翻译例句点评
★(94-74) Galileo' s greatest glory was //that in 1609 he was the first person to turn the newly invented telescope on the heavens to prove //that the planets revolve around the sun rather than around the Earth. 伽利略最伟大的成就是,1609年,他第一个把新发明的望远镜对准太空,以证明行星围绕太阳转,而不是围绕地球转。
【分析:】两个由that引导的名词性从句,第一个充当本句表语,第二个充当宾语。
Glory一词要根据语境选择词义。此处,解释为“光荣,荣誉”明显不合适,应理解为“贡献,成就”。Invented一词为过去分词充当前置定语。Turn ...on把...对准.rather than而非(重点关注的短语)
★(95-71 )The target is wrong, for in attacking the tests, critics divert attention form the fault //that lies with ill-informed or incompetent users. 【参考译文】把标准化测试作为抨击目标是错误的,因为在抨击这些测试的过程当中,批评者们忽略了由于使用者所获信息不全或能力有限所造成的错误。
【分析:】that 引导定于从句,表示因果关系,由于ill-informed, in compentent所以出现了fault.
the target指的是上文的the standardized educational or psychological tests that are widely used ... have been the target of recent attacks...所以翻译时可将其指代内容具体化出来。
Attack一词根据语境选择词义翻译为“抨击”。Divert attention from 把注意力从...转移开来,没有注意到。Ill-informed与well-informed 相反。根据本文第二句话how well the predications will be validated by later performance depends upon the amount, reliability, and appropriateness of the information used, 可见信息在标准化测试中占有很重要的地位,ill-informed恰恰说明作为评价基础的信息出了问题,翻译为“信息不全”。
★(95-73) [Whether to use tests. other kinds of information, or both in a particular situation] //depends, therefore, upon the evidence from experience concerning comparative validity ///and upon such factors as cost and availability.因此,究竟是使用测试,其他种类的信息,还是在特定情况下两者都使用,不但取决于关于相对效度的感性证据,而且还取决于诸如成本和可获得性这样的因素。
★(96-73)This seems mostly effectively done // by supporting a certain amount of research [not related to immediate goals /but of possible consequence in the future]. [参考译文] 给某些与当前目标无关但将来可能产生影响的科研以支持,看来通常能有效地解决这一问题。
【分析:】本句中的seems相当于is, 构成了被动语态,因为出现了by, 采用“主语转换法”翻译。后置定语related部分可以前置也可加词留在原地翻译。另外一种译文 – 在大多数情况下,通过支持一定数量的研究似乎可以有效地结局这一问题。这些研究与直接目标无关,但在未来可能产生影响。
Mostly一词注意相当于 in most cases. 不能理解为most effectively。
★(98-71) But even more important, it was the farthest// that scientists had been able to look into the past, //for [what they were seeing] //were the patterns and structures //that existed 15 billion years ago. 但是,更为重要的是,这是科学家们所能观测到的最遥远的未来,因为他们所看到的是存在于150亿光年前的天体结构。
【分析:】这句话的难点在于句式的理解,很多人将it was the farthest that 中间that引导的句子理解为定语从句,其实这里是强调句型。判断这两个句型的区别在于-- that在从句中是否充当成分。另外,在强调句型中the farthest可以还原回从句中构成 -- scientists had been able to look into the farthest past 这样的句子。反之,通过对其中the farthest用it was ... that这样的强调句型进行强调,就构成了试题中的句子。
从语义上理解,也说得通,这句话先对farthest进行强调,后一句解释原因,-- 为什么说是最遥远的未来呢,因为那是存在于150亿光年前的结构嘛。
本句子中定语从句短小,前置即可。
★(98-72) The existence of the giant clouds was virtually required for the Big Bang,[first put forward in the 1920s,] to maintain its reign as the dominant explanation of the cosmos.宇宙大爆炸理论,首创于20世纪20年代,要想维护其主流宇宙起源论的支配地位,巨大云团的存在实际上是必不可少的。
【分析:】##is required for sth to do sth的特殊句式不是很好翻译。如:Food is required for man to be alive.翻译时从for 后面的逻辑主语起翻 “人要想生存必须有食物”,套用这个格式,上面的句子就不攻自破了。
至于[]号中的put 部分,为过去分词作后置定语,翻译时可以前置翻译为“首创于20世纪20年代的宇宙大爆炸理论,”或保留原位置不动。
Explanation翻译为“解释”明显不好,于是根据前后搭配翻译为“论,说”。
virtually实际上。
★(98-75) Odd though it sounds, //cosmic inflation is a scientifically plausible consequence of some respected ideas in elementary particle physics, //and many astrophysicists have been convinced for the better part of a decade //that it is true.虽然听起来很奇特,宇宙膨胀说是基本粒子物理学当中一些公认的理论在科学上看似可信的推论,而许多天体物理学家七八年来一直对此深信不疑。
【分析:】odd though it sounds是倒装结构,正常语序为—though it sounds odd, 类似的句子如fat as she is, she is quite charming!
Inflation,consequence, respected ideas, 都需要根据上下文选择恰当的表达方式,分别译为 – 宇宙膨胀论/说/学说, 推论, 公认理论,不可译为“结果,受人尊敬的观点”等。
For the better part of a decade中文中没有这个表达方式,“大半个十年”自然只好翻译为“七八年”了。
★(2000-71)Under modern conditions, this requires varying measures of centralized control and hence the help of specialized scientists such as economists and operational research experts[参考译文]在现代条件下,这需要采取不同的中央控制措施,从而就需要获得诸如经济学和运筹学等领域专家的协助。
【分析:】this 主语,require谓语, measures和the help共同充当宾语。
Operational research experts为术语,因此,即使不翻译成标准的“运筹学专家”,字对字直接翻译未“操作研究专家”也不会扣分。
(2001-72) Children will play with dolls equipped with personality chips, //computers with in-built personalities will be regarded as workmates rather than tools, //relaxation will be in front of smell-television, //and digital age will have arrived. [参考译文]儿童将与装有个性化芯片的玩具娃娃玩耍,具有个性内置的计算机将被视为工作伙伴而不是工具,人们将在气味电视机前休闲,届时数字化时代就来到了。
【分析:】这个句式很有汉语特点,几个简单句用逗号连接并列出现,实在少见。
Equipped一词为过去分词作后置定语,翻译时可以前置。In-built personalities翻译为根据上下文,加词翻译为“内置个性芯片”,因为“性格”
没有办法内置。
本句翻译还应该注意事态的问题,尤其will have arrived, 表示前三个将来状态发生时,第四个状态已经发生,“届时,数字化的时代将已经到来了”。
★(2002-61) One difficulty is // that almost all of [what is called behavioral science ]continues to trace behavior to states of mind, feelings, traits of character, human nature, and so on. 难题之一在于所谓的行为科学几乎全都依然从心态、情感、性格特征、人性等方面去寻找行为的根源。
【分析:】that引导表语从句,名词从句翻译原则为留在原地不动。本句话的难点在于几个术语词定名表达,state of mind心态, traits of character性格特征等。Trace...to追本求源,追溯。
★(2002-62) The behavioral sciences have been slow to change //partly because the explanatory items often seem to be directly observed // and partly because other kinds of explanations have been hard to find. 行为科学之所以发展缓慢,部分原因是用来解释行为的依据似乎往往是直接观察到的,部分原因是其他的解释方式一直难以找到。
【分析:】两个原因状语从句并列出现。难点在于explanatory items, explanations需要根据上下文翻译为 -- 解释依据, 解释方式。这个主要需要根据动宾搭配来推断,observed到的用来explain的当然是“解释依据”。
2003翻译题未讲部分
(61)Furthermore, humans have the ability to modify the environment // in which they live, thus subjecting all other life forms to their own peculiar ideas and fancies.
[分析]划线部分为主句,in which引导定语从句修饰先行词the environment, subjecting…为分词作结果状语。
Furthermore翻译为递进关系都算对,modify改进,定从前置,subject…to…使…服从于
[翻译]再者,人类有能力改进自己的生存环境,从而使其他的生命形式臣服于自己独特的想法和想象。
(62)Social science is that branch of intellectual enquiry/ which seeks to study humans and their endeavors in the same reasoned, orderly, systematic, and dispassioned manner/ that natural scientists use for the study of natural phenomena.
[分析]动词为红笔部分,按照蓝色的标志词切分。Which引导的是大定从,内套了that引导的小定从。Which指代intellectual enquiry, 用“它”替代.
这句话中的抽象词翻译为难点。intellectual enquiry其中enquiry 为“探索”不能翻译为“询问”,endeavor为“行为”不能为“努力”,dispassioned为褒义词,“冷静的”
[翻译]社会科学是知识探索的一个分支,它寻求用理性、有序、系统、冷静的方式来研究人类及其行为,自然科学家用同样的方式研究自然现象。
(64)Tylor defined culture as “…that complex whole // which includes belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society.”
[分析]划线部分为过去分词作后置定语表示被动语态,放在belief或any other capabilities前翻译都算对。Which引导定语从句,修饰complex whole.
[翻译]泰勒将文化定义为一个复合体,它包含人作为社会成员所获得的信仰、艺术、道德、法律、习俗,以及其他各种能力和习惯。
(65)Thus, the anthropological concept of “culture,” like the concept of “set”in mathematics, is an abstract concept/ which makes possible immense amounts of concrete research and understanding.
[分析] make sth possible是正常顺序,文中immense amounts of concrete research and understanding倒装了,正常应该说makes immense amounts of concrete research and understanding possible.
[翻译] 因此,人类学中“文化”的感念,如同数学中“集合”的概念一样,是一个抽象概念,它使得无数的具体研究和认知成为可能。