2010年春季难句翻译（上） 1. We must probably discard the at one time widely accepted view that if once life had come into the universe in any way whatsoever, it would rapidly spread from planet to planet and from one planetary system to another until the whole universe teemed with life.
我们或许必须抛弃曾一时广为大家所接受的观点，即一旦生命无论以任何方式在宇宙中出现，它都会从一个行星迅速地扩展到另一行星，从一个行星系蔓延到另一个行星系，直到整个宇宙都充满生命为止。（if once一旦; teem with充满） 2. It is already clear that “the next best thing to being there” is going to be a picture phone call.
显然，仅次于面谈的办法是打一个视频电话。
3. The European Union is an imperfect creature, with some of its actions based on fine principles of political economy and some on poor ones.
欧盟是不完善的机构，它的一些举措是基于正确的政治经济原则之上的，而另一些却远非如此。（复合结构扩展成句子。复合结构作状语可以不用with。cf: Our teacher comes into the classroom, book under arm. 老师进了教室，腋下夹了一本书。）
4. In cyberspace, communities are chosen by the users, not forced on them by accidents of geography.
在网络空间，用户自愿参加某个团体，而不是因为地理位置的巧合被迫参加某个团体。
5. United we stand；divided we fall. 团结则存，分裂则亡。(伴随) 6. Be all that you can be. 尽你所能
成就你能力范围内的一切。
7. If you are a man, you can point out that most poets and men of science are male; if you are a woman, you can retort that so are most criminals. 如果你是男人，你会指出，大多数诗人和科学家都是男性的; 如果你是妇女，你会反驳说，大多数罪犯也都是男性的。
8. If I went abroad, I’d travel round the country as much as I could and try to get as many people as possible, not only to practice the language on but to have discussions with and I’d hope to make some real friends.
如果我出国，会尽量多地游览这个国家，设法尽可能多地结识一些人，不仅以他们作为语言实践对象，而且要和他们讨论问题。我希望结识一些真正的朋友。（并列平行结构的典范：句与句之间; 谓语动词和谓语动词之间；不定式短语之间）
9. History is made up of facts, but also of opinions; it is not only what actually
happened, but also what people who know what happened think about past events. (29 words)
历史是由事实组成的，也是由观点组成的。它不仅仅是实际上已发生的事件，同时也是知情人对事件的看法。
10. Humans have distinguished themselves from other animals, and in doing so
ensured their survival, by the ability to observe and understand their environment and then either to adapt to that environment or to control and adapt it to their own needs. 要点：by介词短语作状语,修饰谓语have distinguished。To observe and
understand?and then either to adapt?or to control and adapt?是并列的动词不定式短语,作定语,修饰ability。In doing so是介词短语作状语,修饰ensured,表示方式；so是副词,等于in this way。
译文：人类能够观察和认识周围的环境，尔后或是去适应环境，或是按照自己的需要控制和改变环境。这种能力使人类与其他动物区别开来,从而使人类得以生存。
11. This process, difficult and complex as it is, is simple compared to the job of discovering that new kinds of corn could be developed, or to the job of discovering how to develop them.
这个过程虽然困难而又复杂，但是与研究培育玉米新品种和找出育种方法相比就简单得多了。（as的用法; it译实了；状语翻译到动词前）
12. The common belief of some linguists that each language is a perfect vehicle for the thoughts of the nation speaking it is in some ways the exact counterpart of the conviction of the Manchester school of economics that supply and demand will regulate everything for the best. (47 words)
一些语言学家的共同见解是，每一种语言都是使用该语言的民族用以表达思想的完美载体。这一观点在某些方面与曼彻斯特经济学派的观点，即供给与需求会将一切调节至尽美尽美，有异曲同工之妙。
13. At school the student needs to increase his knowledge in an organized way, to acquire sufficient vocabulary in science for effective communication, and to learn some facts because they are important in everyday living, such as knowledge that is useful for his health, for his safety and for an understanding of his surrounding. 在学校中，学生需要有系统地扩大知识，掌握足够的科学词汇，以便有效地进行交流，还需要懂得一些诸如对（增进）健康、（保障）安全以及了解周围环境等有用的常识，因为这些常识在日常生活中是十分重要的。 14. They conquer who believe they can.
译文：相信自己能够取得胜利的人取得胜利。
15. And ultimately, as the parable of the open and closed hand suggests, we must confront the inevitability of our own demise, losing ourselves, as it were, all that we were or dreamed to be.
最终正如松手与握拳的寓意所表示的那样，我们自己也得走向不可抗拒的死亡，失去我们自己，可以说失去我们以往曾经有过的或梦想的一切。
16. There is indeed an important, though often neglected, difference between Chinese and English in negation - negation in way of thinking and in mode of speaking. 要点：important和它所修饰的difference之间插入一个状语从句“though often neglected”，though后省略了it is。破折号后的negation是前面negation的同位语，补充说明否定的方向。
译文：的确，汉语和英语在思维方法和说话方式的否定上有着重要的差异，尽管这种差异往往被忽略。
17. Man has achieved remarkable success in the field of astronautics the ultimate goal and purpose of which is to gain for man himself access to space and to other worlds. 人类在宇航方面已经取得惊人的成就，宇航的最终目标和意图就是使人类能够亲自进入太空并到达其他星球。
18. Libraries made education possible, and education in its turn added to libraries: the growth of knowledge followed a kind of compound-interest law, which was greatly enhanced by the invention of printing.
图书馆的出现使教育的发展成为可能，而教育反过来促进了图书馆的发展。知识的增长遵循了一种复利的原则。由于印刷术的发明，这一知识增长过程得以大大加速。（add to—libraries; follow—law; invention of printing; 被动语态的翻译，增词，定语从句）