2. 外语
  3. If people mean anything at all by the expression "untimely death", they must believe that some deaths ran on a better schedule t

If people mean anything at all by the expression "untimely death", they must believe that some deaths ran on a better schedule t

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问题     If people mean anything at all by the expression "untimely death", they must believe that some deaths ran on a better schedule than others. Death in old age is rarely called untimely—a long life is thought to be a full one. But with the passing of a young person, one assumes that the best years lay ahead and the measure of that life was still to be taken.
    History denies this, of course. Among prominent summer deaths, one recalls those of Marilyn Monroe and James Dean, whose lives seemed equally brief and complete. Writers cannot bear the fact that poet John Keats died at 26, and only half playfully judge their own lives as failures when they pass that year. The idea that the life cut short is unfulfilled is illogical because lives are measured by the impressions they leave on the world and by their intensity and virtue.
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答案 如果人们对于“英年早逝”等字眼意有所指的话，必然是相信有些人是“寿终正寝”，有些人则死得“还不是时候”。高龄仙逝是极少被称为“早逝”的，因为人们认为，长寿就意味着一生圆满。但是如果是年轻人去世，人们会说他还未到人生最辉煌的时刻，生命的价值还有待挖掘。 然而历史却很自然地否定了这个观点。说到那些著名人物的英年早逝，人们不禁会想起玛丽莲?梦露和詹姆斯?迪恩，他们两人都拥有短暂而完整的一生。同样地，作家们一直难以接受诗人约翰?济慈26岁就去世的事实。所以他们在26岁之后，便不无戏谑地感叹自己一生无所作为。这种将人生短暂等同于壮志未酬的看法不合逻辑，因为生命的价值取决于它留给世界的印象，取决于它丰富的情感和高尚的品质。
解析 1、本段文字围绕“英年早逝”进行论述，观点鲜明，用词规范严谨，考生翻译时需注意其论证的逻辑性和层次性。
2、第1段第1句的some deaths run on a better schedule than others可直译为“一些人的死亡进度安排优于其他人的死亡进度”，现译为“有些人是‘寿终正寝’，有些人则死得‘还不是时候’”调整了主语，语义上亦做了变通，可读性较强。
3、第1段第3句的with the passing of a young person中，passing是death的委婉表达；with表示条件。
4、第1段第3句的the best years可译为“人生最辉煌的时刻”、“人生的巅峰”或“人生的黄金时代”。
5、第2段第1句的History denies this中，this指上文论及的“英年早逝不值得，唯有高龄去世此生才圆满”的观点，译文据此有增译。
6、第2段第2句的prominent summer deaths意即deathl s of those prominent people whodied in their best years，故可译为“那些著名人物的英年早逝”，其中，summer用来比喻人处于生命力旺盛的壮年。
7、第2段第3句的half playfully可译为“不无戏谑”或“半开玩笑半当真”，其中，half意为a little。
8、最后一句的unfulfilled有“未实现的，未达到的”之义，此处译作“壮志未酬”，表达典雅。intensity在此处指“生活的激情”。
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