银符考试题库-在线练习-(A)上海市高级口译第一阶段笔试英译中文化历史(二)

(A)上海市高级口译第一阶段笔试英译中文化历史(二)

试题1
Yet the U.S. benefited greatly from the colonial strife next door. Broke after its Haitian defeat, France sold a large region to the U.S. for $15 million. The Louisiana Purchase would prove to be one of the most profitable real estate transactions ever made. Napoleon would not have sold his claims except for the courage and obstinate resistance of Haitian inhabitants. It would take six decades for the U.S. to acknowledge Haiti's independence.
Meanwhile, Haiti, burdened by its post-independence isolation and the 100 million francs in payment it was forced to give France for official recognition, began its perilous slide toward turmoil and dependency, resulting in a 19year U.S. occupation and two subsequent in starvations in the past 100 years. Jefferson once presented dire warnings about what might happen to the U.S. political system in a worst-case scenario, but his words turned out to be a more accurate prophecy for America's plundered neighbor: "The spirit of the times ... will alter. Our rulers will become corrupt... The shackles... which shall not be knocked off at the conclusion of war, will remain on long, will be made heavier." Given a fair chance, Haiti could have flourished and prospered. If that had been the case, this year Haiti would celebrating the bicentennial of its independence with fewer and lighter shackles.

1. Yet the U.S. benefited greatly from the colonial strife next door. Broke after its Haitian defeat, France sold a large region to the U.S. for $15 million.

然而美国却从其近邻的殖民地纷争中获利颇丰。法国在海地遭到失败后，把一大块土地以1500万美元的价格卖给了美国。

[解析] strife意为“争吵，冲突”，其同义词有contradiction，conflict，inconsistency，clash等。 contradiction指言语行为自相抵触；conflict指民族、宗教争执冲突或领土争端导致的“矛盾”。“矛盾百出”可译为be full of inconsistencies，上下辈之间的“矛盾”可译为generational clash，“家庭矛盾”则为family/domestic strife，“他们俩闹矛盾”为The two of them have fallen out，“我的心情很矛盾”则为My feelings are mixed。

2. The Louisiana Purchase would prove to be one of the most profitable real estate transactions ever made.

“路易斯安那购地”被证明是以往所有的地产买卖中获利最丰的交易之一。

[解析] real estate根据上下文译为“房地产”或“地产”。表示“地产”的英语词语还有fixed property, immovable property和property assets等。

3. Napoleon would not have sold his claims except for the courage and obstinate resistance of Haitian inhabitants. It would take six decades for the U.S. to acknowledge Haiti's independence.

要不是海地人民的勇气和顽强抵抗，拿破仑是不会出售他拥有的这块土地的。美国在60年之后才承认了海地的独立。

[解析] 本句涉及英语的虚拟语气和词义具体化。except for相当于一个虚拟语气结构，汉译时要译出“要不是”的含义；claims原指“所拥有的权利”，这里根据上下文具体化为“所拥有的土地”。

4. Meanwhile, Haiti, burdened by its post-independence isolation and the 100 million francs in payment it was forced to give France for official recognition, began its perilous slide toward turmoil and dependency, resulting in a 19-year U.S. occupation and two subsequent interventions in the past 100 years.

与此同时，海地独立后受到孤立，并且为了得到法国的正式承认而不得不向其支付一亿法郎，在这种双重压力下，开始急速陷入混乱和附属地位，在过去100年中被美国占领了19年，并遭遇了两次武力干涉。

[解析] 该句为典型的英语形合句，谓语动词短语(began its perilous slide toward turmoil and dependency)的附着部分包括一过去分词短语和一现在分词短语，过去分词短语中还内嵌一定语从句。汉译时采用了拆句方法，把复杂的句式译为松散的汉语小句。其次，要准确理解词义，dependency本义为“依赖”，此处具体化为“附属”；perilous本义为“危险的”，在与slide搭配后可直译为“危险的滑坡”。

5. Jefferson once presented dire warnings about what might happen to the U.S. political system in a worst-case scenario, but his words turned out to be a more accurate prophecy for America's plundered neighbor: "The spirit of the times... will alter. Our rulers will become corrupt... The shackles... which shall not be knocked off at the conclusion of war, will remain on long, will be made heavier."

杰弗逊曾经描绘了美国的政治制度可能面临的最糟糕的前景并就此提出严厉警告，但是他的话结果却成了对受掠夺的美国邻居的准确预测：“时代精神……是会改变的。我们的统治者会变得腐败……在战争结束之时镣铐不会摆脱掉……会继续存在下去，而且会变得更加沉重。”

[解析] 本句前半部分注意措辞和语序，若直译what might happen to the U.S. political system in a worst-case scenario，就是“在最糟糕的前景/情况下美国政体会发生什么”，虽然也可以理解，但终究表意含混，表达拗口；另外还应考虑到汉语叙事的逻辑顺序，先译“警告”的内容，再译“就此提出警告”。

6. Given a fair chance, Haiti could have flourished and prospered. If that had been the case, this year Haiti would be celebrating the bicentennial of its independence with fewer and lighter shackles.

要是能获得公平的机会，海地是可以得到繁荣发展的。要是结果是这样的话，今年就是海地独立200周年纪念日，其镣铐会轻得多、而且镣铐数量远远少得多。

[解析] bicentennial意为二百周年。bi-源于拉丁语，表示“二，两，双，重复”，多与形容词结合，或与词根结合成名词、形容词，如bicyclic双环的，两轮的，binary二，双，复。此外，英语词汇中有许多诸如bi-表示数字的前缀，如下表所示。

前缀	意义	例词
semi-，hemi-，demi-	“半”，“半个”	semi-annual半年一次的，hemisphere半球，demilune半新月


uni-，mono-	“单一”，“同一”	uni-lateral单边的，monopoly垄断
bi-，amph-，ambi-，di-	“两”，“双”，“两倍”	amphibian两栖动植物或水陆两用交通工具，amphiboly 两义，模棱两可，ambidexter左右手都善用的人， diphthong复合元音


trl-	“三个”，“三次”	tricolour三原色，triad三位一体
quadri-，tetra-	“四”，“第四”，“四倍”	quadricycle四轮车，quadrisection四等分，tetragon四边形，tetralogy四部曲


penta-，pent-， quinque-， quinqu-，quin-	“五”，“五个”。“五次”，“五倍”	pentagon五角/边形，pentathlon五项运动，quinquennia 五年，quintet五重唱，quinquepartite有五方参加的

hexa-，hex-，sex-，sexi-	“六”，“六个”	hexahedron六正面体，hexastich六行诗，hexadecima 十六进制


hepta-，hept-，sept-，septi-	“七”，“第七”	septenary以七为基础的，七年，September古罗马七月，septet七重唱/奏


oct-，octo-，octa-	“八”，“八个”，“每八”	octachord八音琴，octastyle八柱式门廊，October古罗马八月，octosyllable八音节词


enne-，ennea-，nona-	“九”，“九个”	enneagon九边形，ennead九个一组，nonagenarian九十多岁的


deca-，deci-	“十”，“十个”	decade十年，decathlon十项全能，decimal十进小数
heeto-，cent-，centi-		hectogram百克，hectometer百米，centenarian百岁老人，centigrade百分度


kilo-，milli-，chili-	“千”，“一千个”	kilometer千米，kilocalorie千卡，millennium千年，千禧年


hecto-	“千”	hectokilosecond十万秒
megalo-，megal-	“特大”，“巨”，“超级”	megaphone扩音器，megalpolis特大城市，megavolt兆伏，megastar超级明星

试题2
The task of writing a history of our nation from Rome's earliest days fills me, I confess, with some misgivings and even were I confident in the value of my work, I should hesitate to say so. I am aware that for historians to make extravagant claims is, and always has been, all too common: Every writer on history tends to look down his nose at his less cultivated predecessors, happily persuaded that he will better them in point of style, or bring new facts to light. Countless others have written on this theme and it may be that I shall pass unnoticed amongst them; if so, I must comfort myself with the greatness and splendor of my rivals, whose work will rob my own of recognition.
My task, moreover, is an immensely laborious one. I shall have to go back more than 700 years, and trace my story from its small beginnings up to these recent times when its ramifications are so vast that any adequate treatment is hardly possible. I shall find antiquity a rewarding study. If only, because while I am absorbed in it, I shall be able to turn my eyes from the troubles, which for so long have tormented the modern world, and to write without any of that over anxious consideration, which may well plague a writer in contemporary life, even if it does not lead him to conceal the truth.

1. The task of writing a history of our nation from Rome's earliest days fills me, I confess, with some misgivings and even were I confident in the value of my work, I should hesitate to say so.

我承认，撰写我们民族自罗马初期以来的历史，使我略怀惴惴之感，即使我对自己著作的价值颇有信心，我也不敢贸然以此自诩。

[解析] I confess在句中作插入语，在一般情况下它处于句首，即其他信息都是I confess的宾语。同时，本句中were I confident in the value of my work是虚拟语气中的倒装结构，表示if I were confident in the value of my work之意，表达出自己对史书编撰的忐忑不安的心情，对自己撰写的史书的价值不敢妄下断言。如译文中没有表达出if的涵义，就偏离了忠实的标准。fill me with misgivings是完整的意群，仅表达作者内心的不安。

2. I am aware that for historians to make extravagant claims is, and always has been, all too common: Every writer on history tends to look down his nose at his less cultivated predecessors, happily persuaded that he will better them in point of style, or bring new facts to light.

我很明白史学家爱唱高调，向来司空见惯。每一位史学编写者往往对前人的工作嗤之以鼻，认为他们缺乏素养，心里暗自得意自己会在风格上有所突破，或取得新的历史发现。

[解析] look down his nose at和汉语的“对……嗤之以鼻”的表达几乎对等，这样的翻译是较轻松的。less cultivated predecessors该怎么表达?“修养不如他们的前辈”?这一带比较级的短语颇体现了英语表达的简洁特点，而对汉语翻译是一个挑战。可考虑将其译为一个独立句，“对前辈的工作嗤之以鼻，认为他们缺乏素养”。

3. Countless others have written on this theme and it may be that I shall pass unnoticed amongst them; if so, I must comfort myself with the greatness and splendor of my rivals, whose work will rob my own of recognition.

有关(这个民族历史)的著作汗牛充栋，我的著作很可能无人在意。倘若如此，那只能是因为对手卓而超群，才华横溢，和他们的大作比起来我不足挂齿，所以我只能聊以自慰。

[解析] 前半句如直译，即“无数其他人就这个专题写了(著作)”，这里的汉语译文则把原文中短缺的宾语提到主语位置，把修饰主语others的形容词countless干脆转译为汉语的“汗牛充栋”(其比喻意象有别于英语的countless，传递的意思却相当贴近)。后半句中pass unnoticed (或go unnoticed)可译为“默默无闻，不足挂齿”等。请注意该句的主语I和汉语译文的主语“我的著作”也并不对等。
后一条件句含一whose引导的定语从句，译成汉语时可采用顺势断句法。英语右分支结构占优势，头短尾长；汉语左分支结构占优势，头大尾小。译成汉语时，可根据汉语习惯，译成自然语序。如：
It is dangerous that you have a smattering of superficial knowledge on a subject. 对任何问题一知半解都是危险的。
It is a matter of common experience that bodies are higher in water than they are in the air.物体在水中比在空气中轻，这是一种大家共有的经验。
In recent years, it has become increasingly popular for large corporations to form their own venture capital subsidiaries or investment vehicles. 近年来，大公司组建了自己的风险资本子公司或投资工具(创立自己的投资手段)，这种做法日益普遍。

4. My task, moreover, is an immensely laborious one. I shall have to go back more than 700 years, and trace my story from its small beginnings up to these recent times when its ramifications are so vast that any adequate treatment is hardly possible.

而且，我的写作极其艰辛，必须追溯700余年，从最细的源头一直探求到近代，而这部分纷繁芜杂，几乎难以详述。

[解析] trace my story能否译成“写我的故事”?从上下文来看，这里应理解成作者将要完成的写作任务，即总结那段历史，要比“我的故事”准确。story一词在英语中使用范围很广，在口语和书面语中都很常用，其比喻和隐喻功能很强，而相对应的汉语“故事”一词应用范围要窄一些，翻译时应根据上下文采用合适的词语。

5. I shall find antiquity a rewarding study. If only, because while I am absorbed in it, I shall be able to turn my eyes from the troubles, which for so long have tormented the modern world, and to write without any of that over anxious consideration, which may well plague a writer in contemporary life, even if it does not lead him to conceal the truth.

我发现研究古代历史颇有收获。至少沉浸于远古往事，长期折磨着现代世界的诸多烦恼我就能避而不见，并且可以放手写作，而不会像当代史作者那样免不了会顾虑重重——即使此种顾虑尚不至于导致他们去掩盖事实。

[解析] 词义的选择一般有以下三种情况，即与词的搭配及上下文有关、与词的语法特征有关和与专业有关。antiquity一词一般解释为“古迹，古物，古代”或“古老，年代久远”，这里的意思从上下文判断应是“古代史”，这是从具体义到抽象义的一种转义用法。
英语长句难在结构，也易在结构。难，在于它错综复杂，从句叠现；易，在于长句逻辑关系分明，条理清晰，关键是要把握住其规律。本句的关键点在于并列结构，I shall be able to... and to...。连接词and后to的重复意味着词组be able to重复，汉语中需重复译出。

试题3
August was once a time for dreaming, wandering the empty streets of this city, reading silly-season newspaper stories after a leisurely lunch, gazing at squares where fountains plashed and the pregnant or the old chatted on benches at dusk. Then something happened. The world speeded up. Stress levels soared. Idle moments evaporated. Egos expanded. Money outpaced politics. Rage surged. August aborted this year. It morphed into the serious season. The beach lost out to the barricades. A time of outrage is upon us. Now a feeling has grown in Western societies that uncontrollable forces are at work shrinking possibility. History has never seen a global power shift as radical as the current one that managed to be peaceful.
Growth, jobs, expansion, excitement—and, yes, possibility—lie in the great non-Western arc from China through India to South Africa and Brazil. The world has been turned upside-down. What we are witnessing is how shaken Western societies are by such inversion. As new powers emerge, globalization has altered the relationship between capital and labor in the former's favor. Returns on capital have proved higher relative to wages. The gap between rich and poor has become a gulf. The only people who walked away unscathed from the great financial binge were its main architects and greatest beneficiaries: such as bankers and financiers. This, too, is fueling a time of outrage that has left Western politicians chasing shadows.

1. August was once a time for dreaming, wandering the empty streets of this city, reading silly-season newspaper stories after a leisurely lunch, gazing at squares where fountains plashed and the pregnant or the old chatted on benches at dusk.

八月曾经是一段梦想的时光，任你倘佯在这座城市空荡荡的街道上，悠闲地享用午餐后读读无聊季节无重大新闻的报纸，黄昏时分两眼凝视着广场发呆，此时广场上喷泉飞溅，孕妇或老人则坐在长凳上闲聊。

[解析] 本例为一结构较简单的长句，句式为(it)was a time for doing…doing…doing…doing…，最后一个现在分词短语的宾语squares后跟了两个由where引导的定语从句，汉语可拆句译出。汉语译文加上了原文省略的逻辑主语“你”，符合汉语的表达。注意silly-season newspaper stories的翻译。

2. Then something happened. The world speeded up. Stress levels soared. Idle moments evaporated. Egos expanded. Money outpaced politics. Rage surged. August aborted this year. It morphed into the serious season. The beach lost out to the barricades. A time of outrage is upon us.

世界的节奏加快。人们紧张的程度激增。悠闲的时光随即消逝。自我意识膨胀。敛财超过了政治。民众的愤怒情绪迸发。//今年的八月泡汤了，变成了一个严峻的时节。路障取代了海滩。我们遭遇了一个愤怒的时期。

[解析] 本例共有11个短句，语句短小，有力地表达了作者欲传递的意思，从句式角度看翻译难度似略有降低，但几个动词(短语)的汉译仍值得关注，有一定的挑战性，如outpace，abort，morph into，lose out to。Stress levels soared．也可简译为“压力/紧张水平急剧上升。”

3. Now a feeling has grown in Western societies that uncontrollable forces are at work shrinking possibility. History has never seen a global power shift as radical as the current one that managed to be peaceful.

不可控制的力量正在起作用，从而减少了各种可能性。这种感觉在西方社会越来越强烈。历史上全球性力量转移从未像当前这样激进，而这种转移曾经以和平方式进行。//

[解析] 本例两句均为复合句，前句中的that从句为对主语a feeling的补充说明，其中的分词短语shrinking possibility相当于一定语从句(=which shrink possibility)，修饰uncontrollable forces。后句that从句用于修饰主句宾语global power shift。汉语均可拆句分译。主句动词has seen为英语的习惯比喻说法，汉译多略去这一比喻。

4. Growth, jobs, expansion, excitement—and, yes, possibility—lie in the great non-Western arc from China through India to South Africa and Brazil. The world has been turned upside-down. What we are witnessing is how shaken Western societies are by such inversion.

增长、就业、发展、兴奋——是的，还有可能性——都在非西方国家，即由中国经印度到南非、巴西的一个弧形圈。世界已经颠倒了过来。我们目睹的是西方社会如何被这一翻天覆地的变化所动摇。

[解析] 本例前两句为简单句，一长一短。第三句为并不长的复合句，但含一主语从句What we are witnessing和一表语从句how shaken Western societies are by such inversion。注意二、三句的(turned)upside-down和such inversion在逻辑和语义上的对应关系。用成语“翻天覆地”译inversion是一不错的表达。

5. As new powers emerge, globalization has altered the relationship between capital and labor in the former's favor. Returns on capital have proved higher relative to wages. The gap between rich and poor has become a gulf.

在新兴力量崛起之际，全球化已经改变了资本和劳动力的关系，使之对资本有利。资本的收益证明比工资要高的多。贫富差距已变成鸿沟。

[解析] 本例三句话，仅第一句为复合句。注意labor一词在此类语境中多指“劳动力，劳方”，因此capital and labor的常见表达labor and capital一般译成“劳资双方”。

6. The only people who walked away unscathed from the great financial binge were its main architects and greatest beneficiaries: such as bankers and financiers. This, too, is fueling a time of outrage that has left Western politicians chasing shadows.

从这场金融狂热中安然脱身且毫发未损的，只是其主要的设计者和最大的受益人：诸如银行家和金融家等。这也滋长了一个义愤时代的出现，使得西方政客们不知所措。

[解析] 本例两句均为复合句，前句含一由who引导的定语从句修饰主语，后句则含一由that引导的结果状语从句。本句中的几个词unscathed，binge，fueling等都采用了其比喻用法，注意汉语翻译与之的对应程度，如unscathed和“毫发未损”均为比喻，但喻体形式不一。chase shadows一般译成“捕风捉影”、“徒劳”，这里译的“茫然不知所措”也是一不错的选择。

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