213年春季上海中高级口译考试于今日3月17日开考,沪江英语在考后第一时间提供真题、解析、答案信息,本文为2013年3月高级口译英译汉答案 ,由沪江网校提供。

SECTION 3: TRANSLATION TEST

American mythology loves nothing more than the reluctant hero: the man -- it is usually a man -- whose natural talents have destined him for more than obliging obscurity. George Washington, we are told, was a leader who would have preferred to have been a farmer. Thomas Jefferson, a writer. Martin Luther King, Jr., a preacher. These men were roused from lives of perfunctory achievement, our legends have it, not because they chose their own exceptionalism, but because we, the people, chose it for them. We -- seeing greatness in them that they were too humble to observe themselves -- conferred on them uncommon paths. Historical circumstance became its own call of duty, and the logic of democracy proved itself through the answer.

Neil Armstrong was a hero of this stripe: constitutionally humble, circumstantially noble. Nearly every obituary written for him has made a point of emphasizing his sense of privacy, his sense of humility, his sense of the ironic ordinary. And yet every aspect of Armstrong’s life made clear: On that day in 1969, he acted on our behalf, out of a sense of mission that was communal rather than personal. The reluctant hero is also the self-sacrificing hero.

【参考译文】

美国神话最爱的莫过于不情愿的英雄:天赋注定他无法默默无闻。据说,领袖乔治·华盛顿其实更愿意当农民,托马斯·杰斐逊宁愿当个作家,而马丁·路德·金更想当一名传教士。我们的传奇故事里说,这些人之所以能脱离平庸,不是因为他们选择卓越,而是因为我们——民众——为他们做出了选择。他们因为太过谦卑而看不到自己的伟大之处,而我们发现了,于是赋予了他们不平凡的道路。历史机缘成为使命的召唤,而民主的逻辑通过答案证明了自身。

尼尔·阿姆斯特朗就属于这类英雄:本性谦卑,因为境遇而高贵。几乎每篇讣告都强调他的隐私意识、谦卑意识和平凡意识——一种具有讽刺意味的“平凡”。但是,阿姆斯特朗生活的方方面面都表明:1969年的那一天,他为我们而行动,他的行为出于社会使命感而非个人意愿。不情愿的英雄也是自我牺牲的英雄。

【评析】

本篇题目取材自《What Died With Neil Armstrong》by Megan Garber, 难度适中,中心话题是“阿姆斯特朗离世造成的英雄文化转变”。这个话题还是大家比较熟悉的,因此理解不难。

文中出现了一些名人和事迹介绍,大家在平时英语学习中注意积累。

关键词:

reluctant 不情愿的

obscurity 身份低微

exceptionalism  例外主义

communal 公共的