2008-English Translation by Splitting and Combining for the Postgraduate Entrance Examination

Author: Tang Jing
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2007-02-01
Features: English-Chinese translation is an extremely complex cognitive activity. It not only requires translators to have a certain foundation in English, but also enables them to freely transform between the two languages. In the translation section of the National Master's Entrance Examination, candidates need to translate relatively complex English sentences into accurate and fluent Chinese within a limited time. This often leaves non-English majors with no translation training feeling overwhelmed, but the fierce competition of the entrance exam leaves no room for escape for the vast majority of candidates. The sole purpose of writing this book is to help candidates conduct the most effective systematic study and training, overcome translation difficulties, and pass the exam with high scores. For those who already have a certain foundation in English, it can help them improve their translation skills and refine their English abilities in a relatively short time. For those who feel their English foundation is insufficient, it can help them consolidate their basic translation skills and enhance their English abilities through translation training. Below, the writing features and writing format of the book will be explained separately.
I. Writing Features
This book is a product of translation teaching. Over the years in translation classrooms for English majors and non-English majors, as well as in New Oriental's translation teaching classrooms, I have repeatedly analyzed, explained, summarized, and organized postgraduate entrance examination translation articles and sentences, continuously adjusting them to make them systematic, rational, and simplified. At the same time, the valuable first-hand feedback from many New Oriental students has allowed me to make my translation teaching more engaging and further refine the translation problem-solving strategies I proposed. Specifically, this book has the following features:
1. A uniquely proposed method of splitting and combining for translation. Starting from the analysis of the translation process, the entire transformation process between English and Chinese is simplified into two steps—splitting and combining. Since the sentences in postgraduate entrance examination translation are all long and complex sentences, understanding them is already difficult, and translating them is even more challenging. However, due to the highly rigorous grammatical and logical structures of the English language itself, we can split the sentences of postgraduate entrance examination translation into short translation units by identifying grammatical connection points, thereby simplifying the complexity. If we then use Chinese habits to combine these translated units, the entire translation process is smoothly achieved. This relatively simple and practical translation method undoubtedly enhances the operability of translation, allowing candidates to quickly master the methods of postgraduate entrance examination translation.
2. The results of sentence splitting align with the examination points of postgraduate entrance examination translation. Due to the scoring requirements of postgraduate entrance examination translation, the sentences are often split into several parts under scoring criteria to make subjective questions objective. The methods of splitting postgraduate sentences in the scoring criteria are almost identical to the splitting points I proposed. For this reason, the splitting and combining translation method also provides candidates with a breakthrough in solving postgraduate entrance examination translation.
3. Emphasis on improving the level of systematic translation theory and practice. Admittedly, any English knowledge and skills cannot be mastered overnight, and translation is no exception. Therefore, this book starts with the basics of what translation is and moves on to how to translate; from lexical translation to syntactic translation, supplemented by a large number of translation exercises—90 sentences from the postgraduate entrance examination translation questions from 1990 to 2007, 50 difficult sentence translation exercises, and 10 translation simulation papers (all chapters are accompanied by full translations). In this way, candidates can master systematic translation knowledge while gaining confidence through high-quality translation exercises, allowing them to enter the exam room with ease.
II. Writing Format
The book is divided into 8 chapters. Chapter mainly explains the basic knowledge of postgraduate entrance examination translation, starting from the postgraduate entrance examination translation syllabus and question paper analysis, helping candidates understand what translation is, what postgraduate entrance examination translation is, and clarify the standards and methods of translation. This chapter also provides a relatively comprehensive summary of the splitting and combining translation method, allowing candidates to understand how to conduct translation exercises from the beginning and enabling them to use this simple problem-solving step more flexibly in later exercises, achieving a "sublime" translation level in the exam. Chapters 2 and 3 mainly explain basic translation techniques, including lexical translation and syntactic translation. Candidates have long been afraid of the problem of "not having enough words to translate well," but they can find solutions through translation techniques such as word choice and extension. At the same time, all translation techniques are supported by classic translation examples, and all example translations are as simple and clear as possible for easy comprehension.
Chapter 4 provides a detailed explanation of all postgraduate entrance examination translation questions from 1990 to 2006. This is the core part of the book. This section analyzes every sentence in detail, including sentence splitting, vocabulary explanation, and how to combine them into accurate and fluent Chinese translations using Chinese habits and translation techniques. It is recommended that candidates translate the sentences themselves before reading the explanations, which can quickly consolidate the translation techniques learned earlier, master translation methods, and improve their English proficiency.
Chapters 5 and 6 are selected translation exercises. Chapter 5 only includes single-sentence translation exercises, with a total of 50 difficult sentences. The main purpose is to consolidate candidates' translation skills and focus on practicing syntactic translation, such as noun clauses, relative clauses, adverbial clauses, and passive voice, which are commonly tested in postgraduate entrance examination translation. Chapter 6 includes 10 simulation papers with difficulty comparable to the actual exam, to help candidates prepare for the final push. The reference translations for all exercises and the full translations of the postgraduate entrance examination translation questions from 1990 to 2007 can be found in Chapter 7.
Chapter 8 lists the scoring criteria for the recent 4 years of postgraduate entrance examination translation, allowing candidates to compare and know which words in their translations are correct and which are incorrect when they start translating.
English-Chinese translation is an extremely complex cognitive activity. It not only requires translators to have a certain foundation in English, but also enables them to freely transform between the two languages. In the translation section of the National Master's Entrance Examination, candidates need to translate relatively complex English sentences into accurate and fluent Chinese within a limited time. This often leaves non-English majors with no translation training feeling overwhelmed, but the fierce competition of the entrance exam leaves no room for escape for the vast majority of candidates. The sole purpose of writing this book is to help candidates conduct the most effective systematic study and training, overcome translation difficulties, and pass the exam with high scores. For those who already have a certain foundation in English, it can help them improve their translation skills and refine their English abilities in a relatively short time. For those who feel their English foundation is insufficient, it can help them consolidate their basic translation skills and enhance their English abilities through translation training. Below, the writing features and writing format of the book will be explained separately.
I. Writing Features
This book is a product of translation teaching. Over the years in translation classrooms for English majors and non-English majors, as well as in New Oriental's translation teaching classrooms, I have repeatedly analyzed, explained, summarized, and organized postgraduate entrance examination translation articles and sentences, continuously adjusting them to make them systematic, rational, and simplified. At the same time, the valuable first-hand feedback from many New Oriental students has allowed me to make my translation teaching more engaging and further refine the translation problem-solving strategies I proposed. Specifically, this book has the following features:
1. A uniquely proposed method of splitting and combining for translation. Starting from the analysis of the translation process, the entire transformation process between English and Chinese is simplified into two steps—splitting and combining. Since the sentences in postgraduate entrance examination translation are all long and complex sentences, understanding them is already difficult, and translating them is even more challenging. However, due to the highly rigorous grammatical and logical structures of the English language itself, we can split the sentences of postgraduate entrance examination translation into short translation units by identifying grammatical connection points, thereby simplifying the complexity. If we then use Chinese habits to combine these translated units, the entire translation process is smoothly achieved. This relatively simple and practical translation method undoubtedly enhances the operability of translation, allowing candidates to quickly master the methods of postgraduate entrance examination translation.
2. The results of sentence splitting align with the examination points of postgraduate entrance examination translation. Due to the scoring requirements of postgraduate entrance examination translation, the sentences are often split into several parts under scoring criteria to make subjective questions objective. The methods of splitting postgraduate sentences in the scoring criteria are almost identical to the splitting points I proposed. For this reason, the splitting and combining translation method also provides candidates with a breakthrough in solving postgraduate entrance examination translation.
3. Emphasis on improving the level of systematic translation theory and practice. Admittedly, any English knowledge and skills cannot be mastered overnight, and translation is no exception. Therefore, this book starts with the basics of what translation is and moves on to how to translate; from lexical translation to syntactic translation, supplemented by a large number of translation exercises—90 sentences from the postgraduate entrance examination translation questions from 1990 to 2007, 50 difficult sentence translation exercises, and 10 translation simulation papers (all chapters are accompanied by full translations). In this way, candidates can master systematic translation knowledge while gaining confidence through high-quality translation exercises, allowing them to enter the exam room with ease.
II. Writing Format
The book is divided into 8 chapters. Chapter mainly explains the basic knowledge of postgraduate entrance examination translation, starting from the postgraduate entrance examination translation syllabus and question paper analysis, helping candidates understand what translation is, what postgraduate entrance examination translation is, and clarify the standards and methods of translation. This chapter also provides a relatively comprehensive summary of the splitting and combining translation method, allowing candidates to understand how to conduct translation exercises from the beginning and enabling them to use this simple problem-solving step more flexibly in later exercises, achieving a "sublime" translation level in the exam. Chapters 2 and 3 mainly explain basic translation techniques, including lexical translation and syntactic translation. Candidates have long been afraid of the problem of "not having enough words to translate well," but they can find solutions through translation techniques such as word choice and extension. At the same time, all translation techniques are supported by classic translation examples, and all example translations are as simple and clear as possible for easy comprehension.
Chapter 4 provides a detailed explanation of all postgraduate entrance examination translation questions from 1990 to 2006. This is the core part of the book. This section analyzes every sentence in detail, including sentence splitting, vocabulary explanation, and how to combine them into accurate and fluent Chinese translations using Chinese habits and translation techniques. It is recommended that candidates translate the sentences themselves before reading the explanations, which can quickly consolidate the translation techniques learned earlier, master translation methods, and improve their English proficiency.
Chapters 5 and 6 are selected translation exercises. Chapter 5 only includes single-sentence translation exercises, with a total of 50 difficult sentences. The main purpose is to consolidate candidates' translation skills and focus on practicing syntactic translation, such as noun clauses, relative clauses, adverbial clauses, and passive voice, which are commonly tested in postgraduate entrance examination translation. Chapter 6 includes 10 simulation papers with difficulty comparable to the actual exam, to help candidates prepare for the final push. The reference translations for all exercises and the full translations of the postgraduate entrance examination translation questions from 1990 to 2007 can be found in Chapter 7.
Chapter 8 lists the scoring criteria for the recent 4 years of postgraduate entrance examination translation, allowing candidates to compare and know which words in their translations are correct and which are incorrect when they start translating.