中西部翻译大赛首届初赛笔译试题及答案

中西部翻译大赛四川赛区首届初赛笔译试题
I. Complete the following sentences using the correct form of one the idioms in the column. （2×15=30’）
1. 每当我们面临困难的时候，他总是自告奋勇承担风险。

Whenever we are faced with difficulties, he is always the one who offers to _______.
2. 明天我要在太岁头上动动土，我要当面质问我的上司为什么不给我增加薪水。

I’m going to ___________ tomorrow, and ask him plainly why he hasn’t increased my salary.
3. 有一家航空公司降低票价，其它航空公司通常很快也会步其后尘。

When one airline reduces its ticket prices, the rest usually soon _______
4. 当他的生意开始亏损，他就决定溜掉，而不是面对破产。

When his business started to fail, he decided to __________, rather than face financial ruin.
5. 你不化妆样子最美，可是你却浓妆艳抹，实在多此一举。

You look at your best without make-up, but you __________ by wearing a lot of cosmetics.
6. 失业是我们的主要问题之一，我们需要一个能大胆抓起这个棘手问题的政府。

Unemployment is one of
our main problems; we need a government that will __________.
7. 你说她怕劳动，确实说到点子上。

You really ________ when you said she was work-shy.
8. 我挣的钱仅够勉强糊口。

I earn just enough to __________.
9. 她只不过迟到了三分钟，你没必要因此而大做文章。

She was only three minutes late. You don’t need to _________.
10. 你若不勤奋工作，你将一事无成。

You will accomplish nothing unless you _________________.
11. 患难可以显示人的本质，区分好人和坏人。

Adversity shows what men really are and ______________________.
12. 他们只能在路边等着，希望能搭上便车。

All they could do was to wait at the roadside hoping to _______.
13. 对海蒂这样的女孩子你得冷静一些，不能轻易表露感情。

You have to play it cool with a girl like Heidi; you mustn’t ________________.
14. 整个星期以来天气一直是晴朗的，但愿老交这种好运，让好天气持续到周末。

It’s been fine all week and, __________, it’ll stay fine for the weekend.
15. 主人没什么说的，所以谈话很难继续下去。

My host had very little to talk about, and it was difficult to _______________.
II. This part consists of ten English sentences, each followed by two different versions marked A and B.
Choose the one that is the closest equivalent of the original in terms of meaning and expressiveness. （2.5×10=25’）
16.He is no doubt a traveler who stopped to spend the night in their city when the great cataclysm occurred, and
who is now stranded. A few were in the same straits after disaster struck.
（A）他无疑是位旅人，灾难发生的那天晚上刚好在城里歇脚，却被困在了这里。

灾难发生以后，一部分人困在了同一个海峡。

（B）他无疑是位旅人，灾难发生的那天晚上刚好在城里歇脚，却被困在了这里。

灾难发生后，有些人处于和他一样的困境之中。

17.The orange ball of the sun hesitated tremulously on the edge of the sea and then gracefully sank, leaving its ray
for a brief moment to light up the western horizon and to touch the soft curves of the sea with burnished silver. （A）太阳好似一个橙色的圆球，颤抖着在大海的边缘上踌躇了一会儿，便悄然隐去，落日的余晖照亮了西方的地平线，落日的余晖也轻触着海水的柔波。

（B）太阳好似一个橙色的圆球，颤抖着在大海的边缘上踌躇了一会儿，便悄然隐去，暂留下一抹微光照亮了西方的地平线，并在海面柔和的轻波上镀了一层亮闪闪的银色。

18.In the early darkness of a winter day, a traveler stood at the windswept crossing of two paths, neither very
promising, mere cattle trails among the reeds, and looked for some sign of the way he should take.
（A）一个冬日的黄昏，暮色刚刚降临，有个过路人站在当风的十字路口。

两条路都人迹罕至，只是芦苇丛中有一些牛群走过的痕迹。

他用目光四下搜寻着，希望能找到一些标记，告诉他该走哪条路。

（B）在一个冬日的黄昏，暮色刚刚降临，有个过路人站在当风的十字路口，寻找着道路的标记，而两条路似乎都走不通，只在芦苇荡里有些牛群走过的痕迹。

19.I suspected she might be right and I wrong; but I would not ponder the matter deeply: like Felix, I put it off to a
more convenient season.
(A)我想，也许她是对的，我错了。

可是我不愿意深入思考这个问题，只好把它留到以后，有机会时我会
仔细想想的。

(B)我怀疑她是对的，而我错了，但是我不想把这问题深究下去，也像费力克斯一样，我把它暂且搁下，
以后再说。

（脚注-----费力克斯：《圣经》中一个遇事拖延的法官。

）
20.I cannot recall his ever uttering a word that was purely matter-of-fact, and not deeply drawn from his inner
most.
（A）照我所晓得的，他从没有说过一句完全乏味的话；每一句话都是从心坎里掏出来的。

(B) 我记不得他曾说过一句纯粹乏味的话，而不是他从心坎中发出来的。

21.But a farmer can need none of my help, and is therefore in no sense as much above my notice as in every other
he is below it.
(A)不过，一个庄稼汉不可能需要我的帮助，所以在这个意义上说，他高于我注意的范围，正如在所有其
它各个意义上，他低于我注意的范围一样。

(B)不过，一个庄稼汉不可能需要我的帮助，所以在这个意义上说，他用不着我关心，正如在所有其它各
个意义上，他不值得我关心。

22.It will strengthen you to know that your distinguished career is so widely respected and appreciated.
A．当您认识到您的杰出事业是如此广泛地受到人们的尊敬和赞赏时，您就会为自己增添力量。

B．这样会使您更加认识到，您的杰出事业是如此广泛地受到人们的尊敬和赞赏。

23.There was an iciness, a sinking, a sickening of the heart—an unredeemed dreariness of thought which no
goading of the imagination could torture into aught of the sublime.
A.我心头有一种冰冷、低沉、要呕的感觉——一种不可填补的思想上的阴郁，任何想象的刺激都不能将它
曲解成为崇高的事物。

B.我感到一阵冰凉、一阵虚脱、一阵心悸、一阵无法摆脱的凄怆、一阵任何想象力都无法将其理想化的悲
凉。

24.But that was the summer and ten years ago. Now the winter had come again. The ducks were supplemented by
seagulls fleeting from the coast. The soft green of the trees had changed to wiry branches that snapped in your face as you pushed through them.
A. 可是，这是那夏天的事，十年以前的夏天。

现在冬天又来临了。

鸭群中出现许多从海岸飞来的海鸥。

满
目嫩绿的树已变成干枯的枝条。

当你将它们拨开从中穿过时，它们会刮着你的脸，噼啪地响。

B. 这一切都是夏日的往事了，过去十年了，现在又是冬天了。

河里，有鸭子飞来的海鸥做伴。

岸上，树木
已经叶落枝枯，穿行在树丛中，拨开刮在身上的枯枝，听到的是枯枝噼噼啪啪的折断声。

25. Next the bee turned its attention to the bent left wing, rapidly smoothing the wing by running its legs down the
length. After each straightening session, the bee buzzed its wings as if to test the lift. This hopeless cripple thought it could still fly!
A. 随后，蜜蜂将注意力集中到折弯了的左边翅膀上，用腿上上下下地抚摩，很快就把翅膀抚平了。

抚摩一
会儿，它就嗡嗡地拍打一次翅膀，好像在检测翅膀的升力。

好个没指望的残废，竟然还想飞呢！
B. 随后，蜜蜂将注意力转向那折弯了的左翅，用腿反复抚抹整个翅膀，迅速地平整了翅膀。

每整理一段时
间后，蜜蜂就嗡嗡地扑打翅膀，好似在测试升力。

这只毫无希望的残废竟以为它还能飞！
III. This part consists of ten Chinese sentences, each followed by two different versions marked A and B.
Choose the one that is the closest equivalent of the original in terms of meaning and expressiveness.
（2.5×10=25’）
26. 阿Q又很自尊，所有未庄的居民，他全不放在眼里。

A. Ah Q, again, had a very high opinion of himself. All the inhabitants of Weizhuang are not in his eyes.
B. Ah Q, again, had a very high opinion of himself. He looked down on all the inhabitants of Weizhuang.
27. 她咬着嘴唇望着跳动的火苗盘算着下一步该怎么办。

A. She, wondering what to do next, bit her lips, gazing at the leaping tongues of flame.
B. Gazing at the leaping tongues of flame, she was wondering what to do next.
28. 谁知返回来一看，满山都是松柏树，数也数不清。

A. When he returned, he found, in surprise, the whole hill was densely covered with pine and cypress trees, too
numerous to count.
B. When he returned, he unexpectedly found the whole mountain covered with pines and cypresses. And more of
them than he could count.
29. 这就点燃了武装战争的燎原大火。

A. This kindled the prairie fire in revolutionary armed struggle.
B. This lit the first spark in revolutionary armed struggle.
30. 中国人民有决心也完全有能力早日解决台湾问题，完成祖国统一大业。

A. The Chinese people are determined and absolutely able to bring the Taiwan question to an early settlement and
realize the great cause of unification of the motherland.
B. The Chinese people are determined and absolutely able to bring the Taiwan question to an early settlement and realize the great cause of reunification of the motherland.
31. 上海，这个灯红酒绿的花花世界，对一个初上舞台的青年女演员，处处是陷阱。

A. Shanghai, a dazzling world full of temptations, was actually full of pitfalls for a young and inexperienced
actress like her.
B. Shanghai was a dazzling world of myriad temptation, yet for a young and inexperienced actress like her, it seemed a place more of pitfalls than opportunities.
32. 阡陌交通，鸡犬相闻。

A. The area was crisscrossed with highways and paths between the fields, and from one village to another, one
could hear the friendly crowing of cocks and the barking of dogs.
B. It was checkered with highways and paths between the fields; cock-crow and dog-bark in one village were heard
in another.
33. 二十岁的时候，有书店必逛，有书必买。

三十岁之后，对书店视而不见，直接去了隔壁的美容院。

A. At the age of twenty, I frequented the bookstores and bought whatever I found there. After thirty, I ignored them
and went ahead into the nearby beauty parlor.
B. At the age of twenty, the bookstore was a must for me, and I was a great book buyer. While after thirty, paying
no attention to the bookstore, I breeze into the beauty parlor next door.
34. 孔子对后代最伟大的贡献是对中国文化的传承开启。

A. The greatest contributions Confucius made to the later generations are his achievements in inheriting and
developing the ancient Chinese culture.
B. The greatest contributions Confucius made to the later generations are his inheriting and developing the ancient
Chinese culture.
35. 如今，做个大丈夫也有他的难处。

比如吵嘴，你就是有理，却也只能装着无理，拱手投降。

A．Today, being a good husband had his difficulties or trouble. For example, you are not permitted to defend yourself in a quarrel even if you are on the right side, pretending that you are not in the right side and going down on your knees.
B. One of the embarrassments of being a good husband today is that you are not permitted to defend yourself in a
quarrel and have to go down on your knees pretending that you are not on the right side.
IV. Translate the following passage into Chinese. (10’)
A casual inspection of works in ethics is sufficient to impress upon us how differently various writers have conceived of their subject. It is not just their conclusions which differ. They are asking different questions from different standpoints, using different methods to answer them and each philosopher is prone to identify ethics with his own question, standpoint, method, and conclusion. There is nonetheless a unity of ethics. First, there is an underlying unity of subject matter. All ethical views were concerned in some way with distinctions between good and bad, right and wrong. Secondly, the views have been arrived at by thinking, by the asking of searching questions about subject matter. They are not opinions or beliefs about what is good or right to which a person subscribes without ever having given them a second thought. Similarly, ethics in the philosophical sense, frequently called ethical theory or moral philosophy, should also be distinguished from codes or standards in actual operation in particular societies or groups, as when we speak of Hopi ethics or business ethics. Only when such opinions, codes, and standards are worked over by thought, subjected to searching analysis and criticism, do we have philosophical ethics.
V. Translate the following passage into English. (10’)
我伏在桥栏上，凝望着桥下。

桥下的河水阴沉暗淡，没有一丝意趣。

桥头的路灯洒着幽幽的寒光，寒光下的霜花晶晶闪亮。

远处灯火烁烁，透着融融的暖意；桥上却空荡荡，冷冷清清。

一阵无奈的孤寂和寒意向我袭来。

首届中西部外语翻译大赛英语专业笔译组（参考答案）
I. Complete the following sentences using the correct form of one the idioms in the column. (2×15=30’)
1. B. bell the cat
2. K. beard the lion in his den
3. G. follow suit
4. F. cut and run
5. A. gild the lily
6. J. grasp the nettle
7. E. hit the nail on the head
8. I. keep the wolf from the door
9. D. make a mountain out of a molehill
10. C. put your shoulder to the wheel
11. N. separate the sheep from the goats
12. L. thumb a lift
13. O. wear your heart on your sleeve
14. M. touch wood
15. H. keep the ball rolling
II. This part consists of ten English sentences, each followed by two different versions marked A and B. Choose the one that is the closest equivalent of the original in terms of meaning and expressiveness.（2.5×10=25’）
16-20 B B A B A 21-25 B A B B A
III. This part consists of ten Chinese sentences, each followed by two different versions marked A and B. Choose the one that is the closest equivalent of the original in terms of meaning and expressiveness. （2.5×10=25’）
26-30 B B A A B 31-35 B A B A B
IV. Translate the following passage into Chinese. (10’)
对伦理学的论著稍事浏览不难发现，古今往来，伦理学家不胜枚举，他们对伦理学的研究更是各行其是，不独其结论千差万别，甚至视角、方法亦大相径庭。

各家从不同的角度提出问题，又采用迥然有别的方法来研究解决之，从而每个伦理学家都能自称一体——视角不同、问题新颖、方法独特、结论迥异。

但尽管如此，各家的研究并非没有共同之处。

首先，研究的基本范畴不变，各家无不大同小异、铢两悉称，探讨是与非、善与恶的界定分野。

其次，研究的基本方法不变，各家无不殚精竭虑、慎察明辨，探析善恶是非的本末流变。

再者，伦理研究之所以往往称为“伦理学”或“道德学”，也应该与我们常说的“职业道德”、“霍皮族规”之类的准则、规范区别开来。

具体行业、团体或部族所遵循的准则、规范只有经过深入细致的分析批判，才能上升到“伦理学”或“道德学”的高度。

V. Translate the following passage into English. (10’)
I leaned on the parapet and watched the river flowing under the bridge. The water looked grey and uninviting. Where the end of the bridge met the High Street I could see traces of frost sparkling in the gleam of street lamps. Over there was light and the hint of warmth. Out here on the bridge it was lonely and cold. That was what I wanted. I felt lonely and cold.。