无论生活、学习还是工作，都有其中的“tips”，本期我们将共同学习翻译的“小贴士”。

　　The compulsory (强制的) translation papers are included not, as is commonly supposed, out of puremindlessness (顽固) but in order to ensure that you understand the texts sufficiently (充分地) to make informed literary judgments on them. Literature cannot be studied in translation above the level of summary of plot or of subject matter. We need to know what is or might be meant by words of the text before we can claim (断言) to understand it and form our own view on it or even read intelligently what others have written about it.

　　When you are required to “prepare” a text for a class, this means that you should be able to read it so as to translate it at sight. This involves knowing not only what meaning is expressed in the text but also how the words on the page can be shown to yield (产生) that meaning，and that in turn involves understanding both the meaning of the individual words and the syntax (句法) of the sentence. Particular attention therefore needs to be paid to the number and case of nouns, pronouns, objectives and to the person, number, tense and mood of verbs. This is why it is important to be familiar with the Old English paradigms (词形变化) and to make proper use of the glossary (书尾的词汇表), where inflected forms and spelling variants (异体字) are generally listed with line references. You should not only read the introductory remarks but also glossary before you begin to use it.

　　Translations, like drugs, have their uses, but you should not become dependent on them. They are valuable for checking the accuracy (准确率) of your own translation or for helping you out with a passage that you do not at first understand. Never accept someone else's translation until you have worked out the syntax for yourself and see how the words convey (传达) the sense of the translation. Never memorize a translation, even of your own; it is laborious and useless. Always work from the text on the page.

　　You will find that making a word list will help imprint (牢记) the meanings of words on your mind and will be useful for revision, when you can mark off the words as you know the text better. Writing out translations in full is boring and not very helpful. In your examinations you will have to translate from a plain text, and that is what you will be expected to do if required to translate in class. Reading from a prepared translation will give you a false sense of security and is not acceptable.

　　Use idiomatic (惯用的) modern English wherever possible. Do not translate word for word, which will read unnaturally, but try not to translate so freely that you may be suspected (可疑的) of not having properly understood the original text. Always make sure you understand the whole sentence you are translating before putting pen to paper. When translating verse (韵文), do not write your translation out line by line.

　　The world is becoming smaller and smaller as the systems of communication and information are developing and becoming more and more sophisticated (精益求精的). In the process of such a rapid exchange of information and for the purpose of improving cultural contacts, one thing is inevitable (不可避免的), and that is “translating”. This is why there is a need for competent (称职的) translators.

　　(文/刘耀辉； 英语辅导报高二版 04~05学年度第19期；版权归英语辅导报社所有，独家网络合作伙伴新浪教育，未经许可，不得以任何形式进行转载。)