四级翻译练习(8)

　　1. ______________（很少有人不抱怨工作单调乏味），but they will feel more bored if they do not work.

　　2. Henry has prepared a party for his girlfriend，______________（结果却被告之她到时候不能来了）.

　　3. The chief reason for the population growth is ______________（与其说是出生率的上升，还不如说是死亡率的下降）.

　　4. True friendship foresees the needs of others ______________（而不是声明自己的需求）.

　　5. Although I liked the appearance of the house，_____________（真正让我决定买下它的）was the beautiful view through the window.

　　答案与解析:

　　1. Few people do not complain about the tedium of their jobs

　　本题考查对形容词few和动词短语complain about的掌握。few作形容词时意为很少的，少数的，用来修饰可数名词复数，表示少得几乎没有。complain (to sb.) about sth.意为（向某人）抱怨某事。tedium沉闷，单调乏味，为不可数名词。

　　2. only to be told that she couldnt come by then

　　本题考查对only＋不定式结构的掌握。only＋不定式结构相当于一个结果状语，意为结果却...，表示事情的发展令人不快或与预料相反。被告之...表明不定式要用被动式（to be told）。that宾语从句作动词told的宾语，从句的时态应与主句一致（couldnt）。by then在此处指到将来的某个时候。

　　3. not so much a rise in birth rates as a fall in death rates

　　more a fall in death rates than a rise in birth rates

　　本题考查对能够表达与其说是......，不如说是......的结构及含义的掌握。not so much...as...和more...than...都可以表示与其说是......，不如说是......。

　　4． rather than proclaims ones own

　　本题考查对rather than的用法。rather than可以用来连接并列成分，表示而不是的含义。

　　5． what really made me decide to buy it

　　本题考查对what引导的主语从句的掌握。根据句子结构，前半句是Although引导的让步状语从句，而主句中只有系表结构，缺少主语，故需要翻译的部分应该是一个主语从句。what和that都可以引导主语从句，但that只起引导作用，不在从句中充当成分，而what可以在从句中充当主语、宾语或表语，故本句只能使用what。