八级翻译98-11练习+答案

11998SECTIONBENGLISHTOCHINESEIagreetosomeextentwithmyimaginaryEnglishreader.Americanliteraryhistoriansareperhapspronetoviewtheirownnationalscenetoonarrowly,mistakingprominenceforuniqueness.Theydoover-phrasetheirownliterature,orcertainlyitsminorfigures.AndAmericansdoswingfromaggressiveoverphraseoftheirliteraturetoanequallyunfortunate,imitativedeference.Butthen,theEnglishthemselvesaresomewhatinsularintheirliteraryappraisals.Moreover,infieldswheretheyarenotpre-eminent—e.g.inpaintingandmusic—theytooalternatebetweenboastingofnativeproductsandcopyingthoseoftheContinent.HowmanyEnglishpaintingstrytolookasthoughtheyweredoneinParis;howmanytimeshavewereadinarticlesthattheyreallyrepresentan“Englishtradition”afterall.TospeakofAmericanliterature,then,isnottoassertthatitiscompletelyunlikethatofEurope.Broadlyspeaking,AmericaandEuropehavekeptstep.Atanygivenmomentthetravelercouldfindexamplesinbothofthesamearchitecture,thesamestylesindress,thesamebooksontheshelves.IdeashavecrossedtheAtlanticasfreelyasmenandmerchandise,thoughsometimesmoreslowly.WhenIrefertoAmericanhabit,thoughts,etc.,Iintendsomesortofqualificationtoprecedetheword,forfrequentlythedifferencebetweenAmericaandEurope(especiallyEngland)willbeoneofdegree,sometimesonlyofasmalldegree.Theamountofdivergenceisasubtleaffair,liabletoperplextheEnglishmanwhenhelooksatAmerica.Heislookingatacountrywhichinimportantsensesgrewoutofhisown,whichinseveralwaysstillresembleshisown—andwhichisyetaforeigncountry.Thereareoddoverlappingsandabruptunfamiliarities;kinshipyieldstoasuddenalienation,aswhenwehailapersonacrossthestreet,onlytodiscoverfromhisblankresponsethatwehavemistakenastrangerforafriend.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，书架上相同的书籍。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。21999SECTIONBENGLISHTOCHINESEInsomesocietiespeoplewantchildrenforwhatmightbecalledfamilialreasons:toextendthefamilylineorthefamilyname,topropitiatetheancestors;toenabletheproperfunctioningofreligiousritualsinvolvingthefamily.Suchreasonsmayseemthininthemodern,secularizedsocietybuttheyhavebeenandarepowerfulindeedinotherplaces.Inaddition,oneclassoffamilyreasonssharesaborderwiththefollowingcategory,namely,havingchildreninordertomaintainorimproveamarriage:toholdthehusbandoroccupythewife;torepairorrejuvenatethemarriage;toincreasethenumberofchildrenontheassumptionthatfamilyhappinessliesthatway.Thepointisunderlinedbyitsconverse:insomesocietiesthefailuretobearchildren(ormales)isathreattothemarriageandareadycausefordivorce.Beyondallthatistheprofoundsignificanceofchildrentotheveryinstitutionofthefamilyitself.Tomanypeople,husbandandwifealonedonotseemaproperfamily—theyneedchildrentoenrichthecircle,tovalidateitsfamilycharacter,togathertheredemptiveinfluenceofoffspring.Childrenneedthefamily,butthefamilyseemsalsotoneedchildren,asthesocialinstitutionuniquelyavailable,atleastinprinciple,forsecurity,comfort,assurance,anddirectioninachanging,oftenhostile,world.Tomostpeople,suchahomebase,intheliteralsense,needsmorethanonepersonforsustenanceandingenerationalextension.另外有一系列家庭原因与以下范畴有关联，即生孩子是为了维持和改善婚姻，为了套牢丈夫或让妻子有事可做；为了修复或再次激活婚姻；或出于多子多福的观念而多生孩子。反过来说就足以证明这一点：在一些社会，不能生育（或未生男孩）直接威胁婚姻，导致离婚。在其上是孩子对家庭组织的重要意义。在许多人看来，只有丈夫和妻子的家庭算不上一个家。他们需要小孩来扩大家庭圈子，来实现它的家庭角色，来发挥后代的实践影响力。孩子需要家庭；但与此同时，家庭作为一个能够以其独特方式，至少在原则上如此，在一个变幻莫测，常常不尽友善的世界中确保家人安全舒适，为家人提供信心、指引方向的社会单位，它似乎也离不开孩子。32000SECTIONBENGLISHTOCHINESEIfpeoplemeananythingatallbytheexpression“untimelydeath,”theymustbelievethatsomedeathsrunonabetterschedulethanothers.Deathinoldageisrarelycalleduntimely—alonglifeisthoughttobeafullone.Butwiththepassingofayoungperson,oneassumesthatthebestyearslayaheadandthemeasureofthatlifewasstilltobetaken.Historydeniesthis,ofcourse.Amongprominentsummerdeaths,onerecallsthoseofMariLynMonroeandJamesDeans,whoselivesseemedequallybriefandcomplete.WriterscannotbearthefactthatpoetJohnKeatsdiedat26,andonlyhalfplayfullyjudgetheirownlivesasfailureswhentheypassthatyear.Theideathatthelifecutshortisunfulfilledisillogicalbecauselivesaremeasuredbytheimpressionstheyleaveontheworldandbytheirintensityandvirtue.提起“早逝”，人们或有所指，他们定会相信有些死亡更合天意。寿终正寝/年老而终极少称为“早逝”—长寿即意味着生命之圆满。但英年早逝则会引发感慨：美好年华未竟，评说尚待时日。然而，历史却并非如此。提及英年早逝，人们自会忆起玛丽莲·梦露和詹姆士·迪恩。两人生命虽短暂，人生却圆满。诗人约翰·济慈年仅26岁便与世长辞，作家们对此深感惋惜。而他们却只能戏谑地叹息自己在过了26岁时，一生仍无所作为。“生命短暂即不圆满”，这—观念荒谬无理。生命的价值在于它留给世界的印象、它的贡献及它的美德。42001SECTIONBENGLISHTOCHINESEPossessionforitsownsakeorincompetitionwiththerestoftheneighborhoodwouldhavebeenThoreau’sideaofthelowlevels.Theactivedisciplineofheighteningone’sperceptionofwhatisenduringinnaturewouldhavebeenhisideaofthehigh.Whathesavedfromthelowwastimeandefforthecouldspendonthehigh.Thoreaucertainlydisapprovedofstarvation,buthewouldputintofeedinghimselfonlyasmucheffortaswouldkeephimfunctioni