精選全國(guó)職稱英語(yǔ)英漢對(duì)照上百例(第三十二篇)

字號(hào):

v32. The Great Wall of China.
     32、中國(guó)的長(zhǎng)城.
     1. Like a snake, it winds across China. From its starting point below sea level, it climbs west for nearly 1500 miles. This is the Great Wall of China. It is one of the engineering wonders of the world. Yet it was built 2200 years ago.
     1、它似一條巨龍蜿蜒穿過(guò)中國(guó)的大地。它從低于海平面的起點(diǎn)向西爬行了1500英里。這就是中國(guó)的長(zhǎng)城。長(zhǎng)城是世界建筑奇跡之一。它修建于2200年以前。
     2. The story of the Great Wall is the story of Emperor Chin Shih-huang, who thought of it. And- it is the story of millions of Chinese who worked—and died'—to build it.
     2、長(zhǎng)城的故事就是秦始皇的故事,是他想出了修筑長(zhǎng)城的主意。長(zhǎng)城的故事還是數(shù)百萬(wàn)中國(guó)人民的故事。他們?yōu)榱诵拗L(zhǎng)城辛勤勞作,又為它死去。
     3. In 246 B.C., Chin, at the age of 13, became king of one of the many states in China. The states were warring with each other, the rulers fighting for power. Chin was ambitious. He set out to bind the states into an empire—his empire. By 221 B.C. he had succeeded.
     3、公元前246年,當(dāng)時(shí)年僅13歲的贏政成了中國(guó)國(guó)家中的一個(gè)國(guó)君。這些國(guó)家當(dāng)時(shí)正在互相征戰(zhàn),各統(tǒng)治者為了權(quán)力而相互討伐。贏政野心勃勃。他開始了大業(yè),要把這些國(guó)家統(tǒng)一為一個(gè)帝國(guó)—他的帝國(guó)。公元前221年時(shí),他已完成了統(tǒng)一大業(yè)。
     4. Emperor Chin knew that the men he had defeated would want to overthrow him. So he brought 120,000 of the richest and most powerful to his capital. In a sense, they were prisoners. But Chin built palaces for them just like those they had left. They lived in glory as lord of his court.
     4、秦始皇明白那些被他打敗的人們一定要想*他,所以他把其中12萬(wàn)最富有、最有權(quán)勢(shì)的人遷徙到他的首都。從某種意義上來(lái)說(shuō),這些人成了囚犯。但是秦始皇為他們修建了宮殿,同他們?cè)瓉?lái)住的宮殿一樣華麗。這些人以秦朝廷貴族的身份過(guò)著顯赫的生活。
     5. The emperor's own palace was the largest and richest of all. It had thousands of rooms and separate apartments for the emperor's wives, some of the most beautiful women in the empire.
     5、秦始皇自己的宮殿是所有宮殿中最宏偉、最奢侈的。它有成千上萬(wàn)個(gè)房間和單宮別院。供皇帝的嬪妃們居住。她們是從最美麗的婦女中選出來(lái)的。
     6. Even with all this wealth, Chin lived in fear. Always present was the danger from the north. For 500 years northern barbarians had raided the farms of the Chinese. The raids of the savage horsemen were sudden—and they were terrible.
     6、即使擁有如此巨大的財(cái)富,秦始皇仍生活在恐懼之中。來(lái)自北方的危險(xiǎn)不斷威脅著秦帝國(guó)。500年來(lái),北方的野蠻人不斷搶掠中國(guó)的農(nóng)業(yè)區(qū)。野蠻的胡騎常閃電般長(zhǎng)驅(qū)直入,進(jìn)行極其兇殘的掠奪。英文原文中稱秦始皇為Chin,是因?yàn)橥鈬?guó)人對(duì)中國(guó)事情知道太少所致。
     7. Chin could think of only one way to stop the raids. That was a giant wall. It had to be so big that no horseman could jump over it or ride around it. So the Great Wall was begun.
     7、秦始皇只能想出一個(gè)辦法阻擋他們的搶掠,那就是修一道巨大的城墻。城墻必須又高又長(zhǎng)使胡騎既跳不過(guò)去又繞不過(guò)去。就這樣,長(zhǎng)城的修建開始了。
     8. To build the Wall, Chin needed millions of workers. Almost no able-bodied person in China escaped the call to work. Men who had never held a tool in their hands were sent to the stone pits. Murderers and thieves were made to work—the Wall became the empire's jail. Cruel masters with whips kept the workers on the job. And those who got sick were left to die.
     8、修筑長(zhǎng)城需要幾百萬(wàn)的勞工。當(dāng)時(shí)中國(guó)的體格健全的人都奉召去服勞役,幾乎沒(méi)有一個(gè)人能幸免,一些從來(lái)手里沒(méi)有拿過(guò)工具的人被送到采石場(chǎng)。殺人犯和強(qiáng)盜被強(qiáng)迫干活—修筑長(zhǎng)城的工地成了帝國(guó)的監(jiān)獄。殘酷的監(jiān)工官員揮舞著鞭子逼迫工人不得停歇地勞作。有病的人無(wú)人過(guò)問(wèn),只得等死