【试题】

　　鱼是春节前夕餐桌上不可或缺的一道菜，因为汉语中“鱼”字的发音与“余”字的发音相同。正由于这个象征性的意义，春节期间鱼也作为礼物送给亲戚朋友。鱼的象征意义据说源于中国传统文化。中国人有节省的传统，他们认为节省得愈多，就感到愈为安全。今天，尽管人们愈来愈富裕了，但他们仍然认为节省是一种值得弘扬的美德。

　　【译文】

　　Fish is indispensable at the dining table on the eve of Spring Festival, since the pronunciation of "fish" and "surplus" are identical to each other in Chinese. With this symbolic meaning, fish is also given as a gift to relatives and friends during the Spring Festival. It is said that the symbolic meaning of fish originated from traditional Chinese culture. The Chinese people have a tradition of thrift, believing that the more they save, the securer they will feel. Nowadays, although people become richer, thrift is still regarded as a virtue worth promoting.

　　【解析】

　　①鱼是春节前夕餐桌上不可或缺的一道菜，因为汉语中“鱼”字的发音与“余”字的发音相同。

　　第一句包含两个小分句，后半句“因为”二字表明了两个分句的逻辑关系，可用“because”或“since”表示原因，从而顺势翻译两小句。词汇方面“前夕”、“不可或缺”和“余”可能对某些考生来说稍有难度，但若注重四级词汇的积累则不是难点。

　　Fish is indispensable at the dining table on the eve of Spring Festival, since the pronunciation of "fish" and "surplus" are identical to each other in Chinese.

　　②正由于这个象征性的意义，春节期间鱼也作为礼物送给亲戚朋友。

　　第二句包括两小分句，前一小句“正是由于”表明分句间前因后果的逻辑关系，可以用“It is for the reason that…”句式，也可以用介词with表述;同时后一分句考察被动语态的用法。

　　With this symbolic meaning, fish is also given as a gift to relatives and friends during the Spring Festival.

　　③鱼的象征意义据说源于中国传统文化。

　　第三句“据说”可译为被动语态句型“It is said that…”句式，“that”从句后接真正的主语。主语是“鱼的象征意义”，动词是“源于”，顺句翻译出来即可。词汇方面“源于”可译为originate from…或derive from均可。

　　It is said that the symbolic meaning of fish originated from traditional Chinese culture.

　　④中国人有节省的传统，他们认为节省得愈多，就感到愈为安全。

　　第四句包含三小分句，但因主语皆为“中国人”，因此可以用“and”或者用现在分词的形式连接句子，化零为整。同时考察了“愈…愈…”的比较级句式表达;词汇方面“节省”可译为“frugality”或“thrift”均可。

　　The Chinese people have a tradition of thrift, believing that the more they save, the securer they will feel.

　　⑤今天，尽管人们愈来愈富裕了，但他们仍然认为节省是一种值得弘扬的美德。

　　第五句包含两小分句，“尽管”表明了句式的逻辑关系，考察了由“although”连接的让步状语从句的用法，后一分句可顺势翻译为人做主语的简单句，也可译为以“节省”为主语的被动句。

　　Nowadays, although people become richer, thrift is still regarded as a virtue worth promoting.