第五讲：词语理解与翻译 词的上下文，词的形式，词性，搭配和变化
I. Teaching Purpose
Word understanding in translation: the context of the word; form; part of speech; collocation and variation
II. Important and Difficult Points
How to have a better understanding of the word and make proper choice in Chinese. III. Teaching Method
The teacher introduces the contents and some examples are given to the students in order to practice the skills of word understanding. IV. Teaching Contents
1. 词语的理解与翻译
翻译中错译的情况常常是由于对词语的词义理解不准确引起的。如何正确理解词语？如“Novelists”翻译练习里的h。?not the light side that shows in company”，句中1ight的意思是“轻的”还是“明亮的”？company的意思是不是“公司”？靠查词典并不能完全解决问题，只有通过上下文的分析，通过对文章总的意思、作者的思路、词的语法特征、词的搭配和词的变化等方面的理解才能确定词义。
1．1 词的上下文
英语中许多词是多义词。这同它是拼音文字有关。它的词形与词义没有什么联系，词义的变化和引申有很大的自由度，如mine 词义的变化：矿井——宝库——源泉——地雷——坑道——水雷——烟火——潜道。getup的词义引申：起床--一式样———格式——装束——打扮——劲头——勇气。一般人很难从mine和getup猜出后面几个词义。有的词还出现相反或对立的意思，如overlook： 1） fail to notice； 2） look at carefully。 再如
sanction：1）approval；2）punishment。可见在翻译中我们不能凭自己的印象，使用自己熟悉的词义，而应当利用上下文进行分析再确定词义。
1) . . . which wil1 make a more economic use of the wealth of talent，application and industry currently being wasted on certificates， diplomas and degrees that no one wants to know about. ??使之能比较珍惜学校的人才资源，勤奋刻苦的努力。而现在这些人才资源和努力都浪费在无人感兴趣的证书、文凭和学位上。
2）For the first two years，the war was largely 1eft to the soldiers，whose on1y objective was victory without regard for politica1 considerations，because these they did not understand.
在战争头两年中，战争主要是交给军人们去负责，因为他们唯一的目标是取胜，不是政治因素，这个他们也不懂。
3）Such gigantic efforts, involving an entire nation?s economic and technological resources and utilizing the skills of thousands of scientists and eng1neers， are widely pub1icized and become identified as the real purpose of scientific investigation. 这样一些牵涉到整个国家的经济资源和技术资源，以及运用千千万万科学家与工程师技能的巨大成就得到了广泛的宣传，并被看成科学研究的真正目的。
4） In the United States a battle had long raged in military and congressional circles over how much of our defense effort should be al1otted to bombers, how much to missi1es．
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美国军界和国会长期来一直在激烈地争论着，我们的国防力量究竟应该把多少用在轰炸机上，多少用在导弹上。
5）And someone with a history of doing more rather than less will go into old age more cognitively sound than someone who has not had an active mind.
习惯于多动脑筋而不是不大肯动脑的人，在进人老龄后要比起一个不积极动脑子的人的认知能力更为健全。
6） While these underprivileged peop1e receive he1p from the Government,they have no high hopes for their future．
这些生活水平低下的人们虽然得到政府的救助，但是他们对未来不抱多大的希望。
7） And until recently this hostile towards daydreaming was the most common one， （But now some people are taking a fresh look at daydreaming， some think it may be a very healthy thing to do．）
不久前，这种白日做梦的否定态度仍然相当普遍。 2．2 词的形式
确定一个词的词义，还可以从词的本身语法变化来确定。英语中许多名词，用作可数名词时和用作不可数名词时，意思大不相同，如agreement（同意）／an agreement（协定）；people（人民）／a people（民族）；hostility（敌意）／hosti1ities（战争）；use（使用）／uses（用途）；room（空间）／rooms（房间）。所以，对名词的可数与不可数形式所隐含的不同意义要引起足够的重视。意思用上去不合适时，要看一看这个名词是可数名词的还是不可数名词，有没有其他意思。
1） The reason？ University medical schools can only find places for ha1f of those who apply. 为什么？因为大学的医学院只能为申请攻读学位者中的一半人提供名额。
2）No war has ever started with such a victory for one side at the very beginning of the hostilities. 从未有一场战争在它一开始时一方就取得了如此巨犬的胜利。
3） There is a definite link between smoking and 1ung cancer. But this doesn?t make you too uncomfortable because you are in good company. 吸烟肯定与肺癌有关，但这并未使你感刭太不舒服，因为吸烟的人不止你一个。 4） Every people in turn adapted itself to the law of necessity. 各个民族都相继适应了这条必然的规獐。
5） As a result of those economies， many of our most important new projects in other fie1ds became possible.
由于采取了这些节约措施，我们在其他方面的许多重要的新项目才得以实施。 2.3 词的词性
如同汉语一样，英语中许多词兼有不同的词性。同一个词由于词性不同，意思也有差别，如：Workers can fish.把can看成是助动词，就是“工人能够钓鱼”；如看成是谓语动词，就是“工人把鱼制成罐头”。因此把握词性很重要，而词性的确定又离不开语法分析。如like，在主语后是动词“喜欢”，在形容词后是名词“相似的人、物”，在谓语后是介词“像”。 1） Under the law of competition， the employer of thousands is forced into the strictest economies，among which the rates paid to labor figure prominently. 在竞争的法则下，上万人的雇主不得不实行一些最严厉的节约措施，其中节约给工人报酬的那部分占很大一部分。 2）（Until the World War brought chaos to most of their institutions，） their whole lives were regulated， perhaps more than those of any other people save the Spaniards， by a regard for precedent.
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除西班牙人，他们的全部生活，或许比共他任何民族的生活都更受到先例的制约。
3） … great lorries with a double deck cargo of cars for export 1umber past Magdalen and the University Church.
满载着出口汽车的双层犬型卡车在马稳林学院和大学教堂旁隆隆驶过。
4） When a complicated word processor attempts to doub1e as a desktop publishing program or a kitchen appliance comes with half a dozen attachments， the product is bound to be unwieldy and burdensome.
如果要将一台复杂的文字处理机兼有台式出版系统的功能，或兼有一台配有六种附件的厨房用具的功能，那么这种产品就必然笨重累赘。 5） He thought that directly internal confidence in the government declined, her financial structure wou1d be in danger.
他认为一旦国内对政府信心下降，它的财政体制就会出现危机。
6） Perhaps total destruction is even more attractive than total insecurity and never ending persona1 anxiety.
或许统统毁灭的结局要比老是感刽不安和无穷无尽的担忧更吸引人。 2．4 词的搭配
一个词语尽管有许多释义，但是用在特定的句子中，与不同的词搭配，意思只能是一个。因此根据词语的搭配关系，我们往往可以分辨多义词的不同含义，从而选择原文所表达的确切词义。
1） Unhappi1y， this p1entiful genera1 1iterature about interviewing pays litt1e attention to the journa1istic interview．
不幸的是，诈多大量有关面谈的一般性文献较少涉及新闻采访这一领域。 2） “In short,” a leader of the new schoo1 contends， “the scientific revo1ution， as we ca11 it， was 1argely the improvement and invention and use of a series of instruments that expanded the reach of science in innumerable directions。”
前学派的一位领导人坚持说：“简而言之，我们称谓的科学革命，主要是指一系列器具的改进、发明和使用，这些改进、发明和使用使科学发展的范围无所不及。” 2．5 词的变化
英语写作中在表达同一意思时，不大使用简单的单词重复方法，而是用同义词、近义词或上义概括词来代。如果不注意到这种修辞变化手段，而错把它们当作两个没有任何语义关系的词或词组，就会造成误译。因此了解英语写作中为追求用词变化而运用的修辞手段，有助于准确理解词义。
1） There is no agreement whether methodology refers to the concepts peculiar to historical work in general or to the research techniques appropriate to the various branches of historical inquiry. 方法论是指专门用于一般历史研究的概念，还是指适合于历史研究中各个具体领域的研究手段，意见并不一致。
2） The Second world war in some ways gave birth to 1ess novelty and genius than the First， It was， of course， a greater cataclysm， fought over a wider area， and a1tered the social and
politica1 contour of the world at least as radically as its predecessor. 第二次世界大战在某些方面来说，不像第一次大战那样产生了诸多新奇事物和天才。诚然它是一场更大的灾难，战事蔓延到更广阔的地区，改变了世界的社会和政治的轮廓，至少激烈程度不亚于第一次大战，或许更为激烈。
3） It is necessary to consider the amount of credit granted；interest rates， which may vary slightly； the number and range of outlets， though most cards cover major garages， hote1s，
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restaurants and department stores。
有必要考虑信用卡赊账的限额、利率（可能有些高低）、接受的商家有多少及使用范围，虽然大多数信用卡在大加油站、旅馆、饭店和百货商店均可使用。
4） The torpedo bombers skimmed low， launching their missiles from just fifty feet off the calm surface of the water. Once these torpedoes hit the water， they drive along under their own power
and struck our ship below the water-line — a most devastating blow. 鱼雷轰炸机低低掠过，在距乎静的水面仅五十英尺的高度发射鱼雷。这些鱼雷一旦进入水中就靠自身动力向前推进，袭击我舰吃水线以下的部位——这是最可怕的打击。 5） These， as 1ong as the sun was above the horizon，intercepted much of the light and color； but when the great luminary has passed away from our direct vision， its light shines more directly on the under sides of a11 the clouds and air strata of different densities.
原先只要太阳还在地平线上，云雾就截住不少阳光和色彩，但现在太阳从我们的视野中消失了，阳光便更为直接地照射到密度不同的云层和大气层的底部。
6） For such missions as disabling a helicopter?s fire－control system as soon as the vehic1e pops into view——a major thrust in Army R＆D——much lower energy is needed than for strategic applications in space.
只要直升飞机一闪进雷达显示屏，激光就能破坏其火力控制系统，这是陆军研究工作中一个重大的突破。其所需能量大大低于应用于空间战略任务的激光所需要的能量。
V. Exercises and Assignments
The Law of competition
Under the law of competition， the employer of thousands is forced into the strictest economies，among which the rates paid to labor figure prominently. The price which society pays for the law， like the price it pays for cheap comforts and luxuries, is great， but the advantages of this law are also greater than its cost——for it is to this 1aw that we owe our wonderful material development， which brings improved conditions in its train. But， whether the 1aw be benign or not， we cannot evade it； of the effect of any new substitutes for it proposed we can not be sure；and while the law may be sometimes hard for the individual， it is best for the race， because it insures the surviva1 of the fittest in every department. We accept and welcome，therefore， as conditions to which we must accommodate ourselves，great inequa1ity of environment；the，concentration of business, industria1 and commercia1 , in the hands of a few; and the law of competition between these, as being not only beneficial, but essential to the future progress of the race.
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