Conversion(转换法)

Conversion（转换法）
Conversion of Word Classes（转换词类）
Translate the following and compare the parts of speech employed in English and Chinese:
1. 他请求领导分配他到基层去工作。

(5 verbs)
2. 你写信叫他派人想办法去了解全部情况。

(6 verbs)
3. 我去叫他派一个会计到这儿来帮助你算账吧。

(7 verbs)
Conversion from English Nouns and Adjectives into Chinese Verbs and Adverbs（英语名词、形容词转换为汉语动词、副词）
Examples:
1. All peace-loving people demand the complete prohibition and thorough destruction of nuclear
weapons.
一切爱好和平的人民都要求全面禁止核武器，彻底销毁核武器。

（cf. 核武器的全面的禁止和彻底的销毁）
2. Ford’s first pledge was, “Mr. President, you have my support and my loyalty.”
福特一开始就保证说，“总统先生，我支持你，并效忠于你。

”（cf. 你有我的支持和我的效忠）
3. Rockets have found application for the exploration of the universe.
火箭已经用来探索宇宙。

（cf. 已经发现宇宙探索的应用）
4.For 20 years we were passive witnesses to the deterioration of prices of our raw materials and an
excessive increase of the prices of manufactured goods.
过去二十年，我们坐视我们的原料价格下跌，而工业品价格却暴涨。

（cf. 消极目击者）
威胁，强迫实行不平等关系，赤裸裸武装进攻别国领土和肢解别国，征服殖民地民族，否认自决权和基本人权。

Drills
1. No violation of this principle can be tolerated.
2. I have no intention of wearying you with this matter.
3. Laser is one of the most sensational developments in recent years, because of its applicability to
many fields of science and its adaptability to practical uses.
4. Concern for the preservation of public property should not be confined to protecting it from thieves
and wreckers.
5. We are enemies of all aggressive wars.
6. The massacre of the Republicans, and the subsequent law of September against the press and the
right of association, were his work.
7. No wonder the sight of it should send the memories of quite a number of the older generation rushing
back to 36 years ago.
8. There must be a clear recognition of the principles of equality between states.
9. This discovery was the beginning of the science of aerostatics.
10. Such rocks are the most suitable underground-water reservoirs.
11. This shop offers a large choice of hats and shoes.
12. The president strongly advocated a sharp increase in the missile and space programs. (The Memoirs
of Richard Nixon)
13. It was only my capacity for hard work that saved me from early dismissal. (W. Gallacher: Revolt on
the Clyde)
14. The two leaders had a serious and frank exchange of views on Sino-U.S. relations and world affairs.
(The Sino-U.S. Joint Communiqué, Feb. 28, 1972)
15. The negotiations for a Law of the Sea treaty came to a virtual conclusion last week after six years of
deliberations.
NOTES
:
* verb + object (动宾结构)
* subject + verb ( + object) (主谓结构)
* structure denoting active sense (主动结构)
* structure denoting passive sense (被动结构)
Examples:
1. Thanks to her boy friend’s rescue, she could return home safely.
幸亏男朋友的救援，她才能安然回家。

She hurried to her boy friend’s rescue.
她赶快去救男朋友。

2. The American people demanded his release.
美国人民要求释放他。

He won praise for his release of the prisoners of war.
他因释放了战俘而获得称赞。

3. She doesn’t want his praise.
她不要他赞美。

She always sings his praises.
她老是夸耀他。

4. Nature is not over-merciful in its treatment of delinquents.
大自然对于罪人是不会过于心慈手软的。

Are you satisfied with your treatment?
你对你的待遇满意吗？
5. …and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
(Abraham Lincoln: The Gettysburg Address)
……使这个民有、民治、民享的政府永世长存。

The American government is a rule of the people, by the people, for the boss. (Austen O’Malley)
美国的政体是人民为着政党的领袖而统治人民的。

Drills
(1) Point out which of the words in italics has subjective function or objective function by marking S (主) or O (宾) respectively, and then translate the following:
1. My Recollections of Mr. Brown
2. Lincoln’s Assassination
3. His memory is very bad.
A monument is dedicated to his memory.
4. His drawings of children are exceptionally good.
His children’s drawings are very good.
5. The education of the young is seen to be of primary importance.
Young people’s higher education is now much extended in China.
6. He turned his trial into a mighty condemnation of fascism.
7. The people will rise up in their defense in the years to come.
8. The arrest of the leader is arousing the workers to widespread strikes.
9. This is not a criticism of any other country, neither the U.S.A. nor the U. S. S. R. (Anna Louis
Strong)
10. The paper said that Soviet agents had infiltrated the then Egyptian government and engineered
Sadat’s overthrow.
11. The achievement is the admiration of us all.
12. American public opinion was jolted at the thought of the Soviets in control of outer space. (The
Memoirs of Richard Nixon)
13. The President complained about his press reviews.
(2) How do you introduce in Chinese a person who is —
1. a good sailor
2. a slow walker
3. a heavy smoker
4. a big eater
5. a great believer in...
6. the greatest sufferer
7. the best singer
8. a good swimmer
9. a good loser
10. the worst dancer
11. an early riser
12. a hard worker
13. a fast runner
14. a slick talker
15. a willing worker
16. a duelist 17. a good observer
18. a great joker
19. a light sleeper
20. a good thief
21. a bad liar
22. a rapid writer
23. a good whistler
24. a bit of a fancier
25. a good looker
26. a master complicator
27. a loner
28. a clock-watcher
29. the best hater
30. a worrier
31. an idler or a loafer
32. a good worker
English for science and technology is characterized by, among other things, its nominalization (名词化结构). For example, people prefer to write “Rectification of this fault is achieved by insertion of a wedge” instead of “You can rectify this fault if you insert a wedge”. Let’s see more examples and the necessity of the conversion from English nominal style into Chinese verbal style in translation.
Conversion from English Adjectives into Chinese Verbs（英语形容词转换为汉语动词）
Examples:
1. Sugar and salt are both soluble in water.
糖和盐二者都溶于水。

2. In order to carry through its policies of economic development, peace is necessary for
China.
为了执行发展经济的政策，中国需要和平。

3. The Republicans are out, the Democrats in.
共和党下台，民主党上台。

4. The whole village was astir with the news.
消息传来，全村轰动。

5. The design calculations will serve as an illustrative application of the theory of
semiconductor devices.
这些设计计算可用来说明半导体器件理论的实际应用。

Drills
6. She is familiar with English.
7. I am out fifty dollars.
8. We seek a better understanding through multiplication of our economic, cultural, scientific,
technical, and human ties.
9. In China’s approach to re lations with other countries, we find a welcome emphasis on
principles of the equality of states and respect for the rights and views of small and middle powers.
10. These are the correct ideas characteristic of the advanced class.
Conversion from English Prepositions into Chinese Verbs（英语介词转换为汉语动词）
Examples:
1. The letter I is commonly used for current, E for electromotive force, R for resistance.
通常用字母I表示电流，E表示电动势，R表示电阻。

2. Capitalist countries as a rule built up their heavy industry with funds obtained from abroad,
whether by colonial plunder, or by exacting indemnities from vanquished nations, or else by foreign loans.
资本主义国家建立自己的重工业，通常是利用从外国获得的资金：要么依靠掠夺殖民地，要么依靠勒索战败国人民的赔款，否则依靠外债。

3. If a man couldn’t walk into a room and tell who was for him and who was against him,
then he wasn’t muc h of a politician. (David Halberstam: The Best and the Brightest)
要是一个人不能在一上任就看出谁支持他，谁反对他，那么他就不配搞政治。

Drills
4. In our view this meeting in Beijing contributes significantly towards that future.
5. Above all, China challenges all of us to be true to ourselves — to build our new societies,
not on alien forms borrowed indiscriminately, but on our own unique historical experiences and cultural identities.
6. She escorted the foreign guests round the sights of Guilin.
7. In his early days he abandoned medicine for literature.
8. China emerges stronger than ever, with more solid foundations against flood, drought and
famine. (Hewlett and Nowell Johnson: To China at Ninety)
Conversion from English Nouns into Chinese Adjectives（英语名词转换为汉语形容词）
English nouns derived from adjectives are often converted into Chinese adjectives.
Examples:
1. Independent thinking is an absolute necessity in study.
独立思考在学习中是绝对必要的。

（cf. 一个绝对的必需）
2. The lower stretches of rivers show considerable variety.
河流下游的情况是多种多样的。

3. I am a perfect stranger to physics.
我对物理可一窍不通。

4. Allow me, on behalf of my wife, the delegation that accompanies me and in my own name,
to sincerely thank you for this, and convey to you a message of friendship and fraternity of the entire Guyanese people.
对此，请允许我以我夫人、陪同我访问的代表团和我本人的名义，向你们表示真诚的谢意，并且向你们转达全体圭亚那人民的兄弟般友好的情谊。

Drills
5. I have full assurance of the reliability of the information.
6. The meeting was a great success.
7. Investigation assured us of the soundness of the plan.
8. I can attest to the absolute truth of his statement.
9. It is a certainty that China will become even stronger in the years to come.
10. Hence the advisability of trying again.
11. Newton proved mathematically that the path of a planet must be an ellipse.
Conversion from English Verbs into Chinese Nouns（英语动词转换为汉语名词）Sometimes it is difficult to translate English verbs. Conversion from verbs into nouns may be a way out.
Examples:
1. The Greek word “atom” means“cannot be cut”.
希腊语“原子”一词的意思是“不可分割”。

（cf. 意味着……）
2. Mercury weighs about thirteen times as much as water.
水银的比重约为水的十三倍。

（cf. 称起来为……）
3. Wrought-iron behaves differently from iron, which contains a lot of carbon.
熟铁的性能不同于含碳量多的生铁。

4. 10 000 feet was read from the altimeter.
高度表的读数（指数）是10 000英尺。

5. Often property damage and disrupted lives result.
结果往往是财产遭受损失，生活受到影响。

Drills
6. The earth on which we live is shaped like a ball.
7. The instrument is characterized by its compactness and portability.
8. The electric current is defined as a stream of electrons flowing through a conductor.
9. He was apprenticed to a blacksmith when he was only ten years old.
10. The situation cannot be otherwise because our friendship and cooperation are based on our
common sincere adherence to the five principles of peaceful co-existence.
Conversion from English Adverbs into Chinese Nouns（英语副词转换为汉语名词）Examples:
1. The blueprint must be dimensionally and proportionally correct.
蓝图的尺寸和比例必须正确。

（cf. 在尺寸上和比例上必须正确）
2. There seem to be no other competitive techniques which can measure range as well or as
rapidly as a laser can.
就测距的精度和速度而论，似乎还没有其他技术可与激光相比。

3. Certainly people in enterprises must be mathematically informed if they are to make wise
decision.
当然，企业管理人员要想作出明智的决策，就必须懂得数学。

Drills
4. Sodium is very active chemically.
5. The device is shown schematically in Fig. 8.
6. It was officially announced that the President would visit China in May.
7. Internally the earth consists of two parts, a core and a mantle.
Conversion of Sentence Members（转换句子成分）
Examples & Drills 4.2 Guided Translation
(1) Objects converted into Subjects（宾语转作主语）
1. The earth has the shape of a spheroid.
地球的形状是椭圆形的。

2. The road has an ascent of five degrees.
这条路的坡度为五度。

3. The engine has given a consistently good performance.
4. Integrated circuits offer advantages other than mere reduction in size.
5. Most earthquakes have a focus in the depths of 5 to 50 km, but some have been recorded
at depths up to 720 km.
6. This device exhibits high input impedance.
(2) Prepositional Objects converted into Subjects（介词宾语转作主语）
1. He is strong of will.
他的意志很坚强。

2. With the introduction of the new method, the products decreased in cost.
引进了新方法，产品的成本降低了。

3. We found a good teacher in Mr. Brown.
4. When water freezes, it becomes larger in volume instead of smaller.
5. It is obvious that various substances differ widely in their magnetic characteristics.
(3) Predicatives converted into Subjects（表语转作主语）
1. Matter is anything that occupies space.
凡占有空间的都是物质。

2. The rotor is a well-designed structure.
3. Rubber is a better dielectric but a poorer insulator than air.
(4) Subjects converted into Attributes（主语转作定语）
1. Various substances differ widely in their magnetic characteristics.
各种材料的磁特性有很大的不同。

2. The development of scientific research in China is characterized by the integration of
theory with practice.
3. Warm-blooded animals have a constant body temperature.
(5) Subjects converted into Objects（主语转作宾语）
1. Hydrogen is found in many compounds.
许多化合物中都有氢。

2. As the match burns, heat and light are given off.
火柴燃烧时就发出热和光。

3. There is a limit to the acceleration a human being can take without danger to health.
4. All sorts of useful things can be produced from coal and oil.
5. An idea came to him.
6. The poor were burdened with heavy taxes.
(6) Attributes converted into Predicates（定语转作谓语）
The English structure “Attributes + Noun” is often converted in to the Chinese structure “Subject + Predicate” so as to make the Chinese version concise and idiomatic. This is one of the important techniques particularly true of the cases where an English noun is modified by many attributes.
1. Its limited thickness and youthful age are other discoveries.
它厚度有限，年代短，这是另外两个发现。

2. Problems arise because too much water or too little water occurs at a certain place at a
certain time, and these problems are increasing in number and magnitude each year.
由于在一定地区和一定时间内出现水量过多或水量过少的现象，水的种种问题就产生了，而这些问题还逐年增多，逐年严重。

3. Many factors affect equipment reliability.
4. An image is always the same distance behind a flat mirror as the object is in front; it is
also of equal size.
5. There is a large amount of energy wasted due to friction.
6. The water rushing down the pipe and hitting the blades sets the wheel turning.
(7) Adverbials converted into Complements in Chinese（状语转作补语）
1. The attractive force between the molecules is negligibly small.
分子间的吸引力小得可以忽略不计（或：是微乎极微的）。

2. Nylon is far stronger than rayon.
3. The number of molecules in any object we can see is unimaginably large.
(8) Objects converted into Predicates（宾语转作谓语）
1. Physical changes do not result in formation of new substances, nor do they involve a
change in composition.
物理变化不生成新的物质，也不改变物质的成分。

2. The following provides a brief account of how the human body is built.
3. Explosions on the sun result in a great increase in ultraviolet radiation.
Specimen Reading for Comments译文赏析
How to Grow Old
(Excerpts)
Bertrand Russell
The best way to overcome the fear of death —so at least it seems to me —is to make your interests gradually wider and more impersonal, until bit by bit the walls of the ego recede, and your life becomes increasingly merged in the universal life. An individual human existence should be like a river — small at first, narrowly contained within its banks and rushing passionately past boulders and over waterfalls. Gradually the river grows wider, the banks recede, the waters flow more quietly, and in the end, without any visible break, they become merged in the sea, and painlessly lose their individual being. The man who, in old age, can see his life in this way, will
not suffer from the fear of death, since the things he cares for will continue. (From Portraits from Memory and Other Essays)
怎样才能活得老
（节录）
罗素
克服怕死念头的最好办法，至少在我看来，就是逐步扩大你的兴趣，并使其更加脱离个人所关心的事情，直到禁锢自我的壁垒逐渐步步隐退，直到你的生命越来越同大千世界的生命融合在一起。

个人的存在应当像一条河——起初狭小，局限在自己的河岸之间，然后激越地流过巨砾，冲下悬崖。

河逐渐越流越宽广，河岸越来越后退，水流也越来越平静，最后和大海融为一体，分不出任何界线，毫无痛苦地失去了自我的存在。

如果一个老年人能以这样的态度来看待生命，他就不会怕死，因为他所关心的一切将会继续下去。

（译自《记忆中的肖像及其它》）
Conversion of Impersonal Subjects（转换非人称主语）
Convert Impersonal Subjects into Personal or Other Subjects（把非人称主语转换为人称主语或其他主语）
Examples:
1. Words fail me! (= I can’t describe or answer that, esp. because of surprise or shock, LDCE
1998:1774)
我（惊得/吓得）就是说不出话来！
2. Its implications will doubtless escape you. (W. Maugham: Lucidity, Simplicity, Euphony)
你很可能看不出它的具体含义。

3. Smiles decked the face of Mrs. Bennet. (J. Austen)
贝内特夫人满脸笑容。

4. No complaints passed her lips. (A. S. Hornby)
她从不抱怨。

5. To make her his queen never entered his mind. (Andersen’s Fairy Tales: The Little
Mermaid)
他从来也没有想到要把她娶为皇后。

6. Not a sound reached our ears. (A. S. Hornby)
我们没有听到任何声音。

7. A must for all visitors to Detroit, “Motor City, USA”, is a visit to an automobile factory.
(China • USA • Table Tennis)
凡是到底特律来的客人，一定会去参观这个“美国汽车城”的汽车工厂。

8. When Della reached home her excitement gave way a little to prudence and reason. (O.
Henry: The Gifts)
德拉到家以后，（她）开始有点由兴奋转向谨慎和理智了。

9. Friday started with a morning visit to the modern campus of the 22 000-student University
of Michigan in nearby Ann Arbor, where the Chinese table tennis team joined students in the cafeteria line for lunch and later played an exhibition match. (China •USA •Table Tennis)
星期五那天，中国乒乓球队一早就到安亚伯附近去参观拥有两万两千名学生的密执安大学现代校园。

他们和该校学生在校内自助餐厅一起排队取午餐，然后举行了一场表演赛。

Drills
10. From the moment we stepped into the People’s Republic of China, care and kindness
surrounded us on every side. (Hewlett and Newell Johnson: To China at Ninety)
11. My mind misgave me that my neglect had been inexcusable.
12. Necessity drives men and animals to go to the river or a pond to drink water. (I. H. Qureshi:
A Short History of Pakistan)
13. Jesse went out. The whole world became golden for him. (Albert Maltz: The Happiest Man
on Earth)
14. Another major worry for the navy is the state of readiness.
15. Alarm began to take entire possession of him. (Vanity Fair)
16. A look of panic and horror registered on her young face. (Nancy J. Rigg)
17. The shock registered on Earl’s face as the seawater grabbed him. (Nancy J. Rig g)
18. My hurts are many and deep, even now, triggered again by the sound of new rainfall.
(Nancy J. Rigg)
19. Something inside me seemed to stop momentarily. (Howard Hyman: Mao Tsetung, the
Guiding Force)
20. Though her sympathy was deep, words stopped on her lips.
21. The next point in Mr. Muller’s statement in any case leaves us with no delusion whatev er.
22. A great elation overcame them.
Convert Impersonal Subjects and Split English Simple Sentences into Chinese Complex Sentences（转换非人称主语，把英语的简单句拆成汉语的复合句）Examples:
1. The sight of a tailor-shop gave me a sharp longing to shed my rags, and to clothe myself
decently once more. (Mark Twain: The Million-Pound Note)
我一看到一家服装店，心里就起了一阵强烈的愿望，很想扔掉这身褴褛的衣服，重新穿得像个样子。

2. I am very sorry that the pressure of other occupations has prevented me from sending an
earlier reply to your letter. (L. Huxley: Life and Letters of Thomas Henry Huxley)
（我因为）近来忙于各种事务，未能早些复信，深感抱歉。

3. His presence would have added only another and needless agony to the last moment of the
dying man. (Nathaniel Hawthorne)
他若在场，也只是给垂死的人在临终时刻多添一阵不必要的痛苦。

4. A lack of information and formal educational training had left many persons without any
generalized standards of judgment applicable to this novel situation. (Hadley Cantrell: The Invasion from Mars)
许多人由于消息不灵通，或者由于没有受过正规的教育训练，因此不能用一般的判断标准去判断这种新奇的现象。

5. My total ignorance of the connection must plead my apology. (J. Austen)
恕我孤陋寡闻，对此关系一无所知。

6. The combination of this Oriental city’s geography and the absence of import taxes has long
made Hong Kong the ideal storehouse for transit goods to and from Asia.
由于香港地理位置优越，加上免征各种进口税，这个东方城市长期以来成了各种进出亚洲货物的理想中转储运基地。

Drills
Convert the impersonal subjects and split the sentences into Chinese complex sentences as hinted in the brackets:
1. The thought of him always fills me with strength. (adverbial clause of time)
2. Their strength lay only in the lack of consciousness on the part of the people. (adverbial
clause of result)
3. Age doesn’t diminish his drive. (adverbial clause of cause)
4. Urgent business prevented me from calling on you. (adverbial clause of cause)
5. The African people’s dete rmination for peace and national sovereignty made it impossible
for them to regard any superpower as their friend. (adverbial clause of cause)
6. Lyndon Johnson’s final acts as President took the Americans to the very edge of the moon.
(David Halberstam: The Best and the Brightest) (adverbial clause of time)
7. He was hunted by regional prejudice and even the attainment of the Presidency did not
temper his feelings. (David Halberstam: The Best and the Brightest) (adverbial clause of time)
8. Accurate, legible notes are invaluable aids to the student who is enrolled in a lecture course.
(Guide for Study in the U.S.) (adverbial clause of condition)
9. The short growing season prevented him from seeing more than a single generation of new
plants for his year’s work. (adverbial clause of cause)
10. Landing of a few armoured columns in the occupied areas would bring mass uprisings.
(The Winds of War) (adverbial clause of condition)
Convert Impersonal Subjects into Chinese Adverbials or Prepositional Phrases （把非人称主语转换成汉语的状语或介词短语）
Examples:
1. March 1940 found me working in a small construction firm. (J. Austen)
1940年3月，我在一家小型建筑公司工作。

2. The forty years, 1840—1880,brought almost ten million migrants to America. (P.
Bromhead: Life in Modern America)
从1840年至1880年这四十年中，近一千万移民移居美国。

3. No city on American soil had known such destruction. (Herman Wouk)
在美国国土上，没有一座城市曾经遭受过如此严重的破坏。

4. The year 1959 saw the first appearance of a real flying ship in the world.
1959年，世界上首次出现了一艘真正会飞的船。

5. My first experience of bottle-feeding a lamb came towards the end of the season. (Ann
Blackmore)
我第一次用奶瓶喂羊羔，是在产羔季节临近结束的时候。

6. My conscience told me that I deserved no extraordinary politeness. (J.Austen)
凭良心讲，你待我礼貌有加，我却受之有愧。

Drills
7. Dusk found him crying in the street.
8. A day’s exploration convinced him that this was not the spot.
9. The long negotiations produced shifting and sometimes curious alignments between
nations.
10. My first day in London started with a morning visit to the British Museum.
11. August 8 dawned bright and clear.
12. The Western Desert was no place for men without the protection of amour and guns.
13. A wet day brings out colorful light mackintoshes.
14. Dawn revealed the awful slaughter around the American positions.
15. The students’ movement saw the beginning of the revolution.
16. Investigation led us to the foregoing conclusion.
17. The news that greeted us in Canton, and our visits later to various places turned anxiety
into joy. (Hewlett and Newell Johnson: To China at Ninety)
Convert Impersonal Subjects and Split English Sentences, Simple or Complex, into Chinese Compound or Run-on Sentences（转换非人称主语，把英语的简单句或复合句拆成汉语的并列分句或流水句）
Examples:
1. My mind goes reeling down dark corridors teeming with agonizing flashbacks, and a chill
from within fills me with dread. (Nancy Rigg)
我思绪万千，恍恍惚惚进入了一条条幽暗的通道，回忆起许许多多的往事。

心里一阵凄凉，不禁感到毛骨悚然。

2. Jane’s kindly and gentle nature could not but revolt at her sister’s callous behavior. (Vanity
Fair)
珍妮心地善良，性情温和，对她妹妹这种没有心肝的行为实在看不顺眼。

3. The happiness —the superior advantages of the young women round about her, gave
Rebecca inexpressible pangs of envy. (Vanity Fair)
丽贝卡看见她周围的小姐那么福气，享受种种权利，却有说不出的眼红。

4. The satisfaction of Miss Bennet’s mind gave such a glow of sweet animation to her face. (J.
Austen)
贝内特小姐心满意足，不禁桃腮泛晕，流露出一丝激动的神情来。

5. The thick carpet killed the sound of my footsteps. (Joseph: English 3200)
我走在厚厚的地毯上，一点脚步声也没有。

6. Its gleaming sands and backdrop of pinewoods and distant hills lend it a pleasant and
restful atmosphere.
这儿沙滩闪烁，松林掩映，远山连绵，自有一种心旷神怡的气氛。

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7. My good fortune has sent yo u to me, and we will never part. (Andersen’s Fairy Tales: The
Little Mermaid)
8. His winnings, a total of $ 4 404, put him in 160th place on the money list. (Reader’s
Digest)
9. Her doubts and terrors reached their paroxysm. (Vanity Fair)
10. His weariness and the increasing heat determined him to sit down in the first convenient
shade. (Nathaniel Hawthorne: David Swan)
11. A few steps across the lawn brought me to a large, splendid hotel.
12. My hunger and the shadows together tell me that the sun has done much travel since I fell
asleep.
13. The characteristics of his family claim some attention from all who would understand
Napoleon and the influence which he was to wield over modern Europe. (H. Rose: The Life of Napoleon)
Convert Impersonal Subjects int o Chinese “Extra-p osition Elements”（把非人称主语转换成汉语的外位成分，汉语的主语用“这”来代称这个外位成分）Examples:
1. The abuse of basic human rights in their own country in violation of the agreement
reached at Helsinki has earned them the condemnation of freedom-loving people everywhere.
他们违反在赫尔辛基达成的协议，在国内侵犯基本人权，这已受到各地热爱自由的人们的谴责。

2. The kaleidoscope of shifting interests of the nations during the negotiation made it
impossible to sort out the “winners” and “l osers”.
在谈判期间，各国的利益变化不定，好像万花筒似的，这就使人难以分辨出究竟谁是“胜者”，谁是“输家”。

3. My two great isolating experiences have given me an almost mystical sense of identity
with all suffering humanity.
我有过两次不同场合的重要经历，这使我产生了一种几乎带有神秘色彩的同情心而站在一切受苦人一边。

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4. Your coming relieves me of the bother of writing a long letter.
5. His knowledge of applied science will stand him in good stead.
6. The persistent and increasing military involvement of the Soviet Union and Cuba in Africa
could deny this vision.
7. The traditional pattern of classroom experience at the college level brings the professor
and a group of 20 to 30 students together for a 45-to-50-minute class session two or three times a week. (Guide for Study in the U.S.)
NOTES
Types of Impersonal Subjects
Impersonal subjects are usually abstract or “inanimate” nouns or nominal phrases, which may indicate:
* Mental perception心理感觉：anger, impudence,excitement, worry,shock, alarm, etc.
* Physical activities, actions, expressions, etc.活动、动作、表情等：smile, application, look,
sight, presence, act, encouragement, involvement, movement, investigation, etc.
* Event事件：business, marriage, etc.
* Organs or parts of the human body人体器官、部位：heart, eyes, face, etc.
* Time时间：day, morning, year, etc.
* Place地点：city, desert, etc.
* Cause原因：see the examples in Section 4.3.2
* Condition条件：see the examples in Section 4.3.2
* Concession让步：see the examples in Section 4.3.2
* Result结果：see the examples in Section 4.3.2
* Purpose目的：see the examples in Section 4.3.2
Conversion of Perspectives（转换视角）
Translation is based on the assumption that the content of human thinking is basically the same, but the cognitive angles or thinking modes may not necessarily be the same. At times people from different cultures approach the same thing from different perspectives. These differences are reflected in their respective languages and often pose barriers for intercultural communication. To ensure smooth communication between cultures, it is necessary to shift the perspectives in translation.
Conversion of perspectives, in its broad sense, refers to any transfer between languages, and in its narrow sense, the conveyance of information from perspectives different from or even opposite to those of the source language.
Examples:
1. These are our tasks for the period ahead.
这些是我们今后的任务。

(past-orientation vs. future-orientation)
2. She set a good table.
她摆了一桌丰盛的菜肴。

(the container vs. the things contained)
3. He beat her black and blue.
他把她打得青一块，紫一块。

(different colors)
4. People began to leave the hall by ones and twos.
人们开始三三两两地离开大厅。

(different numbers)
5. Students get a discount of 20% on air fares.
学生买机票可打八折。

(different angles)
6. Hardbacks are usually more expensive than paperbacks.
精装书通常比简装书贵。

(material vs. packing)
7. I can read her thoughts.
我能看出她的心思。

(different mental activities)
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8. an emergency exit
9. greenhouse
10. black tea
11. a day student
12. contact lenses
13. broad jump
14. stopwatch 20. burn the midnight oil
21. think aloud
22. fishwife
23. green-eyed monster
24. skin-deep
25. wet paint
26. a self-taught musician
15. I met her three years back.
16. six of one and half a dozen of the other
17. His face was black with rage.
18. A thousand thanks for your help.
19. We are getting ahead of the story. Specimen Reading for Comments译文赏析。