河南省第五届翻译竞赛试题及参考译文

笔译类英语专业组

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。

参考译文：

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 dictionary.” 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.

In his opinion, that partly accounts for the lack of a satisfactory answer to Mr. Qian Xuesen’s question. “A questioning atmosphere has not been created in China yet. Children are discouraged from asking questions since their early days. But there will be no creation without questions.” Yang Fujia added.

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.

参考译文：

男女寿命差异

一百年前，美国男性不仅数量比女性多，寿命也比女性长。（男性无论是数量还是寿命都超过女性）。到了20世纪，女性平均寿命却超过了男性，其主要原因是女性怀孕、生孩子（妊娠、分娩）的危险系数降低了。而且，男女之间这种寿命差异则稳步拉大。到了1964年，美国女性首次在数量上超过了男性。

其部分原因是男性自己造成的（自作自受）。与女性相比，男性抽烟多，喝酒多，从事高危活动也多。男性遭到谋杀（常常是遭男性谋杀）的几率是女性的三倍，自杀率也比女性高。男性死于车祸者是女性的两倍多，因酗酒而丧生者也多于女性。

但行为本身并不能解释男女寿命之间的差异，精神压力也解释不了。（行为本身，包括精神压力在内，均不足以解释男女寿命上的差异）。二十世纪五十年代，随着越来越多的男性患上或死于心脏病，人们便将其原因归咎于公司会议室里的压力。不少医生指出，如果让女性也走出家门从事冒险活动，也到火线上冲锋陷阵，她们的死亡率也会和男性一样高。正当人们对此种说法信以为真，并以此作为定论时，不料却节外生枝，出现了一个有趣的现象。

从1950年到1985年，美国从业女性的数量几乎增长一倍。多项研究表明，从业女性与家庭妇女的健康状况不相上下（职业女性和家庭妇女一样健康）。

当代一些研究性别差异的学者认为，众多研究数据都指向一个结论：孕育万物的大自然更偏爱女性。