英譯漢――名詞性從句的譯法

    英語名詞性從句包括主語從句, 賓語從句, 表語從句和同位語從句, 在翻譯這類從句時, 大多數可以按照原文的句序翻譯成相應的漢語, 但是也有一些具體的處理方法, 下面我們結合一些實例加以說明：

    例1.How well the prediction will be validated by later performance depends upon the amount, reliability, and appropriateness of the information used and on the skill and wisdom with which it is interpreted. (95年考題) 這些預測能在多大程度上被后來的成績所證實取決于所使用的信息的量可靠性和適合程度, 并取決于對信息作出解釋的技能和智慧(主語從句)

    例2.It is often said that wide reading is the best alternative course of action but even here it is necessary to make some kinds of selection. 人們常說, 大量閱讀是可供選擇的最佳方案, 但即使在這一方面, 也需要某些選擇(主語從句)

    例3.And it is imagined by many that the operations of the common mind can by no means be compared with these processes, and that they have to be acquired by a sort of special training. (93年考題) 許多人認為, 普通人的思維活動根本無法與科學的思維相比, 認為這些思維過程必須經過某種專門的訓練才能掌握(主語從句)

    例4.From the end of the Second World War until very recently, it was generally accepted in Britain that the State should provide a full range of free educational facilities from nursery schools to universities. 從第二次世界大戰結束直到最近, 英國人普遍接受這樣一個觀點, 即: 國家應該提供從幼兒園到大學的全方位的免費教育設施主語從句(注意: 此句翻譯中增加了“觀點”一詞, 并使用了“即”一詞, 使得漢語譯文非常通順)

     例5.He believes that the highly mobile American society leaves individuals with feelings of rootlessness, isolation, indifference to community welfare, and shallow personal relationships.他認為, 流動性很大的美國社會留給個人的感覺是沒有根基孤立對社會福利漠不關心和個人關系淡漠(賓語從句)

    例6.Some people think that it is a shame that a censor should interfere with works of art. (83年考題) 有些人認為審查員審查文藝作品是不光彩的事(賓語從句)

    例7.It is virtually impossible to imagine that universities, hospitals, large business or even science and technology could have come into being without cities to support them. (87年試題)如果沒有城市的支持, 簡直難以想象會有大學醫院和大企業, 甚至連科學技術也不會有(賓語從句)

    例8.We fail to learn that pain is the body?s way of informing the mind that we are doing something wrong, not necessarily that something is wrong. 我們不知道, 人體只是用疼痛這種方式通知大腦, 我們的行為出了差錯, 而并非一定健康有問題(賓語從句)

    例9.You have all heard it repeated that men of science work by means of induction and deduction, that by the help of these operations, they, in a sort of sense, manage to extract from Nature certain natural laws, and that out of these by some special skill of their own, they build up their theories. (93年考題) 你們都多次聽說過, 科學家是用歸納法和演繹法工作的, 他們用這種方法, 在某中意義上說, 力求從自然界找出某些自然規律, 然后, 他們根據這些規律, 用自己的某種非同一般的本領, 建立起他們的理論(賓語從句) [FS:PAGE]

    例10.One aspect of analogies is that they are limited by the scientific understanding of the time. 類比存在的一個問題在于類比受所處時代的科學理解水平的限制(表語從句)

    例11.A even more possibility is that the dark matter is composed of sub-atomic articles left over the Big Bang that is believed to have sparked the creation of the universe. 另外一種可能是: 那些黑色物體是由“大碰撞”遺留的遜原子微粒組成據認為“大碰撞”創造了宇宙表語從句 researched, but as yet little understood. 人類的語言是如何發展起來的, 是什么時候形成的, 諸如黑猩猩和大猩猩一類的動物是否會形成一種更加復雜的交流系統, 都是現階段人們研究的課題, 但對此人們都知之甚少(主語從句)

    例12.Galieo?s greatest glory was that in 1609 he was the first person to turn the newly invented telescope on the heavens to prove that the planets revolve around the sun rather than around the Earth. (94年考題) 伽利略的最光輝的業績在于他在1609年第一個把新發明的望遠鏡對準天空, 以證實行星是圍繞太陽旋轉, 而不是圍繞地球(表語從句)

    例13.Unfortunately, Plato?s analogy misses an important characteristic of memory, namely it is selective. 令人遺憾的是, 柏拉圖所作的類比忽視了記憶的一個重要特性, 即記憶是有選擇性的(同位語從句)

    例14.In spite of the fact that the authors who dealt with women?s issues prior to 1949 agreed in principle that reforms had to be instituted, the outlook they depicted for reform was bleak. 盡管1949年以前研究婦女問題的作者原則上同意改革勢在必行, 但他們為改革描繪的前景卻是暗淡的(同位語從句)(注意在本句的譯文中, 省略了fact一詞)