一、科教类试题

这类试题文章的主题主要涉及科学技术、文化教育领域的创新与改革状况，它要求考生既能熟练地译出常用的科教术语,又能怡如其分地译出汉语的一些俗语与成语,当然这需要考生熟练地掌握相应的翻译技巧。最典型的试题当属以“科学与艺术的关系”为主题(2001.3)的

文章。下面我们对这篇文章的英译加以说明。

第一句:“长期以来,科学同艺术之间的关系一直是剃头担子一头热：科学热恋着艺术，艺术却拒科学于千里之外。”

“长期以来”可译为“for a long time”或“over a long period of time”。“剃头担子一头热”不能直译,应意译，它的意思是“单边热情”，所以可译为“one-sided enthusiasm”。由于“恋爱”在英语中的意思是“be in love with ...”,所以“热恋”就可译为“be in deep love with .. .”。同样,由于“拒...之外”在英语中的意思是“to keep itself away from ...”,所以“拒...于千里之外”就可译为“to keep itself far away from ...”。因此,全句可译为:“For a long time, the relations between science and art have been one-sided enthusiasm, that is, while science is in deep love with art, yet art keeps itself far away from science.”

第二段:“许多大科学家一生钟爱艺术,且懂艺术,从中汲取养料，善养浩然之气,或得到人生最大安慰。相反,热爱自然科学并且理解工程技术的文学艺术家真可谓凤毛麟角。”

前一句中“许多大科学家”中的“大”有“著名”或“伟大”之意,可译为“famous, renowned, great, well-known”。“钟爱”可译为:“dote upon/on, cherish, love”等。“一生”可译为“all their lives”或“throughout their lives”。“汲取养料”就是“吸收营养”,可译为“to absorb nutriment”。“浩然之气”就是“高尚的精神”，可译为“noble spirit”。“人生最大安慰”可译为“the greatest comfort of life”。后一句中的“相反”可译为词组“on the contrary”。考生要能够识别出后一句的主语是“文学艺术家”,“的”前面是定语从句。“真可谓凤毛麟角”是谓语加表语。“凤毛麟角”不能直译或硬译,可意译为“be very rare”或“a rarity of rarities”。理解原文后可将全段译为:

“Many great scientists dote upon art throughout their lives. They also understand art and absorb nutriment from art to enhance their noble spirits or to derive the greatest comfort of life. On the contrary, experts in literature and art who love natural science and understand engineering technology are really very rare.”(此句又可译为“... may be well regarded as a rarity of rarities.”)

最后一段:“艺术家对自然科学望而生畏,敬而远之，原因之一是里面有一大堆高深的数学公式。其实，撇开数学，绕过那一大堆公式，一门学科的基本思想还是可以被我们理解和欣赏的。这恰如我们虽然看不懂莫扎特乐曲的总谱,但照样能同它的主旋律产生共鸣，击节称赞。”

对第一句话加以分析后即可确定该句的主语是“原因之一”，此前均为定语从句。第二句的主语在英语中应为“我们”，而不是“基本思想”，此前为状语从句。翻译第三句时应按照英语的表达法，将肯定或褒义部分放在前面,否定或贬义部分放在后面,考生可先译“产生共鸣，击节称赞”,后译“看不懂莫扎特乐曲的总谱”。因此，全段可译为:

“One of the reasons why artists stand in awe of or keep a respectful distance from natural science is that natural science involves a huge stack of abstruse mathematical formulas. In fact, leaving aside mathematics and bypassing the huge stack of formulas, we may still understand and appreciate the basic principles of a science. It's just like that the main melody of Mozart's musical score can resonate with us and make us admire, although we can read nothing of the general score of Mozart's musical pieces.”