考研翻译能力训练_4_
2009.10
College
English
笤考试专栏笤
Tipping is a subject that has long 1inter -ested and irritated me.Many people think that the word “tip ”is an acronym for “to insure promptness ”.However,this is not possible,I think.Since the practice of tipping 2began in England 3in the Middle Ages,
scholars have
not been able to find any acronyms much ear -lier than the 20th century.Most scholars track the word “tip ”back to the early 1600s,where it originated as criminal slang.
It referred to
inside information.Therefore,to give another criminal a tip was to give something valuable (information).
长期以来，小费一直是让我既感兴趣又恼火的事。许多人以为“tip （小费）”一词是“to insure promptness （确保及时）”的首字母缩写。不过，我看这不可能。自从中世纪英格兰开始付小费以来，学者尚未找到任何早于
20世纪的首字母缩合词。多数学者对“tip ”一
词的起源追溯到17世纪初，认为它源于罪犯的黑话，指“内部消息”。所以，给别的罪犯一个“tip ”，即给他某种有价值的东西（消息）。
The word gradually evolved to the point where,in the late 1700s,it meant to give a monetary gratuity 4(tip)to someone for service performed.
That ’s where it stayed 5until the
English immigrated to North America.
后来，“tip ”的含义逐渐演变，到18世纪末，意为“给某人赏钱”（即小费），以奖赏所提供的服务。该词的意思从此不变，直到英国人移居北美。
In America,the three basic occupations 6
that require tipping are waiters/waitresses,taxi drivers,and barbers.The standard tip is now between 15and 20per cent of the bill,de -
pending on the quality of service.
在美国，从事三种底层职业的人需要付给小费：男女服务员、出租车司机和理发师。现在小费的标准为账单的15％－20％，取决于服务质量。
Why these three particular services 7de -serve this special treatment is a mystery to me.
Why am I supposed to tip a waiter for bringing me food when 8I ’m not expected to tip the flight attendant on an airplane for do -ing the same thing?Why am I supposed to tip a cab driver,but I ’m not expected to tip the bus driver?Why am I supposed to tip the bar -ber for cutting my hair but not the dentist for fixing my teeth?I have been a teacher for 39years.No one has ever tipped me after a par -ticularly successful class or lecture.
为什么偏偏这三种服务就受到这种特殊待遇，这对我是不解之谜。为什么餐馆服务员为我上菜就该给小费，而飞机乘务员提供同样的服务就不必？为什么我该给出租司机小费，而不必给巴士司机？为什么理发师为我理发就该给小费，而牙医为我补牙就不必？我当了39年教师，从来没有人因为我哪次授课或讲座非常成功而给过我小费。
The whole concept of tipping doesn ’t make any sense.I have heard that there are some exclusive and expensive restaurants 9in
major cities in the US where the restaurant
59
2009.10
College English
does not give the waiters any salary at all due to the large amounts of the tips.In fact,in some instances,I read that the waiters actual -ly pay the restaurant a small fee for the oppor -tunity to collect the large tips.
小费这套观念毫无道理可言。我听说，美国大城市一些奢华餐馆根本不给服务员开工钱，因为他们能获得可观的小费。我还读过一些报道，说实际上有时服务员反而要上交餐馆一小笔钱，因餐馆提供了获取丰厚小费的机会。
Also,I was quite surprised 10to learn that there was actually a website devoted to tipping and related issues
(https://www.wendangku.net/doc/6b9205895.html,).
Some of the invisible and illogical rules of this practice are close to ridiculous.
非但如此，还真有一个专门探讨小费和相关问题的网站，我得知后很惊讶。付小费的某些规则隐而不见，不合逻辑，近乎荒谬。
The tipping problem in many European countries is solved by automatically adding a 15per cent gratuity to the bill.
I prefer the
Chinese solution:no tipping at all.While I understand why China,as a developing nation,has adopted many western customs,I hope the Chinese are wise enough to never start the unnecessary practice of tipping 11
.The level of
service in China is already good enough that it doesn ’t need anything to make it better.
欧洲许多国家采取自动加收15％酬金的办法解决小费问题。我倒更喜欢中国的办法：没有小费。虽然我理解作为发展中国家，中国接受了许多西方习俗，但我希望中国人明智：付小费完全没必要，千万不要开这个头。中国的服务水平已经很不错了，无需锦上添花。
讲评：
1.注意状语long 的位置，按汉语习惯放到
句首好。
2.the practice of tipping 付小费的作法，但在
行文中practice 不译似乎好一些。
3.England 通常译作“英格兰”、“英国”均可，
但根据后面的Middle Ages （中世纪），应译作“英格兰”。
4.gratuity 赏钱，小费。
5.注意这段话中两处由where 引起的定语
从句的翻译。根据汉语的表达习惯，通常省略where ；将stay “正说反译”，译作“一直没变”。
6.注意the three basic occupations 译成了“三
种底层职业”。在不同的搭配中basic 可有不同译法：basic principle 基本原理；
basic pay 最低基本工资；basic algebra 初
等代数；basic dyes 碱性染料；basic
airman 初级航空兵。
7.particular 通常意为“特殊的，特别的”，但
这里three particular services 可译作“偏偏这三种服务”。下文的particularly
successful 可译作“非常成功”。
8.注意这里的when 不能译为“当……的
时候”，其意思相当于“而，可是”。如：We
have only three books when we need five.
我们只有三本书，可是我们需要五本。
9.exclusive and expensive restaurant 奢华餐
馆。exclusive 原意为“排他的”，后引申为“排除（部分人，尤其是普通人）的”。
10.注意结构调整，翻译时将I was quite sur -prised （我很是惊讶）调整到后面。11.wise enough to never start the unnecessary
practice of tipping 直译的话是：明智得足
以绝不开始这种不必要的付小费的做法。为使译文流畅，可将长句划短，将三层意思分别表述：（希望中国人）明智：付小费完全没必要，千万不要开这个头。
大学英语
笤考试专栏笤
60
考研翻译能力训练_11_
2010.07 College English We are living in one of those periods in human history which are marked by revolu -tionary changes in all of man ’s ideas and val -ues.It is a time when every one of us must look within himself to find what ideas,what beliefs, and what ideals each of us will live by.And unless we find these ideals,and un -less we stand by them firmly,we have no pow -er to overcome the crisis in which we in our world find ourselves.1 我们生活在人类历史上一个特殊时代，其标志是人的思想与价值观产生了根本性变化。在这样的时代背景下，我们每个人必须在内心找到生活中应遵循的理念、信仰与理想。除非找到这些理想并坚定不移地坚持下去，否则就无法克服我们在这个世界所面临的危机。 I believe in people,in sheer,unadulterat -ed humanity. I believe in listening to what people have to say,in helping them to achieve the things which they want and the things which they need.Naturally,there are people who behave like beasts,who kill,who cheat,who lie and who destroy.But without a belief in man and a faith in his possibilities for the future,there can be no hope for the future,but only bitterness that the past has gone.I believe we must,each of us,make a philosophy by which we can live.There are people who make a philosophy out of believing in nothing.They say there is no truth,that goodness is simply cleverness in disguising your own selfishness.They say that life is simply the short gap in between an unpleasant birth and an inevitable death. There are others who say that man is born into evil and sinfulness and that life is a process of purification through suffering and that death is the reward for having suffered.2 我对人充满信心，我相信纯洁无暇的人性。我愿意倾听人们的心声，帮助他们实现自己的愿望、获取所需的东西。当然，也有人行同禽兽，他们残杀无辜、行骗撒谎、破坏成性。但不相信人、对人类未来丧失信心就会对未来绝望，哀叹今不如昔。我认为每个人都必须有自己遵循的人生哲学。有些人的人生哲学是怀疑一切。他们宣称世界上没有真理，美德不过是自私的巧妙伪装。他们认为人生苦短，生于痛苦，又终将走向坟墓。有些人则宣称人性本恶，生命是历尽苦难净化灵魂的过程，死亡是对所遭受苦难的回报。 I believe these philosophies are false.The most important thing in life is the way it is lived,and there is no such thing as an abstract happiness,an abstract goodness or morality,or an abstract anything, except in terms of the person who believes and who acts.There is on -ly the single human being who lives and who,through every moment of his own personal liv -ing experience,is being happy or unhappy,no -ble or base,wise or unwise,or simply existing.3 我认为这些人生哲学都是错误的。如何度 Give Part of Yourself Away 舍弃自我 笤考试专栏笤 58
考研翻译能力训练_5_
2009.11 College English 笤考试专栏笤 It makes no sense to say that a good mar -riage requires parity,as most marriages in the world and throughout history have been based on entirely different principles.1You might even conclude from America ’s unusually high divorce rate that the expectation of equality and personal fulfillment is itself a more problematic prescription than that of honor and obedience.2 古往今来，世界上大多数婚姻都基于全然不同的法则，所以好的婚姻必须平等这种说法毫无意义。你甚至可从美国奇高的离婚率得出结论：期待尊重、顺从已属不易，指望平等、实现自我价值本身就更成问题。 Or perhaps the problem lies not in equali -ty,but in the ambivalence that inevitably sur -rounds a titanic cultural shift only decades old.3Many women today still sign up for marriages in which the man,to some extent,dominates.4Traditionally those marriages have ended when the stronger party tires of the dependent.5 或许问题并不在于是否平等，而在于对婚姻的矛盾心理，这种心理伴随着仅仅数十年的文化巨变不可避免地出现。在许多婚姻中，男人在某种程度上仍占主导地位，许多妇女仍然接受。从传统上看，强势方对依赖方感到厌倦时这些婚姻便终结。 When Harriet Newman Cohen began practicing matrimonial law three decades ago,her clients were mostly women whose bread - winners had walked out.6But she and others have observed that today, it is as often the weaker party who calls it quits,tired of a role that is no longer culturally sanctioned.7And,once equitable distribution laws —which forced the higher -earning spouse to share the wealth equitably —were passed in the 80’s,there was no longer any financial penalty for divorce.8 三十年前哈莉特·纽曼·科恩开始从事婚姻法方面工作时，她的当事人大多是妇女，因为挣钱养家的丈夫离开了她们。而现在科恩和其他人都注意到，往往是弱势方厌恶其不再被文化认可的角色而提出离婚。因为自20世纪80年代通过了财产公平分配法，迫使收入高的配偶与对方平分财产，提出离婚就不再会遭受任何经济惩罚了。 Today,almost as many women as men file for divorce.9Infidelity,in addition,is no longer a primarily male province.10One divorced in -vestment banker discovered that, within his circle of male friends,it was their wives who cheated,not they.11“In the culture of my firm,having affairs is just bad behavior,like drunk driving —something that could harm your reputation,”he says.12Female infidelity,on the other hand,he says,reads differently.13“They ’re finding themselves,exploring their sexuality,” he observed bitterly.14 “She was fragile and neurotic and I was the white knight.15I made Divorce:Balance of Power 离婚：权力的均衡 61
考研翻译能力训练_1_
09.5 With another dramatic fireworks display 2 Sunday evening at the National Stadium here,the Beijing Olympics came to a dazzling close,ending two weeks of spectacular athletic performances during an Olympic competition that was surprising free of protests or the disruptions that some,including Beijing,had anticipated 3. 随着星期天晚上在国家体育场上演的又一次扣人心弦的焰火腾空，北京奥运会进入了令人眼花缭乱的闭幕式，宣告为期两周蔚为壮观的奥运竞赛结束。奥运期间没有出现人们（包括北京）曾预料的抗议或干扰活动，这令人感到惊异。 Unlike in the opening ceremony,with its orderly parade 4of countries and their athletes,the closing ceremony brought flag bearers congregating in the middle,and athletes filing in somewhat haphazardly 5and many dressed less formally. 不像开幕式那样各国运动员按规定线路井然有序地列队入场，闭幕式的入场旗手 簇拥在队伍中心，运动员鱼贯而入，比较随便，穿着也不那么正式。 In the handover ceremony for the 2012London Games, a red double -decker bus entered the stadium just after 9p.m.,followed by three cyclists.The bus then opened into a stage with Jimmy Page, the Led Zeppelin 6 guitarist,performing “Whole Lotta Love 7”with the British singer Leona Lewis, and David Beckham,the soccer star,taking a soccer ball from a young Chinese girl,handing the games off to London 8. 在2012年伦敦奥运会交接仪式上，刚过9点，一辆红色双层巴士就开进体育场，三名自行车手紧随其后。接着双层巴士展开，变成一个舞台。齐柏林乐队吉他手吉米·佩奇与英国歌手利昂娜·刘易斯同台献艺，演唱“全部的爱”。与此同时，足球明星大卫·贝克汉姆从一个中国小姑娘手中接过足球，象征性地将下一届奥运会转交伦敦。 Beijing had staked everything on the Games 9,galvanizing the nation,spending 为提高同学们英语实际运用能力，为迎战研究生入学考试，本刊有幸聘请到清华大学外语系教授许建平主持“考研翻译能力训练”这一栏目，从本期起连续刊出。我们相信：只要认真阅读、揣摩，任何读者都能从许教授的文章中获益。 ———编者 考研翻译能力训练（1） 清华大学外语系教授许建平 Olympics Close With a Bang 1and a Double -Decker Bus 奥运会隆重闭幕双层车闪亮登场
考研翻译能力训练(14)
2010.10 College English Technologies tend to be global,both by nature and by name.Say “television ”,“com -puter ”or “internet ”anywhere and chances are you will be understood.But hand -held phones?For this ubiquitous technology,mankind suf -fers from a Tower of Babel syndrome.Under millions of Christmas trees North and South Americans have been unwrapping cell phones or celulares.Yet to Britons and Spaniards they are mobiles or m óviles.Germans and Finns refer to them as Handys,because they fit in your hand.The Chinese,too,make calls on a sho ji ,or “hand machine ”.And in Japan the term of art is keitai ,which roughly means “something you can carry with you ”.1 无论从本质上还是称谓上看，科技往往有全球特征。在任何地方提到television 、computer 或internet ，别人可能都能明白。但手提电话呢？对这个无处不在的科技产品，人类却患上了“巴别塔”综合症。每到圣诞节，南北美洲的人们从无数圣诞树下打开的圣诞礼物叫做cell phones 或celulares 。不过对英国人和西班牙人而言，叫做mobiles 和m óviles 。德国人和芬兰人称其为Handys ，因为这种电话可以拿在手中；中国人也用这玩意儿打电话，称之为sho ji （手机）；日本人则用keitai （携帯）这个词，大意为“可随身携带之物”。 This disjunction is revealing for an object that,in the space of a decade,has become as es -sential to human functioning as a pair of shoes.Mobile phones do not share a single global moniker because the origins of their names are deeply cultural.“Cellular ”refers to how modern wireless networks are built,pointing to a tech -nological worldview in America.“Mobile ”em -phasizes that the device is untethered,which fits the roaming,once -imperial British style.Handy highlights the importance of functionality,much appreciated in Germany.But are such differ -ences more than cosmetic?And will they persist or give way to a global mobile culture?2 称谓上的不一颇发人深省。10年间，移 动电话对人类已成了鞋一样的必需品。而之所以没有一个全球性的称谓，是因其名字的起源有深厚的文化内涵。Cellular （蜂窝状的）说明现代无线网络的建构方式，表明美国的科技世界观。mobile(可移动的)强调不受束缚，正与昔日大英帝国漫游无拘的风格相吻合。Handy （手边的）则突出其实用功能，这一点德国人非常看重。但这些差异仅是表面现象吗？这些差异将长期存在，还是会为全球移动电话文化所同化？ As airtime gets cheaper,the untethered masses tend to use their mobiles more.In early 2000an average user spoke for 174minutes a month,according to the GSM Association (GS -MA),an industry group.By early 2009that had risen to 261minutes,which suggests that humanity spends over 1trillion minutes a month on mobiles,or nearly 2m years.Nobody can keep track of the flood of text messages.3 由于电讯资费越来越便宜，广大手机用户越来越多地使用移动电话。根据全球移动 通信协会(GSMA)的统计数字，2000年初，普 The Mobile Culture 移动电话文化 笤考试专栏笤 59