2017考研：历年英语翻译真题（12）

1992年考研英语翻译真题及答案解析

Section V English-Chinese Translation

Read the following passage carefully and then translate the underlined sentences into Chinese. (15 points)

“Intelligence” at best is an assumptive construct -- the meaning of the word has never been clear. (1) There is more agreement on the kinds of behavior referred to by the term than there is on how to interpret or classify them. But it is generally agreed that a person of high intelligence is one who can grasp ideas readily, make distinctions, reason logically, and make use of verbal and mathematical symbols in solving problems. An intelligence test is a rough measure of a child’s capacity for learning, particularly for learning the kinds of things required in school. It does not measure character, social adjustment, physical endurance, manual skills, or artistic abilities. It is not supposed to -- it was not designed for such purposes. (2) To criticize it for such failure is roughly comparable to criticizing a thermometer for not measuring wind velocity.

The other thing we have to notice is that the assessment of the intelligence of any subject is essentially a comparative affair.

(3) Now since the assessment of intelligence is a comparative matter we must be sure that the scale with which we are comparing our subjects provides a “valid” or “fair” comparison. It is here that some of the difficulties which interest us begin. Any test performed involves at least three factors: the intention to do one’s best, the knowledge required for understanding what you have to do, and the intellectual ability to do it. (4) The first two must be equal for all who are being compared, if any comparison in terms of intelligence is to be made. In school populations in our culture these assumptions can be made fair and reasonable, and the value of intelligence testing has been proved thoroughly. Its value lies, of course, in its providing a satisfactory basis for prediction. No one is in the least interested in the marks a little child gets on his test; what we are interested in is whether we can conclude from his mark on the test that the child will do better or worse than other children of his age at tasks which we think require “general intelligence.”

(5) On the whole such a conclusion can be drawn with a certain degree of confidence, but only if the child can be assumed to have had the same attitude towards the test as the others with whom he is being compared, and only if he was not punished by lack of relevant information which they possessed.

答案解析

Section V: English-Chinese Translation (15 points)

1. There is more agreement on the kinds of behavior referred to by the term than there is on how to interpret or classify them.

人们对智力这个词所指的不同表现意见比较一致，而对这些表现如何解释或分类则有不同的看法。

2. To criticize it for such failure is roughly comparable to criticizing a thermometer for not measuring wind velocity.

批评智力测试不反映上述情况，犹如批评温度计不能测风速一样。

3. Now since the assessment of intelligence is a comparative matter we must be sure that the scale with which we are comparing our subjects provides a “valid” or “fair” comparison.

既然对智力的评估是比较而言的，那么我们必须确保，在对我们的对象进行比较时，我们所用的尺度能提供“有效的”或“公平的”比较。

4. The first two must be equal for all who are being compared, if any comparison in terms of intelligence is to be made.

如果要从智力方面进行任何比较的话，那么对所有被比较者来说，前两个因素必须是一样的。

5. On the whole such a conclusion can be drawn with a certain degree of confidence, but only if the child can be assumed to have had the same attitude towards the test as the others with whom he is being compared, and only if he was not punished by lack of relevant information which they possessed.

总的来说，得出这种结论是有一定程度把握的，但是必须具备两个条件：能够假定这个孩子对测试的态度和与他比较的另一个孩子的态度相同;他也没有因为缺乏别的孩子所具有的有关知识而受影响。

往年英语翻译试题对大家了解翻译类型、难度等，很有帮助，希望同学们加以充分利用。