英語翻譯有效的技巧
國外一位著名的語言學家曾經説過"A word has no meaning unless it is used in a text."（"一個詞本身是毫無意義的，除非把它運用到一個文本中"）。文學名著無疑是最理想的文本。在名著中常常會有涉及到考研英語中的長難句，同學們也可以在繁重的複習之餘，從名著中培養一下自己的語感。在欣賞名著的同時，培養英語閲讀技巧與運用能力同時也可以在中文的對照中學習翻譯的技巧。
一、原文：For Jerusha and the ninety-odd other children in the orphanage, the first Wednesday of every month was quite a torturous day. On this day, each child had to be clean and well-groomed, every corner in every room had to be neat and tidy, every floor had to sparkle, and every bed had to be made perfectly flat so that the tiniest wrinkle would not show. All of this preparation was to get ready for the visit of the Trustees of the orphanage which always fell on this day. Each child had been told time and again that if a Trustee were to ask him or her a question, he or she was to answer in a clever and respectful way.
譯文：對潔茹以及孤兒院裏其他九十幾個院童來説，每個月的第一個禮拜三是一個十分難熬的日子。在這一天，每一個院童都必須梳洗得乾乾淨淨，房間各個角落都打掃得整整齊齊，連每一塊地板都擦得光潔無比，每一張牀鋪都平整得連一小條縐褶都沒有；如此嚴陣以待，是因為孤兒院的董事大人們在這一天會大駕光臨。每一個孩子並且也都被再三交代，如果有董事大人問他們什麼話，必須非常乖巧、恭敬地回答。
二、原文：Jerusha was the oldest child in the orphanage she was already 18 years old. According to the rules, the orphanage only had to keep children up until the age of 16, but Jerusha was an exception. Because her grades were quite good, the orphanage decided to let her continue her studies and allowed her to go to the high school in town. At this point, Jerusha had just graduated from high school and was just staying to help out around the orphanage.
譯文：潔茹是孤兒院裏年紀最大的孩子，她今年已經十八歲了。本來按照規定，孤兒院只養育院童到十六歲，潔茹卻是一個例外；因為她的成績相當優異，院方才決定讓她繼續升學，到村子裏去念高中。潔茹最近高中剛畢業，都在院裏幫忙。
