英语翻译讲义

第八节正反译法

一英语为肯定式，汉语译作否定式

1. The first bombs missed the target.

2. Predictably, it was Mike who released the secret to Mary.

3. The explanation is pretty thin.

4. It was beyon d his ability to undertake this task.

5. Time is what we want most, but what, alas, many use worst.

6. The general would rather fight to death before he surrendered.

7. Both sides thought that the peace proposal was one they could accept with dignity.

8. Don’t lose time in cleaning this machine.

9. I dropped medicine and took up physics．

10. He failed to set a good example for his kids.

二英语为否定式，汉语译作肯定式

1. He manifested a strong dislike for his father’s business.

2. He was an indecisive sort of person.

3. The examination left no doubt that the patient had died of cancer.

4. Don’t lose the opportunities to practice English.

5. Some people can eat what they like and get no fatter．

6. The washroom is at the next corner，you can't miss it．

三同一词语，既可译作肯定式，又可译作否定式

1. The machine is far from being complicated.

2. She is anything but a bright student.

3. The square is no distance at all.

翻译实践:

1. She was at a loss to know what to do.

2. His refusal was not final.

3. I hate to say good-bye.

4. My father will kill me when he finds out the truth.

5. Many students went to class before they had prepared their lesson.

6. In Greek myth, Helen’s beauty is beyond compare.

7. The newspaper accounts are far from being true.

8. He is the last man I want to see.

9. I’ll do anything but that.

10. Your temper is more than I can bear.

11. “How are you?” “I couldn’t feel better.”

12. There is no rule but has exceptions.

13. You can’t be too careful.

14. She is not a little interested in American Literature.

15. He never met her afterwards without asking her the same question.

16. She’s not stupi d, merely ignorant.

17. Don’t lose time in catching up with us.

18. Though they’ve held several meetings, the problem is still unsolved.

第九节被动语态的译法

一、翻译成汉语的主动句

（一）原句中的主语在译文中仍做主语

1. Nuclear power’s danger to health, safety and even life itself can b e summed up into one word : radiation..

2. On their domestic stations events in the Middle East were dismissed briefly.

3. Since this club was set up one month ago, more than 300 people have joined in it.

（二）原文中的主语在译文中作宾语

1. He said he was assured by the State Department that the U.S. is willing to normalize relations

with his country.

2. The house has been sold out.

3. It would be astonishing if that loss were not keenly felt.

（三）翻译成带表语的主动句

1 The decision to attack was not taken lightly.

2 All scientific and technological achievements are founded on rational thinking, without which there would have been no science.

（四）译为汉语的无主句

1. The unpleasant noise must be immediately put an end to.

2. Due care must be taken to ensure that the pulse signal itself shall show no irregularities and no interruptions.

(五) 有些含有形式主语的英语句子，在英译汉时常改为主动句，可在汉译中加上主语“有人”、“人们”、“我们”、“大家”等，有的也可以不加。例如：

It is said that．．．据说……

It is believed that．．．据信……

It was told that．．．据传……

It is reported that．．．据报道……

It is supposed that．．．据推测．．．

It is estimated that… 据估计……

It is hoped that．．．人们希望……

It is asserted that．．．有人主张……

It is generally considered/accepted/ that．．．人们普遍认为……

It is well-known that．．．众所周知……

It must be admitted that．．．必须承认……

It must be pointed out that．．．需指出的是……

It will be said that．．．有人会说……

It could be argued that… 有人可能会提出……

It may be said without fear of exaggeration that… 可以毫不夸张地说……

It will be seen from this that… 由此可见……

二、翻译成汉语的被动句

（一）“被------”或“给------”

1. He was scolded by his math teacher in class this morning.

2. On his way home he was beaten.

（二）“（遭）受到------”

1. They were given hearty welcome.

2. The coastal villages are subjected to typhoon.

（三）“为------所”

1. The then situation was not controlled by him.

2. Socialist ideology has been accepted by the people of the whole country.

（四）译成“把”、“使”和“由”字句

1. His whole family were killed by the cruel Jap invaders.

2. The whole village has been practically destroyed by a big flood.

3. The research team is made up of two distinguished professors and five college students.

翻译实践:

1. Many elements in nature are found to be mixtures of different isotopes.

2. While she was dreaming of making a big fortune, she was sold secretly.

3. Your behaviors are rejected by most of the people.

4. Medicine should be stored away from children.

5. If the capital won’t be obtained on time, the whole project has to be terminated.

6. Another flyover will be opened to traffic by the end of this year.

7. When two objects are rubbed together, electrons are transmitted from one object to the other.

8. Resistance is measured in Ohm.

9. This ship is destined for London.

10. These machines are operated by one worker only.

11. A large sum of money has been put aside for that project.

12. Heat treatment is used so as to improve the properties of metals.

13. Numerous cases were cited to sustain his opinion.

14. This workshop has been mechanized completely.

15. Liars are not believed even when they tell the truth.

课后作业（将下面的段落翻译成汉语）

As oil is found deep in the ground, its presence cannot be determined by a study of the surface. Consequently, a geological survey of the underground rocks structure must be carried out. If it is thought that the rocks in a certain area c ontain oil, a “drilling rig” is assembled. The most obvious part of a drilling rig is called “a derrick”. It is used to lift sections of pipe, which are lowered into the hole made by the drill. As the hole is being drilled, a steel pipe is pushed down to prevent the sides from falling in. If oil is struck, a cover is firmly fixed to the top of the pipe and the oil is allowed to escape through a series of valves.

第十节分句和合句译法

一、分句法

（一）将原文中的一个单词译成句子

1. That is a NATO matter and any comment on it should appropriately come from NA TO.

2. That region was the most identifiable trouble spot.

3. As a place to live, it left much to be desired. As a secret training base for a revolutionary new plane, it was an excellent site, its remoteness effectively masking its activity.

（二）将原文中的短语译成句子

1. She sat with her hands cupping her chin, staring at a corner of the kitchen.

2. So China has built new and increasingly strong links, in both directions, with world markets. These links have contributed to creation of new jobs, new prosperity for China.

3. Their power increased with their number.

（三）将原文的单句译成两个或以上的句子

1. A growing minority of Western intellectuals agreed this viewpoint.

2. She had made several attempts to help them find other rental quarters without success.

3. I’m sure I wish I had been a hundred miles off rather than have heard what I’ve heard.

翻译实践:

1. They, not surprisingly, did not respond at all.

2. Genera lly, one’s desire is hard to meet---a human nature.

3. Most parents might have spoken with understandable pride of their children.

4. She had long been held in cordial contempt by her husband; now that contempt was no longer cordial.

5. She said she felt at home when being with him, moving confidently without fear.

6. Sunrays filtered in wherever they could, driving out darkness and chocking the shadows.

7. He finished the race within 20 seconds, a record never touched before in his country.

8. Energy can neither be created nor destroyed, a universally accepted law.

9. My father was not wrong in judging me too young to manage business of importance.

10. He arrived in Washington at a ripe moment internationally.

11. A na?ve projection of their past growth rates into the future was likely to greatly overstate their real prospects.

12. The ancient people tried unsuccessfully to explain how a rainbow is formed.

13. In the days that followed, I learned to spell in this uncomprehending way a great many words.

14. Sometimes to his delight, he was allowed to take short trips outside his house.

15. Men are too clever to let themselves be cheated by fashion designers.

16. Another round of war in that region clearly will put strains on international relations.

17. His failure to observe the safety regulation resulted in an accident to the machine.

二、合句法

（一）将原文中两个或两个以上的简单句译成一个单句

1. She was very busy at home. She has to take care of the children and do the kitchen work.

2. Here there are students from all over the country. Many of them are from the north.

（二）将原文的主从复合句译成一个单句

1. When I negotiate, I get nervous. When I get nervous, I eat.

2. I knew every spot where a murder or robbery had been committed.

3. He is a man who forgives and forgets.

4. It is well known to all of us that he cheated in the final examinations.

（三）将原文中的并列句译成一个单句

1. In 1844 Engels met Marx, and they became friends.

2. The time was 10:30 and the traffic on the street was light.

翻译实践:

1. He was very clean. His mind was open.

2. He shook his head. He looked at the black wall. The girl’s face was there, really quite beautiful in memory: astonishing in fact.

3. I am blest if I know.

4. Nixon once said: “When we praise the Chinese leadership and the people, we are not merely being polite.”

第十一节定语从句的翻译

（一）前置法（适用于比较短的定语从句），使用最广。

1. Furthermore, humans have the ability to modify the environment in which they live, thus subjecting all other life forms to their own peculiar ideas and fancies.

2. Those who sacrifice themselves for the people’s cause are the real heroes of history.

3. The time will surely come when the Chinese people will realize the four modernizations.

翻译实践：

1. Our hope and vision was to forge a Sino-American relationship which would contribute to

world peace and the welfare of our two people.

2. The ring he gave me as a wedding present cost him more than 20,000 Yuan.

3. At that time, I was, to borrow from popular terms, a man who was perfectly handsome.

4. After the event, his father became a member who was to stay out in the cold.

5. The people who worked for him lived in mortal fear of him.

6. The place where we often played football 10 years ago is a shopping mall now.

7. Generally speaking, the day one can never forget is the one when he/she got married.

8. You mean the reason why you didn’t go to school is that you had too much at breakfast?

9. The pretty girl he is talking to was my girlfriend.

10. He was a lucky dog because he was the only boy that she invited to her birthday party.

（二）后置法,也叫独立成句法，即将定语从句单独译出。（适用于较长的定语从句）

1. In short, a leader of the new school contends, the scientific revolution, as we call it, was largely the improvement and invention and use of a series of instruments that expanded the reach of science in innumerable direction.

2. I shall define him as an individual who has elected as his primary duty and pleasure in life the activity of thinking in Socratic(苏格拉底) way about moral problems.

3. His function is analogous to that of a judge, who must accept the obligation of revealing in as obvious a matter as possible the course of reasoning which led him to his decision.

翻译实践：

1. Sometimes when he came he was silent and moody, and after a few sarcastic remarks went away again, to tramp the streets of Lincoln, which were almost as quiet and oppressively domestic as those Black Hawk.

2. He unselfishly contributed his uncommon talents to the struggle which today brings those aims within the reach of a majority of the human race.

3. They are striving for the ideal which is close to the heart of every Chinese and for which, in the past, many Chinese have laid down their lives.

4. Our company is eager to employ such talents who are good at public relations and who can sign

contracts faster than others working in the similar companies.

5. The place you mentioned in your article and where, as a matter of fact, I have been once, has now become a famous resort which attracts thousands of foreigners each year.

（三）溶合法（对there be句型中的定语从句比较适用）

1. There are many people who want to see the film.

2. There are events taking place at this time which dim our hopes and lessen the prospects.

翻译实践：

1. There are many students in this class who come from big cities.

2. There have been good results in the experiments that have given him great encouragement.

3. There is another man who seemed to have answers, and that was Regan.

4. There is a person at the gate who wants to see you.

（四）转译法，即翻译成状语从句

1. A driver mustn’t talk wit h others or be absent-minded who is driving the bus.

2. Anyone who thinks that rational knowledge need not be derived from perceptual is an idealist.

翻译实践：

1. Mrs. Smith, who has been married to her husband for nearly 20 years, still does not know him very well.

2. Men become desperate for work, any work, which will help them to keep alive their families.

3. She only contacted with those who could demonstrate her social status.

4. Individuals who are infected with HIV but remain healthy and keep viral replication in check may offer some hope for guiding the design of an effective HIV vaccine.

5. He decided to take this difficult course, which has made him extremely busy during the summer.

6. There was something original, independent and heroic about the plan that pleased all of us.

7. In order to show that he was still wealthy, he bought another cottage, which in fact he didn’t need at all.

8. Eventually she found her lover, but she still kept the cat which she could have a companion with when he was not at hand.

9. Now I need someone, or anyone who can help me pass the exam.

10. What were the hopes and aims and dreams that had made them the incredibly stubborn warriors?

11. A man who wants to have friends must show himself friendly.

12. Those who are in favor please hold up their hands.

13. He who makes no mistakes makes nothing.

第十二节名词性从句的翻译

一、主语从句的译法

（一）如果是以what, who, whatever, whoever, how, why等特殊疑问词引导的主语从句，翻译时不需变换语序。

1. What I want to know is who broke the glass.

2. Whoever are in the office have heard of this story.

3. Why he slipped back to this city again was still a puzzle to the police.

翻译实践：

1. How well the predictions will be validated by later performance depends upon the amount，reliability，and appropriateness of the information used and on the skill and wisdom with which it is interpreted.

2. Whatever is worth doing should be done well.

（二）that和whether引导的主语从句也不需变换语序。

1. That the planets are moving is now beyond dispute.

2. Whether he will turn up at the planned spot on time tested our patience.

翻译实践：

1. That those who had learned from us now excelled us was a real challenge.

2. Whether the Government should increase the financing of pure science at the expense of technology or vice versa often depends on the issue of which is seen as the driving force.

3. That experiences influence subsequent behavior is evidence of an obvious but nevertheless remarkable activity called remembering.

（三）it作形式主语引导的主语从句，翻译时可先译主语从句，再译主句；也可以先翻译主句，再翻译从句。作形式主语的it常常省略不译。

1. Furthermore it is obvious that the strength of a country's economy is directly bound up with the efficiency of its agriculture and industry, and that this in turn rests upon the efforts of scientists and technologists of all kinds.

2. It has long been known that a taxi firm called AAAA cars has a big advantage over Zodiac cars when customers thumb through their phone directories.

翻译实践：

1. It is universally known that alloy is a metal product containing two or more elements.

2. It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.

3. It is strange that she should have failed to see her own shortcomings.

4. What he told me is only half-truth.

5. Don’t believe him. Whatever he says is just nonsense.

6. Whoever has experienced the old time can still recall the hard life.

7. She’ in love, but many her friends say what really l ured her was that the man has inherited a big fortune recently.

8. Whatever was seen and heard on the journey was really impressing.

9. Whoever has been there died without any trace.

10. Whomever he may resort to for help doesn’t matter now. He is a dead m an anyway.

11. It doesn’t make much difference whether he attends the meeting or not.

12. It seemed inconceivable that he would have survived the air crash.

13. It was obvious that we had become the pawns in some sort of top-level power play.

二、宾语从句的译法

（一）一般而言，宾语从句的翻译就按原句的语序翻译过来就可以，无须进行顺序的调整。

1. Some philosophers argue that rights exist only within a social contract, as part of an exchange of duties and entitlements.

2. It leads the discussion to extremes at the outset: it invites you to think that animals should be treated either with the consideration humans extend to other humans, or with no consideration at all.

3. For example, they do not compensate for gross social inequality, and thus do not tell how able an underprivileged youngster might have been had he grown up under more favorable circumstances.

翻译实践：

1. A principle of science tells what usually happens under certain conditions.

2. He would remind people again that it was decided not only by himself but by lots of others.

3. They wondered eagerly if the result of the game was within their expectation.

（二）it作为形式宾语的句子，其翻译方法同类似的主语从句一样，可以先翻译从句，也可以先翻译主句。

I regard it as an honor that I am invited to attend your wedding.

翻译实践：

1. Whether he’ll come to play cards with us depends on whether his wife is happy or not.

2. He would never let the history books say of him that he had been content to sit on the sidelines, to be a gentle, leisurely President, letting events take their course.

3. I don’t care how she treats you, but I do care how you treat her.

4. All these evidences made it clear that it was the manager rather than the accountant that helped himself to the amount of money.

5. They all considered it a pity that she was not in favor of you.

6. She took it for granted that he would like her and at last marry her willingly.

7. Anyhow, old chap, I own it to you that I am still alive.

8. We all think it quite necessary that he should know the truth at this critical moment.

三、表语从句的译法

表语从句通常按原句的语序进行翻译。

1. Galileo's greatest glory was that in 1609 he was the first person to turn the newly invented telescope on the heavens to prove that the planets revolve around the sun rather than around the earth.

2. One difficulty is that almost all of what is called behavioral science continues to trace behavior to states of mind, feelings, traits of character, human nature, and so on.

翻译实践：

1. What he emphasized over and over again was that, no matter how difficult it might be, they should never retreat even for an inch.

2. The fact now is that a big mistake has been made. What’s the point quarreling here?

3. That was how she became my wife eventually.

4. The problem that we are still confronted with is how and where the capital could be obtained.

5. The fact, however, remains that, though having enjoyed many privileged policies, people in that region are still rather poor.

6. This is where the shoe pinches.

7. From what you have written in your application letter and resume, we are sorry to tell you that our conclusion is you are not qualified for this job.

四、同位语从句的译法

同位语从句的翻译一般可采用以下的三种方法：

（一）如果作同位语的名词是从动词派生出来的或本身含有动作含义，可按宾语从句的方法翻译，语序不变。

Shapiro suggested that the panel had found a broad consensus that it would be "morally unacceptable to attempt to create a human child by adult nuclear cloning."

翻译实践：

1. There were also indications that true intelligence, not rumors, was his primary concern.

2. At the meeting he put forward his proposal that all of us should donate for the Hope Project.

3. The teacher was quite unsatisfied with his excuse that he was absent from class for a clod.

（二）在有些情况下，同位语从句可以提至名词的前面来翻译。

1. But the idea that the journalist must understand the law more profoundly than an ordinary citizen rests on an understanding of the established conventions and special responsibilities of the new media.

2. The fact that the apple fell down toward the earth and not up into the tree answered the question he had been asking himself about those larger fruits of the heavens, the moon and the planets.

翻译实践：

1. I know I couldn’t trust him. There was always the possi bility that he was telling lies.

2. We all know the fact that bodies possess weight.

（三）语序不变，借助于“即”、“以为”或冒号、破折号加以解释，起补充说明的作用。Being interested in the relationship of language and thought, Whorf developed the idea that the structure of language determines the structure of habitual thought in a society.

翻译实践：

1. Influenced by these ethics, he always lived under the delusion that money does not stink.

2. He is surprised to read the news in the newspaper that his father should be still alive.

3. He expressed the hope that he would come over to visit China again.

4. An obedient son, I had accepted my father’s decision that I was to be a doctor, though the prospect interested me not at all.

5. Yet, from the very beginning, the fact that I was alive was ignored.

6. But considered realistically, we had to face the fact that the prices of housing were still rising.

7. Your proposal that we withdraw our investment out of the project has been turned down by the board.

8. Both sides at last agreed with the issue that they had a good term in the next 50 years.

9. The news that someone had fallen off the train had gone through the passengers like wildfire, though many remained unclear for some time as to just what had happened.

10. Nobody objected the agreement that the driver must be fully responsible for the traffic accident.

11. The idea that a big party is to be held to celebrate the parents’ 30 years wedding anniversary was welcome by all the family.

12. The puzzle whether some UFOs have ever visited the earth is still unclear up till now.

第十四节状语从句的翻译

一、时间状语从句

时间状语从句可能是英语中使用得最多的一种状语从句，也是我们最熟悉的一种状语从句，但是，有些这类状语从句的句型结构比较的独特，翻译时需要特别留意。

Hardly/scarcely/barely, etc……when/than……

No sooner……than……

Every/each time + clause

……, when……

Not……until……

The moment/instant/minute/day/year, etc + clause

下面是一些这类状语从句的例句：

1. He had scarcely closed the door when someone knocked at it again.

2. No sooner had he arrived in Rome than he was kidnapped.

3. Each time he came, he would ask me the same question.

4. I was walking in the street, when I bumped into one of my former classmates.

5. She would know the instant he walked in whether it was true.

翻译实践：

1. He was about to run out of money, when he got another unexpected fortune.

2. Each time, hardly had his hus band’s hand touched her sleeves when she shouted: “Murdering! Murdering!”

3. No sooner had he been born than he was entitled as a tycoon.

4. The moment she saw him she knew he was her son lost several years ago.

5. It is not until recently, however, that science has begun to give us some idea of how the brain really works.

6. Not until her mother died did she get the truth that she was an adopted daughter.

7. They baby girl had barely seen the man than she cried.

二、原因状语从句

原因状语从句也是英汉两种语言中常用的一种句型。下面是英语中用得较少的原因状语从句句型。

Not……because…..; now that……; seeing that……; ……in that……

Considering that……; on the ground(s) that……; for the reason that……

By reason that……; for fear that……

下面是一些此类句型的例句：

1. Now that we have understood the meaning of this word, let’s make a sentence of it.

2. He is a good husband in that he never quarrels with me at least.

3. Considering that they have tried their best, this result can be accepted too.

4. The board are against the project, on the grounds that it is too much of cost.

翻译实践：

1. He didn’t steal because he was in need of money. He was fond of it.

2. Considering that he began learning English only a year ago, he speaks very well.

3. He is a good husband in that each time he gets his pay-check, he gives his wife.

4. Many students attend the political course for the reason that the lecturer is fairly pretty and attractive.

5. Now that the holiday has come to an end, you’d better concentrate on your study again.

三、条件状语从句

条件状语从句中也有一些比较特殊的表达句型，

Provided that……; given that……; if only……; as long as……

Once……; in case……

另外，译者还应该区分真实的条件从句和虚拟的条件从句。

以下是一些条件从句的例句：

1. Given that his health is in a poor condition, we’d better have someone else take his place.

2. Once customers come to rely on these systems they almost never take their business elsewhere.

3. A body at rest always remains at rest unless it is acted on by external forces.

4. It was better in case they were captured.

翻译实践：

1. Provided that he comes into power, all of us will be ruined.

2. She said to her husband: “You can do whatev er you want as long as you submit your pay-bag.”

3. If only we were wealthy people!

4. If I hadn’t helped you to stabilize the ladder just now, you wouldn’t be smiling now.

5. One must sow before one can reap.

6. Even if Columbus had not discovered the continent of America, somebody else might have discovered it.

7. He was determined to hold on to this job whatever difficulties he might run into.

四、让步状语从句

让步状语从句的表达除使用but, while等以外，还常用以下的连接词：

(al)though, even though, as, granted/granting that……

以下是一些条件从句的例句：

1. Rigid as they are, iron and steel will deform under the action of forces.

2. Although he seems hearty and outgoing in public, Mr. Wang is a withdrawn, introverted man.

3. He still behaved at will, even though he offended everyone around him.

翻译实践：

1. Much as she disliked him, she eventually married him for some reason.

2. I still think that you made a mistake while admit what you say.

3. Granted/granting that you die, she won’t shed a tear for you.

五、比较状语从句

这类从句的翻译比较简单，但译者应注意一些特殊的表达，如

Prefer……to……; superior/inferior to……; rather than, etc

翻译实践：

1. She earns three times as much as I.

=She earns twice more than I.

2. The child was more frightened than hurt.

3. The book seems to be more a dictionary than a grammar.

4. That company is more in name than in reality.

5. Women are superior to men in taking care of children.

6. She thought she was rather flattered than praised.

注意：状语从句之间的划分界限并不是唯一的，因为有时某一类状语从句可能会被翻译成其他类的状语从句。试把下面的句子翻译成括号内注明类型的那类从句：

1. He stole, not because he wanted the money, but because he liked stealing. (purpose)

2. How can you expect your children to be truthful when you tell lies? (condition)

3. When it rains, the buses are crowded. (modifier)

4. There, whoever you are, nobody cares. (objective clause)