2014下半年翻译考试中级笔译模拟试题4

　　The first outline of The Ascent of Man was written in July 1969and the last foot of film was shot in December 1972. An undertaking aslarge as this, though wonderfully exhilarating, is not entered lightly. It demands an unflagging intellectual and physical vigour, a total immersion, which I had to be sure that I could sustain with pleasure; for instance, Ihad to put off researches that I had already begun; and I ought to explai-n what moved me to do so.

　　There has been a deep change in the temper of science in the last20 years: the focus of attention has shifted from the physical to the life sciences. As a result, science is drawn more and more to the study of in-dividuality. But the interested spectator is hardly aware yet how far-reaching the effect is in changing the image of man that science moulds. Asa mathematician trained in physics, I too would have been unaware, had not a series of lucky chances taken me into the life sciences in middle age. I owe a debt for the good fortune that carried me into two seminal fields of science in one lifetime; and though I do not know to whom the debt is due, I conceived The Ascent of Man in gratitude to repay it.

　　The invitation to me from the British Broadcasting Corporation was to present the development of science in a series of television programmes to match those of Lord Clark on Civilisation. Television is an admirable medium- for exposition in several ways: powerful and immediate to the eye, able to take the spectator bodily into the places and processes that are described, and conversational enough to make him conscious that what he witnesses are not events but the actions of people. The last of these merits is to my mind the most cogent, and it weighed most with me in agreeing to cast a personal biography of ideas in the form of television essays. The point is that knowledge in general and science in particular does not consist of abstract but of man-made ideas, all the way from its beginnings to its modern and idiosyncratic models. Therefore the underlying concepts that unlock nature must be shown to arise early and in the simplest cultures of man from his basic and specific faculties. And the development of science which joins them in more and more complex conjunctions must be seen to be equally human: discoveries are made by men, not merely by minds, so that they are alive and charged with individuality. If television is not used to make these thoughts concrete, it is wasted.

　　参考答案：

　　不是因为我们害怕看到他会因失误而给他辉煌的生涯画上遗憾的一笔。从善意的角度说，我们想让迈克知道，我们仍然欣赏他，至少在我们的记忆中，他仍然是英雄。事实上，我们不想让他重返球场，即使他是迈克尔·乔丹。我们觉得这是个贸然之举，我们不想看到自信的商标蜕变成一种自负的象征。我们不想让他重返球场，因为没有人喜欢卖弄。失误呢？那将会很有趣。

　　但是我们是有着225年乐观历史的美国人，我们都是好心人。当乔丹几天前宣布他将在九月重返NBA时，我们曾为之一振。宣布的前一天，他说过：“我盼望能打球，并希望事情能如愿以偿。有些人怀疑，有些人紧张，都属正常。”《时代》周刊和美国有线新闻网上周做的一项民意调查表明，每两个美国人当中就有一个人希望乔丹尽快重返赛场。只有21%的人们认为，如果他的重返导致一场彻底失败，将会损害他的传奇。事实上只有28%的人认为运动员应该在他的运动巅峰时期引退。

　　与乔丹关系密切的人告诉《时代》周刊，当乔丹第一次谈到重返它与其他人共同拥有的华盛顿奇才队并为之效力时，一些他最信任的顾问试图私下打消他的愿望。“但他们说，如果试图阻止他，只能鉴定他的决心，”一位NBA人士如是说。

　　乔丹复出所产生的问题不仅仅在于他不可能重现1998年的神话，那一年，他以一个精彩的最后一秒投篮，使球队赢得了冠军，也为自己赢得了第六只金指环。问题是他重返的动机——他需要人们的关注，需要在38岁体力不支时，仍然打球。这一切都有悖于他所创造的神话——一个展示绝对控制力的神话。如果说二十世纪的第一个球星巴比·鲁斯是一个身材魁梧肥胖的鲁莽之夫和酒鬼天才，乔丹则证明了刚毅所能带来的优雅风度，并以此结束了二十世纪。巴比对观众的颐指气使被乔丹无奈耸肩的魅力所取代。乔丹代表着成功，因为他的名字没有被他的政治倾向、他的观点或是他的超级明星个性所玷污。乔丹迷就是典雅和自信迷。

 

2014下半年翻译考试中级笔译模拟试题的延伸阅读——基础口译快速学习的方法

 

　　第一，模拟

　　模拟是最好的提供口语能力的方法之一，通过多模拟电影、电视或以英语为母语的人的语音和语调来提高自己的口语能力。

　　第二，朗读

　　要想提高口语能力，一定要大声的把英文读出来，而且要带有意识的去模拟母语朗读也可以说是第二模拟，所以也需要有意识地以磁带里的语音、语调去朗读。在朗读时，可以把自己的声音录下来，认真听一听，并进行比较，找出差距，发现自己的弱点。

    第三，复述

　　复述是在模拟、朗读之后的一个再创作的过程，它比背诵要难。可以尽量用自己的话复述朗读、听过的或阅读过的，也可以完全摆脱原文，组织、创作材料内容。对于程度较差的人，可以先复述原文的中心思想，一句、两句话即可。然后，由少至多。复述是在没有人对话的情况下提高口语最有效的途径之一。

　　第四，背诵

　　练习口语不免背诵一些东西，但很多人不喜欢背诵。不过，背诵一些名篇偶是非常有必要的 .基础较差的人一定要背诵一些常用的句型和表达方式。

第五，坚持用英语写日记。用英语写日记无论是对提高口语还是提高英语其他方面的能力都是一个行之有效的好方法。