所谓抽象名词是指那些表达抽象概念的名词, 例如, appropriateness, flexibility, quietude等等, 抽象名词的翻译是一个我们在复习应考时值得注意的问题, 因为在近年来的英译汉试题中划线部分有大量的抽象名词出现, 而且,这些抽象名词翻译的好坏直接影响着翻译的成败, 影响着考生的得分抽象名词的翻译是一个非常复杂的问题, 需要根据上下文来具体地确定这些抽象名词的汉语表达, 很难总结出一些条条框框, 供翻译时使用但是, 我们应该遵循一个基本的原则, 即把抽象意义具体化, 把抽象名词转化为具体名词或含有具体特指性的词下面我们结合一些实例加以说明:

　　例1. If one considers the enormous variety of courses offered, it is not hard to see how difficult it is for a student to select the course most suited to his interests and abilities. (86年考题)

　　在该句中共有三个抽象名词, 它们是: variety, interests和abilities, 其中后两个interests和abilities的含义非常浅显, 可以很容易地把它们分别翻译为“兴趣”和“能力”, 但对于variety一词, 却就不那么简单, 我们必须把它所表达的含义具体化, 把它转化成一个形容词, 再和它的修饰词enormous一起, 翻译成“门类繁多的”这一形容词结构, 那么该句的译文就成了: 如果想一想为学生所设置的那些门类繁多的课程, 我们不难发现, 学生要选一门符合自己兴趣和能力的课程是多么困难

　　例2. For example, great efforts are made by the American tobacco industry to sell cigarettes in the Middle East and North Africa where U.S. tobacco exports increased by more than 27 percent in 1974. (82年考题)

　　在该句中, 最难处理的词汇之一就是effort一词, 若把great efforts直译为“巨大的努力”, 所得出的最好结果为“例如, 美国烟草工业为在中东和北非推销香烟做出了很大的努力……”这样处理虽然也能讲得通, 但给人一冗长累赘之感, 如果把great efforts转译为动词“力图”, 译文就通顺多了, 另外, 在该句的后半部分, 还有exports一词, 在翻译时也应该把它具体化, 翻译成“出口量”, 因此答案为“例如, 美国烟草工业就力图在中东和北非推销香烟, 在这些地区, 美国烟草的出口量在1974年增加了27%以上”

　　例3. To criticize an intelligence test for such failure (it does not measure character, social adjustment…) is roughly comparable to criticizing a thermometer for not measuring wind velocity. (92年考题

　　“failure”一词的处理在该句的翻译中极为关键, 若直接翻译为“失败”显然是不合适的, 最好的办法就是结合上下文使它的意义具体化, 把such failure翻译成“不反映上述情况”, 因此答案为: “批评智力测试不反映上述情况, 就犹如批评温度计不测风速一样”

　　以上我们通过三个实例简要说明了抽象名词的处理方法, 下面我们再列举一些句子及其汉语翻译, 以便于从中体会并能掌握一些抽象名词的翻译方法:

　　例4. Therefore, although technical advances in food production will perhaps be needed to ensure food availability , meeting food needs will depend much more on equalizing economic power among various segments of the populations within the developing countries.

　　因此, 尽管也许需要粮食生产和加工方面的技术进步来确保粮食的来源, 满足粮食需求更多的是取决于使发展中国家内部的人口各阶层都具有同等的经济实力

　　例5. There is only one area of agreement in this debate that the existing poverty, employment, and earnings statistics are inadequate for one of their primary applications , measuring the consequences of labor market problem.

　　在这场辩论中, 只有一个方面能取得一致意见, 即现有的关于贫困状况, 就业状况以及工资收入状况的统计数字在估量劳务市场的问题所带来的后果这项主要的实际应用中不能充分说明问题

　　例6. Classification always requires the arrangement of the same kind of information , often in its lists or column. For this work, correctness, accuracy and speed as in all office work, are essential. 分类工作始终需要将同样的资料加以整理, 往往是将它们列成表格和专栏对这种工作来说, 像所有的办公室工作一样, 正确性, 准确性和速度是必不可少的

　　例7. And there is also the objection that the city has always been the core from which cultural advancement radiated. 同时也有人反对说, 文化的进步始终是以城市为中心向外传播的

　　例8. Can we anticipate a day when secretaries will be an even mix of men and women -or when the mention of a male nurse will no longer raise eyebrows ? (88年考题) 我们是否能预见到这一天那时秘书的男女各占一半或有人提到某个男人当护士时人们不会感到吃惊

　　例9. To scientists, the experience of studying samples obtained from below the ocean floor is like in the library of a lost civilization. 在科学家看来对从海底得到的样品进行研究就像在失传文明的图书馆里进行研究一样

　　英语中被动语态的使用范围极为广泛, 尤其是在科技英语中, 被动语态几乎随处可见, 凡是在不必不愿说出或不知道主动者的情况下均可使用被动语态, 因此, 掌握被动语态的翻译方法, 对于硕士研究生入学考试的复习与应考是极为重要的, 因为在硕士研究生入学考试中英译汉文章的内容多以科普文章为主在汉语中, 也有被动语态, 通常通过“把”或“被”等词体现出来, 但它的使用范围远远小于英语中被动语态的使用范围, 因此英语中的被动语态在很多情况下都翻译成主动结构对于英语原文的被动结构, 我们一般采取下列的方法:

　　1. 翻译成汉语的主动句英语原文的被动结构翻译成汉语的主动结构又可以进一步分为几种不同的情况：

　　(1) 英语原文中的主语在译文中仍做主语在采用此方法时, 我们往往在译文中使用了“加以”, “经过”, “用……来”等词来体现原文中的被动含义例如: 例1.Other questions will be discussed briefly. 其他问题将简单地加以讨论。

　　例2.In other words mineral substances which are found on earth must be extracted by digging, boring holes, artificial explosions, or similar operations which make them available to us. 换言之, 矿物就是存在于地球上, 但须经过挖掘钻孔人工爆破或类似作业才能获得的物质。

　　例3.Nuclear power?s danger to health, safety, and even life itself can be summed up in one word: radiation. 核能对健康安全, 甚至对生命本身构成的危险可以用一个词—辐射来概括。

　　(2) 将英语原文中的主语翻译为宾语, 同时增补泛指性的词语(人们,大家等)作主语例如:

　　例1.It could be argued that the radio performs this service as well, but on television everything is much more living, much more real. 可能有人会指出, 无线电广播同样也能做到这一点, 但还是电视屏幕上的节目要生动真实得多

　　例2.Television, it is often said, keeps one informed about current events, allows one to follow the latest developments in science and politics, and offers an endless series of programmes which are both instructive and entertaining. (85年考题) 人们常说, 电视使人了解时事, 熟悉政治领域的最新发展变化, 并能源源不断地为观众提供各种既有教育意义又有趣的节目。

　　例3.It is generally accepted that the experiences of the child in his first years largely determine his character and later personality. 人们普遍认为孩子们的早年经历在很大程度上决定了他们的性格及其未来的人品另外, 下列的结构也可以通过这一手段翻译: It is asserted that … 有人主张…… It is believed that … 有人认为…… It is generally considered that … 大家(一般人)认为It is well known that … 大家知道(众所周知)…… It will be said … 有人会说…… It was told that … 有人曾经说……

　　(3) 将英语原文中的by,in,for等做状语的介词短语翻译成译文的主语, 在此情况下, 英语原文中的主语一般被翻译成宾语例如:

　　例1.A right kind of fuel is needed for an atomic reactor. 原子反应堆需要一种合适的燃料。

　　例2.By the end of the war, 800 people had been saved by the organization, but at a cost of 200 Belgian and French lives. 大战结束时, 这个组织拯救了八百人, 但那是以二百多比利时人和法国人的生命为代价的。

　　例3.And it is imagined by many that the operations of the common mind can be by no means compared with these processes, and that they have to be acquired by a sort of special training. (93年考题) 许多人认为, 普通人的思维活动根本无法与科学家的思维过程相比, 而且认为这些思维过程必须经过某种专门的训练才能掌握。

　　(4)翻译成汉语的无主句例如:

　　例1.Great efforts should be made to inform young people especially the dreadful consequences of taking up the habit. 应该尽最大努力告诫年轻人吸烟的危害, 特别是吸上烟瘾后的可怕后果(82年考题) 。

　　例2.By this procedure, different honeys have been found to vary widely in the sensitivity of their inhibit to heat. 通过这种方法分析发现不同种类的蜂蜜的抗菌活动对热的敏感程度也极为不同。

　　例4.Many strange new means of transport have been developed in our century, the strangest of them being perhaps the hovercraft. 在我们这个世纪内研制了许多新奇的交通工具, 其中最奇特的也许就是气垫船了。

　　例5.New source of energy must be found, and this will take time…. 必须找到新的能源这需要时间……(91年考题)

　　另外, 下列结构也可以通过这一手段翻译: It is hoped that … 希望…… It is reported that … 据报道…… It is said that … 据说…… It is supposed that … 据推测…… It may be said without fear of exaggeration that … 可以毫不夸张地说…… It must be admitted that … 必须承认…… It must be pointed out that … 必须指出…… It will be seen from this that … 由此可见……

　　(5) 翻译成带表语的主动句例如:

　　例1.The decision to attack was not taken lightly. 进攻的决定不是轻易作出的。

　　例2.On the whole such an 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 other with whom he is being compared, and only if he was not punished by lack of relevant information which they possessed. (92年考题)

　　总的来说, 得出这种结论是有一定程度把握的, 但必须具备两个条件: 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已掌握的有关知识而被扣分。

　　(注意上述翻译技巧在该句翻译中的综合运用)

　　2. 译成汉语的被动语态英语中的许多被动句可以翻译成汉语的被动句常用“被”, “给”, “遭”, “挨”, “为……所”, “使”, “由…”, “受到”等表示例如:

　　例1.Early fires on the earth were certainly caused by nature, not by Man.地球上早期的火肯定是由大自然而不是人类引燃的。

　　例2.These signals are produced by colliding stars or nuclear reactions in outer space. 这些讯号是由外层空间的星球碰撞或者核反应所造成的。

　　例3.Natural light or “white” light is actually made up of many colours. 自然光或者“白光”实际上是由许多种颜色组成的。

　　例4.The behaviour of a fluid flowing through a pipe is affected by a number of factors, including the viscosity of the fluid and the speed at which it is pumped. 流体在管道中流动的情况, 受到诸如流体粘度泵送速度等各种因素的影响。

　　例5.They may have been a source of part of the atmosphere of the terrestrial planets, and they are believed to have been the planetesimal-like building blocks for some of the outer planets and their satellites.

　　它们可能一直是地球行星的一部分大气的来源它们还被认为是构成外部行星以及其卫星的一种类似微星的基础材料。

　　例6.Over the years, tools and technology themselves as a source of fundamental innovation have largely been ignored by historians and philosophers of science. (95年考题) 工具和技术本身作为根本性创新的源泉多年来在很大程度上被科学史学家和科学思想家们忽视了。

　　例7.Whether the Government should increase the financing of pure science at the expense of technology or vice versa (反之) often depends on the issue of which is seen as the driving force. (95年考题) 政府是以减少技术的经费投入来增加纯理论科学的经费投入, 还是相反, 这往往取决于把哪一方看作是驱动的力量。

　　例8.The supply of oil can be shut off unexpectedly at any time, and in any case, the oil wells will all run dry in thirty years or so at the present rate of use. 石油的供应可能随时会被中断不管怎样以目前的这种消费速度只需30年左右所有的油井都会枯竭 。