专八历年翻译真题

1995年英语专业八级考试--翻译部分参考译文 C-E原文:简.奥斯丁的小说都是三五户人家居家度日,婚恋嫁娶的小事。因此不少中国读者不理解她何以在西方享有那么高的声誉。但一部小说开掘得深不深,艺术和思想是否有过人之处,的确不在题材大小。有人把奥斯丁的作品比作越咀嚼越有味道的橄榄。这不仅因为她的语言精彩,并曾对小说艺术的发展有创造性的贡献,也因为她的轻快活泼的叙述实际上并不那么浅白,那么透明。史密斯夫人说过,女作家常常试图修正现存的价值秩序,改变人们对“重要”和“不重要”的看法。也许奥斯丁的小说能教我们学会转换眼光和角度,明察到“小事”的叙述所涉及的那些不小的问题。 参考译文:However, subject matter is indeed not the decisive factor by which we judge a novel of its depth as well as (of ) its artistic appeal and ideological content (or: as to whether a novel digs deep or not or whether it ex cels in artistic appeal and ideological content). Some people compare Austen’s works to olives: the more you chew them, the more tasty (the tastier) they become. This comparison is based not only on (This is not only because of ) her expressive language and her creative contribution to the development of novel writing as an art, but also on (because of ) the fact that what hides behind her light and lively narrative is something implicit and opaque (not so explicit and transparent). Mrs. Smith once observed, women writers often sought (made attempts) to rectify the existing value concepts (orders) by changing people’s opinions on what is ―important‖ and what is not. E-C原文: I, by comparison, living in my overpriced city apartment, walking to work past putrid sacks of street garbage, paying usurious taxes to local and state governments I generally abhor, I am rated middle class. This causes me to wonder, do the measurement make sense? Are we measuring only that which is easily measured--- the numbers on the money chart --- and ignoring values more central to the good life? For my sons there is of course the rural bounty of fresh-grown vegetables, line-caught fish and the shared riches of neighbors’’ orchards and gardens. There is the unpaid baby-sitter for whose children my daughter-in-law baby-sits in return, and neighbors who barter their skills and labor. But more than that, how do you measure serenity? Sense if self? I don’t want to idealize life in small places. There are times when the outside world intru des brutally, as when the cost of gasoline goes up or developers cast their eyes on untouched farmland. There are cruelties, there is intolerance, there are all the many vices and meannesses in small places that exist in large cities. Furthermore, it is harder to ignore them when they cannot be banished psychologically to another part of town or excused as the whims of alien groups --- when they have to be acknowledged as ―part of us.‖ Nor do I want to belittle the opportunities for small decencies in cities --- the eruptions of one-stranger-to-another caring that always surprise and delight. But these are,sadly,more exceptions than rules and are often overwhelmed by the awful corruptions and dangers that surround us. 参考译文:对我的几个儿子来说,乡村当然有充足的新鲜蔬菜,垂钓来的鱼,邻里菜园和果园里可供分享的丰盛瓜果。乡下有不用付报酬便可请来照看孩子的邻居,作为回报,我儿媳也帮着照看其孩子。乡邻之间互相交换技能和劳动。但比之更重要的是,你如何来衡量那静谧与安详?如何来衡量自我价值呢? 我无意将小地方的生活理想化。因为有时外面的世界会无情地侵入:比如汽油价格上涨,开发商把眼睛盯住尚未开发的农田;那里充斥着凶残和偏狭,大城市的种种卑劣行径,小地方也一应俱全。不仅如此,当人们无法自欺欺人地硬把那些丑恶现象想象成只是小地方的一小部分或将它们解释为异乡人的为所欲为,而又不得不承认这一切是我们的一部分时,就更难以忽视它们。 1996年英语专业八级考试--翻译部分参考译文 C-E原文:近读报纸,对国内名片和请柬的议论颇多,于是想起客居巴黎时经常见到的法国人手中的名片和请柬,随笔记下来,似乎不无借鉴之处。 在巴黎,名目繁多的酒会,冷餐会是广交朋友的好机会。在这种场合陌生人相识,如果是亚洲人,他们往往开口之前先毕恭毕敬地用双手把自己的名片呈递给对方,这好像是不可缺少的礼节。然而,法国人一般却都不大主动递送名片,双方见面寒暄几句,甚至海阔天空地聊一番也就各自走开,只有当双方谈话投机,希望继续交往时,才会主动掏出名片。二话不说先递名片反倒显得有些勉强。 参考译文:In Paris, cocktail parties and buffet receptions of different kinds offer great opportunities for making friends. On such occasions, strangers may get to know each other. If they are Asians, they will, very respectfully and with both hands, present their calling cards to their interlocutors before any conversation starts. This seems to be the required courtesy on their part. The French, however, usually are not so ready with such a formality. Both sides will greet each other, and even chat casually about any topic and then excuse themselves. Only when they find they like each other and hope to further the relationship will they exchange cards. It will seem very unnatural to do so before any real conversation gets under way. E-C原文:It should have been easy. They were battle-tested veterans with long ties to Reagan and even longer ties to the Republican party, men who understood presidential politics as well as any in the country. The backdrop of the campaign was hospitable, with lots of good news to work with: America was at peace, and the nation’s economy, a key factor in any election, was rebounding vigorously after recession. Furthermore, the campaign itself was lavishly financed, with plenty of money for a top-flight staff, travel, and television commercials. And, most important, their candidate was Ronald Reagan, a president of tremendous personal popularity and dazzling communication skills. Reagan has succeed more than any president since John F. Kennedy in projecting a broad vision of America – a nation of renewed military strength, individual initiative, and smaller federal government. 参考译文:这应该不是件难事。这都是些跟着里根多年、久经沙场的老将,他们跟共和党则有更深厚的渊源,是这个国家里最熟悉总统政治的人。竞选的背景也很有利,也很多好消息可供炒作。例如,美国上下一片和平,美国经济这一竞选要素也在经过一段时间的衰退之后开始强劲反弹。此外,这次竞选本身得到了慷慨资助,因此有充裕的资金用于组织一流的竞选班子、支付巡回演讲和电视广告的费用。而最重要的一点是,他们的候选人是罗纳德·里根,他可是位极具个人魅力和沟通技巧的总统。自约翰·F·肯尼迪总统以来,里根是最成功地勾勒出美国蓝图的总统:一个军事力量复兴、富有个人进取心、联邦政府得以精简的国家。 1997年英语专业八级考试--翻译部分参考译文 C-E原文:来美国求学的中国学生与其他亚裔学生一样,大多非常刻苦勤奋,周末也往往会抽出一天甚至两天的时间去实验室加班,因而比起美国学生来,成果出得较多。我的导师是亚裔人,嗜烟好酒,脾气暴躁。但他十分欣赏亚裔学生勤奋与扎实的基础知识,也特别了解亚裔学生的心理。因此,在他实验室所招的学生中,除有一名来自德国外,其余5位均是亚裔学生。他干脆在实验室的门上贴一醒目招牌:―本室助研必须每周工作7天,早10时至晚12时,工作时间必须全力以赴。‖这位导师的严格及苛刻是全校有名的,在我所呆的3年半中,共有14位学生被招进他的实验室,最后博士毕业的只剩下5人。1990年夏天,我不顾别人劝阻,硬着头皮接受了导师的资助,从此开始了艰难的求学旅程。 参考译文:Like students from other Asian countries and regions, most Chinese students who come to pursue their further education in the United States work on their studies most diligently and assiduously. Even on weekends, they would frequently spend one day, or even two days, to work overtime in their laboratories. Therefore, compared with their American counterparts, they are more academically fruitful. My supervisor is of Asian origin. He is addicted to alcohols and cigarettes, with a sharp/irritable temper. Nevertheless, he highly appreciates the industry and the solid foundational knowledge of Asian students and has a particularly keen insight into what Asian students have on their mind. Hence, of all the students recruited into his laboratory, except for one German, the other five were all from Asia. He even put an eye-catching notice on the door of his lab, which read, ―All the research assistants of this laboratory are required to work 7 days a week, from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.. Nothing but work during the working hours.‖ This supervisor is reputed on the entire campus for his severity and harshness. During the 3 and a half years that I stayed there, a total of 14 students were recruited into his laboratory and only 5 of them stayed until they graduated with their Ph.D. degrees. In the summer of 1990, ignoring the dissuasions from others, I accepted my supervisor’s sponsorship and embarked on my difficult journey of academic pursuit. E-C原文:Opera is expensive: that much is inevitable. But expensive things are not inevitably the province of the rich unless we abdicate society’s power of choice. We can choose to make opera, and other expensive forms of culture, accessible to those who cannot individually pay for it. The question is: why should we? Nobody denies the imperatives of food, shelter, defence, health and education. But even in a prehistoric cave, mankind stretched out a hand not just to eat, drink or fight, but also to draw. The impulse towards culture, the desire to express and explore the world through imagination and representation is fundamental. In Europe, this desire has found fulfillment in the masterpieces of our music, art, literature and theatre. These masterpieces are the touchstones 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. 参考译文:聆听歌剧,无疑昂贵至极。但是,昂贵的事物并非必定属于富人的范畴,除非我们放弃社会的选择权。我们可以选择去使歌剧以及其他某些昂贵的文化形式也能为那些不具备个人支付能力的人所享受。但问题是,我们有必要这么做吗?没人会否认食物、居所、防护、健康与教育的不可或缺性。但即便是在史前时代的洞穴中,人类伸出手来,早就不单纯是为了吃、喝或搏杀,而且亦进行绘画创作。人类对于文化的冲动,通过形象思维和再现手段来表现并探索世界的欲望,乃亘古有之。在欧洲,这一欲望在我们的音乐、艺术、文学和戏剧杰作中寻找到了其实现形式。这些杰作构成了我们全部努力的试金石。作为试金石,它们能衡量出人 类的思想和想象力所可能企及的程度。它们携带着最寓意深刻的主题,可在人类彼此间相互传递。 1998年英语专业八级考试--翻译部分参考译文 C-E原文:1997年2月24日我们代表团下榻日月潭中信大饭店,送走了最后一批客人,已是次日凌晨3点了。我躺在床上久久不能入睡,披衣走到窗前,往外看去,只见四周峰峦叠翠,湖面波光粼粼。望着台湾这仅有的景色如画的天然湖泊,我想了许多,许多…… 这次到台湾访问交流,虽然行程匆匆,但是,看了不少地方,访了旧友,交了新知,大家走到一起,谈论的一个重要话题就是中华民族在21世纪的强盛。虽然祖国大陆、台湾的青年生活在不同的社会环境中,有着各自不同的生活经历,但大家的内心都深深铭刻着中华文化优秀传统的印记,都拥有着振兴中华民族的共同理想。在世纪之交的伟大时代,我们的祖国正在走向繁荣富强,海峡两岸人民也将加强交流,共同推进祖国统一大业的早日完成。世纪之交的宝贵机遇和巨大挑战将青年推到了历史前台。跨世纪青年一代应该用什么样的姿态迎接充满希望的新世纪,这是我们必须回答的问题。 日月潭水波不兴,仿佛与我一同在思索…… 参考译文:The current visit to Taiwan for exchange, brief and cursory as it is, has enabled us to see many places, to visit old friends while making new acquaintances. Whenever people gather together, an important topic of discussion has been how the Chinese nation can become prosperous and powerful in the 21st century. Although the young people on the Mainland and in Taiwan live in different social contexts (environments / milieus), with their individually different experiences of life, in the innermost recesses of their hearts are wrought an indelible mark by the fine traditions of the Chinese culture. They all cherish the same ideal to rejuvenate the Chinese nation (They share the same ideal to rejuvenate the Chinese nation). In this great epoch at the turn of the century, our motherland is developing toward greater prosperity and powerfulness. People across the Taiwan Straits are bound to strengthen their exchanges and will mutually promote the earliest possible achievement of the great cause of reunification of the motherland. The precious opportunities and the tremendous challenges at the turn of the century have pushed the young people to the foreground (forefront) of the historical arena (stage). At this transitional phase between the two millennia, in what way the young generation should embrace the forthcoming new century replete with hopes is a question to which we have to seek an answer. E-C原文:I agree to some extent with my imaginary English reader. American literary historians are perhaps prone to view their own national scene too narrowly, mistaking prominence for uniqueness. They do over-phrase their own literature, or certainly its minor figures. And Americans do swing from aggressive over phrase of their literature to an equally unfortunate, imitative deference. But then, the English themselves are somewhat insular in their literary appraisals. Moreover, in fields where they are not pre-eminent —e. g. in painting and music —they too alternate between boasting of native products and copying those of the Continent. How many English paintings try to look as though they were done in Paris; how many times have we read in articles that they really represent an ―English tradition‖ after all. To speak of American literature, then, is not to assert that it is completely unlike that of Europe. Broadly speaking, America and Europe have kept step. At any given moment the traveler could find examples in both of the same architecture, the same styles in dress, the same books on the shelves. Ideas have crossed the Atlantic as freely as men and merchandise, though sometimes more slowly. When I refer to American habit, thoughts, etc., I intend some sort of qualification to precede the word, for frequently the difference between America and Europe (especially England) will be one of degree, sometimes only of a small degree. The amount of divergence is a subtle affair, liable to perplex the Englishman when he looks at America. He is looking at a country which in important senses grew out of his own, which in several ways still resembles his own —and which is yet a foreign country. There are odd overlappings and abrupt unfamiliarities; kinship yields to a sudden alienation, as when we hail a person across the street, only to discover from his blank response that we have mistaken a stranger for a friend. 参考译文:那么,要谈论美国文学,倒并非意欲断言,它与欧洲文学全然大相径庭。广而言之,美国与欧洲一直同步发展,协调一致。在任何一个特定的时刻,旅行者在两地均能目睹同一样式的建筑实例,相同款式的服饰,架上相同的书籍。在大西洋两岸,思想如同人员与货物往来一样自由交流,尽管有时会略显迟缓。当我提及美国式的习惯、思想等概念时,我意欲在―美国式的‖这一词汇之前加上某种限定,因为欧美(尤其是英美)之间的差异往往只是程度上的差异而已,并且有时候仅仅只是微乎其微的一点程度差异而已。差异的多寡是件极为微妙的事务,这极容易使一个英国人在审视美国时大惑不解。他所审视的那个国家,从某些重要的意义上来说,诞生于他自己的国家,并在某些方面仍与他自己的国家相差无几——然而,它却实实在在是一个异邦。两者间存在着某些古怪的交替重迭,以及令人甚感突兀的陌生感;亲缘关系已让位于一种突如其来的异化与疏远,这种情景仿佛就像我们隔着马路向另一个人打招呼,结果却从这个人漠无表情的反应中发现,我们原来竟将一个陌生人误认为我们的熟人。 1999年英语专业八级考试--翻译部分参考译文 C-E原文:加拿大的温哥华1986年刚刚度过百岁生日,但城市的发展令世界瞩目。以港立市,以港兴市,是许多港口城市生存发展的道路。经过百年开发建设,有着天然不冻良港的温哥华,成为举世闻名的港口城市,同亚洲、大洋洲、欧洲、拉丁美洲均有定期班轮,年货物吞吐量达到8000万吨,全市就业人口中有三分之一从事贸易与运输行业。温哥华(Vancouver)的辉煌是温哥华人智慧和勤奋的结晶,其中包括多民族的贡献。加拿大地广人稀,国土面积比中国还大,人口却不足3000万。吸收外来移民,是加拿大长期奉行的国策。可以说,加拿大除了印第安人外,无一不是外来移民,不同的只是时间长短而已。温哥华则更是世界上屈指可数的多民族城市。现今180万温哥华居民中,有一半不是在本地出生的,每4个居民中就有一个是亚洲人。而25万华人对温哥华的经济转型起着决定性的作用。他们其中有一半是近5年才来到温哥华地区的,使温哥华成为亚洲以外最大的中国人聚居地。 参考译文:The glory of Vancouver has been achieved through the wisdom and the industry of the Vancouver people, including the contributions of many ethnic groups. Canada, sparsely populated, has a territory larger than that of China, but its population is only less than 30 million. Consequently, to attracting immigrants from other countries has become a national policy long practiced/followed/cherished by Canada. All Canadians except the American Indians, so to speak, are foreign immigrants, differing only in the length of time they have settled in Canada. Vancouver, in particular, is one of the few most celebrated multi-ethnic cities in the world. Among the 1.8