long sentence讲义

•Correct comprehension is always the first and foremost step; and the dialectical unity of faithfulness and smoothness is always what we

should strive to achieve.

understand clearly：(a) what the author is driving at; (b) what his argument or views are, and what “logic sequence” there is in the

original; (c) what grammatical relations there are among the three, four, five, or even more “modifiers” in the long sentence to be translated. 1. Two Stages and Seven Steps in Translating a Long Sentence •Stage I Comprehension

Step 1: present the long sentence in a skeleton form

Step 2: infer the main idea from the context and the whole text

Step 3: distinguish between the principal and subordinate elements Step 4: find out the interrelations between principal and subordinate clauses

Stage II Presentation

Step 5: enter on a tentative translation of each sentence division

Step 6: rearrangement and synthesis

Step 7: finishing touches

2. Sample Analysis

•English Version:

Just advanced by the Russians and later picked up and made much of by certain American writers, was the claim that U-2 pilots were

worried that if the device had to be used the CIA had rigged it in such a way that it would explode prematurely, thus eliminating, in one great blast, all incriminating evidence, planes and pilot.

Step 5

•Enter on a tentative translation of each sentence division:

1）俄国人原来提出了这种说法；后来美国一些作者又接过来大肆宣扬。2）U-2飞行员感到不安。

3）中英情报局在机上安上了一种装置，可以提前把飞机和驾驶员同事统统炸毁，从而消除一切罪证。

4）条件是不得已而要使用这种装置的话。

Step 7

•Finishing touches:

U-2飞机驾驶员感到担心的是：中央情报局已在U-2飞机上安上了一种装置，这种装置在必要时能提前爆炸，把包括飞机和驾驶员在内的一切罪证一下子都消灭干净。这种说法原是俄国人提出来的，后来又被美国一些写文章的人接过来大肆宣扬。

The above mentioned seven steps are generally interwoven throughout the process of translation and we should learn to make use of them according to different circumstances. On the other hand, to a great extent, the layout of a good piece of

translation comes from the creative work of the translator, whose flexibility and

adaptability are tested whenever long and complex sentences occur. In this sense, there is no reason for us to stick to the above sequence mechanically.

3. Methods of Translating Long English Sentences •Translating in original sequence or in reverse order, translating by division or by synthesis.

1. Normal order

•And many experts predict that in economic terms the tunnel will benefit France more than Britain if as they believe, the new industry attracted to its vicinity opts less for prosperous Kent than for the struggling Nord Pas de Calais region (北加莱海峡地区) with its wider spaces, lower

costs and more central position in the European Economic Community.

许多专家预言,从经济上看,隧道给法国带来的好处将超过英国,因为他们认为, 就隧道附近地区而言,繁荣的肯特郡对新兴企业的吸引力不如正在艰苦奋斗的北加莱海峡地区,那里的空间大,成本低,又更靠近欧共体中心。

2. Division

•As the West sleepwalks into 1980s when moral confidence and steadfastness will be increasingly needed and decreasingly found, and as a cry for “leadership” issues from millions who would not recognize it if they saw it, and probably reject it if they did, John Paul II becomes more fascinating.

•当西方恍恍惚惚地进入80年代的时候，人们日益需要道德信念和坚韧精神，而获得这一切的希望又日趋渺茫。千百万人迫切地呼唤需要“领导”，而当胜任的领导人物出现的时候，他们却有可能视而不见，或者见到了又加以摒弃。约翰·保罗二世之所以在西方变得越发具有魅力，其原因盖出于此。

3. Reversing

•And I take heart from the fact that the enemy, which boasts that it can occupy the strategic point in a couple of hours, has not yet been able to take even the outlying regions, because of the stiff resistance that gets in the way.

•吹嘘能在几小时内就占领战略要地的敌人，由于一路受到顽强抵抗，甚至还没能占领外围地带。这一事实使我增强了信心。

4. Recasting

•Translator should flexibly adjust or rearrange it without considering the original structure or sequence. In other words, the translator should exactly convey the idea of the original to the reader in his own wording sequence.

But without Adolf Hitler, who was possessed of a demoniac personality, a granite will, uncanny instincts, a cold ruthlessness, a

remarkable intellect, a soaring imagination and – until toward the end,