《1997-2016_英语专业八级翻译部分真题解析经典》.docVIP

1997—2010年英语专业8级统考题中英译汉试题评析 【1997年8级测试英译汉】 Opera is expensive: that much is inevitable.1 But expensive things are not inevitably the province of the rich unless we abdicate society’s power of choice. 2 We can choose to make opera, and other expensive forms of culture, accessible to those who cannot individually pay for it. 3 The question is: why should we? Nobody denies the imperatives of food, shelter, defense, health and education. 4 But even in a prehistoric cave, mankind stretched out a hand not just to eat, drink or fight, but also to draw. 5 The impulse towards culture, the desire to express and explore the world through imagination and representation is fundamental. 6 In Europe, this desire has found fulfillment in the masterpieces of our music, art, literature and theatre. These masterpieces are the touchstones7 for all our efforts; they are the touchstones for the possibilities to which human thought and imagination may aspire; they carry the most profound messages that can be sent from one human to another.8 【概述】 这是一篇典型的关于美国政治的时事杂文，用词色彩强烈，修饰语具有极端性和渲染性的特点。翻译这类文章时，伸缩性较大，适宜文采的容忍度较大。这篇文章理解起来不难，但翻译时却发现不好用贴切的汉语表达，因此在处理这样表面看起来比较容易但难翻译的文章时，注意一定不要拘泥于英文的表达形式。本文翻译中涉及长句译法、定语从句译法，以及增词法、转译法等。 【翻译要点评析】 Opera is expensive: that much is inevitable：若直译即“歌剧很贵，那种贵不可避免。”但读者要问“是听歌剧很贵还是演歌剧很贵？”因此，在“歌剧”前要加具体动词，根据上下文，可以看出“听歌剧”比较恰当。 But expensive things are not inevitably the province of the rich unless we abdicate society’s power of choice：province意为“领域、范围”；abdicate意为“放弃”。society’s power of choice如果直译，即“社会的选择权”，但这样翻译有些抽象，可采用意译法，即“社会左右选择的力量”。 We can choose to make opera, and other expensive forms of culture, accessible to those who cannot individually pay for it： to make something accessible to someone使某人也能得到某事（物），因此全句可译为“使歌剧和其他形式的高消费文化也能让那些作为个体消费不起的人们所享受。” Nobody denies the imperatives of food, shelter, defense, health and education：the imperatives of food, shelter, defense, health and education意思为“食物、居所、防护、健康与教育这些必需的事物”，翻译时可将imperatives名词词性转为动词，即“食物、居所、防护、健康与教育缺一不可”。全句直译即“没有人否认