翻译考试经验：如何运用替代手法（2）

翻译考试经验：如何运用替代手法（2）

　例6．The delta and the narrow Nile Valley to the south make up only 3 percent of Egypt’s land but are home to 96 percent of her population. (National Geographic)

　　例7．Have you ever been at sea in a dense fog, when it seemed as if a tangible white darkness shut you in, and the great ship, tense and anxious, groped her way toward the shore with plummet and sounding-line and you waited with beating heart for something to happen? (Helen Keller, The Story of My Life)

　　例8．现阶段中国已经实现了粮食基本自给，在未来的发展过程中，中国依靠自己的力量实现粮食基本自给，客观上具备诸多有利因素。

　　China has basically achieved self-sufficiency in grain at the present stage, and there are many favorable objective factors for her to maintain such achievement by her own efforts in the course of future development.

　　例9．社会主义中国应该用实践向世界表明，中国反对霸权主义、强权政治，永不称霸。

　　Socialist China should show the world through its actions that it is opposed to hegemonism and power politics and will never seek hegemony.

　　这种用she（her）指国家和船只的用法由来已久，现在指国家，倒是用it（its）的较为多见。Michael Swan所着Practical English Usage 《英语用法指南》第227条对这一问题作了详细的说明。

　　还有一种现象值得注意，那就是用they指单数。2004年出版的《牛津高阶英汉双解词典》（第6版）有这样的例句：

　　例10．Everyone must accept their share of the blame. (见share条)

　　例11．Should anyone call (= if anyone calls), please tell them I’m busy. (见should条)

　　例12．Everyone’s entitled to their own opinion. (见entitle条)

　　用they指单数就可避免he or she之类的累赘说法。上述《英语用法指南》第505条也对这一问题作了详细的说明。

　　以上谈了代词的用法。其实，避免重复的办法很多，也不限于使用代词。

　　英国语言学家Randolph Quirk等四位学者合编的A Grammar of Contemporary English 在关于Substitution一节中指出：不仅名词短语可以有代称，状语、谓语乃至宾语从句，都可以有代称。该书把用作代称的替代词统称为pro-forms。书中举了许多例子，如：

　　We saw John at eight on Monday evening. We told him then that we would be coming to the party.

　　Look in the top drawer. You’ll probably find it there.

　　A: John drives a car.         B: I think Bob does too.转自:考试网 - [Examw.Com]

　　A: John drives a car.         B: So does Bob.

　　Oxford is likely to win the next boat race. All my friends say so. (= that Oxford is likely to win the next boat race)

　　以上例子中的then，there，does，so does，so都可以说是pro-forms。