考研英语的英译汉与四六级的翻译有很多不同之处,很多考生因为没能掌握这些不同而导致这部分总拿不到高分,下面就英译汉这部分的内容做一概述。
难点
1.需要联系上下文来理解词义
考研英语的英译汉是给你一篇文章,然后从中划出5个句子,因此就必须把词句的含义放到原文中来理解,切不可断章取义,有的词语翻译出来的意思与其本意可能会有不同,这正是英译汉要考察的要点之一。
2.多为长难句
英译汉句子平均的单词量在30个左右,而且结构复杂,修饰成分多,考生很容易因没有理清句子结构而造成翻译得南辕北辙的现象。
建议
首先要拥有一定的单词量,背单词不能只知道其常用的意思,还应知道其作为其它属性或者完全与本意看似不相关的其他含义,这样才能在联系上下文翻译的时候对单词的含义做到触类旁通;其次,要有对长难句的“免疫”能力,可以在做阅读题的时候,把典型的复杂长难句记下来,试着划分句子结构,做到熟能生巧。最后,平时可以多看一些英文文章,培养一下语感,有助于对句子含义的整体把握。
真题解析
Directions: Read the following text carefully and then translate the underlined segments into Chinese. Your translation should be written on the ANSWER SHEET(10 points)(2014年考研英语真题Part C)
Music means different things to different people and sometimes even different things to the same person at different moments of his life. It might be poetic, philosophical, sensual, or mathematical, but in any case it must, in my view, have something to do with the soul of the human being. Hence it is metaphysical; but the means of expression is purely and exclusively physical: sound. I believe it is precisely this permanent coexistence of metaphysical message through physical means that is the strength of music。(46)It is also the reason why when we try to describe music with words, all we can do is articulate our reactions to it, and not grasp music itself。
Beethoven's importance in music has been principally defined by the revolutionary nature of his compositions. He freed music from hitherto prevailing conventions of harmony and structure. Sometimes I feel in his late works a will to break all signs of continuity. The music is abrupt and seemingly disconnected, as in the last piano sonata. In musical expression, he did not feel restrained by the weight of convention。(47)By all accounts he was a freethinking person, and a courageous one, and I find courage an essential quality for the understanding, let alone the performance, of his works。
This courageous attitude in fact becomes a requirement for the performers of Beethoven's music. His compositions demand the performer to show courage, for example in the use of dynamics。(48)Beethoven's habit of increasing the volume with an extreme intensity and then abruptly following it with a sudden soft passage was only rarely used by composers before him。
Beethoven was a deeply political man in the broadest sense of the word. He was not interested in daily politics, but concerned with questions of moral behavior and the larger questions of right and wrong affecting the entire society。(49)Especially significant was his view of freedom, which, for him, was associated with the rights and responsibilities of the individual: he advocated freedom of thought and of personal expression。
Beethoven's music tends to move from chaos to order as if order were an imperative of human existence. For him, order does not result from forgetting or ignoring the disorders that plague our existence; order is a necessary development, an improvement that may lead to the Greek ideal of spiritual elevation. It is not by chance that the Funeral March is not the last movement of the Eroica Symphony, but the second, so that suffering does not have the last word。(50)One could interpret much of the work of Beethoven by saying that suffering is inevitable, but the courage to fight it renders life worth living。
46. It is also the reason why when we try to describe music with words, all we can do is articulate our reactions to it, and not grasp music itself。
【主干识别】
It is also the reason。
【其他成分】
why when we try to describe music with words, all we can do is articulate our reactions to it, and not grasp music itself 定语从句
when we try to describe music with words 定语从句中的状语从句
all we can do is articulate our reactions to it, and not grasp music itself 定语从句的主句,在翻译的时候一定要注意在正确理解的基础上按照中文的表达习惯完成翻译。
比如对于all we can 的翻译,由于前面已经把we翻译成“我们”了,所以这里就不需要再翻译“我们”了。可以直接翻译为:只能……
our reactions to it 可以直接翻译为“我们对于音乐的反应”,也可以翻译为“我们的感受”。
【词汇突破】
articulate 清楚地表达
grasp 理解
【参考译文】
这也是为什么我们用语言描述音乐时,只能清楚地表达出自己的感受,却不能理解音乐本身。
47. By all accounts he was a freethinking person, and a courageous one, and I find courage an essential quality for the understanding, let alone the performance, of his works。
【主干识别】
I find…
【其他成分】
宾语从句之一:He was a freethinking person and courageous person。
宾语从句之二:Courage is an essential quality for the understanding and the performance of his works。
这两个句子相对比较简单,只是需要理解一些插入语的层次;
a freethinking person, and a courageous one 第一个句子主干的插入语
the understanding of his works,the performance of his works第二个句子主干的插入语
在翻译技巧上注意名词和动词间的相互转化:理解他的作品,演奏他的作品
【词汇突破】
by all accounts 从各个方面来说……
【参考译文】
我认为从各个方面来说,他都是个思想自由的勇者。而且我认为理解他的作品必须具备勇敢这一品质,演奏他的作品就更是如此。
48. Beethoven's habit of increasing the volume with an extreme intensity and then abruptly following it with a sudden soft passage was only rarely used by composers before him。
【主干识别】
Beethoven's habit was only rarely used。
【其他成分】
of increasing the volume with an extreme intensity and then abruptly following it with a sudden soft passage 作habit 的定语
这是本句的难点。我们一直强调,在英文向中文转化的过程中,一定要将过长的成分单独成句,这样符合中文的习惯,同时,名词和动词的相互转化也是与之相伴的技巧。这里habit和with就可以翻译为:“习惯用……”这样一个中文的句子就出现了:贝多芬习惯用强烈的渐强来增大音量。再翻译后半部分:abruptly following it with a sudden soft passage,此处following也翻译为动词。
(这)was only rarely used by composers before him。用一个伟大的代词“这”来代替之前的主语部分,接着再翻译后半部分就很容易了。
【词汇突破】
volume 音量
passage (音乐作品的)段落
【参考译文】
贝多芬习惯用强烈的渐强来增大音量,然后突然紧接舒缓的曲段,这是之前的作曲家极少使用的手法。
49.Especially significant was his view of freedom, which, for him, was associated with the rights and responsibilities of the individual: he advocated freedom of thought and of personal expression。
【主干识别】
Especially significant was his view of freedom。
这个是一个完全倒装的句子,正常的语序应该是:his view of freedom was especially significant。
【其他成分】
which(指代自由),for him, was associated with the rights and responsibilities of the individual 定语从句(可以单独成句)
he advocated freedom of thought and of personal expression 冒号引导的一个句子,在翻译中依然可以单独成句。
【词汇突破】
advocate 提倡
【参考译文】
他对于自由的看法尤其重要,他认为自由与个人的权利和义务相关,他提倡思想和表达自由。
50.One could interpret much of the work of Beethoven by saying that suffering is inevitable, but the courage to fight it renders life worth living。
【主干识别】
One could interpret much of the work of Beethoven。
【其他成分】
by saying that suffering is inevitable 状语
but the courage to fight it renders life worth living 状语中的宾语从句,单独成句即可。
courage to fight 可以翻译为:勇于抗争,也可以翻译为:抗争的勇气。
renders life worth living 可以翻译为:使人生值得活下去,也可以翻译为:赋予生命以意义。
【词汇突破】
interpret 对(书面或口头材料)释义,解释(作者,说话人)的意思
render 使……
【参考译文】
人们也许可以将贝多芬的大多数作品解释成:苦难在所难免,但勇于抗争赋予生命以意义。
通过今天的学习,希望大家能成功地在英译汉这个“阵地”上再拿下一城,为自己考研成功增加一个砝码,加油!