无论是商科还是英语专业亦或是其他专业的高年级学生，学习与“商”有关的课程是他们所共同追求的，不管是出于实用主义，还是出于自身兴趣，更好地了解经济学、管理学等商科知识都大有裨益。因此阅读商务类的经典文献成为一种掌握商科基本概念与运用的有效途径。

此外，在商务洽谈、法庭翻译等场合，也经常出现一些由一方出示的书面材料需要现场口译，这些文本材料的语言不同于讲话稿和新闻报道，但也同样需要视译，应该成为视译以及其他类型翻译学习的内容之一。

例 1. Because of the higher costs, these firms end up earning smaller profits, paying lower wages, charging higher prices, //or some combination of these three. Thus, while pollution regulations give us the benefit of a cleaner environment and the improved health that comes with it, //they have the cost of reducing the incomes //of the firms’ owners, workers, and customers.

由于成本高，这些企业结果赚的利润少了，支付的工资少了，收取的价格高了，或者同时出现这三种情况的几种。因此，尽管污染管制给予我们的好处是更清洁的环境以及由此带来改善的健康水平，但其代价是收入减少，包括企业所有者，工人和消费者，收入都减少。

例 2. Although these policies have the benefit of achieving greater equity, //they have a cost in terms of reduced efficiency. //When the government redistributes income //from the rich to the poor, it reduces the reward for working hard; //as a result, people work less and produce fewer goods and services.

虽然这些政策的好处是可以更加平等，但是付出的代价是降低了效率。当政府进行再分配，把收入从富人分到穷人身上时，这就减少了对辛勤工作的奖励；结果是人们工作少了，生产更少的物品与劳务。

例 3. In his 1776 book //An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, //economist Adam Smith made the most famous observation //in all of economics: Households and firms interacting in markets act as if they are guided by an “invisible hand” //that leads them to desirable market outcomes.

1776年出版了一本书，名为《国民财富的性质和原因的探究》，其作者经济学家亚当·斯密提出了最为著名的观点，适用于全部经济学：家庭和企业在市场上交易，仿佛指引他们的是一只“看不见的手”，这只手引导他们取得满意的市场结果。

例 4. As you study economics, you will learn that prices are the instrument with which the invisible hand directs economic activity. In any market, buyers look at the price when determining how much to demand, and sellers look at the price when deciding how much to supply.

你学经济学时就会知道，价格是个工具，看不见的手用它来指引经济活动。在任何一个市场上，买者盯着价格，决定需要多少；卖者盯着价格，决定供给多少。

例 5.The more we spend on national defense to protect our shores from foreign aggressors (guns), //the less we can spend on consumer goods //to raise our standard of living at home (butter).

我们要花更多的钱在国防上以保卫我们的海岸免受外国入侵（大炮）时，就得减少花在消费品上的钱，而消费品是提高国内生活水平的（黄油）。

责任编辑：admin