英语水平英语翻译

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今日四级笔试刚刚结束,瞬间登上热搜!



不少考生表示,这次考试让“改革开放低糖低脂”难住了!不知各位U粉有没有成功hold住?





看了上面的吐槽

你知道网友们口中的

改革开放低糖低脂

到底如何用英文表达吗?

点击空白处查看参考答案

改革开放:reform and opening up

低糖低脂:low fat and sugar


你翻对了吗??看完今年的翻译,我们再来感受下近几年四、六级真题中的神翻译吧!



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【参考译文】

The Chinese government has been boosting compulsory education so that every child is entitled to education.



【解析】

“大力推行”可翻译为vigorously promote,也可只用一个语气很强的词“boost”,就不必添加副词vigorously(万一拼错,就出力不讨好了)。


“享有受教育机会”,很多考生会想到have the opportunity/chance to receive education,其实还有个更好的表达:every child has access to education,词组have access to意即“有机会/权利”;如改用形容词accessible,前后稍加调整,也同样出彩: ...education is accessible to every child。参考译文中的entitle(有权/有资格享有),就另辟蹊径,舍去人人爱用的opportunity,有效提升译文质量。


  “义务教育”的英文,除了题目中给的“compulsory education”,还可译成obligatory education或compulsory schooling。因为关键词“义务教育”在文中多次出现,翻译时为避免单调重复,不妨灵活替换。


就整句话而言,除了参考译文中的…so that…结构,也可用不定式“to”引出后半句:…to ensure that all children have the opportunity to receive education.






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【参考译文】

Since the Law of Compulsory Education took effect in 1986, after relentless efforts, China has attained the goal of compulsory education throughout/across the country.



【解析】

通读整句话,我们发现原文缺少主语。无主句,在汉语中很常见:李白不写明谁的“床前明月光”;杜甫不交代是谁“一览众山小”;苏轼不明示何人“把酒问青天”。读者能从语境中心领神会,而译者在翻译时,需补上主语:China/the government has fulfilled the objective/target of…,是国家政府实现了目标。当然,也可将计就计,采用英文被动语态,就不必纠结主语是谁了:the goal of compulsory schooling in the whole country has been achieved/realized.


“法律生效了”,译法很多:The law has taken effect. The law has come into effect/force. The law has been enacted. The law has been put into effect.


“不懈努力”,令考生“不懈”地纠结良久:高大上的relentless与unremitting,不会拼写;妇孺皆知的never give up,又感觉太过平平无奇。那么,就选用constant / continuous / persistent吧。如果这三个词也不会写,阅卷老师就“不屑”给你分儿了。






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【参考译文】

With the improvement of living standards, more people begin to follow the trend of self-driving travel.


【解析】

一看到“水平”,很多考生就想到“level”,顺手把“生活水平”译成life level,不小心暴露了英语水平😆。其实英文中有多个词与“水平”对应,如:游泳水平swimming skill,英语水平English proficiency,领导水平art of leadership。这里的“生活水平”,除了living standard,也可译为quality of lifeliving quality。“随着”的标配似乎是with,其实用thanks to、owing to与due to也挺好。


“自驾游”可译为self-driving travel/tour,更地道的表达是road trip。“加入某行列”,英文中有个对应词组join the ranks,不过很多考生未必熟悉。那就换个角度,“加入某行列”算是效仿、跟风或追时尚,故可译为follow the trendbe after the fashion等短语。


整个句子结构也可大胆调整,把前面的“生活水平的提高”用作主语,即前者使后者成为可能:The improvement of living quality enables more people to join the ranks of self-driving tour.(生活水平的提高,使更多人加入自驾游行列。)






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【参考译文】

It is often said that a good start in spring determines what you achieve in the year. Farmers begin to plant/sow seeds at this time to lay the foundation for a year of plenty.


【解析】

汉语中常见“人们/大家/你我他”引导的人称主语句,而英文句式的一个亮点是——非人称主语句,如:It suddenly occurred to him(突然想到);A good idea struck me(想到一个好主意);2021 witnessed the passing away of Yuan Longping(袁隆平于2021年去世)…… 所以,“人们常说”往往译为It is often said。当然,译成People often say也正确。


“一年之计在于春”暗示了在春天早做计划、做准备,对一年成功或丰收的重要性,即凡事预则立。该谚语可译成:A year's plan starts with spring./A spring day feeds the whole year./The whole year's work depends on a good start in spring./The work for the year is best begun in spring.


“打下基础”的表达也有多种,如set the foundation、establish the basis、set the stage等。“全年的丰收”对应的英文有a year of abundance、a good harvest in the year、a(n) abundant/bumper/plentiful harvest this year等等。






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【参考译文】

Long long ago, a farmer, who was dissatisfied with the slow growth of the seedlings he had planted, went to the field to pull them up a bit one by one.

【解析】

原文有三个连续动作——“嫌……长得慢”“到地里”“拔高”,却没有使用连接词。英语与中文习惯不同,常用连接词和主从结构来表示多个动作。参考译文使用了who引导的从句,避免了过多的并列结构。


“从前有个农夫......”,可仿童话故事的常见开头:“Long long ago, there was a farmer who…”。“从前”的译法还有:in the long past、a long long time ago、once upon a time(电影版《三生三世十里桃花》的英文名字就是Once Upon a Time)。“嫌……”表不满意或失望,可选用的同义词有dissatisfied、displeased、disappointed、unhappy等;如果对否定前缀dis-与un-把握不好,就用小学生也认识的not吧,译成was not content/satisfied with。





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【参考译文】

Today some parents are so eager to see their children succeed that they follow the footsteps of that farmer, only to make their children suffer untoldpains without seeing their children’s progress in academic studies.



【解析】

原汉语包含四个短句,英译文合并成一个长句,充分体现了“中文化整为零、英文化零为整”的特点。译文中标下划线的几个衔接词,一气呵成,把汉语短句间隐含的逻辑关系凸显出来。“家长急于让孩子成功”,为表现出“急切”,也可译为parents can’t wait to see their kids’ success。“往往步那个农夫的后尘”还可译为they will do like what the farmer did、they tend to follow the farmer’s foolish example、they are likely to repeat the tragedy/mistake of the farmer。“搞得孩子苦不堪言”也可译为make their kids’ lives miserable/painful。





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【参考译文】

The story tells us that timely remedy of a problem can avoid/prevent further losses (, and it's never too late to mend).



【解析】

英译古代寓言故事,动词时态一般选用过去时,但“故事告诉我们”所揭示的是客观事实、日常道理,所以改用一般现在时tells。参考译文最后括号里面的it's never too late to mend属于增译,使寓意(moral)更清楚,语言更老到,并非蛇足之笔。当然,略去亦可。“故事告诉我们”译成The moral of the story is that…,更符合英文表述习惯。“及时补救”译成correcting/solving a problem in time也可以。再换个角度,整个寓意处理成被动语态,使道理更显客观:…further losses can be avoided/prevented if a problem is corrected/solved in time。




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【参考译文】

Karez represents the Chinese people's wisdom of living in harmony with nature, and it is a major contribution to the human civilization.


【解析】

英文句式沿用汉语的并列句。“体现”除了用represent,还可以从show、display、embody、demonstrate等词中选择。选自己有把握的,确保拼写正确,莫忘单数第三人称词尾加“s”。“与自然和谐共存的智慧”也可译成:…wisdom of living harmoniously with nature、…wisdom of harmonious coexistence between humans and nature、 …wisdom that people and nature co-exist in harmony.


在译“是对人类文明的一大贡献”时,如果不用并列句,而改成从句which is a great contribution to…,就可能给读者带来一定的理解困难,因为which前面有Karez、wisdom与nature等多个名词。“对人类文明的一大贡献”一句中,也可把“贡献”处理成动词,即and contributes significantly to the human civilization





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【参考译文】

For more than 2000 years, Dujiangyan has been effective in flood control and irrigation, thus turning the Chengdu Plain into a fertile land that guarantees stable yields in spite of droughts and floods.


【解析】

译文将原文的并列句处理成主从结构——汉语多并列,英语多主从。如果词汇量足够大,“两千年”可译成two millenniums。看到“发挥……作用”,我们自然会想到play the role of…,故可以译成Dujiangyan has played an/the effective role of preventing flood and irrigating crops.


后半句的“旱涝保收的沃土”,可以理解成“土地肥沃,无论干旱还是洪涝都有好收成”,或“肥沃的土地不受干旱与洪涝的影响”,因此可译为a fertile land that ensures a good harvest regardless of drought and flood、a fertile land free from drought and flood;a rich land (which is) immune to drought and flood等。如果不会写immune to,那就选用unaffected by;如果不会写unaffected,还可用free from……总有一款适合你。




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【参考译文】

1. Longjing is rich in Vitamin C and some other healthy elements. Drinking Longjing regularly helps ease tiredness and delay aging

2. As Longjing contains rich Vitamin C and many other health-promoting elements, regular consumption of it contributes to relieving fatigue and delaying senility.


【解析】

译文1用词简单,句式直接沿用原文。译文2将原文两句合并成一句,因为从语义上看,“富含……元素”与“助于健康”关系较密切;汉语重意合,英语重形合,故前面加上as表原因,后面第二个“龙井”以it代替,避免重复。汉语中喜欢重复,而英语中不喜欢,如培根《论读书》(Of Studies)中的名句:Reading makes a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man. 英文中只一个makes,而汉语译文则需要补全三个“使”:读书使人充实,讨论使人机智,笔记使人准确(王佐良译)。


“经常喝龙井”还可翻译为frequent/regular drinking,或if one drinks it regularly。翻译“有助于”时,如不屑于用help,可选用is conductive to或is beneficial to(注意这两个to都是介词,其后的动词莫忘加-ing)。“减轻”除了译成ease与relieve,可选用的还有lessen/lighten/allay/alleviate等词。


“延缓衰老”的英文也不只delay aging/ageing与defer senility,还可译为resist/retard aging或slow/postpone the aging process;如在护肤品包装上见过anti-aging(抗衰老)一词,可大胆借用,译成has anti-aging function。仍对“延缓衰老”一筹莫展时,不妨换个角度,译成prolong/lengthen life——“延缓衰老”不就是延长寿命嘛。正如生活中的标识语:“油漆未干”译成Wet paint(湿油漆);“男士禁止入内”译成Women only(只女士可进),ban/forbid/prohibit表“禁止”的词都不必用,多省心省事。








吾生有涯而知无涯;考场时间有限,而译途无限!希望考生:在有限的时间里,译出无限精彩的文章。


今天的四级翻译盘点就到这里啦,最后小U祝每位今天参加考试的U粉都能取得好成绩!yyds——永远得胜✌️


此篇特别感谢济南大学外国语学院程瑞勇副教授提供解析、上海海事大学外国语学院王大伟教授提供部分参考译文。


特别推荐:王大伟、程瑞勇主编《大学英语四级考试真题全解+标准预测》






【本期讨论】

你今年参加四、六级考试的感受?

你还见过哪些令人捧腹的奇葩翻译?




点亮星标,精彩内容抢先看!还没给小U点亮星标的U粉们快点亮吧,每一颗小星星都会激励未来小U和大家分享更有趣、实用的英文知识哦~



编辑:明阳、淑媛

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最后编辑于:2024/3/20 拔丝英语网

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