泽熙美文英译汉
1.
Why Go to College at All?
Is college worth it? Recently some powerful arguments have been leveled against the value of a college degree. For example, Dale J. Stephens, 20, the founder of UnCollege, which urges students to find their own pathways to success.1 Mr. Stephens spent his middle and high school years “unschooling”, and then left college after a brief time there.
Mr. Stephens envisions “a world where people make their own decisions”, where college is not a foregone conclusion and young people forge their own paths to fulfillment.
We asked Mr. Stephens for his responses to the arguments most often given for going to college. Here’s what he had to say.
Reason 1: Learning in a rigorous, supported educational environment
“If you want to learn, college is the last place you should go2,” Mr. Stephens said. “A lot of learning isn’t happening on college campuses.”
That may sound surprising, given that college is virtually defined as an institution devoted to nourishing learning and intellectualism.
Not true, Mr. Stephens said. “What you learn in college is generally the same skill set that you learn in a traditional school environment,” he said. “You learn how to follow directions, meet deadlines and memorize facts.”
Although college provides structure and resources for learning, “I don’t know that structure is a good thing,” he said. “When you go out into the world, there’s no structure like that. A job doesn’t give you a syllabus.” And he criticized the education system—and standardized testing in particular—for being “efficient but not effective.” His ideal is self-directed education on the principles of project-based learning, perhaps with the guidance of professors.
Reason 2: Socializing and developing a network of friends and contacts
Mr. Stephens said that many have advised him that he’s missing out by not going to college, where, the rationale goes, he could be meeting women and drinking beer. His retort: “I like guys and Champagne.”
Underlying this frank answer is his conviction that the social world of college is a self-selecting, largely homogenous “bubble”.
“You might end up limiting yourself if you only socialize with people on your dorm floor and in your classes,” he said. Campus population might be diverse, he said, but “people are still there for the same reason.” In contrast, he said, unschooling has allowed him to actively seek opportunities to meet people who travel different walks in life.
As for the value of making connections in college to nurture a professional network, people are increasingly using social media resources like LinkedIn3, Twitter and Facebook to make connections, Mr. Stephens said.
Reason 3: Self-discovery
Many college graduates believe that they discovered themselves in their years on campus. But Mr. Stephens said the typical student’s lack of real responsibility, coupled with an emphasis on rote memorization and test taking, hampers true personal growth.4
Learners are better off spending early adulthood developing self-reliance, he said. Self-discovery might best be achieved doing something constructive, he argued5, like creating a start-up.
The idea of taking a gap year off from school6 to explore the world and find yourself angered him. “Why does it have to be a year off? Why can’t it be a year on? Why should you have to take time out of the system to engage?7” he asked.
正确答案：
为什么非得上大学?
上大学真的值得吗?近来，大学文凭的价值受到不少人有力的驳斥。比如戴尔.J.斯蒂芬斯，今年20岁，他是“不上大学”(UnCollege)组织的创办人，该组织敦促青年学生走自己的路去追求成功1。斯蒂芬斯先生中学期间就拒绝学校教育，进入大学不久之后又选择辍学。
斯蒂芬斯的理想世界是一个“人人都能自己做决定的世界”，在这个世界里，上大学不是一成不变的定局，年轻人自己努力构筑通向成就的道路。
我们问斯蒂芬斯，对于大多数人主张的“读大学的理由”有什么想法。他是这样说的：
理由一：要在一个严肃、能获得支持的教育环境下学习
斯蒂芬斯说：“如果你想学习，那么你最不该去的地方就是大学。2很多东西在大学校园里是学不到的。”
鉴于大学几乎被定义为一个提供知识养分、促进智力发展的专门机构，斯蒂芬斯的观点可谓惊世骇俗。
斯蒂芬斯认为这个定义不正确。他说：“你在大学里学到的技能和在传统学校环境里学到的并无二致——无非就是遵守各项指令，应对时间节点，死记硬背种种常识。”
尽管大学能为学生提供学习的框架和资源，斯蒂芬斯表示：“我不认为这种框架是好的。当你真的踏进社会，根本不存在这种框架。工作不会给你一份纲要。”他批评教育体制，尤其是标准化测试体系，效率虽高，但效果却不好。在他的理想中，学习应该是以自我指导为中心、基于一个个项目为形式的过程，教授或许可以从旁指点一二。
理由二：参与社交活动、交朋友、建立人脉关系
斯蒂芬斯说很多人都曾善意提醒他，不读大学会错过很多东西。他们的理由是读大学可以结识女人，畅饮啤酒。但他反驳道：“我喜欢男生，喜欢喝香槟。”
这个坦诚的回答背后是斯蒂芬斯的信念：大学这个社会是个自我选择的、在很大程度上同质的“泡泡”。
斯蒂芬斯表示：“如果你只和住在宿舍同一楼层的伙伴以及自己班上的同学交往，那么你可能反而限制了自己的发展。”大学里的人虽然各不相同，但他认为“读大学的理由是一样的。”反倒是因为不上学，才让他更积极地寻找机会去结识各个阶层的人们。
至于在大学里建立人际关系以期今后能拥有一个专业的社交圈子，斯蒂芬斯说现在人们大可以利用比如“邻客音”3、“推特”、“脸书”等社交媒介资源去建立人脉关系。
理由三：发现自我
很多大学毕业生都认为他们是在大学期间认清自己的。但是斯蒂芬斯认为，大学生缺失真正的责任感，加上只是侧重于死记硬背、应付考试，这种典型现象妨碍他们个人的真正成长。4
按斯蒂芬斯的想法，学习者最好利用成年初期培养自力更生的精神。他认为5，要认清自我，最好通过做一些建设性的工作，如自主创业。
“休学一年”6去探索世界、发现自我，这想法让斯蒂芬斯心头冒火。他诘问：“为什么得‘休学一年’?为什么这一年不算上学?为什么要从教育制度中抽出一年的时间来探索世界、发现自我?7”
[解析] 1. …which urges students to find their own pathways to success.此定语从句在汉语中宜译为并列句。
2.If you want to learn, college is the last place you should go. 在此句中，last表否定，不可译为“上一个”或“最后一个”。全句译作：如果你想学习，那么你最不该去的地方就是大学。
3. LinkedIn(“邻客音”)是一家面向商业客户的社交网络服务网站，成立于2002年12月，并于2003年启动。网站的目的是让注册用户维护他们在商业交往中认识并信任的联系人，俗称“人脉”(Connections)。用户可以邀请他认识的人成为“关系”圈的人。
4. But Mr. Stephens said the typical student’s lack of real responsibility, coupled with an emphasis on rote memorization and test taking, hampers true personal growth. 有翻译学习者将此句中的the typical student’s lack of real responsibility译为“典型学生缺乏真正的责任感”。这种译文往往令翻译学习者很纠结：明明知道与上下文不符，但对照原文自己又不能发现错在哪里。其实，此处的typical不是修饰student，而是修饰student’s lack of real responsibility整个名词短语。明确了修饰关系之后，译为汉语时还要将原文紧密的修饰关系转移至谓语部分：但是斯蒂芬斯认为，大学生缺失真正的责任感，加上只是侧重于死记硬背、应付考试，这种典型现象妨碍他们个人的真正成长。
5.翻译初学者见到argue一词可能就想当然地将之译为“争论”，因为这是一般英语教科书中给出的该词的含义。其实，argue的含义要视其搭配而定。若argue后面跟宾语从句，其含义为“认为”(一种无实际根据的、想当然的认为)；argue后面如果跟about (sth.)或with(sb.)，这含义为“争论”。…he argued…在本文中的含义为“他认为”。
6.有翻译学习者将taking a gap year off from school译为“花一年时间作为‘间隔年’离开学校”，本身字面含义没有错，但不符合汉语的表达。英译汉，除了对英语原文理解正确之外，还要符合汉语的表达习惯。此处，译作“休学一年”较为合适。
7. Why should you have to take time out of the system to engage? 将该句译为汉语后，要适当增补原文根据上下文省略的信息，才符合汉语的表达习惯：为什么要从教育制度中抽出一年的时间来探索世界、发现自我?
汉译英
1.
剑桥大学与中国
剑桥大学是具有700多年历史的世界著名学府，曾培养出牛顿、培根、弥尔顿、拜伦、达尔文等对人类进步事业作出杰出贡献的伟大科学家、思想家和诗人。今天，剑桥大学作为获得诺贝尔奖获得者最多的大学，在世界高等学府中依然居于显要的地位。50多年前，在我上大学的那个年代，就有不少的中国年轻学子向往到剑桥负笈求学。剑桥大学与中国交往的历史，早在上个世纪之交就开始了。一百年前，剑桥大学开设了汉语课程。该校已故的李约瑟博士在中国学术界享有很高的声名。他倾注毕生心血撰写的《中国科学技术史》，是一部研究中国古代科学技术和文明成就的鸿篇巨制。100年来，许多中国学者
