温哥华的居民

例文二　温哥华的居民

原文:

·温哥华的辉煌是温哥华人智慧和勤奋的结晶，其中包括多民族的贡献。·加拿大地广人稀，国土面积比中国还大，人口却不足3000万。吸收外来移民，是加拿大长期奉行的国策。·可以说，加拿大除了印第安人外，无一不是外来移民，不同的是时间长短而已。·温哥华则更是世界上屈指可数的多民族城市。现今180万温哥华的居民中，有一半不是在本地出生的，每四个居民中，就有一个是亚洲人。·而25万华人对温哥华的经济发展起着巨大作用，其中有一半是近十年来到温哥华地区的，使温哥华成为亚洲以外最大的中国人聚居地。

译文:

Vancouver

Vancouver owes its prosperity to its immigrants as well as the indigenous population.As Canada is a thinly populated country of fewer than 30 million people living in an area larger than China in size，attracting immigrants is the country's longstanding policy.It is not exaggerating to say that all Canadians except the native Indians are foreign born with varying lengths of residence in the country.Take Vancouver.Up to half of its 1，800，000 residents are non-natives，and for very four of them，there is one Asian，making Vancouver one of the few cities in the world with a huge ethnic community.And with the 250，000 Chinese immigrants，half of whom came to the city at different times as recent as the last ten years，who are credited with the success of the city's new economy，Vancouver now boasts a Chinese community larger than in any other country outside Asia.

这一段话简单介绍了温哥华的人口结构，主题为:“温哥华是亚洲以外最大的中国人聚居地”。整个段落包含五个意群，划分方法是由文章从笼统到细节、循序渐进的叙述方式所决定的。请看详细分析:

1.意群切分

意群(1)

温哥华的辉煌是温哥华人智慧和勤奋的结晶，其中包括多民族的贡献。

Vancouver owes its prosperity to its immigrants as well as the indigenous population.

【分析】这是一个引导句(lead)，或叫主题句，点明了整个段落的主题:多民族的贡献。

意群(2)

加拿大地广人稀，国土面积比中国还大，人口却不足3000万。吸收外来移民，是加拿大长期奉行的国策。

As Canada is a thinly populated country of fewer than 30 million people living in an area larger than China in size，attracting immigrants is the country's long-standing policy.

【分析】这段话是主题句的论据，主要说明温哥华成为一个移民城市的原因:“吸收外来移民，是加拿大长期奉行的国策。”而“加拿大地广人稀，国土面积比中国还大，人口却不足3000万。”又是吸收外来移民国策的客观原因，所以要用as引导的从句。

意群(3)

可以说，加拿大除了印第安人外，无一不是外来移民，不同的是时间长短而已。

It is not exaggerating to say that all Canadians except the native Indians are foreign born with varying lengths of residence in the country.

【分析】此句用来强调为什么说加拿大是个移民国家，因为只有印第安人才是加拿大的原住民。这又是一个过渡句，引出主题“温哥华的居民”。

意群(4)

温哥华则更是世界上屈指可数的多民族城市。现今180万温哥华的居民中，有一半不是在本地出生的，每四个居民中，就有一个是亚洲人。

Take Vancouver.Up to half of its 1，800，000 residents are non-natives，and for very four of them，there is one Asian，making Vancouver one of the few cities in the world with a huge ethnic community.

【分析】这段话仍是一个过渡句，进一步说明“温哥华的居民大部分是亚洲人”。

意群(5)

而25万华人对温哥华的经济发展起着巨大作用，其中有一半是近十年来到温哥华地区的，使温哥华成为亚洲以外最大的中国人聚居地。

And with the 250，000 Chinese immigrants，half of whom came to the city at different times as recent as the last ten years，who are credited with the success of the city's new economy，Vancouver now boasts a Chinese community larger than in any other country outside Asia.

【分析】经过四个意群层层深入的叙述，最后点明主题:温哥华是亚洲以外最大的中国人聚居地。这个段落原文条理比较清楚，切分意群并不太难。但是，在选词方面仍有一定的难度。

2.词汇选择

1)温哥华的辉煌是温哥华人智慧和勤奋的结晶——这是汉语中常用的套语(cliché)，在汉语的上下文中也许很正常，但在英语中却不常见。其中“辉煌、智慧、勤奋、结晶”负载的信息过多，都不能按照字面意思直译，不能想当然地译做glory，wisdom，diligence，crystallization，因为在英译文的语境里，这些单词并不表示那些意思。这里的“辉煌”其实是“繁荣”的意思，“结晶”应理解为“归功于”，译做owe比较合适，owe的意思就是as a result，because of。例如:

·I owe my success to my teachers.

·He owes his life to the doctors and nurses at the hospital.

整句话译成Vancouver owes its prosperity to its immigrants as well as the indigenous population，很恰当。

2)25万华人对温哥华的经济发展起着巨大作用——原文中没有点清楚这个结论是谁下的，但在译文中要说明:人们都这样认为，所以要用被动式短语be credited with，意思是to consider(someone)as(having good qualities or having done something good)，例如:

·The teacher has always been credited with understanding and sympathy for his students.

·He is often credited with originating political reform in this country.

3)温哥华成为亚洲以外最大的中国人聚居地——这里的“成为”不仅是become，其中暗含着一种自豪感，所以要用boast，意为to have or possess(something to be proud of)，例如:

·This city boasts beautiful beaches，great restaurants and friendly locals.

·Beijing boasts many historical places and modern flyovers.