河南省第五届翻译竞赛试题及参考译文

笔译类英语非专业组

一、汉译英（50%）

空巢老人

在中国，我们会经常看到对“空巢老人”的报道，这些老人因为没有子女在身边，过着孤独的生活。其实，英国也存在这种现象。我就曾遇见过一位孤独的英国老人。

诺瓦克太太是位波兰人，在英国已生活了六十多年，说她是英国本土人也不为过。我是在自己打工的那家超市认识她的。那是一家在英国很有名的超市，每个星期五晚上超市都会有一些快过期的食物打折出售，而诺瓦克太太每周五晚都会出现在超市里。我打工的时间刚好是每周五晚上和周六白天，所以我们就这么认识了。

参考译文：

Empty Nesters

In China, empty nesters, or lonely senior citizens without their adult children living at home, are often reported. In fact, it is also true in Britain where I once met a lonely elderly lady.

Mrs. Novak, a Polish, was better called a British for she had been living in Britain for over 60 years. I got to know her in the supermarket where I worked. It was a very famous supermarket where discount foods close to expiration were sold on Friday nights when Mrs. Novak would always appear. I worked on Friday nights and Saturdays, and that was how we met.

二、英译汉（50%）

The English Words

The foreign student of English may be discouraged and dismayed when he learns that there are over 400,000 words in the English language, without counting slang. But let him take courage. More than half of these words are dead. They are not in current use. Even Shakespeare used a vocabulary of only some 20,000 words. The average Englishman today probably has a vocabulary range of from 12,000 to 13,000 words. It is good to make your vocabulary as complete as you can, but a great deal can be said and written with a vocabulary of no more than 10,000 words. The important thing is to have a good control and command over the words you do know. Better know two words exactly than three vaguely. A good carpenter is not distinguished by the number of his tools, but by the craftsmanship with which he uses them. So a good writer is not measured by the extent of his vocabulary.

参考译文：

英语单词

英语有四十多万单词——这还不包括俚语。外国学生往往闻之气馁，意冷心灰。不过不要怕——这些单词多半早已作古，无人再用。即使是莎士比亚，所用单词也不过两万而已。当代普通英国人的词汇量可能在一万二到一万三左右。虽说词不压身，多多益善，但要满足言谈写作之需，一万词足矣。关键不在量，而在于运用自如。与其似是而非地了解三个词，不如确切地掌握两个词。好木匠之所以出类拔萃，不在于工具多，而在于用得好。同理，作家是否优秀，也不能用词汇量来衡量。

参考译文提供者：郭尚兴老师（河南大学）、轩治峰老师（商丘师范学院）、韩孟奇老师（华北水利水电大学）