2017上半年CATTI二级笔译考试考前训练
part 1 translation from english into chinese 2 hours
read the following two passages.
translate them into chinese.
write you answers on this paper.
you may use the additional paper for any rough work but you must copy your answers onto this paper.
passage 1
artificial speech
because speech is the most convenient form of communication, in the future we want essentially natural conversations with computers. the primary point of contact will be a simple device that will act as our window on the world. you will simply talk to it. the device will be permanently connected to the internet and will beep relevant information up to you as it comes in.
just how quickly people will adapt to a voice-based internet world is uncertain. many believe that, initially at least, we will need similar conventions for the voice to those we use at present on screen: click, back, forward, and so on. but soon you will undoubtedly be able to interact by voice with all those it-based services you currently connect with over the internet by means of a keyboard. this will help the internet serve the entire population, not just techno-freaks.
changes like this will encompass the whole world. because english is the language of science, it will probably remain the language in which the technology is most advanced, but most speech-recognition techniques are transferable to other languages provided there is sufficient motivation to undertake the work.
within ten years we will have computers that respond to goal-directed conversations, but for a computer to have a conversation that takes into account human social behaviour is probably 50 years off. we’re not going to be chatting to the big screen in the living room just yet.
there are those in the it community who believe that current techniques will eventually hit a brick wall. personally, i believe that incremental developments in performance are more likely. but it’s true that by about 2040 or so, computer architectures will need to become highly parallel if performance is to keep increasing. perhaps that will inspire some radically new approaches to speech understanding that will supplant the methods we’re developing now.
small vendors engage in simple spot-market transactions, with buyers and sellers dealing face to face to trade fairly standard products whose quality is easy to verify. lange multinational firms exchange more differentiated products, face greater difficulties in verifying quality, and must span greater separations in time and space between one part of the transaction and the other. most economies have both types of markets. but the first is relatively more common in developing countries, the second in industrial economies.
developed markets- more global, more inclusive, and more integrated-offer more opportunity and choice. underdeveloped markets, more likely in poor countries, tend to be more local and segmented. so, compared with farmers in canada, poor farmers in bangladesh have fewer opportunities and far fewer formal institutions (such as banks and formal courts ) to reduce their risks and increase their opportunities.
what limits market opportunities? the transaction costs stemming from inadequate information and incomplete definition and enforcement of property rights. and barriers to entry for new participants. what increases them? institutions that raise the returns from market exchange, reduce risk, and increase efficiency.
1. And everywhere in his neighborhood in Serekunda, Gambia’s largest city, there was talk of easy money to be made in Europe.
然而，在冈比亚最大的城市塞莱昆达他所居住的地方，人们到处都在谈论着“欧洲赚钱容易”这个话题。
点评：
该句的重点在于词性的转换译法：关键词---talk
如果将该词译成汉语的名词，一是听起来很蹩脚，不符合汉英行文的习惯，二是不符合英译汉技法的要求。这一点在我们讲授英译汉部分时曾经重点谈到一个例句：
The woman’s extramarital affairs with her boss soon became talk of the town.
这个女人与其老板的关系很快传遍全城。或，大街小巷都在谈论着这个女人与其老板的风流韵事。
2. Most of them have stories that echo Mr. Jallow’s.
他们中的大多数都有着与杰罗先生相似的经历。
点评：
该句中定语从句的动词“echo”是关键词。原意为“回声”“回响”，但在本句中要在上下文的语义基础上引申为“与。。。相似”的含义。我们在授课过程中曾讲过，英语国家的写作思路是：首尾呼应法，即：The first paragraph echoes the last paragraph.
3. “There is everything in there,” said Diego Ca?amero, the leader of the farm workers’ union in Andalusia, which tries to advocate for the men.
“那里要什么有什么,”安达卢西亚农场工人工会的领袖迭戈·卡纳梅洛说,该组织努力在为这些人争取生活的权利，
点评：
该句中的“advocate”原意为“拥护”“倡议”，但在此句中应该根据前文正确理解为“为。。。争取权利”。 我们曾讲过这样一个例句：We must advocate for the poor and powerless.我们必须为那些贫穷以及无权无势的人争取权利。
4. Now he shakes his head toward his neighbors, who will not talk to reporters.
此时，他朝他的邻居们摇了摇头，他并不想与记者交谈。
点评：
这句话中的定语从句是非限定性的，它的功能是修饰前边句子中的'主语“he”，而不是“his neighbors”。我们在英译汉分句译法中给了大量的例句重点讲解定于从句的译法。当时我们曾讲到很多类似的例句，如：The woman has two sons who are working in the United States. The woman has two sons, who are working in the United States.这两句乍一看，似乎完全相同，但仔细推敲，你会发现：第一个句子是限定性定语从句，第二个句子是非限定性定语从句。第一句应译为：这名妇女有两个在美国工作的儿子。(言外之意，他可能还有其他子女)，第二句应译为：这名妇女有两个儿子，都在美国工作。(只有两个儿子)。非限定性定语从句的作用可以修饰前边句子中的某一个名词或代词，也可能修饰靠它很近的名词，一切取决于上下文的含义。
5. But Mr. Ca?amero says they are offered only the least desirable work, like handling pesticides, and little of it at that.
但卡纳梅洛说，那里的人只给他们提供人家最不愿意干的工作,如处理杀虫剂,而且也只是一点点活儿而已。大多数人没有工作签证。
点评：
该句中一个可能不被考生注意的环节就是“at that”这个短语。它在句子中的位置一般是句尾，但语气较弱。我们授课时给学员提供了多种并列及转折的连词用法，其中包括：and, besides, moreover, furthermore, what’s more, additionally, in addition, …at that等。
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