抽象名词具体化-passage 3.docVIP

3. 抽象名词具体化 The delight of the children at the sight of some dish on the table showed that it was a rarity.一看到桌上的某道菜孩子们就笑逐颜开/兴高采烈/喜笑颜开/眉开眼笑，可见这是他们平时难得吃到的东西。 The hotel is a massive effort of stone,wood and concrete.这家旅馆是用石头、木料和混凝土建成的巨大建筑物。 She is a valuable acquisition to the firm.她是这家公司不可多得的人才。 Colour schemes, and interior decoration were modern, but still Chinese, and much more beautiful than the attempts I had seen in 1982 to produce a Western-type bar or disco or restauraht in some hotels.色彩的配置，内部的装饰都是现代化的，然而仍具有中国特色，比1982年我看到的有些饭店模仿西方建起来的酒吧、迪斯科舞厅和餐厅可漂亮多了。 Perhaps it was the emotion welling up from the huge welcoming throng, perhaps it was the memories of his youth, but when he spoke to the crowd about his parents, he was near tears and his voice cracked.或许是看到欢迎他的拥挤人群而感情冲动，或许是由于想起了他年前时的一些事情，他在大庭广众前谈到他双亲时，竟几乎哭了出来，声音也哽塞了。 And I knew that many families today were conscious of absences. 我明白，许多家庭今天都意识到他们家中有的人已不在人世了。 In 1932, a Pullman passenger would find only one or two berths occupied, but in the freight cars, humanity was dense.1932年火车上卧铺旅客往往发现车厢内只有一两个铺位有人，可是火车上却挤满了人/人满为患。 I think hed tanked up a good deal at luncheon, and his determination to have my company bordered on violence. 大概是他午饭时喝多了，非让我陪他不可，简直是对我生拉硬拽。 Notes：英语中的抽象名词之所以能译成具体的人或事物，是因为它们本身的用法已经具有抽象和具体两重属性，如句1中的rarity，既可指抽象的the state or quality of being rare,也可指具体的something uncommon, 作后一种解释时他就成了可数名词，既可加不定冠词（1~3句），也可成为复数（4~6句）。因此，我们如见抽象名词具有不定冠词或作复数形式，便可视为有具体含义，可按上下文要求译为具体事物。 我们这里讨论的抽象名词分为两类，一类与动作有关或来源于动词，这类名词往往意味着该动作的结果，如例句2中的effort=something made or done as the result of trying; 3句中的acquisiton=something or someone acquired; 4句attempt=result of attempting, esp. unsuccessfully; 5句memory=an example of remembering. 这些词的翻译不能照搬词典解释，需考虑上下文，尤其是它的直接修饰语，如例句3acquisition 要和valuable结合起来，才好译成“不可多得的人才”；例句4attempt要和a western-type bar or disco等词联系起来，才好译为“模仿西方建起来的酒吧、舞厅。。。”，“建起来的”说明酒吧等是result of attempting，“模仿”暗示unsuccessfully，既然人们一看就是“模仿”的，说明它确实不理想。 第二类来源于形容词，例句均属此类。例句6的absence给人的感觉应是具体的，例如吃饭时本来是某人的座位现在却空着，此句可能指战时家里有人牺牲了。例句7hum