Translation of Literary Texts
Short Assignment #5
Translate the following:
今晚，双水村小学院子里又开始热闹起来了。除过本村男女老少一吃完饭就被集合到这里以外，在大灶上吃完饭的外村民工也都被带到这里来了。不多时分，这院子里就已经挤得水泄不通。外村的民工在院子的南头，一般都是同村人挤在一块。双水村本村的人在院子的北头，大人娃娃夹在一起，有站的，有坐的，吵吵闹闹，像一锅煮沸了的水。在这一片人中，全村的男人都混杂着，但女人却大约可以分出田家的一片，金家的一片；因为本族妇女家挨得近，平时关系熟悉，现在挤到一块好拉话。当然，这中间也多少有一点金、田两家的门户之见。一般说来，金家的媳妇穿戴都比较齐整，坐的姿势也比较合乎农村的礼教规范：公众场合不能酸眉醋眼，张东望西。(路遥：《平凡的世界》)
Tonight, it is getting exciting at the courtyard of Shuang Shui Village Primary School. Not only local villagers, men and women, from old to young, are gathered together here, but also migrant workers from other villages. In no time, the courtyard is full of people. Those migrant works, divided by village, are at the south of the courtyard, while the local at the north. Some are standing on foot, some are sitting on the ground. It is so noisy that the crowd is like boiling water. In the crowd, men are standing disorderly and casually, while women are about divided into the Tians and the Jins, for those from the same family are familiar with each other,as well as sectarianism, more or less, exists. Generally, women from the Jins tends to be well dressed and sit nicely. The position they take is more abiding by the rituals of village, which is that one can’t deliberately lift her eyebrows to flirt and look around.
B. Sweet funeral bells form some incalculable distance, wailing over the dead that die before the dawn, awakened me as I slept in a boat moored to some familiar shore. The morning twilight even then was breaking; and, by the dusky revelations which it spread, I saw a girl adorned with a garland of white roses about her head for some great festival, running along the solitary strand with extremity of haste. Her running was the running of panic; and often she looked back as to some dreadful enemy in the rear. But when I leaped ashore, and followed on her steps to warn her of a peril in front, alas! From me she fled as form another peril; and vainly I shouted to her of quicksands that lay ahead. Faster and faster she ran round a promontory of rocks she wheeled out of sight; in an instant I also wheeled round it, but only to see the treacherous sands gathering above her head. Already her person was buried; only the fair young head and the diadem of white roses around it were still visible to the pitying heavens; and, last of all, was visible one marble arm.
I saw by the early twilight this fair young head, as it was sinking down to darkness ---- saw this marble arm, as it rose above her head and her deceiving hand stretched out from the clouds ---- saw this marble arm uttering her dying hope, and then her dying despair. The head, the diadem, the arm, ---- these all had sunk; at last over these also the cruel quicksand had closed, and no memorial of the fair young girl remained on earth, except again more softly, sang a requiem over the grave of the buried child, and over her blighted dawn.
从遥远的地方，飘来阵阵悦耳的丧钟声。钟声悼念着于黎明前西去的人们，也唤醒了熟睡在舟中的我。小舟正停泊在某个熟悉的岸边。早晨，天刚刚破晓，借着朦胧微光，我依稀看见一个姑娘。她头戴庆祝节日的白玫瑰花环，正在空无一人的海岸上急速飞奔。她跑动恐慌，还不时回头，仿佛身后有穷凶极恶的坏人在追杀一样。但当我跳上岸去，追上前，想要警告她前方危险时，哎，她却避我而逃，好像我也是坏人一样。我高声呼喊着前方有流沙，却徒劳无功。她越跑越快，绕过海岬，消失在前方。一眨眼的功夫，我也绕过了那个海岬，却看见她深陷于流沙中。她的身躯已被淹没，只剩下年轻的头颅和那白玫瑰花环，任由怜悯的苍天俯视。最后，只剩下一只芊芊玉臂。借着晨光，我目睹了一个面容姣好的女孩渐渐陷入无尽的黑暗，看见她的玉臂仍然高高举过头顶，又目睹了那玉臂呼喊着垂死的希望，然后是垂死的绝望。她的头颅、花环、玉臂——都已经沉了下去。最后，那无情的流沙将女孩完全埋葬。这位美丽的年轻姑娘没有在大地上留下一丝痕迹，除了再次响起的安魂曲，在她的坟头回荡，在她早逝的黎明间回荡。
Thomas de Quincey : Dream Fugue
(单选)1：She does not photograph well. A：她不上镜。 B：他不爱照相。 正确答案：A (单选)2：随着人数的增加，他们力量也增加了。 A：As the increse of the number, their power is increased B： Their power increased with their number. 正确答案：B (单选)3：We stand now where two roads diverge. But unlike the roads in Robert Frost＇s familiar poem, they are not equally fair. A：我们站在两条路的岔路口，但是不像罗伯特熟悉的诗里那样，并不是同样的公平 B：我们正处在两条路的分岔口。但是并不像我们所熟悉的罗伯特的诗中所说的，这两条路是同样的好 正确答案：B (单选)4：I don＇t know how far I didn＇t run. A：我不知道跑了多远 B：我不知道还有多远我没有跑。 正确答案：A (单选)5：质量服务月 A：Quality Service Month B：Quantity Service Month 正确答案：A (单选)6：无事不登三宝殿。 A：I wouldn’t come to you if I hadn’t something to ask of you. B：I wouldn’t come to you if I hadn’t something for you. 正确答案：A (单选)7：Little remains to be said. A：简直没有什么可说的了 B：还能说一点。 正确答案：A (单选)8：ginger beer A：姜汁啤酒 B：姜汁汽水 正确答案：A (单选)9：走马观花 A：to appreciate flowers on a running horse
浅谈中国菜名的翻译 我国悠久的历史和广袤的国土孕育了中国独特的烹饪艺术和丰富的饮食文化。我们国家也以几千年的饮食文化文明于世。随着我国经济飞速发展，与国外交流日益增多，餐饮业也面临着走向世界的机遇和挑战。中国菜名是汉语语汇中承载中国文化最多的语汇之一, 不仅承载着几千年来的中国饮食文化, 还承载着大量的非饮食文化, 如神话、民俗、历史、文学、宗教信仰等等, 在菜名所传达的表层语义背后有着更为深厚复杂的多元文化元素。同时由于饮食与文化的密切联系，这些都大大增大了翻译的难度。 1.首先我们来看一下一些我们常见的错误翻译 长期以来，菜名的翻译没有统一的标准，加上译者水平有限和地域差异，并不了解菜式的内涵，致使很多菜名的翻译让人感到不知所云。比如口水鸡slobbering chicken、童子鸡chicken without sexual life、夫妻肺片the couple’s lung 等，这翻译让外国人看了都吓跑了，哪里还有食欲吃饭呢？再如东坡肉poet Dongpo’s braised pork，东坡肉是用蒸的方法做出来的，所以这里应该为Poet Dongpo’s steamed pork 而不是用braised；“鱼香肉丝”较常见的有两种译法，另外也有人译为shredded pork with garlic sauce，前者译法为直译，后者加了简单的解释，虽然看似简单易懂，很直观，但是译者没有弄清楚此菜的配料，川菜口味浓重，很多菜肴的配料都是少不了“川菜之魂”郫县豆瓣酱，鱼香肉丝正是用到此配料，是不用所谓的大蒜酱，所以后者翻译存在误的地方；水煮鱼，也是川菜中的代表作，又麻又辣，有译者翻译为tender stewed fish，这个译法不够全面，应该在后面加上in chili sauce；夫妻肺片译为pork lungs in chili sauce，这个译法的译者应该不明白此菜的来历和主料，夫妻肺片根本不是用猪肺做成的，而且和肺一点都不沾边，此菜的主料都是用牛内脏，所以这个译发讲不通。对于以上的翻译错误我们不能只是一笑而过，我们应该感受到菜名翻译的难度，从而思考怎样才能更好的翻译来达到最佳的效果。
题目1 - Write to me when you get home. - OK, I _______. 请选择一个答案： a. will b. should c. can d. must 题目2 He ______ to me last week. 请选择一个答案： a. is written b. is writing c. wrote d. writes 题目3 Don't laugh ________ people when they are _____trouble. 请选择一个答案： a. in….at… b. at….at… c. at… in… d. on… in… 题目4 Little T om is used to getting up _______eight every morning. 请选择一个答案： a. in b. of c. at d. on 题目5 Had you come five minutes earlier, you _____ the train to . But now you missed it. 请选择一个答案： a. would catch b. should catch c. could catch d. would have caught
Did you notice the guy ______ head looked like a big potato? 请选择一个答案： a. which b. who c. whom d. whose 题目7 I'll have a cup of coffee and _____. 请选择一个答案： a. two pieces of breads b. two breads c. two pieces of bread d. two piece of breads 反馈 正确答案是：two pieces of bread。 题目8 This is the ______ photo I have ever taken. 请选择一个答案： a. best b. worse c. better d. most worst 题目9 Our house is about a mile from the railway station and there are not many houses _______. 请选择一个答案： a. in between b. among them c. far apart d. from each other 题目10 You have finished the work, _____you? 请选择一个答案： a. haven't b. have c. don't d. do 反馈
非文学翻译与文学翻译的区别 目前，我国非文学翻译的质量无法跟上市场需求，而外语教学又更重视语言学和文学，与实际的翻译活动有脱节。因此，有必要建设一支高素质的非文学翻译队伍。要实现这一目的，需要认清楚非文学翻译和文学翻译的区别。 非文学翻译文学翻译区别 “非文学翻译强调的是事实，文学翻译强调的是价值；非文学翻译强调信息的清晰性，文学翻译强调风格。”但翻译研究长期以来都更重视文学翻译，用文学翻译的标准来衡量和指导一切翻译活动，一味的追求忠实造成许多非文学类文本译文质量低下的问题。要改变这一现象就需要认识到二者之间的区别。 一、翻译对象 非文学作品是客观事物的反映，强调准确性、严谨性和目的性，注重逻辑思维，而文学作品是一种语言的艺术，与非文学作品相比，文学作品更注重形象思维、和艺术感。从翻译实践来说，非文学翻译和文学翻译的对象有一点被人们忽视了，即作品质量，文学翻译的对象大多数都是经典作品，基本不存在语言质量或逻辑思维的问题，译者需要尽可能做到内容和形式上的忠实。而非文学翻译文本在很多情况下存在语言不规范，表达意义不明确，逻辑错误等问题。因此不能盲从忠实原则。 二、翻译目的及译文读者 汉斯·弗米尔（Hans Vermeer）提出并探讨了目的论。将翻译视为以原文为基础的、有目的和有结果的行为。 文学翻译的主要目的是实现译作的文学功能，再现原作的文学效果。希望读者能够从译本中体验外来文化，并从中获得艺术的享受，有时还能对读者起到激励作用，如“五四”时期苏联文学作品的译介就极大鼓舞了当时中国的进步青年。 而非文学翻译的目的则是为了实现简洁和有效的交流。其目的性更具体，如旅游文本是为了吸引更多的游客，金融商务文本是为了招商引资、扩大业务等；此外非文学翻译往往是一个独立的商业翻译项目，除作者和译者外，还包括项目委托人，译者可与委托人就文本进行交流。 文学翻译的译文往往面向大众，其读者群是模糊而不确定的，译者的预期目标与读者的实际反应有时未必一致。而非文学翻译的读者则更为明确，如合同翻译就是面向合同相关方，因此翻译目的是否实现往往可以从相关反馈明确得知。 三、操作模式和翻译策略
20春《英汉／汉英翻译》作业1 试卷总分:100 得分:100 一、单选题(共15 道试题,共75 分) 1.It is a wise man that never makes mistakes. A.只有聪明的人才不会范错误 B.再聪明的人也会范错误。 答案:B 2.I＇m not a little afraid of snakes. A.我一点也不怕蛇 B.我非常怕蛇。 答案:B 3.He is a Napoleon of finance. A.他是金融界的拿破仑 B.他是金融界的巨头。 答案:B 4.I don＇t know how far I didn＇t run. A.我不知道跑了多远 B.我不知道还有多远我没有跑。 答案:A 5.中国政府决定，要用3年左右时间使大多数国有企业走出困境。 A.The Chinese government has decided to take about three years to extricate most state-owned enterprises from their difficulties B.Chinese government decides to help most national enterprises going out obstacle with about 3 years. 答案:A 6.You can never be too careful about English-Chinese translation A.作英译汉时，不能太仔细 B.作英译汉时，越仔细越好。 答案:B 7.在这个紧要关头，我们尤其不该为了已经无法挽回的事情相互埋怨。 A.At a critical time we especially should not blame one for what has already happened B.The last thing we should do at this crucial moment is blaming one another for what can not be undone. 答案:B 8.The burning question of my childhood had been richly answered. A.我小时候梦寐以求想得到答案的问题，终于得到了圆满的回答 B.我儿童时代在心中燃烧的问题，终于得到了充分的回答。
英语作业第一次 1、 【第一次】 I don’t know the park, but it’s ______ to be quite beautiful、 A said B told C spoken D talked 正确答案:A词汇与结构 2、 【第一次】 It is ______ that an accidental meeting makes a lifelong friendship、A amazing B disturbing C encouraging D attracting 正确答案:A词汇与结构 3、 【第一次】 If we could learn English in the same ______, it would not seem so difficult、 A road B way C theory D means 正确答案:B词汇与结构 4、 【第一次】 The teacher came into the classroom, ______ a thick book in her hand、A have B to have C having D had 正确答案:C词汇与结构
5、 【第一次】 There will be _______ soon、I’m afraid I can’t go、 A rain B rainy C raining D rains 正确答案:A词汇与结构 6、 【第一次】 Our manager will look into the matter as soon as possible、 Just have a little ____、 A wait B time C patience D rest 正确答案:C词汇与结构 7、 【第一次】 You are ______ your time trying to persuade him; he'll never help us、 A spending B missing C losing D wasting 正确答案:D词汇与结构 8、 【第一次】 –Don’t you feel surprised to see George at the meeting? Yes、I really didn’t think he ______ here、 A has been B had been C would be D would have been 正确答案:C词汇与结构 9、
第一次作业 1.翻译下面的句子 1). 在家工作的人可以灵活安排时间。 2). 政府应该审查媒体的内容。(用基础的主谓宾句型来翻译) 3). 应该有政府对媒体内容的审查。(用there be句型来翻译) 4). 政府对媒体内容的审查是非常有必要的。(用主系表句型翻译) 5). 燃烧化石燃料的汽车是空气污染的主要来源。 6). 通过参加社区服务，青少年能培养宽泛的能力。(介词短语) 7). 当孩子们读书的时候，他们会尝试理解每个单词，这能增加他们的词汇量。(状语从句) 8).不应该禁止孩子看电视，家长应该建议他们看什么和看多久。(用Instead of在句首的句型翻译)
9). 有很多的争论关于孩子应该被送去寄宿还是走读学校。(用there be句型翻译) 10). 然而，这并不意味着所有的幸福都来源于金钱。 11). 一方面，有人认为大学课程应该由专家来制定因为他们更了解学生需要哪些知识和技能。(状语从句) 12). 另一方面，支持学生自己选择课程的人们认为这能增加他们学习的动力。(定语从句的考察) 13). 学生们可以通过艺术课程来提高自己的表达能力。(注意中文惯性翻译错误问题，不要直接字面翻译) 14). 有一个大幅的增长在老年人比例上，从1990年的13%增长到了2010年的37%。(用there be句型来翻译，注意时态) 15). 上寄宿学校的孩子比走读学校的孩子更加独立，因为他们有更多机会自己来解决问题。 16). 政府应该做的是对电影和游戏进行分级。(用what….的主语从句来翻译)
17). 体重的增加可以由如下原因来解释。(用被动句，主语用抽象名词短语) 18). 有更多的耐心是一个主要原因为什么小学里有更多女老师。 19). 不可否认金钱和幸福之间有紧密的联系。(It is 句型翻译) 20). 学生的学习能力有很大的差别。(用there be句型翻译) 21). 我认为虽然孩子们可以从电脑游戏里得到很多好处，但是他们花在这些游戏上的时间应该被合理控制。(用although的从句来翻译)
Views on the World Wars 1) The Second World War in some ways gave birth to less novelty and genius than the First. 第二次世界大战在某些方面不像第一次世界大战那样产生了诸多新奇事物和天才伟人。（蔡基纲译） novelty 与genius的所指应该是同一类的，不应一个是“事务”，另一个却是“人”。 genius: the prevalent character or spirit of something such as a nation or age(民族、语言、时代等的)特质，精神，传统，特征e.g. Boucher’s paintings did not suit the austere genius of neoclassicism.布歇的画作不适合新古典主义的严肃风格 改译： 从某些方面看，第二次世界大战不像一战那样催生了诸多新奇事物，也缺乏鲜明的时代特征。 2) It was, of course, a greater cataclysm, fought over a wider area, and altered the social and political structure of the world at
least as radically as its predecessor, perhaps more so. 当然，它是一场更大的战争，卷入的地区更广，改变世界社会和政治结构的激烈程度至少不亚于第一次世界大战，或许更为激烈。（蔡基纲译） Belle epoque 3) But the break in continuity in 1914 was far more violent. 但是1914年的时势突变更为剧烈。（蔡基纲译） 或： 但1914年一战的爆发却更为剧烈地打断了社会发展的延续性。 4) The year 1914 looks to us now, and looked even in the 1920s, as the end of a long period of largely peaceful development, broken suddenly and catastrophically. 1914年就我们现在看来，甚至二十年代的
邀请名人做广告，只要商品确实是货真价实，名人又愿意，这应该是广告技巧的上策，会产生很强的名人效应。但是商品质量差，广告又言过其实，又请名人做广告，这种广告一时也会产生一些好的影响，但最终是砸了自己的牌子，也塌了名人台，影响名人的信誉，因此名人在接受时要慎之又慎。请名人做广告，付给的报酬高得惊人，而一些名人尤其是政界和科学界的名流往往不肯抛头露面。这样西方国家的一些广告商便在平民中千方百计物色酷似名流的人来做广告，甚至被弄去参加开业典礼或者开张剪裁以招徕生意。局外人往往不明真相而受蒙骗。正因为真假难分，名人替身常遭不测。 To invite those eminent persons to help make advertisements should be regarded as one of the best ad strategies and could of course, produce a spectacular VIP effect, provided that those eminent persons are perfectly willing to accept the invitation and, more importantly, the commodities to be advertised are genuine and their prices fair. Sometimes, while a commodity is of inferior quality, the ad is full of words lavishing praise on it. If, under such a circumstance, an eminent person comes to help make the ad, the ad could, if anything, be temporarily successful before it turns the brand of the commodity in question notorious and more disastrously, ruins the reputation of the eminent person thereafter. It is precisely for this reason that the eminent persons are well advised to think more than twice before agreeing to appear on a commercial. Despite the fact that an eminent person could be paid a staggering sum of money after he or she helps make a commercial ad, some eminent persons, those in political and scientific circles in particular, are averse to public exposures. As a result, some advertisers in Western countries have had to try every means possible to scout among the populace at large men or women that are very copies of the eminent persons they are after. Once recruited, an eminent person’s substitute, apart from appearing on an ad, is often made to show up on certain high profile occasions, such as opening ceremonies or ribbon cutting ceremonies, with a view to soliciting customers. Outsiders, unable to distinguish a real eminent person from his substitute, are usually taken in. However, not every hired substitute is lucky. Some of them may become victims of unexpected attacks aimed at the real eminent persons and suffer unfortunately, for them. Work Produced against the grain and in marginality by George Steiner in After Babel: This book was written under somewhat difficult circumstances .I was at the time increasingly marginalized and indeed isolated within the academic community. This is not ,necessarily, a handicap. Tenure in the academy today ,the approval of one’s professional peers, the assistance and laurels in their giving, are not infrequently symptoms of opportunism and mediocre conventionality. A degree of exclusion, of compelled apartness, may be one of the conditions of valid work. In the humanities,in the disciplines of intuitive discourse, committees, colloquia, the conference circuit are the bane. Nothing is more ludicrous than the roll-call of academic colleagues and sponsors set out in grateful footnotes at the bottom of trivia. In poetics ,in philosophy, in hermeneutics, work worth doing will more often than not be produced against the grain and in marginality.
1. Rewrite the following sentences to make them concise and effective. 1)The plant is successful in terms of production. The plant has high production. 2)We wish to acknowledge receipt of your letter of July 5. Please write to me before July 5. 3)We are informed that similar goods of American origin have been sold here at a level about 30% lower than you. Similar American original goods have been sold here at a level about 30% lower than yours. 4)He will fly to Germany next week for the purpose of meeting Mr. Stwartz in person. He will fly to Germany next week to meet Mr. Stwartz in person. 5)This product not only is welcome for its reasonable price, but also for its fine quality. This product is welcome for its reasonable price and fine quality. 2. Rewrite the following sentences according to the principle of correctness. 1)Your demand for a 5% discount off the order of the goods narrows our profit margin and we could not warrant it. Sorry,your demand for 5% discount off the order narrows our margin,and we could not warrant it. 2)If there are some problems with the bikes, you can return it back to us, even though over the warranty, we will change it without charge. If there are some problems with the bikes, you can return it back to though over the warranty, we will change it without charge. 3)We'll deliver you some trail order because of the satisfication of your price and quality. We'll deliver you some trail order because of the satisfaction of your price and quality. 4)As the market is declining, we recommend your immediate acceptance.
(单选题)1: 有关英语词类的说法中，下列选项中正确的一项是。 A: 动词和名词在英语里是非常活跃的词类 B: 动词和副词在英语里是非常活跃的词类 C: 名词和形容词在英语里是非常活跃的词类 D: 形容词和副词在英语里是非常活跃的词类 正确答案: D (单选题)2: A translator has to know everything 0f something and something 0f everything． A: 一个翻译人员对一些事情要什么都懂，对什么事情又要懂一些。 B: 翻译人员对有些事情要无所不晓，对什么事情又要略知一二。 C: 翻译人员对于知识既要精深，又要渊博。 D: 译者要知之为知之，不知为不知。 正确答案: C (单选题)3: 你什么时候方便就过来玩。 A: Come and play when you are convenient． B: Come here to play if you are convenient． C: Drop in whenever it’s convenient． D: Drop in whenever you have convenience． 正确答案: C (单选题)4: I would draw a further conclusion, which I believe is central to assessing China’s future place in the world economy. A: 我将得出进一步的结论，这个结论我相信在评估中国在未来世界经济中的位置中是中心问题。 B: 我还想得出进一步的结论，我认为这对于估价中国今后在世界经济中的地位是中心问题。C: 我还有一个想法，我认为这对于估价中国今后在世界经济中的地位是至关重要的。 D: 我还有一个想法，这个结论我相信是评估中国的未来在世界经济中的位置是中心问题。正确答案: C (单选题)5: 就科技英语与汉语的表达特点而言，下列选项中不正确的一项是。 A: 汉语词汇含义相对单一并且固定，而英语的词汇含义内涵大，一词多义。 B: 汉语中用被动语态表达的句子不多，而科技英语中被动语态使用广泛。 C: 汉语趋向于用多重复合句子表达，而英语多用单句表达。 D: 科技英语中介词短词及各类非限定动词短语使用频繁。 正确答案: C (单选题)6: 第一次世界大战后，帝国主义对中国加紧侵略，北洋军阀政府对外妥协投降，对内残酷压迫人民，给中国带来了深重的民族危机。 A: After World WarⅠ, the imperialists stepped up their aggression against China while the Northern Warlord Government resorted to compromise and capitulation externally and to ruthless oppression of the people internally, thus landing China in a grave national crisis.
题号:1 题型:单选题（请在以下几个选项中选择唯一正确答案）本题分数:2 Not until the 1980's, when the company was taken over by Eisner, ________ an advantage in the hot competition. A、had it gained B、did it gain C、it gained D、gained it 学员答案：a 说明： 本题得分：2 题号:2 题型:单选题（请在以下几个选项中选择唯一正确答案）本题分数:2 ________extremely fashionable clothes and ________ by reporters, the famous actress picked up the microphone. A、Wear,surrounded B、Wearing,surrounded C、Wearing, surrounding D、Wear, surrounding 学员答案：b 说明： 本题得分：2 题号:3 题型:单选题（请在以下几个选项中选择唯一正确答案）本题分数:2 The bank manager asked his assistant if it was possible for him to _______ the investment plan in a week. A、work out B、put out C、point out D、set out 学员答案：a 说明： 本题得分：2 题号:4 题型:单选题（请在以下几个选项中选择唯一正确答案）本题分数:2 The sale usually takes place outside the house, with the audience ________ on benches, chairs or boxes. A、having seated B、seating
Our love and hate of dialects令人又爱又恨的方言 Every time I visit my hometown, I get praised for something I take for granted - being able to speak the local dialect. 每次回老家，我总因还会说家乡话而被人称赞，可这在我看来是理所当然之事。 I spent the first 15 years of my life in that part of Zhejiang province and spoke nothing but that dialect. Sure, I learned putonghua in school, but it was a language we kids would use only when reciting texts. The downside was, my putonghua carries a slight accent that I cannot shake off even though I have been living in Beijing longer than in my hometown. 15岁以前，我一直生活在浙江老家，只会说当地方言。当然，我在学校学了普通话，但对于我们孩子而言，这是只在念课文时才会用到的语言。由此产生的负面影响是，尽管后来我在北京生活的时间比在老家还久，但我的普通话总是带着些摆脱不了的口音。 My attitude towards dialects has evolved over the years. I saw it as a form of impediment for communication. When I first arrived in Guangzhou for graduate study in the early 1980s, I could not understand a single word of Cantonese and even some teachers could not get themselves understood despite their efforts to speak putonghua. Forget about the granny whom I asked for directions. 我对方言的态度随着时间慢慢改变。最初，我一度认为方言是沟通的障碍。上世纪八十年代初，我读研时第一次来到广州。我完全听不懂粤语，甚至听不懂一些老师的普通话，尽管他们费劲地想让学生听明白。就连向个老奶奶问路也听不懂她在说什么。 So I wished the country's dialects would vanish and everyone could easily talk to one another. Be careful what you wish for, it may well come true. Well, the moment I realized my youthful wish is indeed coming true was when I overheard youngsters in my hometown conversing in putonghua even in leisure time. They can still understand the local dialect, but they do not have the willingness or ability to speak it. In another generation, the dialect will be gone. 那时，我就希望全中国的方言都消失，每人都能顺畅地沟通。切不可随口许愿，一不小心就成真了。有次偶然听到老家的年轻人闲聊时都是在讲普通话，我意识到年轻时的这个愿望真的变成现实了。虽然年轻人仍然能听得懂当地的方言，但他们不乐意讲，或讲不了方言了。再下一代，方言就将消失了。 Multiple it by thousands, even millions, of similar incidents and you'll get the bigger picture of what's happening to the spoken language of Chinese. No wonder some people have taken action to
英汉翻译作业（2） There it was on the bureau, the letter — in sacred ink, on blessed paper—all over the city, people, if they listened, could hear the beating of George O'Kelly's heart. He read the commas, the blots, and the thumb-smudge on the margin — then he threw himself hopelessly upon his bed. 信，摊在写字台上——写信的墨水是圣洁的，用的信纸也是神圣的—整座城市的人们啊，只要侧耳细听，准能听到乔治·奥凯利的心房跳动声。信上的每个标点、每个墨渍、以至空白处手指蹭脏的每个污痕，都读进了他的心里——看完，他绝望地扑倒在床上。 He was in a mess, one of those terrific messes which are ordinary incidents in the life of the poor, which follow poverty like birds of prey. The poor go under or go up or go wrong or even go on, somehow, in a way the poor have — but George O'Kelly was so new to poverty that had any one denied the uniqueness of his case he would have been astounded. 乔治陷入了困境——像他这样极为狼狈的处境原是穷人生活中常有的事，可以说如同魔影一样总是缠住穷人不放。穷人嘛，不往上爬就完蛋，要不走上邪道，再就是用穷人所特有的办法混下去——不过，乔治尝到贫穷的滋味还不长；要是有人说他的境遇不过是小事一桩，他准会惊奇得说不出话来。 Less than two years ago he had been graduated with honors from The Massachusetts Institute of Technology and had taken a position with a firm of construction engineers in southern Tennessee. All his life he had thought in terms of tunnels and skyscrapers and great squat dams and tall, three-towered bridges, that were like dancers holding hands in a row, with heads as tall as cities and skirts of cable strand. It had seemed romantic to George O'Kelly to change the sweep of rivers and the shape of mountains so that life could flourish in the old bad lands of the world where it had never taken root before. 不到两年前，乔治以优异成绩毕业于麻省理工学院，在田纳西州南部的一家建筑工程公司谋得一个职位。从小时候起，乔治想的就是隧道呀、摩天楼呀、巨大的平坝呀……有着3座塔墩的高桥呀——桥上的塔墩像是一排手拉手的舞蹈家，塔尖像都市的大楼一样高耸入云，钢缆又如同姑娘的长裙一般婀娜多姿。乔治·奥凯利一直觉得，让江河改向、让高山让路、让世界上那些了无生机的不毛之地兴旺发达起来，这该有多么浪漫啊! 关键句子讲解 ?There it was on the bureau, the letter — in sacred ink, on blessed paper 信，摊在写字台上——写信的墨水是圣洁的，用的信纸也是神圣的 ?all over the city, people, if they listened, could hear the beating of George O'Kelly's heart. 整座城市的人们啊，只要侧耳细听，准能听到乔治·奥凯利的心房跳动声。 ?He read the commas, the blots, and the thumb-smudge on the margin — then he threw himself hopelessly upon his bed. 信上的每个标点、每个墨渍、以至空白处手指蹭脏的每个污痕，都读进了他的心里——看完，他绝望地扑倒在床上。 ?He was in a mess, one of those terrific messes which are ordinary incidents in the life of the poor, which follow poverty like birds of prey. 乔治陷入了困境——像他这样极为狼狈的处境原是穷人生活中常有的事，可以说如同魔影一样总是缠住穷人不放。（真可谓越穷越见鬼。？）