4.2　课后习题详解

课内练习　句子翻译

1. 优劣判断

1) If you learn to read the signs, you can tell whether what a person says is what he really means, or whether, like the mail whose stomach does not move when he laughs, he is trying to deceive you.

【译文1】如果你学会理解这些姿势，你就会分辨出一个人是否口是心非，是否像那种“笑里藏刀”的人在试图蒙蔽你。

【译文2】如果你学会理解这些姿势，你就分辨出一个人说的是否是他真正想表达的意思，或者他是否像那种大笑时肚子却不动的人在试图蒙蔽你。

【译文3】如果你学会理解这些姿势，你就能分辨出一个人所说的话是否是他真正要表达的东西，是否是那种“笑里藏刀”的人试图蒙蔽你。

【答案】译文1

2) As to the precise value of this initial fund of knowledge, this depends to a great degree on how it has been acquired and on who has been imparting it.

【译文1】至于这种最初积累起来的知识有多大确切的价值，这在很大程度上取决于它是如何得到的，取决于是谁一直在传授它。

【译文2】至于这种最初积累起来的知识有什么确切的价值，这在很大程度上取决于它是怎么获得的和什么人一直在传授。

【译文3】至于这种最初积累起来的知识有多少确切的价值，这在很大程度上取决于获得知识的方法和传授知识的人。

【答案】译文3

3) You are posted in what had preceded all this, but I was not.

【译文1】你现在是知道了这以前的事情的，可是我当时并不知道。

【译文2】你现在已了解了发生在这以前的事，可当时我并不知道。

【译文3】你现在已经明白了这件事的全部原委，但我当时却全然不知。

【答案】译文2

4) The danger of a recession in world trade that could hit all countries cannot be ignored, but it would bear most heavily on the weakest partners in the world economy.

【译文1】损害所有国家的世界贸易衰退的危险是不能忽视的，但受害最深的是在世界经济中最弱的那些伙伴。

【译文2】不能忽视世界贸易衰退的危险，因为它冲击所有的国家。但是更值得引起注意的是：受害最深的是在世界经济中最弱的那些伙伴。

【译文3】能够冲击所有国家的世界贸易衰退是不能被忽视的，但受害最深的是在世界经济中最弱的那些伙伴。

【答案】译文2

5) If you would know the value of money, go and try to borrow some; for he that goes a borrowing goes a suffering.

【译文1】要想知道钱的价值，就得体验一下借钱的滋味；因为开口向人借钱总是不好受的。

【译文2】要想知道钱的价值，就得体会一下借钱的滋味；因为谁去借钱都受苦。

【译文3】要想知道钱的价值，就得体会一下借钱的滋味；因为那个去借钱的人会吃苦头。

【答案】译文1

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

【译文1】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。

【译文2】在成千上万个备件中，只发现一个不合格。

【译文3】在成千上万个备件中，就一个合格。

【答案】译文2

7) Very few will doubt that it is science which has at once quickened the demand for general education in modern times and the education itself effective.

【译文1】很少有人将会怀疑：是科学已经立即加快了对现代普及教育的要求，而且教育本身要有效。

【译文2】现在几乎没有人会怀疑：科学不仅要求当今时代的教育普及要加快步伐，而且要求教育本身也应提高效率。

【译文3】绝大多数人将会意识到：由于科学高速发展，当今时代的教育普及必须加快步伐，而且对教育本身也提出了增效要求。

【答案】译文2

8) For the man sound in body and serene of mind there is no such thing as bad weather; every sky has its beauty, and storms which whip the blood do but make it pulse more vigorously.

【译文1】对于一个身体健全、精神平静的人来说，没有什么坏天气，每一个天空都有其美丽，激荡血液的暴风雨只会使血液更有力的流淌。

【译文2】对于一个身体健全、精神平静的人来说，是没有坏天气的；无论什么样的天气都有其美丽的一面。譬如说暴风雨可以激励血液流淌，可以使脉搏跳动得更加活跃。

【译文3】对于一个身体健全、神志安详的人来说，根本不存在什么坏天气；在他看来，无论什么样的天气都有其美好的一面，譬如说暴风雨，它可以激荡血液的流淌，振奋一个人的精神。

【答案】译文3

9) And he knew how ashamed he would have been if she had known his mother and the kind of place in which he was born, and the kind of people among whom he was born.

【译文1】他知道如果她知道了他的母亲是谁，知道了他出生在这种地方，出生在这一类人中间，那他该是如何的丢人。

【译文2】他知道她要是知道了他的母亲是什么样的人，他出生的地方的种类，他出生在什么样的人中间，他会是如何的丢人。

【译文3】他有着这样的母亲，出生在这样的地方和这样一类人中间。他很清楚，如果这些让她全知道的话，他该多么丢面子！

【答案】译文3

10) I should wish to die while still at work, knowing that others will carry on what I can no longer do, and content in the thought that what was possible has been done.

【译文1】我就希望在工作时死去，知道别人将继续完成自己不能再能做的事，而且想到所有可能做到的事都已经做了，心情很满意。

【译文2】我就希望在工作时死去，知道自己不再能做的事有人会继续下去，并且怀着满意的心情想到，自己能做的事都已做到了。

【译文3】我就希望能在工作时死去。在弥留之际知道自己已经功德圆满并且自己的未竟之业已后继有人，就可以心满意足地离开人间了。

【答案】译文3

2. 范例赏析

1) It is not a question how much a man knows, but what use he can make of what he knows; not a question of what he has acquired, and how he has been trained, but of what he is, and what he can do.

【译文】问题不在一个人知道多少，而在于他能否运用他的知识；问题不在他学的是什么，受怎样的教育，而在于他的人品以及他的能力。

【赏析】这句英文中共用了7个名词性从句，翻译时都译成了具体的指谓。特别是把what he is译为“他的人品”；把what he can do译为“他的能力”，相当精彩。

2) Future does not wait. It becomes present and past with every second that ticks. You have barely time to turn around and already the coming has met the going…what will be is entirely in what has been, and no matter how fast you run, tomorrow is behind you—never ahead.

【译文】未来是不等人的。随着每秒钟的流逝，未来变成了现实，继而又成了往昔。你几乎来不及转身顾盼，来者就变成了逝者……未来的一切全都孕育于现实之中。不论你跑得多快，明天总落在你的身后，绝不会跑到你的前头。

【赏析】把what will be is entirely in what has been译为“未来的一切全都孕育于现实之中”，译得的确不凡。

3) Even his critics say the An]as test—his simple, inexpensive laboratory procedure that helps determine whether a substance might cause cancer—is a remarkable achievement.

【译文】甚至他的批评者们也承认，爱姆兹试验是一项突出的成就。这种试验是在实验室里进行的一种简便、廉价的操作方法，有助于检测出一种物质是否能引起癌症。

【赏析】把定语从句译为谓语结构，读起来很通顺。

4) If we were not too proud to explain ourselves or to ask explanations of others, most of the misunderstandings of life would disappear.

【译文】只要我们不持傲慢态度，凡事多加解释说明，同时也请求别人进行解释，那么生活中的大部分误会将会消除。

【赏析】由于这个句子较长，not too…to的结构不好处理，此结构否定在“形容词”（或副词）上，肯定在“不定式”上，这里译成“凡事多加解释……”，译得很成功。

5) The material destruction of the war not so great but that it could by this time have been repaired, had a good peace been made without delay.

【译文】假如当时立即恢复了和平，战争在物质方面的破坏无论怎样大，到现在也本来能够得到修复了。

【赏析】把not so great but that…译为“……破坏无论怎么大，到现在也本来能够得到修复了”，抓住了内含意义，译得通顺，“可读性”好。

6) I had read too many novels and had learned too much at school not to know a good deal about love, but I thought it was a matter that only concerned young people. I could not conceive that a man with a beard, who had sons as old as I, could have any feelings of that sort.

【译文】我阅读过许多小说，在学校也学到了不少东西，所以对于恋爱的事不会不懂，但我想这只是年轻人的玩意。我认为一个于思老翁是不会有那种情感的，因为他的几个儿子都像我这样的年纪了。

【赏析】由于句子长，对too…not to…的理解与翻译有相当的难度。这句译文译得比较通顺。

7) This is not an easy lesson to learn, especially when we are young-and think that the world is ours to command, that whatever we desire with the full force of our passionate being can, nay, will, be ours.

【译文】这并不是容易学到手的一课。特别是当我们年轻的时候，这一课尤其难学。因为我们在青春时期年轻气盛，认为世界是由我们掌握的，只要我们满腔热情、全力以赴地去追求，不管什么东西都能够得到——不，就一定会得到。

【赏析】此句的翻译难度在when…从句的处理上。这里先把从句所叙述的内容甩开，笼统译为“当年轻的时候，这一课尤其难学”，造成整体语势的紧凑连接，然后再腾出手来专门叙述从句的内容，这里“因为”加得也很巧。这样，译文就显得流畅、易读。

8) If you have wide and keen interests and activities in which you can still be effective, you will have no reason to think about the merely statistical fact of the number of years you have already lived, still less of the probable brevity of your future.

【译文】你要是具有广泛的爱好和强烈的兴趣，而且还有能力参加一些活动，你就没有理由去考虑自己已经活了多少岁这样的具体数字，更没有理由去考虑自己大概很有限的的余年了。

【赏析】译文基本保留了原文的外形，没有把定语从句拆开来译。这种顺译长句的前提是：必须保证表达通畅。

3. 比较与分析

请特别注意划线部分句子的翻译。你同意这样的处理吗？为什么？如果不同意，请提供你的译本。

[原文]

Why do you teach? My friend asked the question when I told him that I didn’t want to be considered for an administrative position. He was puzzled that I did not want what was obviously a “step up” toward what all Americans are taught to want when they grow up: money and power.

Certainly I don’t teach because teaching is easy for me. Teaching is the most difficult of the various ways I have attempted to earn my living: mechanic, carpenter, writer. For me, teaching is a red-eye, sweaty-palm, sinking-stomach profession. Red-eye, because I never feel ready to teach no matter how late I stay up preparing. Sweaty-palm, because I’m always nervous before I enter the classroom, sure that l will be found out for the fool that I am. Sinking-stomach, because I leave the classroom an hour later convinced that I was even more boring than usual.

Nor do I teach because I think I know answers, or because I have knowledge I feel compelled to share. Sometimes I am amazed that my students actually take notes on what I say in class!

【译文】

我告诉—位朋友我不想谋求行政职务时，他向我提出这样一个问题：你为什么要教书呢？美国人受的教育是长大成人后应该去追求金钱和权力，而我却偏偏不朝这个方向“发展”，这使他大惑不解。

当然，我之所以教书并不是因为做教师轻松。为了谋生，我做过各种各样的工作：机修工、木工、作家，可教书是最难的行业。就我而言，教书是个令人熬红眼睛、手掌出汗、精神沮丧的职业。说它是熬红眼睛的职业，是因为我晚上无论备课到多晚，总觉得准备不够充分；说它是令人手掌出汗的职业，是因为我进教室前总是紧张不已，认为学生会发现我原来是个笨蛋；说它是令人精神沮丧的职业，是因为我走出教室一小时后，仍觉得这堂课上得比平常还要平淡无味。

我之所以教书，不是因为我认为自己能够解答问题，也不是因为我满腹经纶，非得与他人分享不可。有时，学生竟把我课上讲的东西做了笔记，这令我感到很惊异！

【答案】同意。因为这里not的否定范围不是动词teach，而是从句because，这种not＋because的结构在书面语中常常有不同的含义，即会产生歧义现象。

4. 段落翻译练习（注意长句的处理）

A recent phenomenon in the choice of careers on the part of college graduates is the increasing trend towards big companies. Few are interested in the research fields. This is an unavoidable problem in a materialistic society, where tempting salaries and fringe benefits are offered by big companies to compete with each other to recruit students before they have completed their studies. On the other hand, as many big enterprises and even government departments tend to concentrate on immediate economic results and show comparatively, little interest in long range research, there is a steady shift of scientists and researchers from the pure research to the applied field, where there are more jobs available with better salaries. All this has not only seriously influenced young people’s view on the choice of careers, but on education as well. Many college teachers deplore that fewer and fewer students these days acquire knowledge only for its own sake.

【答案】最近在高校毕业生择业问题上出现了一种倾向，这就是毕业生越来越青睐大公司，很少有人到研究单位。在崇尚物质的社会里，这是一个不可避免的问题。一方面，学生还没有走出校门，大公司便在竞相聘用他们，向他们提供具有诱惑力的薪水和福利待遇。另一方面，由于许多大企业，甚至包括一些政府部门往往看重直接经济效益，而相对来说，对长期的理论研究不感兴趣。所以研究人员不断地从纯理论研究领域流向实用工业。因为在那里工作就比在研究领域里好找，工资也往往高。这些情况不仅严重影响青年人的择业观，而且还影响教育，许多大学老师哀叹，现在单纯为了学知识而学习的人越来越少了。