话题原文:
长城被称为中国的奇迹,拥有两千多年的历史。从空中俯瞰,它像一条长龙,从西向东蜿蜒前行,总长约6700公里。从春秋战国时期(the Spring and Autumn Period andWarring States Period)起,各诸侯国开始修建城墙以保护边境。秦朝建立以后,秦始皇把这些城墙连接起来,成为长城。然而,当时的长城大都已经在战争中损毁,而现存的长城主要是明朝时修建的。长城最初是为了抵抗来自北方的侵略,如今已成为旅游胜地,吸引了来自世界各地的游客。有句谚语:“不到长城非好汉”,足以见证长城的雄伟壮观(grandeur)。
参考译文:
The Great Wall,with a history of more than 2,000years,was regarded as a wonder of China.From abird's-eye view,it is just like a dragon winding itselffrom west to east,stretching for approximately6,700 kilometers.Since the Spring and AutumnPeriod and the Warring States Period,the walls had been put up to defend the borders by thekingdoms.After the founding of Qin Dynasty,Qin Shi Huang had all the walls joined together tomake "The Great Wall".While most of the walls were ruined in wars,the majority of the GreatWall we see today was mainly built during Ming Dynasty.The Great Wall,originally built to resistthe invasion from the North,now has become a well-known place of interest,attracting touristsfrom all over the world.As a saying goes,"He who has never been to the Great Wall is not a trueman",which is evidence of its grandeur.
1.第二句中的“从西向东蜿蜓前行,总长约6700公里”,描述的主语都是“它”—长城,故用现在分词短语winding...stretching...作状语,对长城做进一步说明;“总长”可在stretch for后面直接用数字表示。
2.第三句中的“各诸侯国开始修建城墙以保护边境”可译为主动态the kingdoms had built the walls to defend their borders,也可用the walls作主语,使用被动态来表达。
3.例数第二句中的“长城成为旅游胜地”可翻译为英文句的主干,“吸引了来自各界各地的游客”,用现在分词短语attracting...表伴随状况“最初是为了…”处理为过去分词originally built to...作目的状语。
4.最后一句话中,“有句谚语”可使用as a saying goes这一句型;“足以见…”是对谚语的补充说明,可使用which引导的非限制性定语从句。