Translation is generally regarded as either an elementary or an overly complex exercise. Too often it is regarded as merely a ma

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问题    Translation is generally regarded as either an elementary or an overly complex exercise. Too often it is regarded as merely a matter of individual preference, hence warranting little general discussion, unless one engages in professional translation, new technology for it, applied linguistics, or the like. Having read recent publications in several fields and talked with colleagues, I beg to differ.
   Before raising the issues, let us agree on the obvious. Decisions on the mode of translation often involve several dimensions. First, the choice of style: should the translation be literal, permissibly free, rendered quite lyrical, given an extended nuance for clarity or emphasis, stretched somewhat to go along with a certain interpretation, and so on? Another aspect is that of cross-cultural perspective: how to indicate something in one culture by a counterpart in another, across the barriers of respective cultural contexts? (E. g. , should the old Chinese elite be called "the gentry" ?) A third and related dimension may appear; how to adjust a translated term to fit a given discipline? (E. g. , can "training" in an earlier translation now read "socialization," in the interest of mid-twentieth century sociology or even political science?) A fourth dimension is whether or not to make a temporal adjustment; e. g. , should a piece in classical Japanese be translated in old English or current English? A fifth dimension is something like the Heisenberg Principle of Uncertainty in physics. When one particular meaning of a word gets pinned down, this imparts other connotations or implications.
   There are yet other dimensions, but enough said. Let us agree that choosing one way to translate does not necessarily imply rejecting others. We know all about that; we ponder over the dimensions; we struggle with the options, and we make hard decisions. But that is not the point!
   How often do we spell out this thinking process, enabling our readers to quickly fathom whither we are headed? Or rather, do we leave them to figure out, if they wish, not only what we do but how we have done it? This falls short of effective communication, not to mention the time wastefully spent retracing one’s footsteps without a map.
   The questions that need to be raised are these: Can we try to encourage more authors who publish considerable amounts of translation to add some brief explanation of their thinking process behind it, either as a whole or on particular passages? Would it be desirable to stress the same in graduate training? Attention to these matters will help.
When we translate the Chinese word "龙" into "dragon" , the technique used can very possibly be regarded as an instance in the______dimension as described by the author.

选项 A、1st
B、3rd
C、4th
D、5th

答案D

解析 推理判断题。中国的龙和西方的“dragon”的含义并不完全相同,不属于第二种翻译模式,即用一种相似物代替另一种。这两者都有各自的固有含义,翻译时带有一种不确定性,即赋予了西方的“dragon”新的含义,即“龙”。这符合第五种翻译模式,故答案为[D]项。
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