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发表于 2005-4-14 14:37:38
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获奖译文 中译英 (zt)
New Challenges for Chinese Economy in 2005
作者：733635
Investment, exportation and consumption are often dubbed as the troika pulling China’s economy growth in recent years.
Firstly, we will discuss about exportation. With China’s entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO), the spread between its exports and imports has been narrowing gradually. In the first half of this year, there was even a brief period of trade deficit for the first time since China became a WTO member. According to experts, the trade surplus is expected to be only around 10 billion yuan this year. By 2005, the trade surplus will further decline when China fulfils more of the commitments made on its entry into WTO.
Now let’s look at investment. Governmental investment accounts for the predominant part of the total investment volume in recent years as China has exercised an active fiscal policy by issuing a large amount of government bonds. According media reports, with China’s adoption of a steady fiscal policy from the year of 2005, the value of government bonds issued in 2005 is expected to drop by 30 billion yuan compared with this year. Moreover, the fall in non-governmental investment and investment by banks related to such a direct drop also cannot be underestimated because governmental investment through issuing bonds tends to have a powerful effect in terms of driving other investment activities. Some officials of the statistics authorities claimed there are signs indicating non-governmental investment is taking off, but is the investment boom sustainable? Is it artificially triggered by regional governments or driven by spontaneous forces? All these remain unknown variables.
Last but not the least, we come to consumption. Stimulating consumption effectively has been a long-standing problem. The current consumption rate of the country has slid to a 25-years-low of 55.4%. It appears how to stimulate consumption has become one of the major challenges faced by the Chinese government.
New Challenges Face China’s Economy in 2005
作者：xiaoliuliu
We often say figuratively that China’s economic growth in the past few years mainly relies on three carriages: investment, export and consumption.
Let’s see export first. As China joined the World Trade Organization, the difference between its export and import are diminishing. And trade deficit appeared for the first time in the first half of this year for a short period. According to some experts’ estimation, trade surplus of this year will be only around RMB 10 billion yuan. By 2005, the trade surplus will be even less as more and more commitments for joining WTO are realized. Obviously, net export will not be the main momentum for economic growth.
Let’s see investment next. In the past few years’ investment, with a proactive fiscal policy, and a large amount of treasury bond being issued, the governmental investment has been playing a leading role. According to relevant media’s report, after prudent fiscal policy has been practiced in 2005, the issuance of national debt will decrease RMB 30 billion yuan compared with this year. Directly reduced treasury bond investment is RMB 30 billion yuan, but since treasury bond investment has strong leading effect, other related bank investment, non-governmental investment decrease due to the 30 billion yuan decrease of treasury bond cannot be overlooked either. Some statistics officials claimed that non-governmental investment has shown evidence of start-up. However, whether the launched non-governmental investment can last long, and whether it is promoted by local government or it is a spontaneous force is still unknown.
Let’s see consumption finally. Stimulating consumption has always been a tough issue. Now China’s consumption rate has fallen to the lowest point of 55.4% in the past 25 years. It seems that how to stimulate consumption has become one of the biggest challenges for the Chinese government.
参考译文 中译英
Chinese Economy to Meet New Challenges in 2005
We often figuratively say that China’s economic growth in the past few years has been driven by a “troika”, the “three horses” being investment, export and consumption. (Investment, export and consumption are figuratively described as the three horses of a troika hauling China’s economic growth in recent years.)
Let’s take a look at export first. The imbalance in volume between China’s import and export has been gradually diminishing ever since China’s accession to the WTO. In the first half of this year, China even ran a transient trade deficit, which is the first of its kind in history. It is estimated by experts that China’s trade surplus this year is expected to be only about 10 billion yuan. With its WTO accession commitments being fulfilled one after another, China’s current trade surplus with other countries is likely to be further reduced by 2005. Obviously, the “net export” approach will no longer be one of the major driving forces for China’s economic growth.
Let’s now turn to investment. As a prominent player in China’s investment activities, the central government has issued a large amount of treasury bonds in the past few years in line with the proactive fiscal policy it has adopted. It is reported that the amount of treasury bonds to be issued by the government in 2005 will drop by 30 billion yuan since China is about to carry out a sound fiscal policy by 2005. As investment in treasury bonds can produce strong rippling effects, a reduction of 30 billion yuan in bond investment from the government will considerably discourage investment from banks and private sources, which is really something we can’t afford to overlook. Officials from China National Bureau of Statistics claim that there are already signs of private investment initiatives being launched. It will, however, remain to be seen just how far those initiatives can go and whether those initiatives are the results of self-motivation or the results of a local government-induced squeeze.
Let’s finally take up consumption. The hardest nut for China to crack for a long time is how to stimulate consumption. China’s current consumption rate has slipped to 55.4%, the lowest point in 25 years. It seems that how to effectively promote consumption has become one of the daunting challenges the central government has to meet.
专家点评 中译英
增强跨文化意识，关注译语的规范使用
本次擂台赛原文节选自王擎的文章《稳健的财政政策意味着什么?》，该文2004年12月14日发表于《中华工商时报》。擂台赛原文的最后一段在王擎的文章里很长，因此做了一些删节和处理。从参赛的译文来看，大的“硬伤”不是很多，主要是译文好与不好的问题，当然在术语使用、词汇搭配、基础英语的掌握以及经贸类翻译中某些特定的表达方面依然存在不少问题。下面就几个方面同大家一起讨论。
一、关于“三驾马车”的比喻问题。
比喻在不同语言及文化背景下的差别很大，在翻译时如何处理在我国翻译界一直存在着不同看法和做法（如归化和异化之争）。有些比喻在一种语言中顺理成章，如将其直译为另一种语言则根本不能被接受。例如，在有些语言中，人们是用“胃”或“喉咙”去爱别人的，这在汉语里根本不能被接受。因此，我们在翻译时只好将“胃”或“喉咙”改成“心”，因为我们是用“心”去爱别人的。在法语中“土豆”就是“地里的苹果”，如果我们不知道法语中的这一说法，便不知道“地里的苹果”为何物。汉语中我们有“月亮代表我的心”之说，因为“月亮”在我们的文化中与“思念”或“思乡”紧密相连。曾有一位英国人想表达“大彻大悟”时想到了月亮，他觉得汉语里应该有类似的联想，我告诉他根本没有那么回事儿。
另外，存在于源语中的某种比喻可能在译入语中根本不存在，而同样的意思却可以在译入语中找到不同的比喻来表达，如果出现这种情况，我们有时只好以“此”代“彼”，将原文的意思译出。例如，有人就将汉语里的“班门弄斧”翻译为to teach fish to swim。其实两中文化中几乎相同的比喻也是存在的，我们汉语中所说的“沧海一粟”在英语里就有类似的表达，即a drop in the ocean。还有另外一种情况，源语中的某种比喻虽然不存在于译入语中，但直接翻译过来并不影响人们的理解，有时甚至使译入语中增添了一种鲜活的表达，例如“雨后春笋”便是一例（见王佐良《英语文体学论文集》第109页）。
用“马车”比喻拉动经济增长的“动力”在英语中似很难见到，但我们将其直译成英语并不妨碍母语人士的理解。因此我认为，大家在翻译时所使用的three carriages，a troika，three carts，以及three wagons等在理论上都是可以被接受的，而问题是哪种表达更好，更能够体现原文的“意义”。另一方面，汉语是一种非常简洁、概括性强但不够精确的语言，依赖语境的程度较高。例如，擂台赛第二期中的“从天津西站到南开大学大约要走二三十分钟”，在翻译时就有人使用了walk或walking，这恰好说明了汉语笼统、不够精确的特点。我们在翻译时采用符合英语习惯、较精确但有些“罗嗦”的表达应该是可取的，如我们可以将其译为 We took a taxi to Nankai University from Tianjin West Railway Station, a journey that would take us about twenty to thirty minutes。同样，本次擂台赛中的“三驾马车”也容易产生歧义。那些使用three carriages，three carts和three wagons的译者显然将其理解为“三辆马车”。不过也有人将“三驾马车”理解为“由三匹马拉动的同一辆马车”，如那些使用了troika一词的译者。再看下面的例句：布什政府的外交政策的制定和执行好比一辆“三驾马车”，赖斯将在其中发挥“辕马”作用。（“三驾马车”在这里指的是“一辆马车”。）
再看另一例句：欧洲“三驾马车”欲接近伊朗，可提供民用核技术。这里的“三驾马车”指的是法国、德国和英国。如果我们将这句话翻译成英语，是否可以用three wagons之类的表达呢？从逻辑上讲似乎没有问题，三个不同的国家似乎应该被比喻为“三辆马车”。但英语里却不这样说，诸如the troika of the European Union，the EU troika或the EC troika的说法随处可见。当美国决心攻打伊拉克，法国、德国和俄罗斯共同极力反对的时候，媒体也将这三国说成是the anti-US troika。
字典里对troika 一词的定义是：a Russian carriage drawn by a team of three horses abreast或者a team of three horses abreast，显然troika指的是“由三匹马拉动的同一辆马车”或“三匹并肩前进的马”。我个人认为，可以把中国经济的发展比喻为一辆前进的马车，而投资、出口和消费则是并驾齐驱的三匹马，形成一股合力，共同拉动中国经济的增长。因此，我本人更倾向于使用troika而不是three wagons之类的说法。
二、关于“稳健的财政政策”的翻译。
国内英文媒体大多使用a prudent fiscal policy表达“稳健的财政政策”的概念，这一译法已被广泛使用，也不会产生理解上的问题。那么，稳健的财政政策的涵义是什么呢？《人民日报》2004年12月7日刊载了财政部部长金人庆的文章。文章称，实行稳健的财政政策(也就是经济学讲的中性财政政策)，政策核心是松紧适度，着力协调，放眼长远。具体说来，要注重把握“控制赤字、调整结构、推进改革、增收节支”十六个字。因此我们可以说，稳健的财政政策的基调依然是积极主动的，并没有消极保守的意思。而prudent policy有时却有这样的涵义。请看下面的例子：
US prudent policy about climate change：The US Administration has come under criticism within many European countries and within the American community of environmentalists for adopting what is considered to be too relaxed a view toward the question of global climate change, more particularly toward the prospect of a substantial warming of the surface of the earth sometime during the next century.
另外，我国经济界有人认为，“稳健的财政政策”更应该说成是“谨慎的财政政策”，政府选择了“稳健”一词可谓用心良苦，是为了寻求一种平衡与引导。由此看来，在翻译“稳健的财政政策”时，除了可使用与“中性财政政策”意义相关的sound一词外，也可以使用prudent这个词，只是用sound更加策略一些。不过就我所知，翻译界也有人认为，“稳健的财政政策”就应该翻译为a prudent fiscal policy。因此，我所倾向使用的a sound fiscal policy也只是一家之言。
三、关于“术语”和某些词组的翻译问题。
我们先来看一段解释“贸易顺差”和“贸易逆差”的文字：A positive balance of trade is known as a trade surplus and consists of exporting more than one imports. A negative balance of trade is known as a trade deficit and consists of importing more than one exports. Neither is necessarily dangerous in modern economies, although large trade surpluses or trade deficits may sometimes be a sign of other economic problems.
trade surplus 和trade deficit在上段文字中是被解释的术语，positive balance of trade是对trade surplus的解释，而negative balance of trade是对trade deficit的解释。有些译者在翻译“贸易顺差”时使用了favorable balance of trade，adverse trade balance，active trade balance等；在翻译“贸易逆差”时使用了unfavorable trade balance等。其中active trade balance的正确性很值得怀疑，其他说法在字典里虽然可以查到，因此不能说是错的，但经常阅读经贸类文章的人都知道，trade surplus和trade deficit是最常用的说法。我们为什么不去使用那些最常用、不太可能引起争议的术语呢？
“积极的财政政策”国内外英文媒体几乎全都使用proactive fiscal policy，而参赛译文使用positive financial policy和active fiscal policy的情况却大有人在，由于financial和fiscal在概念上是有区别的，因此positive financial policy能够被接受的可能性微乎其微；active fiscal policy虽然间或在网上见得到，但其是否规范也值得怀疑。“稳健的财政政策”国内英文媒体大多使用prudent fiscal policy，国外英文媒体或使用prudent fiscal policy，或使用sound fiscal policy；而在谈论中国以外国家的经济时，大多使用sound fiscal policy。参赛译文中对“稳健的财政政策”的翻译可谓五花八门，如steady financial policy，steady fiscal policy，moderate fiscal policy，steady and healthy fiscal policy，stable financial policy等，这些用法应该说都不够妥当。另外，对“民间投资”（如译为folk investment，non-governmental investment，civilian investment）和“消费率”（如译为consumer spending rate，consuming rate）等短语的翻译也都有些问题。
四、基础英语不扎实的问题。
以下是大家译文中出现的有关基础英语方面的问题：
1. As China joined the World Trade Organization, the difference between its export and import are diminishing.（首先是意思不够准确，还有个difference后面加are的小错误。）
2. We often compare investment, exportation and consumption as three carriages that mainly fuel China's economic growth during these years.（compare和as通常不搭配使用。）
3. To begin with the exportation, thanks to accession to WTO, the quantitative gap between import and export is getting shrink, even at first half of this year the trade deficit has briefly appeared first time in history.（整个句子词不达意，To begin with the exportation, thanks to accession to WTO和export is getting shrink的表述都是错误的。）
4. The media reports that through executing steady and healthy fiscal policy in 2005, the issuance of national debt will reduce 30 billion RMB in comparison with this year’s.（姑且不谈其他错误，reduce后面应加上介词by。）
5. the issuance of national debt will decrease RMB 30 billion yuan compared with this year. (错误性质同上，decrease 后面应加上介词by。)
6. a large amount of national debts have been issued, which makes the government investment plays a leading parts in the overall investment.（plays 和parts中的两个s都应去掉。）
7. Let’s take export as first. With China’s access to WTO, the gap between export and import is gradually diminishing, ……（Let’s take export as first和With China’s access to WTO的说法都有问题。）
8. It is reported by medias that in 2005, after the stable and healthy financial policy is carried out, the issued national debt will be less 30billion than the year of 2004, and the investment of national debt will be reduced 30 billion directly.（media 的复数是mediae，其实根本没有必要使用该词，说It is reported that即可。the issued national debt应改为national debts to be issued in 2005，不过national debts涵盖范围更广一些。）
9. By now, the expenditure rate has dropped to the lowest point of 55.4% since 25 years ago in China. (expenditure rate应改为consumption rate，没有since 25 years ago这样的说法。)
10. The consuming rate in our country now has fallen down to 55.4%, the lowest point in last 25 years. （应去掉down一词。）
还有些错误属粗心大意所致，例如：
1. At present, China’s consumption rate has drop to 55.4%, which is the bottom of the past 25 years.
2. In conclusion, how to stimulate consumption has become one of the most serious challenge facing our government.
五、给大家的一点儿建议。
本次翻译比赛涉及到一些经济方面的术语，如果我们经常阅读一些英语经贸类文章，就不会对它们感到陌生，也就会在翻译时将它们信手拈来。诸如trade deficit，trade surplus，net export，treasury bonds以及consumption rate等术语，在今天的商品经济社会中，早已跳出了“专业”的范畴，成为了人们应该了解的常识的一部分。阅读经贸类文章还可以使我们熟悉一些与数字相关的表达，例如在表达“增长”时，英语可使用的词汇就有很多，如increase, rise, grow, jump, leap, soar, amount to, shoot up, skyrocket等等；表示“减少或下跌”的词汇也很多，如decrease, fall, reduce, drop, slide, slip, shrink, dip等等。另外“倍数”和“百分比”等的表达在我们翻译经贸类文章时也是个不可能回避的问题。我个人的体会是，我们可以把含有相关表达关键词的句子多收集一些，并对这些句子进行对比研究，这样就能从中找到规律，最后达到掌握这些词汇句法表达的目的。只要我们花一点力气做这项工作，就能够在写英语或翻译时知道如何下笔。
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发表于 2005-4-6 08:31:20
发表于 2005-4-6 10:50:37
