八级英译汉假期作业及答案.doc

Passage 1 He stood out splendidly above all my uncles because he did not stand out at all. That was his distinction. He was the average man I ever knew.You would never pick him out in a crowd. He became just another man the minute he was in one. So many more pounds of man. Good solid pounds, but just pounds. You would never remember his hair or his chin, or the shape of his ears. If he said something, you would agree with it, and, an hour later, you would be sure you had said it yourself.Sometimes I think men like that get along about the best. They are the easiest on their houses, their wives, and their children. They are easiest on the world. They slide along without having to do anything about it as small boys do on their breeches after they have slid on them enough to wear them down smooth. The world is all so much pine needles under them. 在我的众多的叔叔大爷中，他是最突出的一个，原因就在于他从不突出自己。这就是他与众不同之处。他是我见过的最普通的人。他在人群里一点也不显眼。他一混入人海就和周围的人没什么两样子，他长得敦敦实实，体重超过常人许多磅，但也仅此而已。你永远也想不起他的头发是什么颜色，他的下巴、耳朵是什么样子。如果他说些什么，你会表示同意，过一个小时，你就会觉得这话就是你自己说的。有时我想，正是这种人才活得轻松自在。他们对住房、对妻子、对儿女总是那么宽宏大量，从不挑剔。他们是世界上最宽容的人。他们总是那么顺其自然地活着，从不为任何事情操心，就像小孩子坐滑梯把裤裆磨破了也不在乎。这个世界就像铺在身子底下的松针一样，柔软舒适。Passage 2Usually the things we dream of, then work and struggle for, are what we value most. Have my granddaughters, blessed with abundance, been denied lifes real pleasures?Working tirelessly on that isolated farm, my grandfather taught me that we should accept and be grateful for what we have whether it be much or little. We must bear the burdens and relish the joys. There is so much we cannot control, but we must try to make things better when we are able. We must depend upon ourselves to make our own way as best as we can.Growing up in a comfortable suburban home, my granddaughters have been presented with a different situation. But I hope I believe they will in their own way be able to cope with as well as my grandfather coped, and learn the lesson my grandfather taught me all those years ago. On the day I took them to Storvassdal, I hope they would somehow understand the importance of the little boat and its simple message of self-reliance.High in the mountain, I hesitated to speak lest I disturb our tranquility. Then Claire looked up and broke my reverie as she said softly, “Grandpa, someday Ill come back.” She paused. “And Ill bring my children.”我们梦寐以求以及后来又为之努力奋斗的东西，往往正是我们最珍视的东西。我的孙女们有幸过上了丰裕的生活但她们是否没享受到生活的真正乐趣呢？ 外公在那个偏僻的农场孜孜不倦地干活，他教导我应该随遇而安，知足常乐不论是多是少。我们必须吃苦耐劳，乐观快活。许多事我们都无法把握，不过我们必须尽力改善一切。一定要依靠自己竭尽全力走自己的路。我的孙女们是在市郊的舒适住宅里长大的，她们面临一个迥然不同的环境。不过我希望我相信她们能够像我外公一样以自己的方式应付一切，而且能够领会到多年前外公对我的教益。那天我带她们去斯托瓦司戴尔湖，就是希望她们会悟出小船的重要性以及它所表达的简明道理：自力更生。在高高的山上，我迟迟不说话，惟恐搅乱了我们的宁静。后来，克莱尔抬起头来打断了我的沉思，她轻轻地说：“爷爷，总有一天我要回来。”她顿了顿又说：“我还要带我的孩子来。”Passage 3Pete Sampras started playing tennis young and makes no plans to stop anytime soon. The man who has a calm demeanor, boyish shyness and the looks of a star proves again and again what so many players, critics and fans cant deny: he can win, and always does. In 1990, when Sampras was only 19 years old and seeded twelfth in the U.S. Open, he slammed his way into the finals and became the youngest man to win the tournament. And we all knew after that first Grand Slam victory there would be no looking back.Over the years, the quiet giant has gone on to win eleven more Grand Slams: six Wimbledons, three more U.S. Opens, and two Australian Opens. Samprass most beloved titles have come on the grasses of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. In 1993, he won his first Wimbledon title, and since that year, has gotten to and won in every final, except for a quarterfinal defeat by in 1996. He is the winningest man at Wimbledon in the Open Era and is one championship away from tying the all time record of seven titles that was set in the late 1800s. The historic grounds of Wimbledon and the intimate Center Court has become a home for Sampras, a “cathedra” as he once said. He will undoubtedly go down in the history books as the greatest. 皮特 桑普拉斯年纪轻轻就开始打网球，也没打算在什么时候停止。这个举止沉着、有着孩子般羞涩和一副明星面容的男人一次又一次证明了那么多球员、评论家和球迷无法否认的事实：他能够获胜，并且总是获胜。1990年，在桑普拉斯仅有19岁的时候，他就在美国公开赛被定为第12名种子选手，他一路高奏凯歌闯入决赛，并且成为赢得这项锦标赛冠军中最年轻的一位。于是我们都知道在那次大满贯胜利之后，一切将一发而不可收拾。几年里，这个文静的天才一路胜利，又赢得了11个大满贯：六个温布尔登网球赛冠军、三次美国公开赛冠军以及两项澳大利亚公开赛冠军。桑普拉斯最心爱的头街来自于全英草地网球和 槌球俱乐部的草地网球。1993年，他赢得了第一个温布尔登网球赛冠军头街，并且自从那一年起，除了1996年在四分之一决赛被击败以外，他每一年都进入决赛并夺得冠军。他是温布尔登网球赛在公开赛时代胜率最高的人，并且自19世纪后期以来创下赢得7项冠军记录的惟他一人。温布尔登那有着历史意义的网球场和那块熟悉的中央场地已经变成了桑普拉斯的家园，或者如他曾经说过的“大教堂”。毫无疑问，他将作为最伟大的网球选手，永垂青史。Passage 4 The ocean covers three quarters of the earths surface, produces 90 percent of all its life-supporting oxygen, and is the driving force behind the entire weather system. There are over 450 million cubic miles of sea water on the earth; and each cubic mile contains over 150 million tons of minerals.So vast and so pervasive is the sea that if the earths crust were made level, ocean water would form a blanket over 8,000 feet deep.The oceans contribute immeasurably to the earths life support system as well as provide an untapped storehouse of food, minerals, energy, and archaeological treasure. Advanced atmospheric diving suits permit researchers to descend to depths of 1,500 feet. Yet the oceans average depth is greater than 12,000 feet. It is at these depths that remarkable discoveries are being made, discoveries which only a short time ago would have been impossible.In that depth, where darkness is absolute and pressure exceeds eight tons per square inch, robotic submersibles have discovered enormous gorges, four times deeper than the Grand Canyon. Here, too, are volcanoes that vastly outnumber those on land. Landslides the size of Rhode Island have been recorded, as well as raging undersea storms that go completely unnoticed on the surface while dramatically rearranging the underwater landscapes.海洋占地球表面四分之三。地球上维持生命的氧气，90%产于海洋。海洋也是整个气象系统起潜在作用的推动力。地球上的海水有4亿5千万立方英里，每立方英里含有1亿5千多万吨矿物。海洋如此广阔浩瀚，如果把地球表层填平，海水就可以形成深8000多英尺的覆盖层。海洋对地球上的维持生命系统做出了不可估量的贡献，同时又是一座尚未开发的宝库，储有食物、矿物、能源和具有很大考古价值的东西。先进的常压潜水衣可以使研究人员下沉到1500英尺的深度。但海洋的平均深度超过12，000英尺。现在正是在这个深度人们做出了惊人的发现，这些发现在不久以前是不可能办到的。这个深度的海中完全是漆黑一片，每平方英寸的压力超过8吨，自动操纵潜水器在这里发现了巨大的峡谷，比美国科罗拉多大峡谷深3倍。这里火山之多，大大超过陆地上的火山。据记载，这里曾发生过规模大加美国罗得岛大小的山崩。这里还发生过猛烈的海底风暴，这种风暴在海面上一点也觉察不到，但剧烈地改变着海底景观。Passage 5 It is a curious fact that nine people out of ten become happier when faced with some small misfortune. On my first visit to America, thirty-five years ago, a train in which I was travelling became stuck in a snowdrift so that we did not arrive in New York until a great many hours after all the food on the train had been eaten up. I was beginning to expect that the passengers would draw lots as to who should be eaten, but, far from that, everybody was in the best spirits. People who would have hated each other in ordinary circumstances found each other quite agreeable, and everybody reached an obviously exceptional level of happiness.I observed the same thing in a really bad London fog. An ordinary fog is a mere nuisance, but a fog so bad that you cannot see your own feet brings consolation even to the most melancholic. People begin to speak to complete strangers a thing which in London is not much done. They recall the far worse fogs that they remember in their youth; they tell of friends who got lost at Hyde Park Corner and were only found again by accidentally running into a policeman in quite another part of the town. Everybody laughs, everybody is jolly until the fog clears, when they again become sober, grave and responsible citizens.Unfortunately, this mood, which is appropriate enough for small mishaps that cannot be prevented, is apt to extend itself to large misfortunes that could have been avoided.说来令人费解，遭遇不幸或倒霉的事，人们十有八九倒会显得比平时更快活。35年前，我首次抵达美利坚访问，旅途中遇狂风卷起的大雪堆，火车受阻，长时间不能动弹。随后车上的食物告罄。在火车最后驶抵纽约城之前，中间不知熬过了多少个小时。起初我还以为车上的乘客真的会抽签来决定应当吃谁的肉来充饥呢。然而这种事压根儿没发生。相反，车上的人情绪都特别好，平时会相互厌憎的人们，这时都觉得对方相当和蔼可亲。总之，每个人都进入了一种异乎寻常的快乐境界。同样的情形我在大雾之中的伦敦城也曾见到过。一般的雾天仅给人添烦而已。但一场特大的浓雾，一场伸手不见五指的浓雾，却可使人的心灵得到抚慰。甚至对那些极度郁郁寡欢的人也不例外。浓雾之中，人们与素不相识的人攀谈起来（这种情形在伦敦是鲜见的），他们追忆起年轻时候经历过的更大更浓的雾天，还谈到几个朋友在大雾之中如何在海德公园角走散，又如何在市区的另一地段因巧遇警察而被找到。人人谈笑风生，兴高采烈，直到大雾散去，才又都换上了一副不苟言笑、颇富理智的公民脸孔。意外的倒霉和不信事件发生后，出现这种其乐融融的情调，并不为过。令人遗憾的是，这种情调容易延伸，每每在大灾大祸降临后人们也容易染上这种情绪，何况这些大灾大祸本来还是可以避免发生的。Passage 6 What was the origin of the oil which now drives our motor-cars and aircraft? Scientists are confident about the formation of coal, but they do not seem so sure when asked about oil. They think that the oil under the surface of the earth originated in the distant past, and was formed from living things in the sea. Countless billions of minute sea creatures and plants lived and sank to the sea bed. They were covered with huge deposits of mud, and by processes of chemistry, pressure and temperature were changed through long ages into what we know as oil. For these creatures to become oil, it was necessary that they should be imprisoned between layers of rock for an enormous length of time. The statement that oil originated in the sea is confirmed by a glance at a map showing the chief oilfields of the world; very few of them are far distant from the oceans of today. In some places gas and oil come up to the surface of the sea from its bed. The rocks in which oil is found are of marine origin too. They are sedimentary rocks, rocks which were laid down by the action of water on the bed of the ocean. Almost always the remains of shells, and other proofs of sea life, are found close to the oil. A very common sedimentary rock is called shale, which is a soft rock and was obviously formed by being deposited on the sea bed. And where there is shale there is likely to be oil.我们现在开汽车开飞机使用的石油是怎样形成的呢？科学家确知煤是怎样形成的，但若问到石油是怎样形成的，他们似乎就不那么有把握了。他们认为地下的石油在远古时期就已经开始形成，而且是由海中生物形成的。亿万个数不清的微小动物和植物在海水中生长并沉入海底，上面覆盖着大量沉积的泥沙，由于化学变化、压力和温度等因素，经过漫长的岁月，变成了现在我们所说的石油。这些小动物必须在一层层岩石之间密封起来，经过极长的一段时间才能变成石油。石油是在海里形成的，这种说法，只要看一下世界主要油田分布图，就可以得到证实；在今天，远离海洋的大油田只占极少数。在有些地方，天然气和石油从海底浮上水面。含有石油的岩层也是在海里形成的。这种岩层是沉积岩，是在海水的作用之下沉积在洋底的。在有石油的地方，附近几乎总可以发现贝壳的残片以及海洋生物的其他遗迹。有一种很普通的沉积岩，叫做页岩。这是一种松软的岩石，显然是在海底沉积而成的。凡是有页岩的地方，就可能有石油。Passage 7For me the most interesting thing about a solitary life, and mine has been that for the last twenty years, is that it becomes increasingly rewarding. When I can wake up and watch the sun rise over the ocean, as I do most days, and know that I have an entire day ahead, uninterrupted, in which to write a few pages, take a walk with my dogs, read and listen to music, I am flooded with happiness.I am lonely only when I am overtired, when I have worked too long without a break, when for the time being I feel empty and need filling up. And I am lonely sometimes when I come back home after a lecture trip, when I have seen a lot of people and talked a lot, and am full to the brim with experience that needs to be sorted out.Then for a little while the house feels huge and empty, and I wonder where my self is hiding. It has to be recaptured slowly by watching the plants and, perhaps, by looking again at each one as though it were a person.It takes a while, as I watch the surf blowing up in fountains, but the moment comes when the world falls away, and the self emerges again from the deep unconsciousness, bring back all I have recently experienced to be explored and slowly understood.我在过去的二十年间一直单独生活。单独生活对于我最为有趣的事情是，它的回报越来越多。当我醒来时可以亲眼看着太阳在海洋上升起，多数情况下我都可以这么做，清楚的知道自己有一个完整的新的一天，没有任何间断地供我写上几页东西然后，溜溜狗儿，读读书，听听音乐，我就充满了幸福。只有当我疲惫不堪，长时间不间断地工作或者一时间感到空虚而想充实自己时，孤独感便悄然袭来。有时，我演讲完后回到家中，或者会见了很多人而且说了许多话，满脑子纷乱的头绪有待梳理，这时我也会感到孤独。一时间，屋子变得既空又大，自我也不知藏身之处。只有浇浇花草，也许看看花草，把它们一一当人一样的看看，只有这样，方能慢慢地找回自我。自我的回归需要一段时间。我遥遥望着那犹如喷泉激起的浪花，不一会儿，感到周围的世界慢慢隐退，自我便从无意识深处再次浮现，带回我刚才经历过的一切，供我探究，让我领悟。Passage 8Making a long trip to the supermarket and queuing for hours used to be the normal weekly routine for British and American shoppers. But since the 1990s, there is a better way to get your groceries. Supermarket shopping on the Internet has boomed in the UK and the USA.The major supermarkets have their own websites, and if you order on-line with them, for a small extra sum such as $8 / 5 the supermarkets will do your shopping for you and deliver it to your door. If you shop with them regularly, they will “remember” your favorites items so you can order them next time without searching for th