河南省第五届翻译竞赛

竞赛试题

专业组：

(考试时间为120分钟)

一、汉译英（50%）

中国还没有形成勇于提问的风气

杨福家曾经与耶鲁大学校长莱文讨论为什么那么多的耶鲁校友回报母校，其中大多数是本科毕业生。莱文的回答很简单：因为他们认为学校改变了自己的一生。

莱文举了一个美国8岁小孩的例子。一天上课，这个小孩对老师说，你写的字拼错了。老师说“真的吗？让我查一下字典”。这位小孩立刻说“不必查，我保证你拼错了”。

这个敢于质疑老师的小孩不仅没有被批评，反而被校长在家长会和全校大会上表扬了。

杨福家特别感慨，这是中美文化的不同之处：美国孩子放学了，父母会问：你今天问了多少个问题；而中国孩子放学了，父母会问：你今天考了多少分。

在他看来，这也是为什么一直回答不了钱学森之问的原因之一。“中国没有形成质疑的环境，孩子从小就不敢提问。然而，没有问题就不会有创造。”杨福家说。

二、英译汉（50%）

The Longevity Gap between Men and Women

A century ago American men outnumbered and outlived the women. But in the 20th century, women began living longer, primarily because pregnancy and childbirth had become less dangerous. The gap grew steadily. In 1946, for the first time ever in the United States, females outnumbered males.

Part of the reasons are self-inflicted. Men smoke more than women, drink more and take more life-threatening chances. Men are murdered (usually by other men) three times as often as women are. They commit suicide at a higher rate and have more than twice as many fatal car accidents as women do. Men are more likely to be involved in alcohol-related fatalities.

But behavior doesn't explain away the longevity gap. Nor is stress the answer.

In the 1950s, as heart disease claimed more and more male victims, pressure in the corporate boardroom was blamed. Let women venture out of the home and into the line of fire, doctors said, and they would begin dying at the same rate as men. But a funny thing happened on the way to the funeral.

Between 1950 and 1985, the percentage of employed women in the United States nearly doubled. Those working women, several studies have found; are as healthy as women at home.

Today, some scientists studying the gender gap believe that the data point to one conclusion: Mother Nature may be partial to women.

答案部分：

一、汉译英（50%）

Questioning Atmosphere Not Created in China Yet

Mr. Yang Fujia once had a discussion with Levin, President of the Yale University, about why so many alumni of the University, most of whom were bachelor degree holders, made contributions to their alma mater. Levin gave a simple answer: “Because they believe their alma mater has changed their lives.”

Levin gave an example of an eight-year old boy. One day in class, the boy said to his teacher: “You’ve made a mistake in spelling.” “Really? Let me look it up in the d ictionary.” replied the teacher. “It’s not necessary. I’m sure about that”, responded the boy immediately.

Instead of being scolded, the boy was praised by the headmaster at the parents' meeting and the school assembly.

Yang Jiafu heaved a deep sigh and said that it was due to the differences between Chinese culture and American culture: In America, when the children come back home from school, their parents usually ask them how many questions they have raised at school while Chinese parents may focus on their scores in examinations.