Sentence Translation

1. The average age of people in the countryside is increasing, while that of the cities is falling. More old people stay in the countryside than young people and the opposite is true in the cities.

译文: 农村人口的平均年龄正处于上升趋势, 而在城市却正好相反。原因是在农村老年人要比年轻人多,城市正好相反。

解析:本句难度适中,只需要按照句子的逻辑顺序将句子信息陈列出来即可。此外,本句无明显生词。

2. One important reason for the move to cities has to do with quality of life issues: comfort and convenience. For example, most of us would like our children to receive the better education, and cities often offer better schools.

译文:“进城热”与生活水平问题息息相关。人们向往城市舒适方便的生活。就像我们大部分人都想子女能够接收到更好的教育,而城市通常就有教育质量更好的学校。

解析:在做本句翻译时需要注意在前半句适当地增译一些信息,如在comfort and convenience 处需要加上move to the cities的主语“人们”。后半句难度不大,直译即可。

3. Most burglars are opportunist, looking for an easier break-in. So don’t make things simply for them. Don’t advertise the fact that you are out or away, or be careless about security.

译文:大部分的窃贼都是投机分子,他们会寻找最方便快捷的“翻墙入室”的机会。所以不要给他们可乘之机。不要嚷嚷着让别人都知道你不在家,也不要太马虎大意而忽略了安全问题。

解析:本句句型不复杂,需要注意几个词语的译法,如opportunist本来是“机会主义者”,在这里用于形容 burglars身上,需要相应地翻译成贬义词“投机分子”;此外,don’t make things simply for them可以用成语“可乘之机”概括,这些需要同学平时多做翻译练习积累,在会在临考时马上反应出来。

4. Researchers from the University of Copenhagen and the University of Iceland said ash particles from the early part of the volcanic eruption are especially abrasive, posing a possible threat to aircraft engines.

译文:来自哥本哈根大学和冰岛大学的研究者们表示早些时候火山爆发遗留的火山灰摩擦度非常高。这可能对飞机的引擎产生威胁。

解析:本句句型简单,但生词较多,需要考生抓注意些重点词汇理解。如:volcanic eruption 是表示“火山爆发”, abrasive 表示“磨损的”。考生在遇到不会的单词时也不用过于慌张,一般句子中包含大量专业词汇句意都比较简单,可凭上下文进行推测。

5. Lack of sanitation leads to wide spread of contamination of drinking water. Recent statistics say water-associated infectious diseases claim up to 3.2million lives each year, approximately 6 percent all death globally.

译文:不注意环境卫生会导致饮用水大规模受污染。近期的数据显示与饮用水有关的可传染性疾病每年可导致320万人失去生命,这个数字接近每年全球死亡人数的6%。

解析: 本句的主题是高口中常考的环境问题,全句无复杂结构,考生需要保证数字听译的准确性。本句中有出现两处数字,要求考生掌握数字速记的方法。
contamination : 污染
infectious : 传染的,有传染性的
approximately : 大约

Passage translation 1

Mass urbanization of the world’s population is an unprecedented trend worldwide. The most important reason why people are moving to cities is economic. People are moving to the cities because that’s where they can find jobs and earn money. Until the 20th century, the major source of employment, full and part-time, was farming. Now, according to recent statistics, no more than 15 percent of all jobs are connected to farming. Jobs now are being created in information technology, manufacturing and service areas, such as tourism and financing, and all of these new jobs are in or around major cities.
译文:世界人口大规模的城市化在世界范围内达到史无前例的规模。驱使人们不断涌向城市的最重要原因是经济因素。人们都涌向城市是因为在城里可以找到工作和挣 钱。在20世纪以前,就业的主要途径,不管是全职还是兼职,一直都是农耕。而现在,根据最近的统计数据,只有不到15%的工作是和农业相关的。越来越多的 工作产生于信息技术产业、制造业和服务行业,如旅游业和融资,而所有这些新兴工作都在大城市及其周边地区。

评析:本题是高口热点话题“城市化”,在07年9月的高口NTGF部分也涉及到过城市化的问题,前一题的句子翻译 S2也提到了“人们搬进大城市的原因,是追求高品质的生活”,而这里主要围绕工作展开。考查词汇都在大纲范围内,像urbanization, manufacturing等都属于常见热词,考生在平时对这些词汇有所积累,翻译起来并不难。相对passage 2, 这段话稍微有点长,这也提醒考生注意平时多练习听写记笔记,熟悉常考话题,这样在考试时才能拿高分。

Passage translation 2

Crime control is a pretty complex question, the first step, of course, is deterrence to stop people from committing crime in the first place. That involves the economy.  Are there enough jobs for everyone? There should be. And social structure, are there enough support system? And so on. When people are convicted, and put in prison, then the goal should be to have reform programs inside prisons. So they want person comes out, they don’t return to a life of crime. If the education program and drug treatment program have been cut, convicted criminals are not being reformed.
译文:如何控制犯罪率是一个十分复杂的问题。首先,当然要防止犯罪行为的发生。包括从经济方面来说,是否有足够的工作提供给所有人?这个是应该要保证的;从 社会机构来说,是否有足够的社会保障体系?等等。而一旦人们犯了罪,被关进监狱了,那么监狱里就需要有改造计划,可以让这些人出狱之后,不再回到犯罪生 涯。如果停掉教育计划和毒品治疗方案,那就无法对这些犯人就行改造了。

评析:本篇段落翻译选自2008年春季高口的听力原文,这就暗示了广大口译考生,历年的听力原文等材料是平时训练的重要资源,平时多积累,考试的时候方可胸有成竹。

本篇段落关注的是一个常见的社会问题——如何控制犯罪率。段落给出了两点建议,一个是要防患未然;二是在对犯人实施改造计划。内容对考生来说应该并不陌生,语速也较为平缓,作为两段翻译的的第二段,在难度上是可以接受的。

本段词汇较为常见。注意deterrence,意是“威慑,制止”,这里考生也可将名词转译为动词,译为“防止犯罪行为的发生”;另外,convict这个单词意为“判…有罪”,convicted criminals指“囚犯,犯人”。

段落的句子结构较为简单。考生只需注意这个长句:When people are convicted, and put into prison, the goal should be to have reform programs inside prisons, so that when the person comes out, they don't return to a life of crime. 这个句子虽长,但只要理解语义,理清分句之间的逻辑关系,如when引导的是从句,the goal 后面的内容是主句,so that作的是目的状语。划分好结构,再按句子本身的语序进行翻译就可以了。

总体而言,本篇英译中难度适中,主题也不偏颇另类,考生在平时注意对社会问题的积累,多进行真题练习,把握好时间和心态,相信会顺利完成翻译。