The lives of most men are determined by their environment. They accept the circumstances amid which fate has thrown them not onl

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问题     The lives of most men are determined by their environment. They accept the circumstances amid which fate has thrown them not only with resignation but even with good will. They are like streetcars running contentedly on their rails and they despise the cheap car that dashes in and out of the traffic and speeds so cheerfully across the open country. I respect them; they are good citizens, good husbands, and good fathers, and of course somebody has to pay the taxes; but I do not find them exciting. I am fascinated by the men, few enough in all conscience, who take life in their own hands and seem to mould it to their own liking. It may be that we have no such thing as free will, but at all events we have the illusion of it. At a crossroad it does seem to us that we might go either to the right or the left and, the choice once made, it is difficult to see that the whole course of the world’s history obliged us to take the turning we did.

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答案 他们在命运的拨弄面前,不仅逆来顺受,甚至还能随遇而安。这些人犹如街上的有轨电车,满足于在自己的轨道上行驶;而对于那些不时出没于车水马龙间和欢快地奔驰在旷野上的廉价小汽车却不屑一顾。我尊重这些人;他们是好公民、好丈夫、好父亲。当然,总得有人缴纳种种税款;可是,我并不觉得他们使人振奋。另外有些人把生活掌握在自己手里,似乎在按照自己的意愿创造生活,尽管这样的人寥若晨星,他们却深深地吸引了我。自由意志这玩意儿对我们来说也许纯属子虚乌有:但不管怎么说,它确实存在于我们的幻想之中。每逢站在十字路口,我们好像能在左右两条道路中任选其一,可一旦选定之后,却又很难认识到那实际是世界历史的整个进程左右了我们的转折点。

解析 1、待译部分第1句中not only with resignation but even with good will修饰accept thecircumstances这个动作,其中resignation显然不是其常见意思“辞职”,而是指“顺从”;good will原意是指“善意,好意”,这里译作“随遇而安”比较符合上下文语境。
2、streetcar是指“有轨电车”;despise意思是“轻视,鄙视”;dash in and out of thetraffic形容急速地出现、消失在(繁忙)交通里,译作“出没于车水马龙间”为佳。
3 in all conscience意思是“当然;公平地讲;的确”,to one’s liking意思是“合…之意”。
4、有了上文的铺垫,free will较容易理解,即“自由意志”。 at all events意思是“无论如何”,illusion指“幻觉,错觉”。在译文中,多次使用了像“寥若晨星”、“子虚乌有”这样的四字成语,不仅达意,而且行文简洁、优雅。
5、oblige sb.to do sth.表示“使某人做某事”;turning指“转弯处,岔道口”。
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