順序法:當(dāng)英語長句的內(nèi)容的敘述層次與漢語基本一致時,可以按照英語原文的
順序翻譯成漢語。例如:
例1.Even when we turn off the beside lamp and are fast asleep,electricity is working for us,driving our refrigerators,heating our water,or keeping our rooms air-conditioned.(84年考題)
分析:該句子由一個主句,三個作伴隨狀語的現(xiàn)在分詞以及位于句首的時間狀語從句組成,共有五層意思:A.既使在我們關(guān)掉了床頭燈深深地進入夢鄉(xiāng)時;B.電仍在為我們工作;C.幫我們開動電冰箱;D.加熱水;E.或是室內(nèi)空調(diào)機繼續(xù)運轉(zhuǎn)。上述五層意思的邏輯關(guān)系以及表達的順序與漢語完全一致,因此,我們可以通過順序法,把該句翻譯成:即使在我們關(guān)掉了床頭燈深深地進入夢鄉(xiāng)時,電仍在為我們工作:幫我們開動電冰箱,把水加熱,或使室內(nèi)空調(diào)機繼續(xù)運轉(zhuǎn)。
例2.But now it is realized that supplies of some of them are limited,and it is even possibleto give a reasonable estimate of their“expectation of life”,the time it will take to exhaust allknown sources and reserves of these materials.(84年考題)
分析:該句的骨干結(jié)構(gòu)為“It is realized that…”,it為形式主語,that引導(dǎo)著主語從句以及并列的it is even possible to…結(jié)構(gòu),其中,不定式作主語,the time…是“expectationof life”的同位語,進一步解釋其含義,而time后面的句子是它的定語從句。五個謂語結(jié)構(gòu),表達了四個層次的意義:
A.可是現(xiàn)在人們意識到;
B.其中有些礦物質(zhì)的蘊藏量是有限的;
C.人們甚至還可以比較合理的估計出這些礦物質(zhì)“可望存在多少年”;
D.將這些已知礦源和儲量將消耗殆盡的時間。
根據(jù)同位語從句的翻譯方法,把第四層意義的表達作適當(dāng)?shù)恼{(diào)整,整個句子就翻譯為:
可是現(xiàn)在人們意識到,其中有些礦物質(zhì)的蘊藏量是有限的,人們甚至還可以比較合理的估計出這些礦物質(zhì)“可望存在多少年”,也就是說,經(jīng)過若干年后,這些礦物的全部已知礦源和儲量將消耗殆盡。
下面我們再列舉幾個實例:
例3.Prior to the twentieth century,women in novels were stereotypes of lacking anyfeatures that made them unique individuals and were also subject to numerous restrictionsimposed by the male-dominated culture.
在20世紀以前,小說中的婦女像都是一個模式。她們沒有任何特點,因而無法成為具有個性的人;他們還要屈從于由男性主宰的文化傳統(tǒng)強加給他們的種種束縛。
例4.This method of using“controls”can be applied to a variety of situations,and can beused to find the answer to questions as widely different as“Must moisture be present if iron is torust?”and“Which variety of beans gives the greatest yield in one season?”
這種使用參照物的方法可以應(yīng)用于許多種情況,也能用來找到很不相同的各種問題的答案,從“鐵生銹,是否必須有一定的濕度才行?”到“哪種豆類一季的產(chǎn)量最高?”
例5.It begins as a childlike interest in the grand spectacle and exciting event;it grows as amature interest in the variety and complexity of the drama,the splendid achievements and terriblefailures;it ends as deep sense of the mystery of man`s life of all the dead,great and obscure,who once walked the earth,and of wonderful and awful possibilities of being a human being.
我們對歷史的愛好起源于我們最初僅對一些歷史上的宏偉場面和激動人心的事件感到孩童般的興趣;其后,這種愛好變得成熟起來,我們開始對歷史這出“戲劇”的多樣性和復(fù)雜性,對歷史上的輝煌成就和悲壯失敗也感興趣;對歷史的愛好,最終以我們對人類生命的一種深沉的神秘感而告結(jié)束。對死去的,無論是偉大與平凡,所有在這個地球上走過而已逝的人,都有能取得偉大奇跡或制造可怕事件的潛力。
例6.If parents were prepared for this adolescent reaction,and realized that it was a sign that the child was growing up and developing valuable powers of observation and independent judgment,they would not be so hurt,and therefore would not drive the child into opposition byresenting and resisting it.
如果做父母的對這種青少年的反應(yīng)有所準備,而且認為這是一個顯示出孩子正在成長,正在發(fā)展珍貴的觀察力和獨立的判斷力的標(biāo)志,他們就不會感到如此傷心,所以也就不會因?qū)Υ擞袘嵑藓头磳Φ那榫w而把孩子推到對立面去。