英汉口译实践文本

Passage 1 Equal Rights

This is supposed to be an enlightened age, but you wouldn’t think so if you could hear what an average man thinks of an average woman. Women won their independence long ago. After a long bitter struggle, they now enjoy the same educational opportunities as men in most part of the world. They have proved repeatedly that they are equal and often superior to men in almost every field.

你会认为这应该是一个摆脱了偏见的时代，可当听到一名普通男子谈论他对一名普通女子的看法时，你就不会这样认为了。妇女早已赢得了独立，他们经过长期艰苦的斗争，在全球大部分地区可以与男子享有同等的教育机会。他们一次又一次地证明妇女在几乎所有领域里都不比男子差，甚至还常常胜过男子。

The hard fut battle for recognition has been won, but it is by no means over. It is men, not women, who still carry forward the sex war, because the attitude of many men remains1 basically hostile. In many countries and regions, women there continue to be regarded as second-rate citizens. To hear some men talk, you’d even come to the horrible conclusion that men and women belong to different species.

这场艰苦的女性能力认可战虽已打赢，却远未终结。延续这场战斗的是男性而非女性，因为许多男子对女子的态度基本上仍然是敌视性的。许多国家和地区的妇女仍然被视为二等公民。如果听信一些男人所言，你甚至会对得出男女两性非同种同类的可怕结论。

On the surface, the comments made by these men about women’s abilities seem light-hearted. This apparent light-heartedness does not conceal2 the real contempt that many men feel for women. However much men sneer3 women. Their claims to superiority are not born out by facts. Let’s consider the matter of driving, for instance. We all know that women cause far few accidents than men. They are generally very conscientious4 and in fact have succeeded in any job you care to name, as politicians, soldiers, doctors, factory hands, university professors, farmers, managers, lawyers, scientists, presidents of countries. They would often put men to shame with their achievements, and we must remember that they frequently succeed brilliantly in all these fields in addition to bearing and rearing children.

从表面上看，这些男人对女性能力的评论似乎只是一种戏言。可这表面现象却无法掩饰许多男人对女性所抱的鄙视态度。无论这些男子怎样讥讽妇女，他们那种自认为比女性优越的看法是没有事实根据的。我们现以驾车为例，我们都知道，女性开车时所出的车祸远远少于男性驾驶员的车祸。妇女通常非常谨慎小心，事实上，他们已能胜任任何一种你能叫得出名字的职业。政治家、士兵、医生、工人、大学教授、农民、经理、律师、科学家、国家元首中的女性成员所做出的成就常常使许多男性感到羞愧。我们不可忘记，女性在这些领域里取得辉煌成就的同时还肩负着生儿育女的重任呢！

Passage 2 Meeting New People

People from different cultures sometimes do things that make each other uncomfortable, without meaning to or sometimes without realizing it.

不同文化背景的人在一起，有时会做出一些令对方感到不舒服的事，他们并非故意要这样做，有时甚至连自己都未察觉。

Most Americans have never been out of the country, and have very little experience with foreigners, but they are usually spontaneous1, friendly and open and enjoy meeting new people, having guests, and bringing people together, formally or informally3. They tend to use first names in most situations, and speak freely4 about themselves. So if your American hosts do something that makes you feel uncomfortable, try to let them know how you feel. Most people will appreciate your honesty5, and try not to make you feel uncomfortable again.

大多数美国人从未走出国门，几乎没有同外国人打交道的经验。但是这些美国人通常主动、友好、坦率、喜欢结识人，喜欢客人来访，召集正式或非正式的聚会。他们在大部分场合倾向于直呼其名，毫无拘束地谈论自己。所以，要是你的美国主人做出了使你感到不舒服的事，你应该设法让他们知道你的感受。大多数人会喜欢你的诚实态度，尽量不做令你不快的事。