试题题干
I can pick a date from the past 53 years and know instantly where I was, what happened in the news and even the day of the week. I’ve been able to do this, since I was four.
I never feel overwhelmed with the amount of information my brain absorbs. My mind seems to be able to cope and the information is stored away neatly. When I think of a sad memory, I do what everybody does ---- try to put it to one side. I don’t think it’s harder for me just because my memory is clearer. Powerful memory doesn’t make my emotions any more acute or vivid. I can recall the day my grandfather died and the sadness I felt when we went to the hospital the day before. I also remember that the musical play Hair opened on Broadway on the same day – they both just pop into my mind in the same way.
参考答案
试题解析
1. I can pick a date from the past 53 years and know instantly where I was, what happened in the news and even the day of the week. I’ve been able to do this, since I was four.
解析：第一句是一个含有宾语从句的复合句，结构清晰，但需要把know的宾语部分翻译完整且通顺，包括“我在什么地方，新闻报导了什么，甚至那天是星期几”。其中happened这个词虽然简单，但译成中文时，如果直译为“新闻里发生了什么”就会显得生硬，此处可以进行微调以符合中文的表达习惯。第二句包含一个since引导的时间状语从句，be able to do this译为“有这本事了”，更符合中文的表达习惯。
instantly立即、马上。
2. I never feel overwhelmed with the amount of information my brain absorbs.
解析：absorb吸收。overwhelmed压垮，压倒，淹没。feel overwhelmed with意为“由于…而受不了或不知所措”，省略关系词的定语从句my brain absorbs作后置定语修饰information。翻译时，需要将含有定语从句的部分前移，使表达信息完整又符合中文要求，故译为“因为脑子吸收大量信息而受不了”。
3. My mind seems to be able to cope and the information is stored away neatly.
解析：句中的难点在于对于cope和neatly的准确表达，译文把cope译成“应付”比“处理”更合适。而对于neatly，如果直译为“整齐地，整洁地”，会显得不通顺，因此根据语境，译为“有条有理”，表达显得更为流畅。
4. When I think of a sad memory, I do what everybody does---try to put it to one side. I don’t think it’s harder for me just because my memory is clearer. Powerful memory doesn’t make my emotions any more acute or vivid.
解析：第一句是含有时间状语从句的复合句，结构清晰，易于理解。短语think of a sad memory在译文中应避开“想起”和“回忆”的重复表达，应译为“回想起一件悲伤的事情”，使表述通顺自然。第二句的译文将because引导的原因状语从句按照中文常用语序进行了调整，将位置前移，使表述清楚。第三句的结构难度不大，难点在于两个修饰emotions的形容词acute和vivid，若直译为“敏锐的”和“生动的”，则在中文中都很难与“情绪”或“感情”合理搭配，因此在翻译时需要根据语意和搭配对这两个词稍作调整，译为“使我的情感更为强烈或更为鲜明”。
5.I can recall the day my grandfather died and the sadness I felt when we went to the hospital the day before.
解析：recall回忆起，回想起。句子主干为I can recall the day and the sadness.省略引导词的定语从句my grandfather died作后置定语修饰the day，省略引导词的定语从句I felt修饰sadness。本句含有两个定语从句，来修饰recall的两个宾语the day和the sadness，翻译时需要注意句意的完整性。
6. I also remember that the musical play Hair opened on Broadway on the same day---they both just pop into my mind in the same way.
解析：前半句结构清晰，翻译时要注意两个要点，一个是opened，本句中译为“首演”比较准确；另一个要点是on the same day这个短语体现作者超强的记忆力，使他能同时记住不同的事情，因此在翻译时不能遗漏。第二句后半部分的结构简单，但难点在于细节的处理上，pop into my mind表现事件进入大脑的速度快，译为“在我脑海里突然出现”可把这个意思表示出来，在处理in the same way这个短语时，译文“…的方式没什么两样”，既能准确传达原文的意义，又符合中文表达的习惯。musical play音乐剧；Hair《毛发》(1968年上演，是对美国百老汇音乐剧的颠覆，获得托尼奖)；Broadway百老汇；pop突然出现。