浅谈首战CATTI二级笔译的得与失

樊飞玉

【摘要】笔者是MTI在读学生，2015年5月份第一次参加CATTI二级笔译考试，由于犯了很多翻译上的硬伤，导致二笔没能通过。以下内容即是笔者对考试中一些问题的梳理总结，侧重于对第一篇英汉翻译试题进行分析，希望对其他备考CATTI二级笔译的同学有所启发。

【关键词】CATTI考试 翻译策略 翻译技巧

英译汉第一篇：由一场儿童沙堆比赛谈到荷兰的水害治理。

Along a rugged， wide North Sea beach here on a recent day， children formed teams of eight to 10， taking their places beside mounds of sand carefully cordoned by candy-cane striped tape. They had one hour for their sand castle competition.

分析：“rugged”是“陡峭，高低不平”的意思。“cordon”作动词讲是“用警戒线围住”的意思。考试时将“on a recent day”译成了“最近的一天”，其实译成“近日”足以表达清楚。“children formed teams of eight to 10”考试时译成“8-10岁的孩子们按照年龄分成了若干小组”犯了理解上的错误，原句应该是想说“孩子们八人一组，十人一队”。在翻译“taking ones place”时，没来得及查字典核实，翻译成了“各自站在……旁边”其实“take ones place”有“就位”的意思，若翻译成“各就各位”更好。最后一句话里有一个时间段理解的问题：他们是已经比赛完了呢还是站在那里准备等待比赛开始呢？如果按后者理解的话，似乎应译成“他们要在1小时内完成堆沙堡的比赛”。

Then they watched the sea invade and devour their work， seeing whose castle could withstand the tide longest. The last standing flag won.

分析：seeing伴随状语，笔者觉得承前翻译比较妥当，所以没有断句。“withstand”是“抵御，承受，顶住”的意思，这句话可译为“看谁的沙堡在潮水中持续的时间最久”。“The last standing flag won”可变通表达成 “沙堡上小旗最后倒下的那组获胜”。

This was no ordinary day at the beach， but a newly minted， state-sanctioned competition for schoolchildren to raise awareness of the dangers of rising sea levels in a country of precarious geography that has provided lessons for the world about water management， but that fears that its next generation will grow complacent.

分析：考试时将“no ordinary at beach”译成了“沙滩上的这一天不同寻常”。或许翻译成“孩子们在海滩上度过的这一天意义非凡”更好。经分析可知，“but that fears that”中的第一个“that”应该是“country”的先行词在后面定语从句中做主语，因此正确理解似乎是“国家担心他的下一代会变得骄傲自满起来”。“fear”一词除了“恐惧，害怕”的意思，还有“担忧，唯恐”之意，用在这里恰恰合适。

As global climate change threatens to raise sea levels by as much as four feet by the end of the century， the authorities here are working to make real to children the forecasts that may seem far-off， but that will shape their lives in adulthood and old age.

分析：“make real to sb.”意思是“使某人清楚...”考试时将“that may seem far-off”中的“that”误判为关系代词引导定语从句了，现在想来make real to sb...that应该是引导宾语从句并与后面“but that will shape ...”连起来翻译才对。“shape”翻译成“塑造”不妥，似乎可变通翻译成“影响”。

Before the competition， the children， ages 6 to 11， were coached by experts in dike building and water management. Volunteers stood by， many of them freshly graduated civil engineers， giving last-minute advice on how best to battle the rising water.

分析：“stand by”有“支持，做好准备”的意思，不应该想当然翻译成“站在一旁”。另外，当时认为“last-minute advice”应该是“重要建议”的意思，查牛津字典得知：last-minute 意思是最后一分钟才完成（或决定、安排好）的；紧急关头的.

A recently released report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development on water management in the Netherlands pointed to an “awareness gap” among Dutch citizens.

分析：“Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development on water management in the Netherlands”意思是“经济合作与发展组织”另外 “awareness gap”直译成“意识鸿沟”不妥，“gap”有一层意思是“分歧；隔阂；差距”，因此似乎可翻译成“意识分歧”

通过参加这次考试，笔者反思了很多，深切体会到翻译水平的提高真的是“冰冻三尺，非一日之寒”，想要成为一名译者，必须付出极大的努力。CATTI二笔备考之路任重而道远，笔者会愈挫愈勇，一直坚强地走下去，相信在不久的将来一定能通过CATTI二笔考试。

参考文献：

[1]连淑能.英汉对比研究[M].北京：高等教育出版社，2010.

[2]刘宓庆.文体与翻译[M].北京：中国对外翻译出版公司，1998.

[3]孙致礼.翻译：理论与实践探索[M].译林出版社，1999.9.