英译汉段落翻译练习

Hollywood

Hollywood suggests glamour, a place where the young starstruck teenagers could, with a bit of luck, fulfill their dreams. Hollywood suggests luxurious houses with vast palm-fringed swimming pools, cocktail bars and furnishings fit for a millionaire. And the big movie stars were millionaires. Many spent their fortunes on yachts, Rolls Royces and diamonds. A few of them lost their glamour quite suddenly and were left with nothing but emptiness and colossal debts.

好莱坞充满魅力。在这里，那些梦想当明星的少男少女们，若是有点儿运气，可以实现他们的梦想。好莱坞使人联想到棕榈树环绕的大游泳池、鸡尾酒吧和室内陈设时候百万富翁居住的豪华住宅。而大碗明星都是百万富翁。许多电影明星花巨资购买游艇、劳斯莱斯豪华轿车和钻石饰品。但也有少数的电影明星很快失去了光彩，剩下的只有空虚感和一屁股债。

Western (美国西部片)

In those days Hollywood was like a magnet, drawing ambitious young men and women from all over the world. Most of them had only good looks to recommend them and had no acting experience —or ability— whatsoever. Occasionally they got jobs, if they were lucky enough to be noticed. Gary Cooper was one of the few who were noticed. He started as a stunt rider, and from there rose to be one of the great stars of the early Westerns.

那些日子里好莱坞像块磁铁，吸引着世界各地满怀抱负的青年男女。他们当中的大多数只有能让人看得见的漂亮的外表，并无任何表演经验或者才干。如果他们走运能被人们注意到，偶尔也能在电影里弄个角色演演。盖瑞古博就是那些被人注意到的为数不多的年轻人中的一位。他开始的时候是做马术替身，此后一跃成为出演早期美国西部片的著名影星之一。

America is the land of opportunities for women. Already they own about eighty-five percent of the wealth of the nation. Soon they will have it all. Divorce has become a lucrative process, simple to arrange and easy to forget; and ambitious females can repeat it as often as they please and parlay their winnings to astronomical figures. The husband’s death also brings satisfactory rewards and some ladies prefer to rely upon this method. They know that the waiting period will not be unduly protracted, for overwork and hypertension are bound to get the poor devil before long, and he will die at his desk with a bottle of Benzedrine in one hand and a packet of tranquillizers in the other.