例3. Foreign concessions would be cancelled if they did not accord with the law.
向外国人提供的特许权若不符合法律将予以取消。
例4. These masses, as you know,have been profoundly stirred by the Chinese Revolution.
正如您所知,这些群众都深深地为中国革命所鼓舞。
另外,我们还可以把英语被动态的动词转换成名词,再添上诸如“得到……”、“获(得)……”、“受到……”之类的受动词,在译文中组成动宾词組。下面是几个类似的例子:
例5. On the eve of our departure,it gives me a great deal of pleasure to write to you,
on behalf of my colleagues and in my own name,to express our appreciation for the hospitality which was accorded to us during our stay here.
值此临别之际,我十分荣幸地代表我的同事并以我本人的名义给您写信,为我们在贵国逗留期间受到的热情款待表示感谢。
例6. He was awarded for his heroic deeds.
他因其英勇行为得到嘉奖。
此外,汉语中还有许多比较口语化的表示被动义的词语,如:
例7. Patrick was once criticized for being rude to a customer.
有一回,帕特里克因为对頋客态度粗暴而挨了批评。
例8. Nicholas was seen to date a young girl at Fox.
尼古拉斯在“福克斯”电影院与一位年轻姑娘约会,让别人看到了。
当然,在翻译英语被动语态时,具体应用哪种形式和方法,不是一成不变的。我们应该根据具体的文体和汉语行文习惯,采取灵活的对策,使译文畅晓、易懂。例如,下句中的三个被动结构的处理方法就有所不同:
例9. A new idea is delicate. It can be killed by a sneer or a yawn;it can be stabbed to death by a joke or worried to death by a frown on the right person's brow.
新点子很脆弱。它可能被一次嘲笑或ー个哈欠杀死,可能让ー个玩笑扎死, 或者因掌权者皱起眉头而忧虑致死。