英译汉练习精选
1. English is generally acknowledged to be the world’s most important language. First, the number of native speaker of English is more than 300 million. Second, the spread of English over most of the world as an international language is a unique phenomenon in the world’s history: about 1500 million people—over a third of the world’s population—live in countries where English has some official status or is one of the native languages, if not the dominant native language. Third, English leads as the primary medium for 20th century science and technology. Finally, English is the language of the United States, whose gross domestic product in 1980 was more than double that of its nearest competitor, Japan.
2. For the post-intermediate and advanced English learners, it is advisable to use more of a monolingual dictionary. There are a number of advantages. Apart from the increase of exposure of English and avoidance of misunderstanding by translation, users have to think in English, understand meanings in terms of other English words, thus enlarging vocabulary and learn the precise meanings of words and usages through definitions and examples. Moreover, the effective use of a monolingual dictionary will give learners a sense of satisfaction and self-sufficiency and greater confidence in their ability to solve language problems.
1
3. Mastering a large number of words is essential to achieving fluency in a foreign language. There are no short-cuts to a large vocabulary in English: you just have to rely on diligence and dedication. Of course you can figure out from the context the meanings of some new words you come across in your reading, but more often than not you have to look them up in a dictionary in order to be clear about their accurate meanings. A practicable way to pick up new words is, perhaps, to read a lot, preferably stories that you find interesting or exciting. It often pays to read the same book over and over again: each time you read it you will learn different new words, and the familiar context helps to fix them in your mind.
4. All universities contribute to the prosperity and success of their country. The also conserve the culture and legacy specific to their country’s civilization. But they do far more than that. Knowledge is secure only when it is hard won by the independent tests of accurate, rational explorations. So when we teach our students skills, we also give them values. These are values for personal and civic conduct. On the other hand, these values underwrite the personal need for independent understanding which is the source of human creativity.
5. All the wisdom of the ages, all the stories that have delighted mankind for centuries, are easily and cheaply available to all of us within the covers of books—but we must know how to avail ourselves of this treasure and how to get the most from it. The most unfortunate people in the world are those who have never discovered how
2
satisfying it is to read good books…Reading is a pleasure of the mind, which means that it is a little like a sport: your eagerness and knowledge and quickness make you a good reader. Reading is fun, not because the writer is telling you something, but because it makes your mind work. Your own imagination works along with the author’s or even goes beyond his. Your experience, compared with his, brings you to the same or different conclusions, and your ideas develop as you understand his. (Bennett Cerf)
6. A successful argument gives evidence of some sort for every important point. Evidence may include statistics, observations or testimony of experts, personal narratives, or other supporting proof. A writer needs to convince readers by taking them from some initial position on an issue to the writer’s position, which readers will share if the argument succeeds. The only way to do this is to provide evidence that convinces readers that the position is a right or true one. (from Perspectives on Contemporary Issues, 2003)
7. Examples and illustrations are crucial to writing, no matter what the primary purpose. Without examples, writing stays at the general or abstract level and leaves readers only vaguely understanding what a writer means. Examples make meaning clear and help make writing more interesting, livelier, and more engaging than in an essay without details. Examples may be brief and numerous or extended and limited in number, and they may take the form of narratives. It would be difficult to find an effective piece of writing that does not use examples
3
of some sort. (Ibid.)
8. Most composition instructors would probably agree that students use too few examples in their writing. Perhaps because of a lack of background in a subject, a student may rely on broad, general statements that are neither interesting nor convincing. If a student were always able to draw from his personal experience in writing, the tendency to generalize might be more easily overcome. But this is not always possible. When working with an unfamiliar subject, though, a resourceful student will explore the library to find background material and supporting examples for his paper. Using examples in a composition can be compared to presenting evidence in a courtroom. Evidence serves to make a legal case more specific; it helps to convince the jurors. Examples make a composition more specific; they add substance to the writer’s controlling idea. For example, if you are writing an expository paper about progress in the railroad industry, your examples might include the luxurious Italian train, the Settebello, connecting Milan and Rome; the 125-mile-per-hour Japanese train running on the Hokkaido Line from Tokyo to Osaka; and the extensive Trans-European Express trains which span the Continent. Examples such as these would lend force to your writing. (from American English Rhetoric by Robert G. Bander, 1978)
9. Many people today want to do so many things within so little time. This sense of time might be called time urgency. It is a syndrome of behavior in which a person continually tries to accomplish more
4
than can be humanly accomplished. Until very recently, time urgency was thought to be a characteristic of Americans, particularly American males in the generation born in the period from the Great Depression through to the end of World War II. It should be obvious that this sense of time urgency is no longer a cultural characteristic of just the generation of American males. It is a characteristic of the Asian “salaryman”, and is spreading through the world rapidly as one aspect of the internationalization of business.
10. Students are not the only ones to benefit from computers in education. Many teachers are finding that computers can reduce their work load and improve their teaching. Computers can free teachers from certain kinds of time-consuming bookkeeping. Test items can be “banked” in a computer, greatly reducing the time required to produce a new test. Tests can be scored by computer, and more importantly, the computer can analyze the test results, indicating to the teacher which points may need further treatment in class. Classroom computers also make it possible for a teacher to give individual attention to students who are having trouble. While the rest of a class is working on an educational program, the teacher can take the time to work directly with a student who is falling behind.
11. People think of the United States as a rich and plentiful nation. It is, but it is not self-sufficient. Its reliance on foreign sources is made clear every day in the year. Topping the list is oil. Most oil is imported from the Middle Eastern countries of Saudi Arabia and Iran.
5
Or take sugar: cane sugar ranks high in value among imported foodstuffs. Or consider coffee. Coffee drinking could not be an American habit if imports from Venezuela and Brazil were cut off. Morning readers would not have their newspapers without printing ink. Much of that comes from Canada. The chief source of raw silk is Japan. Japan is another major china-producer in the world. A wristwatch may or may not be a Swiss watch, but the inner movements are probably imported. Ninety percent of them are.
12. Individual freedom is probably the most basic of all the American values. Scholars and outside observers often call this value “individualism”, but many Americans use the word freedom. Perhaps the word is one of the most respected popular words in the United States today. By freedom, Americans mean the desire and the ability of all individuals to control their own destiny without outside interference from the government, a ruling noble class, the church, or any other organized authority. The desire to be free of controls was a basic value of the new nation in 1776, and it has continued to attract immigrants to this country. (from The American Way by E. N. Kearny, 1984)
13. It is important to understand what most Americans mean when they say they believe in equality of opportunity. They do not mean that every one is—or should be—equal. However, they do mean that each individual should have an equal chance for success. Americans see much of life as a race for success. For them, equality means that everyone should have an equal chance to enter the race
6
and win. In other words, equality of opportunity may be thought of as an ethical rule. It helps ensure that the race for success is a fair one and that a person does not win just because he or she was born into a wealthy family, or lose because of race or religion. This American concept of “fair play” is an important aspect of the belief in equality of opportunity. (Ibid.)
14. If you are invited into a person’s home, there are other questions to consider. For instance, what time should you arrive? If it is a social occasion, not a business one, it is not polite to arrive early. Your hostess will be preparing for you, and will be most embarrassed if you arrive before she is quite ready. Ten minutes late is excellent. Half an hour late is excessive, and requires apologies. Then too, the British are rather particular about table manners. The main thing is to sit up straight, copy everyone else, gaily asking what to do if you are not sure, and keep the conversation going. What time should you leave? There are no rules, but it is most impolite to stay too late, as it implies a lack of consideration for your hosts. If it is simply an invitation to an evening meal and conversation, you will probably take your leave between ten and eleven o’clock. If you have been asked to stay for several days, you will conform as far as possible to the routine of the house, and your hostess will be very pleased if you give her a bunch of flowers, specially purchased, before you leave. If the invitation has been made purely to give you pleasure, a gift of money would be refused with some embarrassment.
7
15. Gifts are not the same as ‘tips’. The tipping system is an evil in most European countries, and consists of a small extra payment made to certain employees. In Britain it is confined chiefly to waiters and taxi-drivers, to whom you give an extra tenth or eighth of the price of the meal or fare. Hotel servants and railway porters, too, expects a small tip if they are of service to you. Apart from these special cases, gifts of money are given only cautiously. This is because the offer of money makes an act of kindness seem like a mean desire for gain. If a kindly act has actually involved expense, it is only right to offer reimbursement, but most British people feel that kindness itself can only be repaid with gratitude, not with money. Thus, you do not offer money to a driver who gives you a lift, or to someone who stops to help you to mend a puncture or to give you first aid, though if you felt sufficiently grateful you might buy the person some cigarettes or a drink or some other small gift. As for a more important act like finding somebody a job or saving him from drowning—to expect money for doing something like that is almost unthinkable.
8
因篇幅问题不能全部显示，请点此查看更多更全内容