Splitting and Combining Translation Method, New Oriental 2008 Graduate Entrance Exam English

Author: Tang Jing
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2007-02-01
Features: English-Chinese translation is an extremely complex cognitive process that requires translators to have a certain foundation in English and the ability to freely switch between the two languages. In the National Unified Entrance Examination for Master's Degree Candidates, translation requires examinees to accurately and fluently translate complex English sentences into Chinese within a limited time. This often leaves non-English major candidates who have received no translation training feeling overwhelmed, but the fierce competition of the entrance exam leaves no escape for the vast majority of examinees. The sole purpose of writing this book is to help candidates conduct highly effective systematic learning and training, overcome translation difficulties, and successfully pass the exam with high scores. For those who already have a certain foundation in English, this book can help improve their translation skills and refine their English abilities in a relatively short period of time. For those who feel their English foundation is insufficient, this book can help consolidate their basic English skills and enhance their English abilities through translation exercises. Below, we will explain the book's writing features and writing format.
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 exam translation passages and sentences, continuously refining them to make them systematic, rational, and simplified. At the same time, the valuable first-hand feedback from New Oriental students has allowed me to make translation classes more engaging and further refine the translation problem-solving strategies I proposed. Specifically, this book has the following features:
1.. Starting from the analysis of the translation process, the entire English-Chinese conversion process is simplified into two steps—splitting and combining. Since postgraduate entrance exam translation sentences 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 postgraduate entrance exam sentences into short translation units by identifying grammatical connection points, achieving the goal of simplifying complexity. If we then use Chinese conventions to combine these translated units, the entire translation process is smoothly realized. This relatively simple and practical translation method undoubtedly enhances the operability of translation, allowing a vast number of candidates to quickly master postgraduate entrance exam translation methods.
2. The results of sentence splitting align with postgraduate entrance exam translation points. Due to the scoring requirements of postgraduate entrance exam translation, the sentences are often split into several parts under scoring criteria to ensure objectively scoring subjective questions. The methods used to split 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 a breakthrough for a large number of candidates in solving postgraduate entrance exam translation.
3. Emphasizes the improvement of translation systematic theory and practice. Of course, 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, then 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 exam translation questions from 1990 to 2007, 50 difficult sentence translation exercises, and 10 translation simulation papers (all with full translations provided). This allows a large number of candidates to master systematic translation knowledge while gaining confidence through high-quality translation exercises, enabling them to enter the exam room with ease.
II. Writing Format
The book is divided into 8 chapters. Chapter 1 primarily explains the basic knowledge of postgraduate entrance exam translation, starting from the postgraduate entrance exam translation syllabus and question paper analysis to help candidates understand what translation is, what postgraduate entrance exam 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 from the beginning how to conduct translation exercises and enabling them to apply this simple problem-solving step more flexibly in later exercises, achieving a "sublime" translation level during the exam. Chapters 2 and 3 primarily explain basic translation techniques, including lexical translation and syntactic translation. The problem that candidates have always feared—“not having enough vocabulary to do translation well” can be solved through translation techniques such as word choice and extension. At the same time, all translation techniques are supported by classic translation examples, and all translated examples are as simple and clear as possible for easy comprehension.
Chapter 4 provides a detailed explanation of all postgraduate entrance exam translation questions from 1990 to 2006. This is the core part of the book. This section analyzes all sentences one by one, including sentence splitting, vocabulary explanation, and how to combine them into accurate and fluent Chinese translations using Chinese conventions and translation techniques. It is recommended that candidates translate the sentences themselves before reading the explanations to quickly consolidate the translation techniques learned, 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 commonly tested in postgraduate entrance exam translation, such as noun clauses, relative clauses, adverbial clauses, and passive voice. Chapter 6 includes 10 simulation papers with difficulty comparable to actual exams to facilitate candidates' final practice. The reference translations for all exercises and the full translations for the postgraduate entrance exam translation questions from 1990 to 2007 can be found in Chapter 7.
Chapter 8 lists the scoring criteria for the past 4 years of postgraduate entrance exam translation, allowing candidates to compare when actually translating to know which words in their translations are correct and which are incorrect.