英語翻譯面試題(一)
1. Multiple Choice Questions(30 points, 2 points for each)
A. Directions: This part consists of ten sentences, each followed by four different versions marked A,B,C and D. Choose the one that is the closest equivalent to the original in terms of meaning and expressiveness and write it down on the answer sheet.
1.Bill was given a chair and asked to wait a little as darkness came on, then suddenly the whole bridge was outlined in lights.
A.天快黑了，有人給比爾一把椅子，請他坐下等一會兒。忽然電燈全亮了，整座大橋的輪廓被燈照了出來。
B.給比爾一把椅子，他被要求坐下等一會兒，天快黑了。忽然電燈全亮了，照出了整座大橋的輪廓。
C.天快黑了，有人給比爾一把椅子，請他坐下等一會兒。忽然電燈全亮了，照出了整座大橋的輪廓。
D.給比爾一把椅子，他被要求坐下等一會兒，天快黑了。忽然電燈全亮了，整座大橋的輪廓被燈照了出來。
2.It will strengthen you to know that you distinguished career is so widely respected and appreciated.
A.這會使你堅定地認識到，你的杰出事業(yè)是如此廣泛地受到人們的尊敬和贊賞。
B.這會使你進一步堅定信念，因為你的杰出事業(yè)如此廣泛地受到人們的尊敬和贊賞。
C.知道你的杰出事業(yè)是如此廣泛地受到人們的尊敬和贊賞會使你進一步堅定信念。
D.當(dāng)你知道你的杰出事業(yè)是如此廣泛地受到人們的尊敬和贊賞時，你就會力量倍增。
3.Alice rudely showed me the door.
A.愛麗斯無禮地向我指了一下門的位置。
B.愛麗斯無禮地讓我看了看她的門。
C.愛麗斯無禮地把我送到門口。
D.愛麗斯無禮地把我轟出了門。
4.There"s the bell; someone is at the door.
A.那里有個鈴;門口有個人。
B.那里有個鈴;有人在叫門。
C.鈴響了，有人在門口。
D.鈴響了，有人叫門。
5.There is no one of us but wishes to go to the exhibition.
A.我們每一個人都想去看展覽。
B.沒有誰想去看展覽。
C.我們都沒在，但有人想請我們?nèi)タ凑褂[。
D.雖然大家都沒在，但我們都希望去看展覽。
6.The car beeped at me until I fastened my seatbelt.
A.汽車向我發(fā)出了嘟嘟的聲音，直到我系上了安全帶。
B.汽車發(fā)出嘟嘟的聲音，我系上安全帶就不響了。
C.汽車在我系上安全帶之前才發(fā)出嘟嘟的聲音。
D.汽車發(fā)出嘟嘟的聲音，我才系上了安全帶。
7.流傳久遠的作品是靠文學(xué)技巧流傳，誰會關(guān)心百十年前的生活?
A. Literary works have stood the test to time because of the skill, who today really cares about the details of life a hundred years ago?
B. Literary works have stood the test of time because of the skill. Who today really cares about the details of life a hundred years ago?
C. Literary works have stood the test of time because of the skill with which they were written. Who today really cares about the details of what life was like a hundred years ago?
D. Literary works have stood the test of time because of the skill with which they were written, who today really cares about the details of what life was like a hundred years ago?
8.應(yīng)該對貨幣流通量進行控制，使其有利于人民幣價值的穩(wěn)定，有利于經(jīng)濟的增長。
A. The volume of money in circulation should keep at a level beneficial to stabilizing the value of the RMB and to economic growth.
B.The volume of money in circulation should be kept at a level that will stabilize the value of the RMB and encourage economic growth.
C.The volume of money in circulation should be kept at a level beneficial to stabilize the value of the RMB and to encourage economic growth.
D.The volume of money in circulation should be kept at a level beneficial to stabilizing the value of the RMB and to economic growth.
9.發(fā)展是硬道理。
A. Development is the hard reason.
B. Development is the hard principle.
C. Development is the absolute reason.
D. Development is the absolute principle.
10.不發(fā)達地區(qū)大都是擁有豐富資源的地區(qū)，發(fā)展?jié)摿κ呛艽蟮摹?br> A.Most of the less developed areas are rich in resources, have great potential for development.
B.Most of the less developed areas are rich in resources and have great potential for development.
C.Most of the less developed areas are rich in resources development potential is very great.
D.Most of the less developed areas are rich in resources and their development potential very great.
B. Directions: This part consists of five unfinished statements, each followed by four choices marked A,B,C and D. Select the one that best completes each statement and write it down on the answer sheet.
11."凡是翻譯，必須兼顧著兩面，一當(dāng)然力求其易解，一則保存著原作的豐姿。"這是_______提出的。
A.魯迅 B.瞿秋白 C.茅盾 D.郭沫若
12.楊憲益說："譯者應(yīng)盡量忠實于原文的形象，既不要夸張，也不要夾帶任何別的東西"。他針對的是______。
A.任何一種翻譯 B.文學(xué)翻譯
C.詩歌翻譯 D.漢英翻譯
13."上下文在解決語言單位的多義性問題上起著最重要的作用。"這是______的論述。
A.林紓 B.巴爾胡達羅夫 C.泰特勒 D.費多羅夫
14.王力先生指出，中國語里多用意合法，______。
A.因此連詞用得較多B.因為主從結(jié)構(gòu)用得較多C.聯(lián)結(jié)成分并非必需D.聯(lián)結(jié)成分十分需要
15.漢語有很多四字成語，譯成英語時，譯文______。
A.一定要保持原文的形象B.一定要脫離原文的形象C.一定要符合原文的意思D.一定要在英語中找到對應(yīng)的成語
英語翻譯面試題(二)
(1)
Possession for its own sake or in competition with the rest of the neighborhood would have been Thoreau's idea of the low levels. The active discipline of heightening one's perception of what is enduring in nature would have been his idea of the high. What he saved from the low was time and effort he could spend on the high. Thoreau certainly disapproved of starvation, but he would put into feeding himself only as much effort as would keep him functioning for more important efforts.
梭羅所理解的"低層次"，即為了擁有而去擁有，或與所有的鄰居明爭暗斗而致?lián)碛�。他心目中�?高層次"，則是這樣一種積極的人生戒律，即要使自己對自然界永恒之物的感悟臻于完美。對于他從低層次上節(jié)省下來的時間和精力，他可將其致力于對高層次的追求。勿庸置疑，梭羅不贊成忍饑挨餓，但他在膳食方面所投入的精力僅果腹而已，只要可確保他能去從事更為重要的事務(wù)，他便別無所求。
Effort is the gist of it. There is no happiness except as we take on life-engaging difficulties. Short of the impossible, as Yeats put it, the satisfaction we get from a lifetime depends on how high we choose our difficulties. Robert Frost was thinking in something like the same terms when he spoke of "The pleasure of taking pains". The mortal flaw in the advertised version of happiness is in the fact that it purports to be effortless.
殫精竭慮，全力以赴，便是其精髓所在。除非我們愿意直面那些需要我們?nèi)硇耐度氲钠D難困苦，否則便不會有幸�？裳浴Ｕ缛~芝所言，除卻某些不可能的情形，我們于人生中所獲取的滿足皆取決于我們在多高的境界中選擇我們所愿意面對的艱難困苦。當(dāng)羅伯特·弗羅斯特言及"以苦為樂"時，他內(nèi)心所思，大體如此。商業(yè)廣告中所宣揚的那種幸福觀，其致命的缺陷就在于這樣一個事實，即它宣稱，一切幸福皆唾手可得，不費吹灰之力。
We demand difficulty even in our games. We demand it because without difficulty there can be no game. A game is a way of making something hard for the fun of it. The rules of the game are an arbitrary imposition of difficulty. When someone ruins the fun, he always does so by refusing to play by the rules. It is easier to win at chess if you are free, at your pleasure, to change the wholly arbitrary rules, but the fun is in winning within the rules. No difficulty, no fun.
即便于游戲之中，我們也需要有艱難困苦。我們之所以需要它，因為設(shè)若沒有困難，便斷無游戲可言。游戲即是這樣一種方式，為了享受其中的情趣而人為地使事情變得不那么輕而易舉。游戲中的種種規(guī)則，便是將困難武斷地強加于人。當(dāng)有人將情趣摧毀殆盡時，他總是因為拒不按游戲規(guī)則行事而使然。這猶如下棋;如果你隨心所欲、心血來潮地去更改那些全然武斷的游戲規(guī)則，這樣去贏棋當(dāng)然會更加容易。但下棋的情趣則在于，應(yīng)在規(guī)則的限定范圍內(nèi)贏取勝利。一言以蔽之，沒有艱難，斷無情趣。
(2)
In some societies people want children for what might be called familial reasons: to extend the family line or the family name, to propitiate the ancestors; to enable the proper functioning of religious rituals involving the family. Such reasons may seem thin in the modern, secularized society but they have been and are powerful indeed in other places.
在某些社會中，人們希望擁有孩子是出于所謂的家庭原因：傳宗接代，光宗耀祖，博取祖輩的歡心，使那些涉及到整個家族的宗教儀式得以發(fā)揮其應(yīng)有的作用。此類原因在現(xiàn)代世俗化的社會中似顯蒼白，但它們在其他地方曾一度構(gòu)成并確實仍在構(gòu)成強有力的理由。
In addition, one class of family reasons shares a border with the following category, namely, having children in order to maintain or improve a marriage: to hold the husband or occupy the wife; to repair or rejuvenate the marriage; to increase the number of children on the assumption that family happiness lies that way. The point is underlined by its converse: in some societies the failure to bear children (or males) is a threat to the marriage and a ready cause for divorce.
此外，有一類家庭原因與下列類別不無共通之處，這便是：生兒育女是為著維系或改善婚姻：能拴住丈夫或者使妻子不致于無所事事;修復(fù)婚姻或為婚姻注入新的活力;多子多孫，以為家庭幸福，惟系于此。這一點更可因其相反情形而得以凸現(xiàn)：在某些社會中，無法生兒育女(或無法生育男孩)于婚姻而言可構(gòu)成一種威脅，并可作為離婚的一個順理成章的(或現(xiàn)成的)緣由。
Beyond all that is the profound significance of children to the very institution of the family itself. To many
people, husband and wife alone do not seem a proper family -they need children to enrich the circle, to validate its family character, to gather the redemptive influence of offspring. Children need the family, but the family seems also to need children, as the social institution uniquely available, at least in principle, for security, comfort, assurance, and direction in a changing, often hostile, world. To most people, such a home base, in the literal sense, needs more than one person for sustenance and in generational extension.
除了所有這一切以外，還有一個原因，那就是后代對于家庭這一體制本身所具有的深遠意義。對許多人來說，夫婦兩人尚不足以構(gòu)成一個真正意義上的家庭--夫妻需要孩子來豐富其兩人小天地，賦予該小天地以真正意義上的家庭性質(zhì)，并從子孫后代身上獲取某種回報。
孩子需要家庭，但家庭似乎也需要孩子。作為一種社會體制，家庭以其特有的方式，至少從原則上說，可在一個變幻莫測、常常是充滿敵意的世界中讓人從中獲取某種安全、慰藉、保障，以及價值取向。于大多數(shù)人而言，這樣的一個家庭基礎(chǔ)，即使從其表層意義上來講，也需要不至一個人來維持其存在，并使其世代相傳，生生不息。
(3)
Though fond of many acquaintances, I desire an intimacy only with a few. The Man in Black, whom I have often mentioned, is one whose friendship I could wish to acquire, because he possesses my esteem. His manners, it is true, are tinctured with some strange inconsistencies, and he may be justly termed a humorist in a nation of humorists. Though he is generous even to profusion, he affects to be thought a prodigy of parsimony and prudence; though his conversation be replete with the most sordid and selfish maxims, his heart is dilated with the most unbounded love.
盡管我喜歡廣交朋友，但我只愿與為數(shù)不多的幾人成為至交。我所提及的那位黑衣男士，就是那樣一個我希冀與其成為莫逆之交的人，因為他深得我的景仰。誠然，其行為舉止不乏某些怪異的出爾反爾，他全然可被稱為幽默家王國中的幽默大師。雖然他慷慨大方，乃至奢靡無度，但他仍假惺惺地希望人們將其視作節(jié)儉與審慎之奇才。盡管其言談之中滿是污*和自私的格言，其內(nèi)心卻充盈著最博大無際的愛心。
I have known him profess himself a man-hater, while his cheek was glowing with compassion; and, while his looks were softened into pity, I have heard him use the language of the most unbounded ill-nature. Some affect humanity and tenderness, others boast of having such dispositions from Nature; but he is the only man I ever knew who seemed ashamed of his natural benevolence. He takes as much pains to hide his feelings, as any hypocrite would to conceal his indifference; but on every unguarded moment the mask drops off, and reveals him to the most superficial observer.
據(jù)我所知，他常宣稱自己是人類憎惡者;然而，他的臉龐上卻總漾溢著憐憫之情。雖然其神情會柔化為一片慈悲，我卻聽到過他使用最為惡劣的言辭，其惡劣程度可謂無以復(fù)加。有些人佯裝人道與柔情，也有一些人則夸耀說這樣的秉性乃天性使然。但在我所有認識的人當(dāng)中，唯有他似乎羞恥于其與生俱有的慈悲之心。他會竭力掩飾其真情，一如任何一個偽君子會掩飾其冷漠那樣。然則，在每一個毫無防范的瞬間，那戴著的假面具便會脫落下來，使其畢露于哪怕是最為膚淺的觀察者。
(4)
The Reagan administration's most serious foreign policy problem surfaced near the end of the president's second term. In 1987 Americans learned that the administration had secretly sold arms to Iran in an attempt to win freedom for American hostages held in Lebanon by radical organizations controlled by Iran's Khomeini government. Investigation also revealed that funds from the arms sales had been diverted to the Nicaraguan contras during a period when Congress had prohibited such military aid.
里根政府最嚴重的對外政策問題在總統(tǒng)第二任期行將結(jié)束之際浮出水面。1987年，美國人得知里根政府曾秘密向伊朗出售武器，試圖為那些美國人質(zhì)換取人身自由，這些人質(zhì)被伊朗霍梅尼政府所控制的激進組織囚禁于黎巴嫩。此外，調(diào)查也披露，這些武器交易中所得的款項被轉(zhuǎn)移到尼加拉瓜反政府武裝組織的手里，但在這一時期，美國國會早已禁止此類性質(zhì)的軍事援助。
The ensuing Iran-contra hearings before a joint House-Senate committee examined issues of possible illegality as well as the broader question of defining American foreign policy interests in the Middle East and Central America. In a larger sense, the Iran-contra hearings, like the celebrated Senate Watergate hearings 14 years earlier, addressed fundamental questions about the government's accountability to the public, and the proper balance between the executive and legislative branches of government.
隨后所舉行的參眾兩院聯(lián)合委員會的有關(guān)"伊朗-反政府武裝組織事件"聽證會審議了有可能存在的非法問題，以及對美國在中東和中美洲對外政策利益進行界定這一更為廣泛的問題。從某種較為寬泛的意義上說，有關(guān)"伊朗-反政府武裝組織事件"的聽證會，猶如14年前的參議員水*聽證會那樣，所涉及到的都是某些根本性問題，即政府應(yīng)如何向公眾負責(zé)，以及政府行政與立法部門之間如何才能達成某種恰如其分的平衡。
(5)
Although the American economy has transformed itself over the years, certain issues have persisted since the early days of the republic. One is the continuing debate over the proper role for government in what is basically a marketplace economy. An economy based on free enterprise is generally characterized by private ownership and initiative, with a relative absence of government involvement. However, government intervention has been found necessary from time to time to ensure that economic opportunities are fair and accessible to the people, to prevent flagrant abuses, to dampen inflation and to stimulate growth.
雖然美國經(jīng)濟在過去幾年中已實現(xiàn)了轉(zhuǎn)型，但某些問題自美國建國之初以來一直持續(xù)至今，依然懸而未決。其中之一便是圍繞著政府在一個基本上屬于市場性質(zhì)的經(jīng)濟中的恰當(dāng)角色所展開的持久爭論。以自由企業(yè)為基礎(chǔ)的經(jīng)濟體制，其普遍特征便是私有制和個人創(chuàng)新精神，政府介入應(yīng)相對微弱。然而，人們發(fā)現(xiàn)，政府的干預(yù)時不時地也是必要的，以確保經(jīng)濟機會人人均等，能為全部民眾所獲得，并防范肆無忌憚的權(quán)力濫用，平抑通貨膨脹，刺激經(jīng)濟增長。
Ever since colonial times, the government has been involved, to some extent, in economic decision-making. The federal government, for example, has made huge investments in infrastructure, and it has provided social welfare programs that the private sector was unable or unwilling to provide. In a myriad of ways and over many decades, the government has supported and promoted the development of agriculture.
自殖民地時期以來，美國政府或多或少地參與到經(jīng)濟決策中來。例如，聯(lián)邦政府曾在基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施方面進行過巨額投資，它也提供了私營業(yè)主們沒有能力或不愿意提供的社會福利項目。在過去數(shù)十年中，政府也以無數(shù)的方式支持并促進農(nóng)業(yè)發(fā)展。
1. Multiple Choice Questions(30 points, 2 points for each)
A. Directions: This part consists of ten sentences, each followed by four different versions marked A,B,C and D. Choose the one that is the closest equivalent to the original in terms of meaning and expressiveness and write it down on the answer sheet.
1.Bill was given a chair and asked to wait a little as darkness came on, then suddenly the whole bridge was outlined in lights.
A.天快黑了，有人給比爾一把椅子，請他坐下等一會兒。忽然電燈全亮了，整座大橋的輪廓被燈照了出來。
B.給比爾一把椅子，他被要求坐下等一會兒，天快黑了。忽然電燈全亮了，照出了整座大橋的輪廓。
C.天快黑了，有人給比爾一把椅子，請他坐下等一會兒。忽然電燈全亮了，照出了整座大橋的輪廓。
D.給比爾一把椅子，他被要求坐下等一會兒，天快黑了。忽然電燈全亮了，整座大橋的輪廓被燈照了出來。
2.It will strengthen you to know that you distinguished career is so widely respected and appreciated.
A.這會使你堅定地認識到，你的杰出事業(yè)是如此廣泛地受到人們的尊敬和贊賞。
B.這會使你進一步堅定信念，因為你的杰出事業(yè)如此廣泛地受到人們的尊敬和贊賞。
C.知道你的杰出事業(yè)是如此廣泛地受到人們的尊敬和贊賞會使你進一步堅定信念。
D.當(dāng)你知道你的杰出事業(yè)是如此廣泛地受到人們的尊敬和贊賞時，你就會力量倍增。
3.Alice rudely showed me the door.
A.愛麗斯無禮地向我指了一下門的位置。
B.愛麗斯無禮地讓我看了看她的門。
C.愛麗斯無禮地把我送到門口。
D.愛麗斯無禮地把我轟出了門。
4.There"s the bell; someone is at the door.
A.那里有個鈴;門口有個人。
B.那里有個鈴;有人在叫門。
C.鈴響了，有人在門口。
D.鈴響了，有人叫門。
5.There is no one of us but wishes to go to the exhibition.
A.我們每一個人都想去看展覽。
B.沒有誰想去看展覽。
C.我們都沒在，但有人想請我們?nèi)タ凑褂[。
D.雖然大家都沒在，但我們都希望去看展覽。
6.The car beeped at me until I fastened my seatbelt.
A.汽車向我發(fā)出了嘟嘟的聲音，直到我系上了安全帶。
B.汽車發(fā)出嘟嘟的聲音，我系上安全帶就不響了。
C.汽車在我系上安全帶之前才發(fā)出嘟嘟的聲音。
D.汽車發(fā)出嘟嘟的聲音，我才系上了安全帶。
7.流傳久遠的作品是靠文學(xué)技巧流傳，誰會關(guān)心百十年前的生活?
A. Literary works have stood the test to time because of the skill, who today really cares about the details of life a hundred years ago?
B. Literary works have stood the test of time because of the skill. Who today really cares about the details of life a hundred years ago?
C. Literary works have stood the test of time because of the skill with which they were written. Who today really cares about the details of what life was like a hundred years ago?
D. Literary works have stood the test of time because of the skill with which they were written, who today really cares about the details of what life was like a hundred years ago?
8.應(yīng)該對貨幣流通量進行控制，使其有利于人民幣價值的穩(wěn)定，有利于經(jīng)濟的增長。
A. The volume of money in circulation should keep at a level beneficial to stabilizing the value of the RMB and to economic growth.
B.The volume of money in circulation should be kept at a level that will stabilize the value of the RMB and encourage economic growth.
C.The volume of money in circulation should be kept at a level beneficial to stabilize the value of the RMB and to encourage economic growth.
D.The volume of money in circulation should be kept at a level beneficial to stabilizing the value of the RMB and to economic growth.
9.發(fā)展是硬道理。
A. Development is the hard reason.
B. Development is the hard principle.
C. Development is the absolute reason.
D. Development is the absolute principle.
10.不發(fā)達地區(qū)大都是擁有豐富資源的地區(qū)，發(fā)展?jié)摿κ呛艽蟮摹?br> A.Most of the less developed areas are rich in resources, have great potential for development.
B.Most of the less developed areas are rich in resources and have great potential for development.
C.Most of the less developed areas are rich in resources development potential is very great.
D.Most of the less developed areas are rich in resources and their development potential very great.
B. Directions: This part consists of five unfinished statements, each followed by four choices marked A,B,C and D. Select the one that best completes each statement and write it down on the answer sheet.
11."凡是翻譯，必須兼顧著兩面，一當(dāng)然力求其易解，一則保存著原作的豐姿。"這是_______提出的。
A.魯迅 B.瞿秋白 C.茅盾 D.郭沫若
12.楊憲益說："譯者應(yīng)盡量忠實于原文的形象，既不要夸張，也不要夾帶任何別的東西"。他針對的是______。
A.任何一種翻譯 B.文學(xué)翻譯
C.詩歌翻譯 D.漢英翻譯
13."上下文在解決語言單位的多義性問題上起著最重要的作用。"這是______的論述。
A.林紓 B.巴爾胡達羅夫 C.泰特勒 D.費多羅夫
14.王力先生指出，中國語里多用意合法，______。
A.因此連詞用得較多B.因為主從結(jié)構(gòu)用得較多C.聯(lián)結(jié)成分并非必需D.聯(lián)結(jié)成分十分需要
15.漢語有很多四字成語，譯成英語時，譯文______。
A.一定要保持原文的形象B.一定要脫離原文的形象C.一定要符合原文的意思D.一定要在英語中找到對應(yīng)的成語
英語翻譯面試題(二)
(1)
Possession for its own sake or in competition with the rest of the neighborhood would have been Thoreau's idea of the low levels. The active discipline of heightening one's perception of what is enduring in nature would have been his idea of the high. What he saved from the low was time and effort he could spend on the high. Thoreau certainly disapproved of starvation, but he would put into feeding himself only as much effort as would keep him functioning for more important efforts.
梭羅所理解的"低層次"，即為了擁有而去擁有，或與所有的鄰居明爭暗斗而致?lián)碛�。他心目中�?高層次"，則是這樣一種積極的人生戒律，即要使自己對自然界永恒之物的感悟臻于完美。對于他從低層次上節(jié)省下來的時間和精力，他可將其致力于對高層次的追求。勿庸置疑，梭羅不贊成忍饑挨餓，但他在膳食方面所投入的精力僅果腹而已，只要可確保他能去從事更為重要的事務(wù)，他便別無所求。
Effort is the gist of it. There is no happiness except as we take on life-engaging difficulties. Short of the impossible, as Yeats put it, the satisfaction we get from a lifetime depends on how high we choose our difficulties. Robert Frost was thinking in something like the same terms when he spoke of "The pleasure of taking pains". The mortal flaw in the advertised version of happiness is in the fact that it purports to be effortless.
殫精竭慮，全力以赴，便是其精髓所在。除非我們愿意直面那些需要我們?nèi)硇耐度氲钠D難困苦，否則便不會有幸�？裳浴Ｕ缛~芝所言，除卻某些不可能的情形，我們于人生中所獲取的滿足皆取決于我們在多高的境界中選擇我們所愿意面對的艱難困苦。當(dāng)羅伯特·弗羅斯特言及"以苦為樂"時，他內(nèi)心所思，大體如此。商業(yè)廣告中所宣揚的那種幸福觀，其致命的缺陷就在于這樣一個事實，即它宣稱，一切幸福皆唾手可得，不費吹灰之力。
We demand difficulty even in our games. We demand it because without difficulty there can be no game. A game is a way of making something hard for the fun of it. The rules of the game are an arbitrary imposition of difficulty. When someone ruins the fun, he always does so by refusing to play by the rules. It is easier to win at chess if you are free, at your pleasure, to change the wholly arbitrary rules, but the fun is in winning within the rules. No difficulty, no fun.
即便于游戲之中，我們也需要有艱難困苦。我們之所以需要它，因為設(shè)若沒有困難，便斷無游戲可言。游戲即是這樣一種方式，為了享受其中的情趣而人為地使事情變得不那么輕而易舉。游戲中的種種規(guī)則，便是將困難武斷地強加于人。當(dāng)有人將情趣摧毀殆盡時，他總是因為拒不按游戲規(guī)則行事而使然。這猶如下棋;如果你隨心所欲、心血來潮地去更改那些全然武斷的游戲規(guī)則，這樣去贏棋當(dāng)然會更加容易。但下棋的情趣則在于，應(yīng)在規(guī)則的限定范圍內(nèi)贏取勝利。一言以蔽之，沒有艱難，斷無情趣。
(2)
In some societies people want children for what might be called familial reasons: to extend the family line or the family name, to propitiate the ancestors; to enable the proper functioning of religious rituals involving the family. Such reasons may seem thin in the modern, secularized society but they have been and are powerful indeed in other places.
在某些社會中，人們希望擁有孩子是出于所謂的家庭原因：傳宗接代，光宗耀祖，博取祖輩的歡心，使那些涉及到整個家族的宗教儀式得以發(fā)揮其應(yīng)有的作用。此類原因在現(xiàn)代世俗化的社會中似顯蒼白，但它們在其他地方曾一度構(gòu)成并確實仍在構(gòu)成強有力的理由。
In addition, one class of family reasons shares a border with the following category, namely, having children in order to maintain or improve a marriage: to hold the husband or occupy the wife; to repair or rejuvenate the marriage; to increase the number of children on the assumption that family happiness lies that way. The point is underlined by its converse: in some societies the failure to bear children (or males) is a threat to the marriage and a ready cause for divorce.
此外，有一類家庭原因與下列類別不無共通之處，這便是：生兒育女是為著維系或改善婚姻：能拴住丈夫或者使妻子不致于無所事事;修復(fù)婚姻或為婚姻注入新的活力;多子多孫，以為家庭幸福，惟系于此。這一點更可因其相反情形而得以凸現(xiàn)：在某些社會中，無法生兒育女(或無法生育男孩)于婚姻而言可構(gòu)成一種威脅，并可作為離婚的一個順理成章的(或現(xiàn)成的)緣由。
Beyond all that is the profound significance of children to the very institution of the family itself. To many
people, husband and wife alone do not seem a proper family -they need children to enrich the circle, to validate its family character, to gather the redemptive influence of offspring. Children need the family, but the family seems also to need children, as the social institution uniquely available, at least in principle, for security, comfort, assurance, and direction in a changing, often hostile, world. To most people, such a home base, in the literal sense, needs more than one person for sustenance and in generational extension.
除了所有這一切以外，還有一個原因，那就是后代對于家庭這一體制本身所具有的深遠意義。對許多人來說，夫婦兩人尚不足以構(gòu)成一個真正意義上的家庭--夫妻需要孩子來豐富其兩人小天地，賦予該小天地以真正意義上的家庭性質(zhì)，并從子孫后代身上獲取某種回報。
孩子需要家庭，但家庭似乎也需要孩子。作為一種社會體制，家庭以其特有的方式，至少從原則上說，可在一個變幻莫測、常常是充滿敵意的世界中讓人從中獲取某種安全、慰藉、保障，以及價值取向。于大多數(shù)人而言，這樣的一個家庭基礎(chǔ)，即使從其表層意義上來講，也需要不至一個人來維持其存在，并使其世代相傳，生生不息。
(3)
Though fond of many acquaintances, I desire an intimacy only with a few. The Man in Black, whom I have often mentioned, is one whose friendship I could wish to acquire, because he possesses my esteem. His manners, it is true, are tinctured with some strange inconsistencies, and he may be justly termed a humorist in a nation of humorists. Though he is generous even to profusion, he affects to be thought a prodigy of parsimony and prudence; though his conversation be replete with the most sordid and selfish maxims, his heart is dilated with the most unbounded love.
盡管我喜歡廣交朋友，但我只愿與為數(shù)不多的幾人成為至交。我所提及的那位黑衣男士，就是那樣一個我希冀與其成為莫逆之交的人，因為他深得我的景仰。誠然，其行為舉止不乏某些怪異的出爾反爾，他全然可被稱為幽默家王國中的幽默大師。雖然他慷慨大方，乃至奢靡無度，但他仍假惺惺地希望人們將其視作節(jié)儉與審慎之奇才。盡管其言談之中滿是污*和自私的格言，其內(nèi)心卻充盈著最博大無際的愛心。
I have known him profess himself a man-hater, while his cheek was glowing with compassion; and, while his looks were softened into pity, I have heard him use the language of the most unbounded ill-nature. Some affect humanity and tenderness, others boast of having such dispositions from Nature; but he is the only man I ever knew who seemed ashamed of his natural benevolence. He takes as much pains to hide his feelings, as any hypocrite would to conceal his indifference; but on every unguarded moment the mask drops off, and reveals him to the most superficial observer.
據(jù)我所知，他常宣稱自己是人類憎惡者;然而，他的臉龐上卻總漾溢著憐憫之情。雖然其神情會柔化為一片慈悲，我卻聽到過他使用最為惡劣的言辭，其惡劣程度可謂無以復(fù)加。有些人佯裝人道與柔情，也有一些人則夸耀說這樣的秉性乃天性使然。但在我所有認識的人當(dāng)中，唯有他似乎羞恥于其與生俱有的慈悲之心。他會竭力掩飾其真情，一如任何一個偽君子會掩飾其冷漠那樣。然則，在每一個毫無防范的瞬間，那戴著的假面具便會脫落下來，使其畢露于哪怕是最為膚淺的觀察者。
(4)
The Reagan administration's most serious foreign policy problem surfaced near the end of the president's second term. In 1987 Americans learned that the administration had secretly sold arms to Iran in an attempt to win freedom for American hostages held in Lebanon by radical organizations controlled by Iran's Khomeini government. Investigation also revealed that funds from the arms sales had been diverted to the Nicaraguan contras during a period when Congress had prohibited such military aid.
里根政府最嚴重的對外政策問題在總統(tǒng)第二任期行將結(jié)束之際浮出水面。1987年，美國人得知里根政府曾秘密向伊朗出售武器，試圖為那些美國人質(zhì)換取人身自由，這些人質(zhì)被伊朗霍梅尼政府所控制的激進組織囚禁于黎巴嫩。此外，調(diào)查也披露，這些武器交易中所得的款項被轉(zhuǎn)移到尼加拉瓜反政府武裝組織的手里，但在這一時期，美國國會早已禁止此類性質(zhì)的軍事援助。
The ensuing Iran-contra hearings before a joint House-Senate committee examined issues of possible illegality as well as the broader question of defining American foreign policy interests in the Middle East and Central America. In a larger sense, the Iran-contra hearings, like the celebrated Senate Watergate hearings 14 years earlier, addressed fundamental questions about the government's accountability to the public, and the proper balance between the executive and legislative branches of government.
隨后所舉行的參眾兩院聯(lián)合委員會的有關(guān)"伊朗-反政府武裝組織事件"聽證會審議了有可能存在的非法問題，以及對美國在中東和中美洲對外政策利益進行界定這一更為廣泛的問題。從某種較為寬泛的意義上說，有關(guān)"伊朗-反政府武裝組織事件"的聽證會，猶如14年前的參議員水*聽證會那樣，所涉及到的都是某些根本性問題，即政府應(yīng)如何向公眾負責(zé)，以及政府行政與立法部門之間如何才能達成某種恰如其分的平衡。
(5)
Although the American economy has transformed itself over the years, certain issues have persisted since the early days of the republic. One is the continuing debate over the proper role for government in what is basically a marketplace economy. An economy based on free enterprise is generally characterized by private ownership and initiative, with a relative absence of government involvement. However, government intervention has been found necessary from time to time to ensure that economic opportunities are fair and accessible to the people, to prevent flagrant abuses, to dampen inflation and to stimulate growth.
雖然美國經(jīng)濟在過去幾年中已實現(xiàn)了轉(zhuǎn)型，但某些問題自美國建國之初以來一直持續(xù)至今，依然懸而未決。其中之一便是圍繞著政府在一個基本上屬于市場性質(zhì)的經(jīng)濟中的恰當(dāng)角色所展開的持久爭論。以自由企業(yè)為基礎(chǔ)的經(jīng)濟體制，其普遍特征便是私有制和個人創(chuàng)新精神，政府介入應(yīng)相對微弱。然而，人們發(fā)現(xiàn)，政府的干預(yù)時不時地也是必要的，以確保經(jīng)濟機會人人均等，能為全部民眾所獲得，并防范肆無忌憚的權(quán)力濫用，平抑通貨膨脹，刺激經(jīng)濟增長。
Ever since colonial times, the government has been involved, to some extent, in economic decision-making. The federal government, for example, has made huge investments in infrastructure, and it has provided social welfare programs that the private sector was unable or unwilling to provide. In a myriad of ways and over many decades, the government has supported and promoted the development of agriculture.
自殖民地時期以來，美國政府或多或少地參與到經(jīng)濟決策中來。例如，聯(lián)邦政府曾在基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施方面進行過巨額投資，它也提供了私營業(yè)主們沒有能力或不愿意提供的社會福利項目。在過去數(shù)十年中，政府也以無數(shù)的方式支持并促進農(nóng)業(yè)發(fā)展。
