译成“亚洲四小龙经济体”）。

三、将下篇英文翻译成中文

We all know studying English is hard,and it takes years,if not decades,to master it.Wouldn’t it be wonderful if there were some way to fool people into thinking your English was perfect,without going through all that hard work? I’d like to share with my Chinese friends some tricks that I’ve developed over the course of the past few years for the purpose of fooling Chinese people into thinking my Chinese is perfect.Though these techniques were developed for Chinese,I find that they also work well for Chinese people trying to learn English.Just master these few simple tricks,and your English will improve overnight!

1.First,learn to speak English.Nonsense,you say.Yes,I’m joking,of course.But seriously,these tricks will work only if you have at least the basics of English.And a good accent is the first requirement,since it will get you 90% of the way.If your pronunciation—especially of vowels—is accurate,English speakers will be willing to ignore little mistakes in grammar and the strange vocabulary you might use.

2.Adopt a relaxed,unhurried speaking style,so that people will assume your reaction time is naturally slow.You don’t have to appear stupid(though this has certain advantages),but it helps to have people assume you’re the type of person who thinks about each sentence carefully before speaking.This gives you time to think.It’s better for others to assume you’re a bit slow,rather than to realize how wretched your English is.

3.Let the other person supply the word you need.The way you accomplish this is simply to hesitate before uttering some crucial word—a word that you may not be sure of—but which should be obvious to any native speaker based on the context.The listener,perfectly aware of what you want to say and impatient for you to get on with the conversation,will prompt you or provide you with a usable word.Try to time it so that you repeat the word a second after they say it,so that it seems as if you too were about to say that exact word.This will make them feel good,because it will make them feel they are smarter than you are.

Okay,that’s about all.This should give you a good start.Remember this important principle in life:the appearance of ability is more important than actual ability itself.If they think you can do it,you’ve got the job.If they don’t think you can do it,it doesn’t matter what your actual ability is.So learn to fake it,and you’ll go much further than your hard-working friends.