For years I have been asked by several people how and why I came to translate a novel by Virginia Woolf in 1945. I graduated from the University of Ankara in 1941 and my four teachers, including Orphan Burian, are members of the Translation Bureau who prepared a list of works to be translated into Turkish and set themselves to translating some of these, besides shouldering the heavy work of correcting or editing the translations submitted to the Bureau. Orphan Burian, now mostly known for his translations of Shakespeare, had started to translate To the Lighthouse for the Translation Bureau, but at the same time he wanted to do something from Shakespeare. So he transferred it to me.

For me, To the Lighthouse was love at first sight or rather at first reading. To translate a book, I first read it from the beginning to the end. Then I started writing each sentence by hand. When I finished the whole book I read my translation from the beginning to the end, checking it with the original, and making corrections. Then I typed it, and read the typed copy, making changes again. All in all that added up to five readings. I started translating the novel in 1943 and submitted it to the Bureau in 1944. It was published in 1945 under the general title of “New English Literature” in the series called “Translations from World Literature” known as the “Classical Series”.

So, the first book by Virginia Woolf in Turkish appeared in 1945, and it was To the Lighthouse. This was eighteen years after its publication in England in 1927. To me the book itself was pure poetry; I read it as if in a dream. Not trying to dive very deeply into it, I sort of swam on it or over it. Now, years later, I swim in it. Even after so many years, in each reading I become conscious of new layers of which I haven’t been aware before. It keeps pace with my experiences in life as years go by, and each reading is a new reading for me.

In 1982 and again in 1989 I revised it for two new editions and I again did it sentence by sentence checking it with the original. In those years I had thought it was necessary to revise my translations every ten years, but now I think I must do it every three or four years. In a country like Turkey, where we work very hard to clear our language from old and new foreign words, we should try to be up to date as to the words we are using, and of the same importance are the studies being made on the methods or techniques of translation, and new approaches in translation.

While translating, I usually have both the writer and the reader in mind. The novels she wrote after 1920 were especially new for most of the readers. She usually uses very short sentences, followed by rather long ones. I remember sentences of more than ten lines which weren’t easy for me to translate as they were. And in Turkish our having only one word, the word “O”, for “he”, “she”, “it” in English, made me repeat the names of the characters more often than Woolf did. And I changed some long indirect sentences in the original into direct sentences in my translation, thinking it would make an easier reading in Turkish.

When translating, I make use of all kinds of dictionaries. A difficult English word for me is the word “vision”. In To the Lighthouse, the artist Lily Briscoe is trying to finish the picture she has been drawing for some time and the novel ends with the following sentences: “Yes, she thought, laying down her brush extremely tired, I’ve had my vision.” And I’m still thinking about how to translate this remark into Turkish.

1.How and why did the writer come to translate To the Lighthouse?

A. It was really a piece of good luck.

B. She was the only qualified person for it.

C. Virginia Woolf was very familiar to her.

D. She was a member of the Translation Bureau.

2.What does the underlined part in paragraph 3 mean?

A. The writer prefers the work very much.

B. The writer likes the sport swimming.

C. The writer is aware of her advantages.

D. The writer has digested the book very well.

3.Why does the writer revise her translations more often now?

A. Readers make new demands.

B. Turkish is a language of mobility.

C. Many mistakes are spotted in the old edition.

D. She wants to make it more popular in the market.

4.While translating, the writer repeated the names of the characters to_________.

A. make full use of the direct sentences

B. emphasize all of these characters

C.make her translation clearer in Turkish

D. make her translation much briefer

5.The last paragraph mainly implies that_________.

A. the writer is taking up a difficult job

B. the writer’s translation needs improving

C. English is a difficult language in the world

D. remarks from characters are difficult to translate

In her new book, “The Smartest Kidsin the World”, Amanda Ripley, an investigative journalist, tells the story of Tom, a high-school student from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, who decides to spend his senior year in Wroclaw, Poland. Poland is a surprising educational success story: in the past decade, the country raised students’ test scores from significantly below average to well above it. Polish kids have now outscored American kids in math and science, even though Poland spends, on average, less than half as much per student as the United States does. One of the most striking differences between the high school Tom attended in Gettysburg and the one he ends up at in Wroclaw is that the latter has no football team or teams of any kind.

That American high schools spend more time and money on sports than on math is an old complaint. In December, when the latest Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) results are announced, it’s safe to predict that American high-school students will once again show their limited skills in math and reading, outscored not just by students in Poland but also by students in places like China, Finland, Singapore, and Japan. Meanwhile, they will have played some very exciting football games, which will have been breathlessly written up in their hometown papers.

Why does this situation continue? Well, for one thing, kids like it. And for another, according to Ripley, parents seem to like the arrangement, too. She describes a tour she took of a school in Washington D.C., which costs thirty thousand dollars a year. The tour leader — a mother with three children in the school — was asked about the school’s flaws (瑕疵). When she said that the math program was weak, none of the parents taking the tour reacted. When she said that the football program was weak, theu mean?”

One of the ironies of the situation is that sports show what is possible. American kids’ performance on the field shows just how well they can do when expectations are high. It’s too bad that their test scores show the same thing.

1.Tom decides to spend his senior year in Poland because _________.

A. he intends to improve his scores

B. Polish kids are better at learning

C. sports are not supported at schools in Gettysburg

D. he wants to be the smartest kid in the world

2.According to Paragraph 2, we know that _________.

A. PISA plays a very important role in America

B. little time is spent on sports in Japanese schools

C. American students do better in both math and sports

D. too much importance is placed on sports in America

3.The underlined sentence in the last paragraph means _________.

A. low expectations result in American students’ poor PISA performance

B. high expectations push up American students’ academic performance

C. American students’ academic performance worries their parents a lot

D. lacking practice contributes to American students’ average performance

4.The purpose of this article is to _________.

A. compare Polish schools with those in America

B. call on American schools to learn from the Polish model

C. draw public attention to a weakness in American school tradition

D. explain what is wrong with American schools and provide solutions

At heart, parents always wish the best for their children, and they work hard for that. Nowadays, we see parents deciding the schools for their little ones before the baby is even born. Once kids start going to school, some parents want to have a time-to-time update of their kid's activities. They want to come to the classroom every day, keep an eye on whom they talk to, know the friends they keep, start telling them how to do their job, and keep talking or giving a feedback (反馈) to them about everything under the sun. Besides, they send their kids for extra hobby classes, as they want their children to do best in every field.

When it comes to the education, super mom and dad have all the plans made for their children, and I am sure that they have come up with the best. So, try to fight for the dreams that your parents have seen for you. However, in some cases, it may happen that the kids have some different dreams. Parents sometimes don't even consider the choice of their kids and may force them to do what they wanted to do in life. It's good to plan the future for the children, but leave at least some decisions to them.

So what should the children do? First, hear out all the plans that your parents have made for you. If you have some different ideas, then sit down and talk to your family about it. Be patient and respect their decisions, but put your plan forth, and make them understand what you want to do and why. Many times, you are not aware about the difficulties that you may have to face while pursuing your dreams. Ask your parents for suggestions, which will make them feel good and involved. That way, they may support you if you are going on the right path.

1.The parents described in Paragraph 1 tend to __________.

A. have a good understanding of their children

B. worry a lot about their children

C. take good care of their children

D. expect too much from their children

2.With respect to educational plans, the author advises ___________.

A. children to do as they are told

B. children to turn a deaf ear to their parents

C. parents to respect their children’s choices

D. parents to do everything for their children

3.The underlined word “pursuing” in Paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to “__________”.

A. going after B. planning for

C. adapting to D. preparing for

4.What is the author’s attitude towards these super parents’ behaviors?

A. Objective. B. Doubtful.

C. Uncaring D. Supportive

“In only six days I lost seven pounds of weight.”

“Two full inches in the first three days!”

These are the kinds of statements used in magazine, newspaper radio and television ads, promising good shapes and new looks to those who buy the medicine or the device. The promoters of products say they can shape the legs, slim the face, smooth wrinkles, or in some other way add to beauty or desirability.

Often such products are nothing more than money-making things for their promoters. The results they produce are questionable, and some are dangerous to health.

To understand how these products can be legally promoted to the public, it is necessary to understand something of the laws covering their regulation. If the product is a drug, FDA (Food Drug Administration) can require proof under the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act that it is safe and effective before it is put on the market. But if the product is a device, FDA has no authority to require premarketing proof of safety or effectiveness. If a product already on the market is a danger to health, FDA can request the producer or distributor to remove it from the market voluntarily, or it can take legal action, including seizure (查封) of the product.

One notable case a few years ago involved an electrical device called the Relaxacisor, which had been sold for reducing the waistline. The Relaxacisor produced electrical shocks to the body through contact pads. FDA took legal action against the distributor to stop the sale of the device on the grounds that was dangerous to health and life.

Obviously, most of the devices on the market have never been the subject of court proceedings (法律诉讼), and new devices appear continually, Before buying, it is up to the consumer to judge the safety or effectiveness of such items.

1.It can be inferred that ads mentioned in the text are_____.

A. objective B. costly

C. unbelievable D. illegal

2.The Relaxacisor is mentioned as______.

A. a product which was designed to produce electricity

B. a successful advertisement of a beauty product

C. an example of a quality beauty product

D. a product whose distributor was involved in a legal case

3.The author intends to______.

A. make consumers aware of the promoters’ false promise

B. show the weakness of the law on product safety

C. give advice on how to keep young and beautiful

D. introduce the organization of FDA

4.Which of the following is true according to the text?

A. The court is in charge of removing dangerous products.

B. The promoters usually just care about profits.

C. New products are more likely to be questionable.

D. The production of a device must be approved by FDA.

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