语篇的连贯（一）

第十五章　跨 国 公 司

第一节　文章阅读与翻译

Passage 1

Development of Multinationals

跨国公司的发展

［1］Early international business in the colonies consisted largely of trade rather than direct investments in foreign countries.America was still a colony itself, and manufacturing, which had been restricted under the British spread rapidly after independence was won.Eli Whitney's1 manufacture of rifles with interchangeable parts started a revolution in American and world manufacturing in the early 1800s.By 1840, Colt2 revolvers were being sold in Europe.Yankee locks followed in a decade, and Waltham3 watches in 20 years more.Soon, American manufacturers began setting up shop abroad; Singer4 began producing sewing machines in Scotland in 1867, and Burroughs5 established a plant in England in 1896.Standard Oil6, Eastman Kodak7, American Radiator8, National Cash Register9, and Diamond Match10 all had operations in Europe before Ford11 was incorporated.In addition, more than 100 companies in Canada in 1900 were controlled by, or affiliated with, American firms.Diamond Match also held a controlling interest in a factory in Lima, Peru; Edison12 had a sales office in Buenos Aires; and Frazer and Company founded an importing office in Yokohama in 1867, through which the Edison electric system, the Baldwin locomotive13, and many other American products were introduced to the Orient.

［2］Many of today's multinationals arose from opportunities associated with the colonization of less developed countries (LDCs) before World War Ⅱ.Up to that time, these countries were characterized by farming populations that served the export and political interests of the colonial powers.14 As the LDCs achieved independence after the war, they tried to take over complete control of their resources, production facilities, and economy.Lack of experience and financing made this difficult or impossible in many cases, so multinationals would move in, stabilize and develop the area, and reap enormous profits from the inexpensive labor and materials.

［3］Trade expanded rapidly after World War II.Many of the U.S.companies that had made direct manufacturing investments in the late 1800s expanded these into other developed nations.The greatest surge in the internationalization of American business came between the 1950s and the 1970s.Ford sales, for example, increased from $4.8 billion in the early 1950s to $8 billion in the early 1960s and to over $20 billion by 1970, primarily as a result of increases in international operations.

［4］Direct investments in manufacturing were expanded first in Canada and West Europe.Crude oil and petroleum operations were also undertaken in the Middle East and Africa, in such countries as Saudi Arabia, Iran, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, and Algeria.In addition, to protect themselves from trade barriers, American companies undertook manufacturing investments in Latin American and Asia.Initially, these manufacturing enterprises produced mostly standardized products, taking advantage of the large supply of low-cost, relatively unskilled labor.The complexity of these operations and skills they required have been upgraded over time, as the multinationals have educated workers and built up local social infrastructures.15

Notes

1.Eli Whitney (December 8, 1765—January 8, 1825) was an American inventor best known as the inventor of the cotton gin.This was one of the key inventions of the industrial revolution and shaped the economy of the antebellum South.［1］Whitney's invention made short staple cotton into a profitable crop, which strengthened the economic foundation of slavery.Despite the social and economic impact of his invention, Whitney lost his profits in legal battles over patent infringement, closed his business, and nearly filed bankruptcy.

2.Colt’s Manufacturing Company (CMC—formerly Colt’s Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company) is a United States firearms manufacturer founded in 1847.It is best known for the engineering, production, and marketing of dozens of different firearms over the later half of the 19th and the 20th century.It has made many civilian and military designs used in the United States, as well was many other countries.

3.The Waltham Watch Company, also known as the American Waltham Watch Co.and the American Watch Co., produced about 40 million high quality watches, clocks, speedometers, compasses, time fuses and other precision instruments between 1850 and 1957.

4.Singer Corporation is a manufacturer of sewing machines, first established as I.M.Singer ＆ Co.in 1851 by Isaac Merrit Singer with New York lawyer Edward Clark.Best known for its sewing machines, it was renamed Singer Manufacturing Company in 1865, then The Singer Company in 1963.Originally all of its manufacturing was done at facilities in New York City.It is currently based in LaVergne, TN near Nashville.

5.The Burroughs Corporation began in 1886 as the American Arithmometer Company in St.Louis, Missouri selling an adding machine invented by William Seward Burroughs.The company moved to Detroit in 1904 and changed its name to the Burroughs Adding Machine Company, in honor of Burroughs, who died in 1898.Burroughs grew into the biggest adding machine company in America, although by the 1950s it was selling more than the basic adding machines, including typewriters and computers.

6.Standard Oil was a predominant American integrated oil producing, transporting, refining, and marketing company.Established in 1870, it operated as a major company trust and was one of the world's first and largest multinational corporations until it was broken up by the United States Supreme Court in 1911.John D.Rockefeller was a founder, chairman and major shareholder, and the company made him a billionaire and eventually the richest man in modern history.

7.Eastman Kodak Company (NYSE: EK) is an American multinational public company which produces imaging and photographic materials and equipment.Long known for its wide range of photographic film products, Kodak is re-focusing on two major markets: digital photography and digital printing.

8.American Radiator Company was founded in 1892, and was merged with Standard Sanitary Corporation, which was founded in 1875.Now, it is the well-known global manufacturer American Standard Companies, Inc., who manufacture air conditioning systems and services, bath ＆ kitchen products and vehicle control systems.

9.NCR Corporation (NYSE: NCR) is a technology company specializing in products for the retail and financial sectors.Its main products are point-of-sale terminals, automatic teller machines, check processing systems, barcode scanners, and business consumables.They also are one of the largest providers of IT maintenance support services.From 1988 to 1997 they sponsored the NCR Book Award for non-fiction.The company was founded in 1884 and acquired by AT＆T in 1991.A restructuring of AT＆T in 1996 led to NCR's re-establishment on 1 January 1997 as a separate company, and also involved the spin-off from AT＆T of Lucent Technologies; NCR is the only AT＆T spin-off that has retained its original name—all others have either been purchased or renamed following subsequent mergers.

10.The Diamond Match Company was the largest manufacturer of matches in the United States of America by the late nineteenth century.The Diamond Match Company was established in 1881.Its founder was Ohio Columbus Barber, and the business was headquartered in Akron, Ohio.The Diamond Match Company took its name from the shape of the match's head that the company produced.

11.Ford Motor Company is an American multinational corporation and the world's fourth largest automaker based on worldwide vehicle sales, following Toyota, General Motors and Volkswagen.Based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, the automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903.

12.Edison International, for more than 100 years, has been leading the way in electricity.Their roots lie in Southern California in the 1880s, when various small companies began experimenting with power generation and transmission.Pioneers and people of vision led California into the new 20th century.From that collaboration came innovation and the founding of a new industry.

13.The Baldwin Locomotive Works was an American builder of railroad locomotives.It was located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania originally, and later in nearby Eddystone, Pennsylvania.Although the company was very successful as a producer of steam locomotives, it was unable to make the transition to diesel power and went out of business in 1956.

14.译文：当时，这些国家以农业人口为主，他们为殖民国家的出口和政治利益而服务。

15.译文：最初，这些生产企业主要利用大量成本低且相对技能较低的劳动力来生产标准化产品。但是，随着时间的推移，跨国公司对工人进行了培养，且在当地建立了基础设施，因而它们对操作复杂性和对技术的要求也越来越高。

Words and Expressions

1.revolver n.a type of small gun held in one hand that can be fired several times without putting more bullets in it 左轮手枪

2.plant n.a factory in which such machines are used 工厂

3.incorporate v.to include something as part of something larger 合并，组成公司，具体表现

4.affiliate v.to cause a group to become part of or form a close relationship with another, usually larger, group or organization 合并（使„„加入，追源）

5.locomotive n.火车头，机车

6.take over to get control of a company by buying most of its shares (= the equal parts into which the ownership of the company is divided）接管，接任

7.reap v.gather, as of natural products 收获，获得

8.surge n.a sudden and great increase 巨涌，汹涌，澎湃

9.undertake v.to do or begin to do something, especially something that will take a long time or be difficult从事

Passage 2

Effects of Transnational Corporations on Social Development (1)

跨国公司对社会发展的影响（1）

Economic Growth（经济增长）

［1］Transnational corporations1 can potentially promote social development through their activities that generate economic growth.One observer has written: “As per capita income increases, as levels of education increase and as the growth in communications technology increases awareness of alternative lifestyles, there are rising expectations with regard to matters such as housing, welfare, recreation, and medicine.These public welfare functions have traditionally been considered the province of public agencies...But as corporations are intimately involved with the growth of the economy, they are perceived by many as the most effective levers for change.”2

［2］There exists some evidence that foreign direct investment by TNCs and the foreign exchange that TNCs provides can improve the economic performance of the countries in which they operate.“TNCs impact the process of economic growth by influencing the amount and quality of new capital formation, transfer of hard and soft technology, development of human resources, and the expansion of trade opportunities.”

［3］While in theory TNCs can promote social development by fostering economic growth, in practice this relationship rarely exists for two reasons.First, it is unclear whether transnational corporations are actually responsible for economic growth in host countries.In the most notable case of recent economic transformation, South Korea, transnational corporations played a negligible role.Furthermore, TNCs can actually hamper indigenous economic growth by driving local entrepreneurs out of business, importing key goods and services, remitting a majority of the profits to their to their home countries, and transferring fees and royalties to parent companies located outside the host economy.3

［4］Second, even if TNCs do improve a host country's economy, the relationship between economic growth and social development is tenuous.Although the global economy continues to grow annually, such growth is hardly curing problems of poverty, unemployment, disparities in wealth, or other issues of social malaise.In Cote D Lvoire, for example, while TNCs might have helped to foster aggregate economic growth from 1960 to 1975, they did little to promote social development: unemployment increased, distribution of income widened and nationals increasingly lost control over the country's industrial capacities.In sum, while transnational corporations can be the engines of economic growth under some circumstances, the economic power of TNCs is rarely harnessed to achieve the ends of social development.

Transnational Corporations and Taxes（跨国公司和税收）

［5］Transnational corporations can also indirectly foster social development through their provision of taxes to the state, because governments often use these revenues to finance social welfare programmes.Such taxes can be substantial.For example, in 1898, foreign affiliates of US-based transnational corporations provided 15.5 per cent of government revenues in Guatemala, 12.2 per cent in Peru, and 4.6 per cent in Mexico.In 1992, Philip Morris paid 4.5 billion dollars in taxes to the United States government alone, including billions more in employee and excise taxes.4

［6］While transnational corporations do pay substantial taxes under some circumstances, they engage in a variety of practices that intentionally deprive governments of tax revenues they are due.The ability of transnational corporations to move funds and goods rapidly between countries allows them to manipulate intracompany payments and avoid taxes—a process known as transfer pricing.For example, a German company manufacturing in France where tax rates are high sells its product at below-market values to a subsidiary in Puerto Rico where taxes are low.From Puerto Rico, the company sells to wholesalers or retailers, claiming a loss in France and huge profits in Puerto Rico where it pays minimal taxes.Countries have attempted to combat transfer pricing tactics through unitary taxation policies under which a government calculates a company's taxes on the basis of its global profits instead of on the basis of profits it declares within the country's borders.However, companies have successfully lobbied against unitary taxation policies in most jurisdictions.5

Notes

1.transnational corporation (TNC): or multinational corporation (MNC) is a corporation or enterprise that manages production or delivers services in more than one country.跨国公司（也称多国公司）

2.译文：有人认为：“收入的增加、教育水平的增长和通信技术的发展使人们对生活方式有更大的选择，对诸如住房、福利、娱乐和医疗方面的需求逐步增加。这些公共服务传统上都是由公共事业单位提供„„但是随着跨国公司更紧密地影响社会经济，它们就成为了最有效的变革控制杆。”

3.译文：而且，跨国公司实际上通过对东道国企业的竞争、输入更好的产品和服务、带给母国更多的利润以及带给不在东道国境内的母公司技术版税和使用费等方式限制了东道国企业的发展。

4.译文：例如，1989年美国的跨国公司为危地马拉提供了占总量15.5%的税收，巴西12.2%，墨西哥4.6%。1992年菲利浦公司为美国政府提供了包括雇员和消费税在内的总计45亿美元的收入。

5.译文：例如，一家在法国的德国公司的产品价格比在低税率的葡萄牙的价格高，从葡萄牙销售给中间商和批发商，可通过低税收获取利润和弥补损失。各个国家试图通过计算跨国公司的全球利益以代替单纯计算在本国的收益的税收政策，来应付跨国公司的价格转移策略，但是，跨国公司最大限度地抵制了这种做法。

Words and Expressions

1.per capita n.per person 人均

2.with regard to connection within; connection with关于

3.perceive v.to come to an opinion about something, or have a belief about something察觉，感觉，认知，理解

4.lever n.a bar or handle which moves around a fixed point, so that one end of it can be pushed or pulled in order to control the operation of a machine or move a heavy or stiff object杠杆

5.negligible adj.so small as to be meaningless; insignificant可以忽略的，微不足道的

6.hamper v.to prevent someone doing something easily阻碍，使„„困累，困累

7.indigenous adj.naturally existing in a place or country rather than arriving from another place该土地所固有的，土著的，国产的

8.remit: v.to send money to someone免除，汇出，缓和

9.tenuous adj.a tenuous connection, idea or situation is weak and possibly does not exist脆弱的

10.disparity n.a lack of equality and similarity, especially in a way that is not fair不一致

11.aggregate adj.total 总量的

12.deprive v.to take something, especially something necessary or pleasant, away from someone剥夺

13.combat v.to try to stop something unpleasant or harmful from happening or increasing抵制

14.lobby v.to try to persuade a politician, the government or an official group that a particular thing should or should not happen, or that a law should be changed 游说

15.unitary adj.UK characterized by or constituting a form of government in which power is held by one central authority 单一的

Passage 3

Effects of Transnational Corporations on Social Development (2)

跨国公司对社会发展的影响（2）

Transfer of Technology技术转移

［1］Transnational corporations can also indirectly affect social development through the transfer of technology to host countries.Transferred technology can assume many forms including hardware such as machinery and equipment; software such as blueprints; process and product design; and training in management, marketing and quality control methods.Furthermore, such technology can be transferred through a variety of methods including joint ventures, foreign direct investment, technical assistance, subcontracting arrangements and not-equity investments.1

［2］TNC technology transfer can potentially provide host countries with a number of benefits, including enhanced economic growth.More advanced foreign technology transfer has acted as a trigger mechanism for modern economic growth in some developing countries which are on a lower level of economic and social development.Technology transfer can advance economic growth in a variety of ways: facilitating the production of new goods with higher value-added content; increasing exports; increasing output for a given level of input; and improving management techniques.There also exists some evidence that transfers of technology can help develop a particular host country industry.For example, the expansion of foreign-owned TNC semiconductor plants off the coast of Singapore has spurred the emergence of the domestic semiconductor industry within Singapore itself.

［3］TNC transfer of management skills can also potentially advance human resource development—an important component of social development.Through its employment of indigenous professionals and mangers, the multinational corporate subsidiary transmits knowledge and experiences that are less available locally.Transnational corporations can also foster human resource development practices, particularly in developing countries.Such practices can potentially increase the skill levels and technical capabilities of employees in developing countries.

［4］Although in theory transnational corporations can foster social development in developing countries by transferring management skills as well as research and development capacities, in practice their record in this field is mixed.First, governments in developing countries have historically criticized TNCs for not employing enough nationals in management positions and, therefore, transferring only minimal management skills.Second, while large transnational corporations spend billions of dollars on research and development annually, they conduct only a small fraction of such R＆D outside industrialized countries.Third, when transnational corporations do conduct R＆D in developing countries, they often merely adapt existing technology to local conditions—a process that generates little impact on deeper indigenous research and innovation capabilities.2

［5］Finally, TNC transfer of technology policies in developing countries has received criticism on numerous other grounds.For example, there is some evidence that the technology transnational corporations transfer is too costly for developing countries, does not create local linkages, is protected too exclusively through patents, is often capital intensive3 and therefore inappropriate for labour-intensive4 developing countries, and produces goods for affluent classes while failing to meet local needs.5

Notes

1.译文：技术转移有多种形式，包括机器设备等硬件、产品和过程设计等软件、管理方法、市场营销以及质量控制等方法。而且，这种技术可以通过办合资企业、外方直接投资、技术支持、转包合同和非资本投资等形式进行转移。

2.译文：第一，发展中国家的政府历来对跨国公司不能大量地雇用本国管理者持批评态度，因此管理技术的转移有限。第二，大的跨国公司每年用数十亿美元进行研究和开发，但只有很小部分在国外。第三，跨国公司在发展中国家生产研发产品时很少采用对东道国科研和技术创新有益的技术。

3.capital-intensive: requiring a large amount of assets to finance a given amount of sales 资本密集

4.labour-intensive: A business activity with significant labor costs, such as heavy industry.劳动密集

5.译文：最后，跨国公司的技术转移在发展中国家还有众多的批评。例如，对发展中国家的技术转移费用过高，不能本地化，过度通过专利保护，通常是资本密集不适合劳动密集的发展中国家，大多数产品只是为了迎合富裕阶层而不能满足本地需求。

Words and Expressions

1.transfer n.when something or someone moves or is moved from one place, position, etc.to another转移

2.blueprint n.an early plan or design which explains how something might be achieved蓝图，（周详的）计划

3.subcontract v.to pay someone else to do part of a job that you have agreed to do转包合同

4.trigger n.a device that activates or releases or causes something to happen触发器

5.semiconductor n.a substance as germanium or silicon whose electrical conductivity is intermediate between that of a metal and an insulator; its conductivity increases with temperature and in the presence of impurities 半导体

6.plant v.to put something firmly and strongly in a particular place种植

7.spur v.to encourage an activity or development or make it happen faster刺激，激励8.linkage n.an associative relation连合，连锁，结合

第二节　语篇的连贯（一）

一、语篇连贯的概念及与语篇衔接的关系

语篇连贯是一个比较复杂的语言现象，长期以来，国内外学者专家对连贯的定义也各不相同：

连贯是篇章被感到是一个整体而不是一串不相关语句的程度。（Nunan, 1993）

连贯指的是语篇的建构成分互相影响和互相关联的方式。（Bempande＆ Dressler）

连贯是篇章中感觉到的意义、整体性和目的的质量。（Cook, 1989）

从广义上讲，连贯是一个包含语用因素的语义概念。（张德禄，2000）

语篇的连贯指的是语篇中语义上的相互关联。（潘红，2004）

本书采用魏在江在《英汉语篇连贯认知对比研究》中对连贯的定义：连贯既有形式体现，同时也包含认知心理因素，它是形式与内容的统一。语篇的连贯指小句以语篇意向为主线相互连接，组成语义、逻辑连贯的语言片断的属性。这种连接有形式上的，也有语义、逻辑、乃至修辞上的。

下面，李运兴教授举的例子可以说明衔接对语篇连贯的重要作用。

例：All this good cheer was plainly too much for human nature, which seems to crave a regular dose of impending doom.That was not missing in 1988, when fears about the environment loomed larger than ever before.Ocean pollution seemed to touch every continent; medical wastes washed up on America's Atlantic beaches, and dying seals on the shores of the North Sea...

错译：对于心里总是想着大祸临头的人们来说，这一切令人欢欣鼓舞的好事显然是太好了。在1998年人们对环境的担忧比以往任何时候都更为加剧的一年里，那种令人欢欣鼓舞的事也没有缺掉。海洋污染似乎已触及各个大陆，废弃的医药垃圾已冲到美国大西洋沿岸的沙滩上，奄奄一息的海豹也漂浮到北海的海滩„„

分析：该译文本省文意不通，缺少连贯，而且在语义上是矛盾的：既然后面译为“人们对环境的担忧比以往任何时候都更为加剧”，“海洋污染似乎已触及各个大陆，废弃的医药垃圾已冲到美国大西洋沿岸的沙滩上，奄奄一息的海豹也漂浮到北海的海滩”，这些显然都是令人担忧的问题，怎么又会译为“这一切令人欢欣鼓舞的好事显然是太好了”和“那种令人欢欣鼓舞的事也没有缺掉”呢？显然，译者没有辨清原文中各种衔接关系和信息排列的逻辑关系：第一句话中which引导的非限定性从句是对human nature（人的本性）的补充说明，即“人的本性是对坏消息更加关注”，这样可以推断出和主句中的“All this good cheer was plainly too much”有一种因果关系，所以主句译为“对人的本性而言，好消息显得太多了”；第二句中的that实际上并不是指all this good cheer, 而照应的是a regular dose of impending doom, 后面when引导的从句是对“不乏厄运即将临头的坏消息的1988年”的进一步解释。由此，可见，只有弄清原文中的各种衔接关系才能使译文与原文一样具有连贯性。

改译：对人的本性而言，好消息显然是过多了，因为人似乎总是希望听到那些厄运即将临头的坏消息。1988年倒也不乏这样的坏消息，人们对环境问题比以往任何时候都更加忧心冲冲。海洋污染似乎已经殃及各个大陆，废弃的医药垃圾已冲到美国大西洋沿岸的沙滩上，奄奄一息的海豹也漂浮到北海的海滩„„

语篇衔接对语篇连贯起着重要的作用，但是衔接仅是在语言表层结构上体现了语篇的连贯，这也就是所谓的“显性连贯”。布朗（Brown）和耶尔（Yule）认为，衔接手段不能被看做是句际连贯性必须和必要的条件。一个连贯的语篇可能由衔接手段实现，亦可以由非衔接手段实现。衔接手段本身并不是确保语篇连贯的惟一条件。（魏在江）因为，连贯的语篇更强调的是语义上的连贯，语义的连贯有时从外在形式上看是不衔接的，但根据语篇的语境和语用因素分析，其蕴含的意义是连贯的。这就是所谓的“隐性连贯”。

例3：A: Does Susan know her mother likes that shirt?

B: The shirt is made in Italy.

这两句话从表层结构上看出现了that shirt和the shirt, 可以说是使用了词汇衔接手段。但实际上，所答非所问，不是意义连贯的语篇。

例4：A: Can you tell me the time?

B: Well, the milkman has come.

这一例中，虽然没有直接的衔接手法的运用，但所问的问题the time和回答的the milkman has come之间存在时间上的语义联系。因为，送牛奶的人可能每天在一个固定时间来，这样回答，实际上就是在告诉A当时的时间。所以说，这是连贯的语篇。

二、语篇连贯和逻辑排序

形成语篇的根本是逻辑，理解语篇的根本也是逻辑，一切语篇无不深藏着思维的逻辑。（何善芬，2002：467）因此，要理解语篇意义，就要理清语篇各句之间的逻辑关系。

例：There is interest paid on this money.There is no interest paid on this type of account.With a deposit account, however, the customer is willing to leave his money in the bank for a period of time.There are two types of bank account.With a current account a customer can issue personal checks which give the bearer the right to receive the money specified.The first type is known as current account; the second as deposit account.

分析：这是一段逻辑顺序被打乱的语篇。语篇内容主要围绕银行存款的话题。虽然，被打乱的语篇中也运用了语法和词汇衔接手段，但是，各句之间没有任何逻辑上的关系，从而语义不连贯。重新排序后的语篇应为：

There are two types of bank account.The first type is known as current account; the second as deposit account.With a current account a customer can issue personal checks which give the bearer the right to receive the money specified.There is no interest paid on this type of account.With a deposit account, however, the customer is willing to leave his money in the bank for a period of time.There is interest paid on this money.

正确逻辑排序语篇的译文：有两种类型的银行账户。第一类是活期存款账户；第二类是定期存款账户。活期存款账户可以通过签发个人支票方式使持票人有权得到签定的钱。这种账户没有利息。而定期存款账户客户愿意将他的钱在在银行存储一段时间。对这笔钱银行会支付利息。

三、语篇连贯和语境

语境可以指语篇内部的环境，即“上下文”；可以指语篇产生时的周围情况、事件的性质、参与者的关系、时间、地点、方式等，可称之为“情景语境”；它可以指说话人所在的言语社团的历史文化和风俗人情，属该言语社团的人一般都能理解其在语篇中的意义，可称之为“文化语境”。（胡壮麟，1994：186）

1.语篇内部环境

语篇的内部环境实际上指的是语篇自身的结构衔接和逻辑连贯。关于结构衔接和逻辑连贯的内容已在前文中涉及，译者在翻译之前要通读原文，在脑海中建立一条清晰的脉络，然后，从词义翻译着手，注意每个段落句子的安排和段落之间宏观连接。从这三方面入手实现译文连贯的方法将在下章再进一步进行解释，这里我们主要体会如何通过上下文正确理解词和句义，这也是保证语篇意义连贯的重要因素。

一个词或词组如果脱离了语篇，它的意义是不确定的。只有在一定的上下文中，才能确定这个词的真实意思。

例1：Passage 2 中第一段中的一句

These public welfare functions have traditionally been considered the province of public agencies...

分析：此句中的province 一词在词典中的含义是：

（1）one of the large areas into which some countries are divided.省

（2）a subject that someone knows a lot about or something that they are responsible for范围，领域；职责范围

我们如果将province译为熟知的“省”的意思，是与上下文意思毫不相关的。这里的意思是“这些公共服务传统上是公共事业单位的职责”，所以，选择词典中的第二个含义。

译文：这些公共服务传统上都是由公共事业单位提供„„

2.情景语境

情景语境指语篇中，特别是口语语篇中说话人在什么时间，什么地点，向什么人讲什么话。这些因素如不考虑在内就会使对话难以进行，这样的语篇也不会是连贯的。

例：A: But the whole office complains that I smell of garlic for a week after we‟ve been to the French restaurant.

B: Well, how about the Chinese then?

分析：A似乎在讲述办公室同事抱怨他自从去了法国餐馆就餐后身上的大蒜味儿有一个星期没有散去。而B的回应中的“the Chinese”的意思会另人猜测。如果不分析对话发生的语境，对B的问题会产生疑问，是指A的“中国同事或朋友”对A身上的大蒜味道的看法吗？实际上，对话发生的情景是A和B在商量去哪里就餐，当B问到法国餐时，A做出了上述反应，于是，B提议“去吃中餐怎样？”。由此，我们可见情景语境对语篇意义连贯的影响。

译文：A: 可是，自从我们去了法国餐馆就餐后，办公室同事们抱怨我身上的大蒜味一个星期都没有散去。

B: 那去吃中餐怎样？

3.文化语境

一种语言必然体现了拥有该语言社会的历史、文化、风土人情、生活习俗和价值观等等。所以，翻译作为一种跨文化交际活动，一定要在充分了解原语和译语社会的文化差异前提下进行。否则，原语篇语义的连贯性很可能会被打乱。

例：An arm's length transaction is a transaction, often between two affiliated parties, that's conducted as if the parties were unrelated.

分析：在美国人讲话时，或从书刊报纸上，经常可以听到或见到一些由手臂arms这个字组成的成语或俗语。有些习惯用语从字面上就可以很明显地了解它的意思，不需要解释。对该例句中的arm's length的理解还要以习惯用语At arm's length为依据。At arm's length是指和某人保持一定距，根据此含义而得的“An arm's length transaction”，经常是指有关联的双方进行的交易时保持一定距离，互不干涉，汉语译为“正常交易，公平交易”。

译文：正常（公平）交易经常是指有关联的双方进行的交易，而这一交易又是按照双方相互独立（不考虑关联关系）而完成的交易。

练习

一、阅读下面文章，列举出在语言表层结构上使语篇的连贯的衔接手法，并将划线句子译成汉语。

Achieving a Successful Merger

［1］However attractive the figures may look on paper, in the long run the success or failure of a merger depends on the human factor.When the agreement has been signed and the accountants have departed, the real problems may only just be beginning.If there is a culture clash between the two companies in the way their people work, then all the efforts of the financiers and lawyers to strike a deal may have been in vain.

［2］According to Chris Bolton of KS Management Consultants, 70% of mergers fail to live up to their promise of shareholder value, not through any failure in economic terms but because the integration of people is unsuccessful.Corporates, he explains, concentrate their efforts before a merger on legal, technical and financial matters.They employ a range of experts to obtain the most favourable contract possible.But even at these early stages, people issues must be taken into consideration.(1) The strengths and weaknesses of both organizations should be assessed and, if it is a merger of equals, then careful thought should be given to which personnel, from which side, should take on the key roles.

［3］This was the issue in 2001 when the proposed merger between two pharmaceutical companies promised to create one of the largest players in the industry.For both companies the merger was intended to reverse falling market share and shareholder value.However, although the companies‟ skill bases were compatible, the chief executives of the two companies could not agree which of them was to head up the new organization.This illustrates the need to compromise if a merger is to take place.

［4］(2) But even in mergers that do go ahead, there can be culture clashes.One way to avoid this is to work with focus groups to see how employees view the existing culture of their organization.In one example, where two global organizations in the food sector were planning to merge, focus groups discovered that the companies displayed very different profiles.One was sales-focused, knew exactly what it wanted to achieve and pushed initiatives through.The other got involved in lengthy discussions, trying out options methodically and making contingency plans.The first responded quickly to changes in the marketplace; the second took longer, but the option it eventually chose was usually the correct one.Neither company's approach would have worked for the other.

［5］The answer is not to adopt one company's approach, or even to try to incorporate every aspect of both organizations, but to create a totally new culture.This means taking the best from both sides and making a new organization that everyone can accept.Or almost everyone.Inevitably there will be those who cannot adapt to a different culture.Research into the impact of mergers has found that companies with differing management styles are the ones that need to work hardest at creating a new culture.

［6］Another tool that can help to get the right cultural mix is intercultural analysis.This involves carrying out research that looks at the culture of a country and the business culture of the country in which it is based.It identifies how people, money and time are managed in a company, and investigates the business customs of the country and how its politics, economics and history impact on the way business is done.

二、将下面句子顺序重新排列，组成逻辑关系正确的一段语篇。

1.Over time, through this process of entry based on geographic proximity, the firm can achieve a broad international position.

2.Firms may also prefer to enter neighboring countries first, as the cost of communicating with the foreign subsidiary is lower once the firm has expanded into nearby countries it may then move sequentially into countries that are farther away, minimizing the incremental distance of each move.

3.Entering a neighbor country is a natural first step, as the firm can more easily identify market opportunities and gather vital information about competitive reactions and government policies in a nearby country than in a distant one.

4.The first location for foreign direct investment is often a neighboring country.

三、将下文译成中文，注意上下文中词义的选择。

TNCs are responsible for a disproportionate share of world employment, production and trade.Between one-fifth and one-quarter of total world production in the world's market economies is performed by TNCs.Such a large share of world production, together with the geographical extensiveness of their operations—their “global reach” also makes them an increasingly dominant force in world trade.An increasing proportion of world trade in manufactures is intra-firm, rather than inter-national trade.In other words, it is trade that takes place between parts of the same firm but across national boundaries.Unlike the kind of trade assumed in international trade theory, intra-firm trade does not take place on an “arm's length” basis.It is, therefore, not subject to external market prices but to the internal decisions of TNCs.

In effect, international trade in manufactured goods looks less and less like the trade of basic economic models in which buyers and sellers interact freely with one another (in reasonably competitive markets) to establish the volume and prices of traded goods.It is increasingly managed by multinational corporations as part of their systems of international production and distribution.Such trade may account for a very large share of a nation's exports and imports.In fact, very few countries collect trade statistics in such a way that intra-firm trade can be distinguished from total trade flows.However, such evidence, as does exist is at least suggestive of the very important proportion of world trade which is carried on within the boundaries of TNCs.For example, more than 50 per cent of the total trade of both the United States and Japan consists of trade conducted within TNCs.Possibly as much as four-fifths of the United Kingdom's manufactured exports are flows of intra-firm trade either within UK enterprises with foreign affiliates or within foreign-controlled enterprises with operations in the United Kingdom.

四、将下文译成英文，注意汉英语篇连贯的转换。

日本的跨国企业要比欧洲和美国的公司更加可能兴办合资企业。对于这点的一种说明是，日本人是国际舞台上的新来者，不得不在比欧洲和美国的企业更加苛刻的条件下进入很多国家。此外，日本投资的大部分（全部投资中的55%和制造业投资的72%）都是在发展中国家，在那里合资企业比独资子公司更受人欢迎。相比之下，总部设在美国的企业仅有21%的投资是在发展中国家，79%是在发达国家，此外，美国在发展中国家的制造业投资中的60%以上是集中在高技术领域，而日本企业在发展中国家的制造业投资2/3是在技术要求相对来说不高的工业中。日本公司在技术方面可能没有多少要保护的，因而可能更加愿意分享所有权。此外，它们也像当地企业一样在同样的产业中竞争，所以可能觉得有必要利用合资企业作为一种保护色。