2013年12月四级翻译

原文:

中国结(the Chinese knot) 最初是由手工艺人发明的。经过数百年不断的改造,已经成为一种优雅多彩的艺术和工艺。在古代,人们用它来记录事件,但现在主要用于装饰的目的。“结”在中文里意味着爱情,婚姻和团聚。中国结常常作为礼物交换或用作饰品祈求好运和避邪。这种形式的手工艺(handcraft)代代相传,现在已经在中国和世界各地越来越受欢迎。

译文:

The Chinese knot is originally invented by the handicraftsman. After several hundred years’ innovation, it has evolved into an elegant and colorful art and craft. In ancient times, it was used for recording events, while now it is mainly a decorative handicraft art. In Chinese, "Knot" means love, marriage and reunion. The Chinese knot is often used as a gift to express good wishes or a talisman to ward off evil spirits. The handcraft has passed on for generations and become more and more popular in China and the world.

【点评】

原文与样题“神似”,不管是题材、句式、用词以及难度都与样题“剪纸”如出一辙,相信按照样题模式进行练习,面对考题一定得心应手。同时文章中还出现了一些翻译中的高频词汇,如“由……发明”、“代代相传”、“意味着”、“世界各地”等等,以及用“while”表示对比等常见句式,充分说明只要语法词汇双管齐下,翻译准确率定能大大提升。