英语笔译综合能力三级整理

UNIT I

一个伟人的优雅退役，以他独有的方式

Pete Sampras will leave the game as he played it, a modest, easy, all-time great. You see all kinds of retirements in sports, and most of them are emotionally awkward and difficult to watch. There is the weeping news conference. There’s the endless, ceremonial you’ll-miss-me tour. There’s the stutter-step retirement, in which the athlete retires only to unretired when he craves attention or need the money. Almost no one retires well.

皮特.桑普拉斯用他独有的方式结束了他辉煌的网坛生涯，谦逊、随性、杰出。体坛中你会看到各种各样的退役，它们中的大多数令人在情感上难以接受甚至不忍观看。退役时，会有煽情的记者招待会；还有无止尽的纪念性巡游；更有为了复出而退役的退役，在这样的退役里，当他们再一次渴望别人的注意或者需要用钱的时候随时都会复出。几乎没有谁能够完美的离开。

But Sampras is retiring in graceful self-control. He plans to announce his retirement in a ceremony at the U.S. Open tonight, and a lot of people wonder why Sampras won’t make more of the event, allow himself to be more elaborately feted. The simple answer is that Sampras doesn’t need it. He doesn’t need a last jolt of adrenaline or dose of adulation. He doesn’t need a prolonged ego bath. He doesn’t need more money, or trophies. He doesn’t need any of the things that other athletes find it so hard to walk away from. He’s content.

然而三普拉斯的退隐却优雅而富有自制力。他计划在今晚的美国公开赛典礼上宣布这一消息。很多人不解，为什么桑普拉斯不为此多做些噱头，那么他便可以得到大家精心准备的告别仪式。答案很简单，因为桑普拉斯不需要。他不需要最后一次的心跳加速，不需要更多的阿谀奉承；他不需要让自己继续沉浸在胜利的自负感中；他也不需要更多钱或者战利品。这些种种令其他选手无法割舍的东西他都不需要。他很满足。

That contentment is a kind achievement in its own right. Sampras has made himself invisible since his victory in last year’s U.S. Open. His 14th major championship now stands as the last match of his career, the perfect finish.

那种满足感本身就是一种成就。桑普拉斯自去年的美国公开赛夺冠之后就销声匿迹了。如今是他第十四次参加重要的职业锦标赛，这将成为他的最后一战，也将为他画上圆满的句号。

He’s never played in another tournament. He’s declined all interviews. He’s simply stayed at home with his wife and his new baby. Typically, he’s chosen the anticlimactic first night of this

year’s tournament, rather than the last, to make his announcement. The session isn’t even sold out.

他从未参加过任何一场其他联赛，拒绝一切采访。他只是简单的呆在家里陪着妻子和刚刚出世的宝宝。特别的是，他如此突兀的选择了今年联赛的首场比赛宣布退役，而不是最后一场。要知道，这个赛季的套票甚至还没有卖完。

Some may find this disappointing, but I find it to be utterly true to who Sampras is. He never trusted fame, and always boxed up and guarded his ego.

有些人也许会因此而感到失望，然而我却觉得这正是最符合桑普拉斯性格的方式。他从不沽名钓誉，而是固守着自我，小心的保护自己的内心。

Here are two true stories about Sampras, and how he consistently handled his success from the time he won his first U.S. Open at 19, to his last at 32. In 1996, Sampras was travelling cross-country in first class on a commercial jet, and sat next to Barry Bonds. Bonds didn’t recognize him, and Sampras shyly, didn’t introduce himself. Behind Sampras sat a friend of Bonds, who wanted to sit with the ballplayer. Bonds pointed at Sampras. “If this kid gets [up], you can move up here,” Bonds said, Sampras shrugged and moved, without a word.

这里有两则关于桑普拉斯的逸事，我们可以看到自他19岁第一次赢得美国公开赛到32岁的最后一次，一直以来他是如何看待自己的胜利的。1996年，桑普拉斯搭乘头等舱巡游全国时，坐在了贝瑞邦兹的旁边。那时，邦兹并不认识他，而害羞的桑普拉斯也没有向贝瑞介绍自己。在桑普拉斯身后坐着以为邦兹的朋友，他想和棒球选手邦兹坐在一起。邦兹指了指桑普拉斯说，“如果这个小鬼愿意的话，你就坐过来好了。”桑普拉斯耸了耸肩，什么也没说就换了座位。

At around the same time, he tried go to dinner at a Florida steakhouse, only to find that the line for a table went out the door. Sampras, for perhaps the only time in his life, tried to use his influence. He walked up to the hostess and asked for a table. The hostess didn’t know who he was. Sampras went to the back of the line, embarrassed, and never did it again.

大约在同一时期，他想去一家佛罗里达的牛排店就餐，可是发现等位的长队已经一直排到了门外。桑普拉斯也许是有生以来唯一的一次企图试试自己的影响力。他走到店主身边，要求一个桌位。结果那位店主并不认识他。桑普拉斯只好无比尴尬地回到了队尾，并且再也没有这么做过。

Sampras has been the same reserved and methodical player throughout his career, no matter how many tournaments he won or records he set. Which achievement will stand longest? His record 14 Grand Slam titles? His seven Wimbledon titles? His six straight year as the year-end No.1 player in the world? It’s the latter that Sampras might be proudest of, because it bespeaks an entire philosophy of the game, tennis as ethic. He wasn’t just great, he was dependably great. He never tanked, never ducked a commitment and struck every ball with serious intent. His work habits were equal to his talent.

无论他赢得了多少场比赛，创造了多少记录，桑普拉斯在他的职业生涯中始终是低调而有条不紊的。哪一种成就感可以维持的更久？是他十四次大满贯的头衔么？还是他七次赢得温布尔登更开赛？亦或是连续六年世界排行第一？也许后者会令桑普拉斯感到骄傲，因为它体现了他的网球哲