专业学位硕士研究生英语教程14

unit 14

Science

Preview

Our humans have been always confused by some questions since we are thrown into the world by God. Those are "what is our place in the universe?" and "where did it and we come from?" To try to answer these questions, people have created different "world pictures". Some are scientific, some are mythic, some are hypothetical and some are just imaginary. There is another effort to stir the readers' imaginations about the same questions. The exploration will never stop its steps until our human can get the truth one day.

Text Reading

Warm-up

,..1) Match the words in Column A for the proper day in Column B.

A world-known Christian story, Genesis, has explained who created the world and

why it should be. In this famous story, God spent 7 days in creating the world. Now your

task is to match the proper day for each item.

A B

A. beast, cattle and insect 1. the first day

B. fishes and birds 2. the second day

C. light and darkness 3. the third day

D. grass and tree 4. the forth day

E. day and night 5. the fifth day

F. arch and water 6. the sixth day

G. sun and moon 7. the seventh day

H. land and sea

I. human

J. star and season

K. rest

II．Mythology and science

Mythology and science can never be isolated from each other. They are closely related to each other. There are different ways to know the nature of the world. Now please choose the names here from the table. Some are scientists and the other are mythological figures. Please put the names in the proper circles.

Mythological Figures Scientists

III. Discussions.

1. There are hundreds of versions about how the world comes into being. And can you tell one?

2. Einstein once has said, "Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand." How do you think about it?

3. What do your think about the relationship between religion and science?

4. We have already entered the the space era, and as you know, how far can we go in this domain?

Text

Space and Tim e ⑴

Stephen Hawkin g ⑵

[1] We find ourselves in a bewildering (confusing) world. We want to make sense of (understand) what we see around us and to ask: What is the nature (the basic qualities of a thing) of the universe? What is our place in it and where did it and we come from? Why is it the way it is?⑶

[2] To try to answer these questions we adopt (use) some "world picture." Just as an infinite tower of tortoise s⑷supporting the flat earth is such a picture, so is the theory of superstring s⑸. Both are theories of the universe, though the latter is much more mathematical and precise than the former. Both theories lack observational (noticeable) evidence: no one has ever seen a giant (huge) tortoise with the earth on its back, but then, no one has seen a superstring either. However, the tortoise theory fails to be a good scientific theory because it predicts that people should be able to fall off (fall to the ground) the edge of the world. This has not been found to agree with (to be the same as sth) experience, unless that turns out to be the explanation for the people who are supposed to have disappeared in the Bermuda Triangl e⑹!

[3] The earliest theoretical attempts to describe and explain the universe involved the idea that events and natural phenomena were controlled by spirits with human emotions who acted in a very humanlike and unpredictable manner (way). These spirits inhabited (lived in a particular place) natural objects, like rivers and mountains, including celestial (heavenly) bodies, like the sun and moon. They had to be placated (to be made sb feel less angry about sth) and their favor (seek->) sought in order to ensure (to make sure that sth happens or is definite) the fertility (the state of being fertile) of the soil and the rotation of the seasons. Gradually, however, it must have been noticed that there were certain regularities (patterns or rules): the sun always rose in the east and set in the west, whether or not a sacrifice (n animal, etc. that is offered to gods) had been made to the sun god. Further, the sun, the moon, and the planets followed precise paths across the sky that could be predicted in advance (beforehand) with considerable (great) accuracy (correctness). The sun and the moon might still be gods, but they were gods who obeyed strict laws, apparently (obviously) without any exceptions, if one discounts (dismiss) stories like that of the sun stopping for (waiting for) Joshu a⑺.

[4] At first, these regularities and laws were obvious only in astronomy (the scientific study of

the sun, moon, stars, planets, etc.) and a few other situations. However, as civilization developed, and particularly in the last 300 years, more and more regularities and laws were discovered. The success of these laws led Laplac e (法国哲学家Pierre-Simon Laplace 皮埃尔·西蒙·拉普拉斯)⑻at the beginning of the nineteenth century to postulate (to suggest or accept that sth is true so that it can be used as the basis for a theory, etc.) scientific determinism (the belief that people are not free to choose what they are like or how they behave, because these things are decided by their surroundings and other things over which they have no control); that is, he suggested that there would be a set of laws that would determine the evolution of the universe precisely, given its configuration (an arrangement of the parts of sth or a group of things; the form or shape that this arrangement produces构造，配置) at one time.

[5] Laplace's determinism was incomplete in two ways. It did not say how the laws should be chosen and it did not specify (to state sth, especially by giving an exact measurement, time, exact instructions, etc) the initial (happening at the beginning; first) configuration of the universe. These were left to God. God would choose how the universe began and what laws it obeyed, but he would not intervene (interrupt) in the universe once it had started. In effect, God was confined to (limited to) the areas that nineteenth-century science did not understand.

[6] In effect (In fact), we have redefined the task of science to be the discovery of laws that will enable us to predict events up to the limits set by the uncertainty principle s⑼. The question remains, however: how or why were the laws and the initial state of the universe chosen?

[7] Einstein once asked the question: "How much choice did God have in constructing the universe?" If the no boundary proposal is correct, he had no freedom at all to choose initial conditions. He would, of course, still have had the freedom to choose the laws that the universe obeyed. This, however, may not really have been all that (so) much of a choice; there may well be only one, or a small number, of complete unified (统一的,) theories, such as the heterotic string theor y⑽, that are self-consistent and allow the existence of structures as complicated as human beings who can investigate the laws of the universe and ask about the nature of God.

[8] Up to now (So far), most scientists have been too occupied with (busy with) the development of new theories that describe what the universe is to ask the question why.⑾On the other hand, the people whose business it is to ask why, the philosophers, have not been able to keep up with the advance (progress, development) of scientific theories. In the eighteenth century, philosophers considered the whole of human knowledge, including science, to be their field and discussed questions such as: did the universe have a beginning? However, in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, science became too technical and mathematical for the philosophers, or anyone else except a few specialists (experts). Philosophers reduced (narrowed) the scope of their inquiries so much that Wittgenstei n⑿, the most famous philosopher of this century, said, "The sole (only) remaining task for philosophy is the analysis of language." What a comedown (failure) from the great tradition of philosophy from Aristotl e⒀to Kan t⒁!

[9] However, if we do discover a complete theory, it should in time (finally) be understandable (comprehensive) in broad principle by everyone, not just a few scientists. Then we shall all, philosophers, scientists, and just ordinary people, be able to take part in the discussion of the question of why it is that we and the universe exist. If we find the answer to that, it would be the ultimate (final) triumph (victory) of human reason—for then we would know the mind of God. Notes

⑴This text comes from A Brief History of Time. It attempts to explain a range of subjects in cosmology, including the Big Bang, black holes, light cones and superstring theory, to the non-specialist reader.

⑵Stephen Hawking: Stephen William Hawking, (born 8 January 1942) is a British theoretical physicist. He is known for his contributions to the fields of cosmology and quantum gravity, especially in the context of black holes.

⑶Why is it the way it is: it means "The reason that the universe is like the way that it is." (为何它就应该是这个样子的?) Here the first "it" is a formal subject, and the second "it" is used to refer to the word "universe".

⑷an infinite tower of tortoises: it is universally accepted in the early time that the world is really a flat plate supported on the back of a giant tortoise.

⑸superstring theory: 超弦理论属于弦理论的一种，也指狭义的弦理论。这里的“超”有超对称性的意思。为了将玻色子(bosons)和费米子(fermions)统一，科学家预言了这种粒子，由于实验条件的限制，人们很难找到这种能够证明弦理论的粒子。

⑹the Bermuda Triangle: also known as the Devil's Triangle, it is a region in the western part of the North Atlantic Ocean in which a number of aircraft and surface vessels are alleged to have disappeared in mysterious circumstances. 百慕大三角

⑺...that of the sun stopping for Joshua: this is a story in the Old Testament, Joshua 10

⑻Laplace: Pierre-Simon, marquis de Laplace (23 March 1749-5 March 1827) was a French mathematician and astronomer whose work was pivotal to the development of mathematical astronomy and statistics.

⑼the uncertainty principle [测不准(不定性)原理]: the Heisenberg (海森堡Werner, 1910-, 德国物理学家) uncertainty principle, in quantum (量子论) mechanics, states that certain pairs of physical properties, like position and momentum (动力, 要素), cannot both be known to arbitrary precision.

⑽the heterotic string theory: in physics, a heterotic string is a peculiar mixture (or hybrid) of the bosonic (玻色子的) string and the superstring (the adjective heterotic comes from the Greek word heterosis (杂种优势), hybrid vigour). In string theory, the left-moving and the right-moving excitations almost do not talk to each other, and it is possible to construct a string theory whose left-moving (counter-clockwise) excitations "think" that they live on a bosonic string propagating in D = 26 dimensions, while the right-moving (clock-wise) excitations "think" that they belong to a superstring in D = 10 dimensions.

弦论和M理论导论：String theory is one of the most exciting and challenging areas of modern theoretical physics. It was developed in the late 1960s for the purpose of de-scribing the strong nuclear force. Problems were encountered that prevented this program from attaining complete success. In particular，it was realized that the dpectrum of a fundamental string contains an undesired massless spin-two particle. Quantum chromodynamics eventually proved to be the correct theory for describing the strong force and the properties of hadrons，New doors opened for string theory when in 1974 it was proposed to identify the massless spin-two particle in the strings spectrum with the graviton，the quantum of gravitation. String theory became then the most promising can-didate for a quantum theory of gravity unified with the other forces and has developed into one of the most fascinating the6ries of high-energy physics （世界图书出版公司2011-01-01，（美）贝克尔著）

⑾Up to now, most scientists have been too occupied with the development of new theories that describe what the universe is to ask the question why. 迄今为止，大部分科学家过分注重于发展描述宇宙为何物的理论，以至于没工夫去过问类似于为什么这样的问题。这里使用了特殊结构“too…to”表达“太……以至于不能”的含义。

⑿Wittgenstein: Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein (26 April 1889-29 April 1951) was an Austrian-British philosopher who worked primarily in logic, the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of language.

⒀Aristotle: he (384 BC-322 BC) was a Greek philosopher, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great.

⒁Kant: Immanuel Kant (22 April 1724-12 February 1804) was an 18th-century German philosopher from the Prussian city of Kaliningrad, Russia. He is regarded as one of the most influential thinkers of modern Europe and of the late Enlightenment.

Word Bank

astronomy: the branch of science that deals with celestial objects, space, and the physical universe as a whole天文学

bewildering: confusing, especially because there are too many choices or things happening at the same time让人困惑的，令人费解的

comedown: n. a feeling of disappointment or depression失望，沮丧

complicated: consisting of many interconnecting parts or elements复杂的，混乱的

configuration: an arrangement of parts or elements in a particular form, figure, or combination 构造，配置

confine: to keep or restrict someone or something within certain limits of限制，使局限

determinism: the doctrine that all events, including human action, are ultimately determined by causes regarded as external to the will【哲】宿命论，决定论

discount: to regard (a possibility, fact, or person) as being unworthy of consideration because it lacks credibility对(可能性、事实、人)不全信，对……不予考虑

fertility: producing or capability of producing abundant vegetation or crops丰产，多产

infinite: limitless or endless in space, extent无限的，无边无际的

initial: existing or occurring at the beginning最初的，开始的

inquiry: an act of asking for information询问，打听

investigate: to carry out a systematic or formal inquiry to discover and examine the facts调查，研究

observational: being closely and constantly watched or monitored观察的，观测的

placate: to make sb. less angry or hostile安抚，抚慰

postulate: to suggest or assume the existence, fact, or truth of sth. as a basis for reasoning, discussion, or belief假定，假设

precise: marked by exactness and accuracy of expression or detail精确的，准确的

rotation: the action of rotating around an axis or center循环，交替

sacrifice: an act of slaughtering an animal or person or surrendering a possession as an offering to god or to a divine or supernatural figure献祭，供奉

scope: the extent of the area or subject matter that something deals with or to which it is relevant范围，领域

self-consistent: not having parts or aspects which are in conflict or contradiction with each other自相一致的，一贯的

string: a length of catgut or wire on a musical instrument, producing a note by vibration(乐器的)弦

triumph: a great victory or achievement胜利，成功

ultimate: being or happening at the end of a process最后的，最终的

unified: become united, uniform, or whole统一的，一元化的

Phrases and Expressions

a set of: a group of similar things that belong together or are related in some way一套，一伙

in advance: ahead in time预先，事先

in effect: in fact, in practice实质上，实际上

make sense of: to find meaning or coherence in理解，弄懂

Reading Comprehension°

I. Choose the best for each of the following.

1. According to the author, which theory has been well accepted by all?

A. The tortoise theory.

B. The theory of superstrings.

C. Laplace's determinism.

D. Not mentioned.

2. Based on the earliest theoretical attempts, what is the nature of the universe?

A. There is a world picture.

B. The whole world was controlled by spirits with human emotions who acted in a very humanlike and unpredictable manner.

C. An infinite tower of tortoises supported the flat earth.

D. Gods obeyed strict laws, apparently without any exceptions.

3. Who did people believe control the world in the early time?

A. Spirits with human emotions.

B. The sun god.

C. The river and mountain.

D. Celestial bodies.

4. The author's aim by quoting Einstein's question is to show that _____.

A. God can create the world by different choices

B. the world is always controlled by spirits with human emotions who acted in a very humanlike and unpredictable manner

C. Even the God has no power to create the initial laws

D. Human can can investigate the laws of the universe and ask about the nature of God

5. "What a comedown from the great tradition of philosophy from Aristotle to Kant!" in Para. 8. Here the word "comedown" means _____.

A. in effect, God was confined to the areas that nineteenth-century science did not understand

B. the sole remaining task for philosophy is the analysis of language

C. philosophers have not been able to keep up with the advance of scientific theories

D. most scientists have been too occupied with the development of new theories that describe what the universe is to ask the question why

II. Complete the following summary of the text by filling in the blanks with words. The initial

letter of each word has been given to you.

"Space and Time" is just one part of the book, A Brief History of Time. In it, the author has (1) displayed some well-known theories of universe to stir our imagination to think about the answers to the (2) permanent questions about how the world comes into being. They are the (3) infinite tower of tortoises, the (4) superstring theory and Laplace' s (5) determinism. Although the first one is obviously ridiculous, the latter two are also (6) incomplete. They all lack (7) observational evidences. Einstein even once asked the question: "How much (8) choice did God have in constructing the universe?" because even his theory of universe is just a hypothesis.

On the one hand, the author has criticized the present scientists for paying too much attention to finding what the universe is and ignoring the reason why it is like that. On the other hand, he has also indicated that philosophers have not been able to keep up with the advance of scientific theories. They have reduced the scope of their inquiries so much that Wittgenstein has pointed out that the sole remaining task for philosophy is the analysis of language. This is a truly (9) comedown in philosophy. But this doesn't mean that the author (10) discounts our humans can't find the nature of the universe and truly know the mind of God.

Vocabulary

I. Choose the answer that best completes each sentence.

1. In _____ we're earning less than last year because of inflation.

A. blossom

B. effect

C. practice

D. between

2. Currently there is a _____ variety of software available and my first task will be to suggest a simple classification.

A. confused

B. obvious

C. bewildering

D. understandable

3. It's difficult to be _____ about the number of deaths caused by smoking.

A. vague

B. accurate

C. absolute

D. precise

4. The noise control law could _____ airport neighbors, who oppose growth because of the noise.

A. placate

B. comforted

C. anger

D. stimulate

5. Scientists _____ his method of predicting earthquakes.

A. discounting

B. discounted

C. has discounted

D. discount

6. All the illegal immigrants were _____ to a small island in the harbour.

A. confected

B. confided

C. confined

D. confederated

7. The brain is like a very powerful, very _____ computer.

A. complicated

B. simple

C. careful

D. trouble-free

8. Teaching eighth-grade English must be a big _____ for a man with two PhDs.

A. satisfaction

B. disappointing

C. comedown

D. success

9. An _____ will be held to discover why the school's educational record is so bad.

A. inquiry

B. suspicion

C. enquire

D. question

10. Darwin _____ the modern theory of evolution.

A. hypothesized

B. invented

C. created

D. postulated

II. Fill in the blanks with the words or phrases given below. Change the form where necessary.

rotationally finite fertile configurational confinement

preciseness count bewilder unify postulation determine observation self-consistency complication initially

1. Changes in society are happening so fast, and they sometimes seem bewildering.

2. Eggs are a symbol of fertility and people traditionally decorated eggs with paint then gave them as presents.

3. He had been confined to a wheelchair for some time.

4. A natural language contains a(n) infinite number of grammatical sentences.

5. It takes 243 Earth days for Venus to complete one rotation.

6. Not all the members of European Union support the idea to construct a unified EU import market.

7. Contrary to popular belief, there is a great deal of observational evidence for the existence of two types of black holes, those with masses of a typical star, and those with masses of a typical galaxy.

8. After the initial shock, people adjusted to the new circumstances.

9. Experts discounted the accuracy of the polls.

10. To begin with, it postulates that the hero of your story is in danger.

Translation

Put the following paragraph into English.

亚里士多德和牛顿都相信绝对时间。也就是说，他们相信人们可以毫不含糊地测量两个事件之间的时间间隔，只要用好的钟，不管谁去测量，这个时间都是一样的。时间相对于空间是完全分开并独立的。这就是大部分人当作常识的观点。然而，我们必须改变这种关于空间和时间的观念。虽然这种显而易见的常识可以很好地对付运动甚慢的诸如苹果、行星的问题，但在处理以光速或接近光速运动的物体时却根本无效。

参考译文：

Both Aristotle and Newton believed in absolute time. That is, they believed that one could unambiguously measure the interval of time between two events, and that this time would be the same whoever measured it, provided they used a good clock. Time was completely separate from and independent of space. This is what most people would take to be the commonsense view. However, we have had to change our ideas about space and time. Although our apparently commonsense notions work well when dealing with things like apples, or planets that travel comparatively slowly, they do n’t work at all for things moving at or near the speed of light.

II. Reading for Amusement

Prime time is that period between 6 and 10 p.m. during which most of the general public watches television. Commercials in prime time are the most expensive, approaching a million dollars per minute. Your real success in life will take a quantum leap when you stop watching other people making money in their professions performing in prime time, and start living your own dreams and goals in prime time.

Time is the ultimate equal opportunity employer. Time never stops to rest, never hesitates, never look forward or backward. Life's raw material spends itself in the now, this moment, which is why how you spend your time is far more important than all the material possessions you own or

positions you may obtain. Positions change, possessions come and go, you can earn more money. You can renew your supply of many things, but like good health, that other most precious resource, time spent is gone forever.

Each yesterday, and all of them together, are beyond your control. Literally all the money in the world can't undo or redo a single act you performed. You cannot erase a single word you said. You can't add an "I love you", or "I forgive you", not even a "thank you" you forgot to say. Each human being in every hemisphere and time zone has precisely 168 hours a week to spend. And some of the most precious hours occur in prime time.

Most of your daytime hours are spent helping other people solve their problems. The little time you have in the evenings and on weekends is all you have to spend on yourself, on your own dreams and goals, and personal development. Some thoughts to ponder:

? Have supper with your loved ones at least two or three times per week. It's the best time for casual conversation to listen to what those close to you feel is important in their lives. Mealtime is a time to dialogue.

? A television set is an appliance. It should be used, at most, for two hours a time. It should be off, unless specific programs of interest are selected. It should not be used as a baby sitter. For the most part, TV exposes us to negative role models.

? Instead of watching television why not read a good fiction or nonfiction book, write a letter, engage in a hobby or craft, call a friend or someone in need of encouragement on the phone, network on your computer, go out to an ethnic restaurant, a musical recital, a fitness class, or cultural event. Take an art or photography class.

Action Idea: If you and your family/friends watch TV, try not turning it for one week. When you do watch Tv, reduce by 50% the amount of time you spend watching it. Concentrate your evenings and free time engaged in real life experiences. You can touch, smell, feel and engage all your senses in. Instead of virtual reality, insist on the real life.

Vocabulary

appliance：器具，器械，装置

casual：随便的，非正式的；偶然的，碰巧的

commercial：(无线电或电视中的)广告节目

craft：手工；手工艺品

hemisphere：半球，地球的半球

ponder：考虑；深思熟虑

possession：财产，财物

quantum leap：重大突破；突增；剧增

virtual：虚的，虚拟的

III. Grammar

强调

强调(Emphasis)是一种加强语气的表达方式。在英语口语或书面语中，为了强调某个词、词组、句子或突出信息，通常使用各类强调句型或强调词汇。

一、句型强调

1．常用的结构为“It is／was+被强调成分+that(wh0，whom)…”

(1)It is the Internet that has incredible potential to expand students’ horizon in the modern world．(强调主语)

(2)It was the schoolmaster that／who walked by．(强调主语)

(3)It is incredible potential that the Internet has to expand students’horizon in the modern world．(强调宾语)

(4)It was Doctor James that／whom we invited to give US a lecture．(强调宾语)

(5)It was at an evening party that I first saw her．(强调状语)

(6)It is only when one is ill that one realizes the value of health．(强调状语从句)

2．“It is／was not until…that…”用来强调“not…until…”

(1)It was not until last year that we began to learn this subject．

(2)It was not until the l9th century that heat was considered a form of energy．

3．“what…is／was+被强调部分”用来强调句子的主语或宾语。

(1)What hurt me is her rude manners．

(2)The math course is what I like．

4．“特殊疑问词+is(was)+that…”用来强调特殊疑问句，表示“究竟在哪里，到底是谁”等。

(1)Where was it that you saw the man?

(2)What is it that you want me to say?

二、词汇强调

1．使用表示强调意义的词汇，如：alone，very, just，right，on earth，in hell，under the sun，in the world等。

(1)She is the very person l want to find．

(2)Where under the sun did you put the book?

(3)What in hell is she doing?

2．使用d0／did来加强语气。

(1)I do hope you will make a quick decision．

(2)He does know Beijing well．

3．在否定句中使用at all，in the least，by any means等短语来加强语气。

(1)The magazine is not in the least interesting．

(2)If it were not for the sun，we could not live at all．

Exercise

Translate the following sentences by using emphasis．

1．正是因为这个贫困的加勒比海国家遭遇了两百年来最严重的地震，世界各国纷纷伸出援手。(offer help)

2．正是今年4月至ll月中旬，美国约有4 700万人患甲型HINl流感。(be sickened with) 3．正是三鹿奶粉事件使中国政府修改了食品安全法，并承诺加大透明度。(pledge transparency)

4．正是由于中国众多影迷的热情，该片短短几天票房便超过人民币1亿元。(thanks to) 5．裁缝是正是按我自己的尺寸做了一套衣服。(to my own measure)

6．直到2009年中国汽车总销量才首次超过美国，成为世界第一。(take the top spot)

7．这部影片到底给中国那些面临拆迁的民众的教训是什么呢?(under the sun)

8．这两起劫持事件表明索马里海盗问题确实没有被解决。(Somali piracy)

9．定期健身确实帮助抵抗流感、降低患某些癌症和慢性病的风险并延缓衰老。(fight off) 10．尽管我们早就知道辐射会增加人体的患癌风险，但根本不清楚这些扫描的确切风险。(increases chance of)

参考译文：

1. It was because the biggest earthquake in two centuries hit this impoverished Caribbean nation that countries around the world scrambled to offer their help.

2. It was from April to mid-November that approximately 47 million Americans were sickened with swine flu.

3. It was the Sanlu milk scandal that prompted authorities to revise food safety laws and pledge more transparency.

4. It was thanks to the enthusiasm of huge number of Chinese movie fans that the box offices across the country have gone beyond 100 million yuan.

5. It was to my own measure that the tailor made a suit.

6. It was not until 2009 that automobile sales in China raced past the US market for the first time to take the top spot.

7. What lessons under the sun does the film hold for people in China facing eviction?

8. The double hijacking shows that Somali piracy does remain a problem.

9. Regular workouts do help fight off flu, reduce the risk of certain cancers and chronic diseases and slow the process of aging.

10. Though it has long been known that radiation increases a person’s chance of getting cancer, the exact risk of these scans wasn’t clear at all.

IV. Translation

习语翻译

习语是民族语言中的精华。它短小精悍、寓意深刻，具有浓郁的民族文化特色。英语习语可包括成语、谚语、俗语、俚语等，其结构既有短语，又有分句，还有句子。同时由于地理、历史、宗教信仰、生活习俗等方面的差异，英汉习语承载着不同的民族文化特色和文化信息，因此英汉习语翻译常会遇到许多困难。

总的说来，英语习语的译法大致可分为直译、直译加注、套译、意译、直译加意译、意译加注6种。

一、直译

直译不仅能再现原文的意义和语言形式，还能保持其生动形象的比喻和新颖独特的表达

手法，让读者体会原习语的风采，同时丰富汉语表达形式。像“条条大路通罗马”、“特洛伊木马”等就是通过直译进人汉语语言并成为汉语语言的一部分的。一般说来，英语习语如在形、义上与汉语习语全同或是基本相同的常可采用直译，原习语中的比喻或形象能为汉语读者所接受的有时也可以采用直译。例如：

1．to be armed to the teeth

武装到牙齿(该典故出自从前南美的北海岸的海盗，他们除了两手都持武器外，在牙齿问还要咬一把刀。)

2．Time is money．时间就是金钱。

3．to trim the sail to the wind看风使帆

二、直译加注

有些习语直译后，仍不能把原意清楚准确地表达出来，就可采用直译加注释法。例如：1．a bull in a china shop.公牛闯进瓷器店——肆意捣乱

2．to shed crocodile tears. 流鳄鱼眼泪——假慈悲

3．Fish begins to stink at the end．鱼要腐烂头先烂——上梁不正下梁歪。

三、套译

套译就是借用汉语成语来翻译。由于文化背景不同，原文的形象有时不符合中国习俗，如直译出来寓意就会颇为费解，或原文的形象引起另一种联想，从而影响到原文意思的准确传达，这时大多可以采用套译。英汉习语形异义似时可采用这种译法。例如：1．Better be the head of a dog than the tail of a lion．宁为鸡首，不为凤尾。

2．Some prefer turnips and others pears．萝卜白菜，各有所爱。

3．He cries wine and sells vinegar．挂羊头，卖狗肉。

四、意译

当直译原文结果会令人为费解或造成误解时，如使用套译的结果不理想，还可以采用意译。例如：

1．Look at the chaps in politics and business，whose whole lives were passed in skating on thin ice，and getting knighted for it．

试看那些政治上和商业上的家伙们，他们整个儿的生活都是在风险中度过的，可是都因此封了爵。(to skate on thin ice若直译为“如履薄冰”，则会产生谨慎从事的联想，有违原意。) 2．Mary and her mother are as like as two peas．

玛丽和她妈妈长得一模一样。(而不是“像两颗豌豆一样相似”)

英语习语中有些明喻或由于年代久远，或以讹传讹，或由于比喻与被比喻的相互关系甚为隐晦，单从字面上难以理解，这时就不必追求原文形式了，而要把原文所蕴含的深层意思译出来，便于读者直接了解原文的意义。例如：

1．She likes to rubber-neck．她爱问长问短。

2．start a hare话离本题

3．to bring down the house全场喝彩

4．plain sailing 一帆风顺

5．to show one’s clean heels 逃之夭夭

6．to go on a wild goose chase 枉费心机

五、直译加意译

这种译法既能保持原文的比喻形象，同时又能明白清楚地表达寓意。例如：

1．1augh off one’s head笑掉了牙

2．break the earth 破土动工

3．wash off one’s hands 洗手不干

4．There is no rose without a thorn．

玫瑰皆有刺，乐中必有苦。(比意译的“世上没有十全十美的幸福”简洁形象。)

5．Every flow has its ebb．潮有涨落日，人有盛衰时。

6．Every family is said to have at least one skeleton in the cupboard．俗话说．衣柜里面藏骷髅，见不得人的事儿家家有。

六、意译加注

有些英语习语意译成汉语时，有必要可提供相关的背景的知识，以帮助读者加深对原习语的理解。例如：

1．throw in the sponge认输，投降(注：若拳击运动员的副手把擦身用的海绵抛向空中，则表示这个运动员认输因而不进入下一轮比赛。)

2．pour oil on troubled waters平息风波，息事宁人(注：传说航海遇到风浪时，若把油倒进海里，可起到使海浪平息的作用。)

3．open sesame敲门砖，过难关的秘诀(注：《天方夜谭》中的《阿里巴巴与四十大盗》故事说：一个山洞内藏有无数的金银财宝，但洞门紧闭，必须用咒语“开门芝麻”才能打开。) 4．Good wine needs no bush．酒好客自来。(注：英国从前流行一种风俗，人们常在商店的门口外挂某种东西作为该店经营某种商品的标志，挂常春藤ivybush标志的常为酒店。) Exercise

Turn the following sentences into Chinese.

1. It is harder to change human nature than to change rivers and mountains.

2. The favors of Government are like the box of Pandora, with this important difference that they rarely leave hope at bottom.

3. Pay on the spot and borrow a lot; pay slow and you'll get no dough.

4. Hitler was once as proud as a peacock.

5. I had won $300 at poker that ordinarily would have burned a hole in my pocket, but I couldn't shake an overwhelming sadness.

参考译文：

1. 江山难改，本性难移。

2. 政府的恩惠如同潘多拉的盒子，后患无穷，主要不同之处是：盒底很少留有希望。

3. 好借好还，再借不难。

4. 希特勒曾是一个不可一世的家伙。

5. 我玩扑克游戏赢了三百元。通常，钱烧口袋漏，一有就不留。可我当时极为忧愁烦闷怎么也无法摆脱那种恶劣的心境。

Bonus

Below are some expressions about earth science.

earthquake zone：地震带

magnitude：(地震)震级

intensity：(地震)烈度

plate movement：板块运动

mineral resources：矿物资源

continental shelf：大陆架

continental drift theory：大陆漂移说

meteorological satellite：气象卫星

low-carbon lifestyle：低碳生活方式

solar film：太阳膜(防晒隔热膜)