Dear Sir,
I am writing in regard to employment with your firm. I have a BS from USC and Ph D in physics from the California Institute of Technology.
In my previous position I was in charge of research and development for the Harrington Chemical Company. We did work in thermonuclear energy, laser beam refraction, hydrogen molecule development, and heavy-water computer data.
Several of our research discoveries have been adapted for commercial use, and one particular breakthrough in linear hydraulics is now being used by every oil company in the country.
Because of a cutback in defense orders, the Harrington Company decided to shut down its research and development department. It is for this reason I am available for immediate employment.
Hoping to hear from you in the near future, I remain Sincerely yours, Edward Kase
DEAR Mr. Kase,
We regret to inform you that we have no positions available for someone of your excellent qualifications. The truth of the matter is that we find you are \might offer you in our organization. Thank you for thinking of us, and if anything comes up in the future, we will be getting in touch with you. yours truly, Merriman Haselbald
Administrative Vice-President Personnel Director
Jessel International Systems Crewcut, Mich.
Dear Sir,
I am applying for a position with your company in any responsible capacity. I have had a college education and have fiddled around in research and development. Occasionally we have come up with some moneymaking ideas. I would be willing to start off at a minimal salary to prove my value to your firm. Sincerely yours, Edward Kase
DEAR MR. KASE,
Thank you for your letter of the 15th. Unfortunately we have no positions at the moment for someone with a college education. Frankly it is the feeling of everyone here that you are \could make full use of your talents. It was kind of you to think of us. Hardy Landsdowne Personnel Dept. To Whom It May Concern Geis & Waterman Inc. Ziegfried, Ill. DEAR SIR,
I'd like a job with your outfit. I can do anything you want me to. You name it Kase will do it. 9I ain't got no education and no experience, but I'm strong and I got money and I get along great with people. I'm ready to start any time because I need the bread. Let me know when you want me. Cheers
Kdward Kase Dear Mr. Kase,
You are just the person we have been looking for. We need a truck driver, and your qualifications are perfect for us. You can begin working in our Westminster Plant on Monday. Welcome aboard. Carson Peters Personnel
Passage Four Chinese to English Translation 我为乘客服务
李素丽
有一次,在拥挤的车厢门口,我听见一位男乘客客客气气地问他前面的一个女乘客:\您下车吗 \女乘客没理他.\你下车吗 \他又问了一遍.女乘客还是没理他.\下车吗 \他耐不住了,放大声问.那女乘客依然没反应.\你是聋子,还是哑巴 \他急了,捅了一下那位女乘客.女乘客这时也急了,瞪起一双眼睛,回手给了男乘客一拳.
见此情景,我猛然想起在60路沿线上有家福利工厂,女乘客可能就是个聋哑人,听不见声音.我赶忙向男乘客作了解释,又用纸条写了一句话,举到女乘客的眼前:\对不起!他要下车.他问您好几声,您是不是没听见 \女乘客点了点头,把道让开了.
从此以后,我就特别注意聋哑人的特征,还从他们那里学会了一些常见的手语.比如,我可以用哑语问他们:\朋友,您好!\您到哪里下车 \您请往里走!\谢谢\等等.这样,不仅我能更好地为他们服务,与他们进行感情交流,也减少了一些他们与其他乘客的误会和纠纷. Passage Five Science Oil
There are three main groups of oils: animals, vegetable and mineral. Great quantities of animal oil come from whales, those enormous creatures of the sea which are the largest remaining animals in the world. To protect the whale from the cold of the Arctic seas, nature has provided it with a thick covering of fat called blubber. When the whale is killed, the blubber is stripped off and boiled down, either on board ship or on shore. It produces a great quantity of oil which can be made into food for human consumption. A few other creatures yield oil, but none so much as the whale. The livers of the cod and the halibut, two kinds of fish, yield nourishing oil. Both cod liver oil and halibut liver oil are given to sick children and other invalids who need certain vitamins. These oils may be bought at any chemist's.
Vegetable oil has been known from antiquity. No household can get on without it, for it is used in cooking. Perfumes may be made from the oils of certain flowers. Soaps are made from vegetable and animal oils.
To the ordinary man, one kind of oil may be as important as another. But when the politician or the engineer refers to oil, he almost always means mineral oil, the oil that drives tanks, aeroplanes and warships, motor-cars and diesel locomotives, the oil that is used to lubricate all kinds of machinery. This is the oil that has changed the life of the common man. When it is refined into petrol it is used to drive the internal combustion engine. To it we owe the existence of the motor-car, which has replaced the private carriage drawn by the horse. To it we owe the possibility of flying. It has changed the methods of warfare on land and sea. This kind of oil comes out of the
earth. Because it burns well, it is used as fuel and in some ways it is superior to coal in this respect. Many big ships now burn oil instead of coal. Because it burns brightly, it is used for illumination; countless homes are still illuminated with oil-burning lamps. Because it is very slippery, it is used for lubrication. Two metal surfaces rubbing together cause friction and heat; but if they are separated by a thin film of oil, the friction and heat are reduce. No machine would work for long if it were not properly lubricated. The oil used for this purpose must be of the correct thickness; if it is too thin it will not give sufficient lubrication, and if it is too thick it will not reach all parts that must be lubricated. Passage Six Economy A Global Economy
President Clinton realized--as all of us must--that today's economy is global. We live in an era in which information, goods and capital speed around the globe, every hour of every day. Whether we like it or not, all of our fortunes are tied together. We are truly interdependent.
America supports international trade because we believe fundamentally that trade will enrich those nations who embrace its discipline. The great promise of trade is its potential to promote mutual prosperity--and to strengthen the bonds between sovereign nations.
The U.S. and China both demonstrate the potential of trade to improve the lives of our people. You know better than I the great achievements of the Chinese economy over the past two decades. In 1977, the sum total of Chinese imports and exports was less than $ 15 billion, putting China's share of world trade at 0.6 percent. The most population country in the world, China ranked a distant 30th among exporting nations. By 1993 China's exports and imports totaled nearly $200 billion. China had become the world's tenth largest exporter.
Since 1978, when China began opening its economy to increased foreign investment and trade, aggregate output has more than doubled. The strongest growth has occurred in the coastal areas near Hong Kong and opposite Taiwan, where foreign investment and modern production methods have spurred production of both domestic and export goods. Per capita GNP has grown at an average rate of 7.6% from 1980-1992.
Passage Seven News
Hijacked Jets Destroy Twin Towers and Hit pentagon By Serge Schmemann
Hijackers rammed jetliners into each of New York's World Trade Center towers yesterday, toppling both in a hellish storm of ash, glass, smoke and leaping victims, while a third jetliner crashed into the Pentagon in Virginia.
The attacks seemed carefully coordinated. The hijacked planes were all en route to California, and therefore gorged with fuel, and their departures were spaced within an hour and 40 minutes.
The first, American Airlines Flight 11, a Boeing 767 out of Boston for Los Angeles, crashed into the north tower at 8:48 a.m. Eighteen minutes later, United Airlines Flight 175, also headed from Boston to Los Angeles, plowed into the south tower.
Then a Los Angeles-bound American Airlines Boeing 757 left Washington's Dulles International Airport, but instead hit the western part of the Pentagon, the military headquarters where 24,000 people work, at 9:40 a.m.
Finally, United Airlines Flight 93, a Boeing 757 flying from Newark to San Francisco, crashed near Pittsburgh, raising the possibility that its hijackers had failed in whatever their mission was. …
New York Times, September 12, 2001 补充课外阅读材料: 英汉翻译中的文化障碍
翻译是信息的语际转换过程,目的在于将原文的思想内容原原本本地用译人语重新表达出来.译者必须在两种语言中找到等值部分,不仅文字要等同,风格和色彩等方面也要等同.若想忠实转达原文作者的思想,使译入语读者获得与源语读者\大致相同的感受\范仲英,1997:37),就必须充分注意源语的文化因素对原文意义的影响,从而对原文有深透的理解.译者的文化背景知识越丰富,对原文的文化内涵了解得越多,译文的表达才会越准确,越完美.
语言是文化的载体,是文化的结晶.文化\制约着语言形式,它不断地将自己的精髓注入到语言之中,成为语言的文化内涵,成为语言表现的基本内容\李润新,1998:140).语言的文化内涵涉及到一个民族的政治,经济,社会,历史,风俗,习惯等各个方面,是一个民族知识,经验,信仰,价值,态度,等级,宗教以及时空概念的总合.文化差异必然导致语言所反映事物和观念的差异,这就使翻译和文化密切联系起来,因而翻译不可避免地要涉及到文化因素.
一般说来,文化有表层和深层两个层面.在跨文化交流中,表层文化交流比较容易进行,因为它只涉及到文化的物质方面;而深层文化则较难沟通与交流,因为它涉及人们的精神生活,包括价值标准,心理习惯,思维方式,观念定势等.译者如何阐释英语原文所传达的深层文化信息,在很大程度上受其母语文化环境的制约.换句话说,母语文化给予他的经验可能会使他不理解乃至曲解原文所传达的文化信息.这是因为他从母语中习得的经验往往并不与源语文化重合,而这不重合的部分恰好就是翻译的陷阱.如果没有文化意识,译者随时都有掉进陷阱的危险. 所谓文化意识,是指译者认识到翻译是信息的语际交流活动,文化差异跟文字差异一样可能会成为交流的障碍.在进行语言文字转换的同时,还要注意克服文化差异造成的障碍,以保证信息交流的顺利实现.为此,译者不仅要精通源语和译入语这两种语言,还要了解语言文字背后的诸多文化现象,知道在每一具体情况下如何处理文化差异和文化障碍.缺乏文化意识的译者,可能只注意字面上的转换而忽略了文字背后的文化问题,或者用母语的文化经验去曲解源语信息,因而会导致种种误译现象的发生.正如美国翻译理论家尤金·奈达曾指出的:\对于真正成功的翻译而言,熟悉两种文化甚至比掌握两种语言更为重要,因为词语只有在其作用的文化背景中才
有意义\译者在分析原文时必须考虑每个翻译单位可能包含的文化意蕴. 概括起来,造成误译的文化障碍可分为以下几种情况: 1.传统文化观念所造成的翻译障碍
英汉两个民族的传统文化观念存在着很大差异.英语中表示\全身湿透,湿而可怜\的成语是a drowned rat,汉语中则用\落汤鸡\而不是\落汤老鼠\英语中\只是三种普通的植物,而汉语中\松竹梅\则被称为\岁寒三友\是\执着和无所畏惧\的象征.英语中dragon是一种凶残肆虐的怪物,英语故事中总是某个英雄把dragon打败或杀死;而汉语中\龙\则是皇帝的象征.因此汉语成语中有\望子成龙\龙驹凤雏\龙飞凤舞\as dragons and phoenixes fly in the sky).英国人对dog有着特殊的感情,认为它是人类最忠实的朋友,所以英语中与dog有关的语句大多为褒义,如:lucky dog\幸运儿\凡人皆有得意日\爱屋及乌\老人学不会新东西\与之相反,汉语文化中\狗\是一种卑微的动物,因而常见于贬义词语,如\走狗,看家狗,狗腿子,狗急跳墙,狗仗人势,狼心狗肺,狗嘴里吐不出象牙\等.英语习语中\猫\常被用来比喻\包藏祸心的女人\而中国人则十分喜爱猫,\馋猫\虽然比喻人的\贪嘴\但却带有亲呢的成分.
英汉两个民族对于同一事物的联想意义大不相同.英国人常把red与\危险\联系在一起,比如
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