原文:More of them describe intercity travel as a route to a better job than to a higher quality of life. Indeed, many call commuting stressful, and something to do “when they are young”. To promote newly built districts, high-speed railway stations are often built far from existing city centres, obliging commuters to travel long distances from stations to workplaces. All this exacts a toll on marriages and families.
译文:许多人表示,城际通勤是为了获得更好的工作,而不是为了提高生活质量。事实上,很多人都表示通勤让人很疲惫,只有“年轻时”才能扛得住。为了促进新开发区域的发展,高铁站往往建在远离现有城市中心的地方,所以从高铁站到工作地点还有很长一段路。这一切给婚姻和家庭带来了不利影响。
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More of them describe intercity travel as a route to a better job than to a higher quality of life.
许多人表示,城际通勤是为了获得更好的工作,而不是为了提高生活质量。
- 固定表达:describe sth as的字面意思是“把……描述为……”,可以灵活翻译,表示“某人看来/表示”,如这句:
For many internet users, this has been a sad moment. On social media they bade farewell to what they described as something irreplaceable: entertainment free of the dead hand of China’s censors, and with far more accurate subtitles than most officially approved content.
对许多用户来说,这真是一个悲伤的时刻。在社交媒体上,他们向自己口中不可替代的东西道了别:人人影视字幕组提供的影视作品没有经过中国审查机构的严苛审查,而且字幕翻译也比大多数官方审查后的影视作品更精准。
- 固定表达:intercity travel的意思是“城际通勤”。这里travel是名词,表示“长途通勤”。
intercity travel的同义表达有intercity mobility和intercity commuting。“城际通勤族”可以用intercity commuters表示。
这里顺便说下commute作动词和名词的用法:
A. commute作为动词可以表示“上下班往返;通勤”,比如例句:Mike commutes to London every day. 迈克每天都去伦敦上班。
commute的动名词是commuting,如经济学人上这句:China’s high-speed trains enable long-distance commuting. 中国的高铁让长途通勤成为可能。
还比如今天讲的这段的第二句Indeed, many call commuting stressful...也用了commuting。
B. commute作为可数名词可以表示“上下班路程”,比如例句:I have only a short commute to work. 我上班的路程很近。
再比如经济学人在描述城际通勤时也用到了这个词:
As countries such as Japan, France and Spain invested in high-speed trains, travelling at 250kph or more, new pairs of cities found themselves an hour or so apart, allowing for previously unthinkable commutes.
在日本、法国、西班牙等国投资建设时速不下250公里的高铁后,更多城市之间通勤时间只需一小时左右,让之前无法想象的通勤成为了可能。
- 固定表达:a route to的字面意思是“一条……的路”,引申为“一条……的途径”,可以结合语境灵活翻译,比如经济学人在报道发展中国家致富途径时是这样用的:
Attracting investment in labour-intensive manufacturing has been a route to riches for many developing countries, including China.
包括中国在内的许多发展中国家,在劳动密集型制造业吸引投资是一个致富的方法。
还有CATTI和MTI备考报告中也用到了这个表达:要以发展促和平,打破“贫困引发冲突,冲突破坏发展”的恶性循环。It must prioritize development as a route to peace and break the vicious circle of poverty, conflict and lack of development.
今天这句话直译是“多数人表示城际通勤是获得更好的工作的途径,而不是更高的生活质量的途径”,这样翻不够通顺,所以我们把“……的途径”换一种说法,变成“是为了……”,因此整句话的翻译是“多数人表示城际通勤是为了获得更好的工作,而不是为了提高生活质量”。
- 固定表达:a higher quality of life可以翻译为“更高的生活质量”或“更好的生活”,放在政工文本中一般指的是“改善民生”,比如工作报告中的这句:
另一个是增加公共产品、公共服务供给,既拉动有效需求,又可以改善民生。
The second focuses on better provision of public goods and services, which in turn contributes to stronger demand and a higher quality of life.
higher living standards也可以表示“更好的生活”,比如金融时报在描述降低贸易壁垒的好处时就用到了这个表达:
Lower trade barriers brought higher living standards, and freer financial markets redefined the global economy.
贸易壁垒的降低,带来了生活水平的提高,而更*的金融市场重新定义了全球经济。
如果是“过上更好的生活”,可以说live/lead a better life。
另外,与a higher quality of life相对的自然就是a lower quality of life,比如世界卫生组织在描述女性生存状况时这样用:
While life expectancy is higher for women than men in most countries, a number of health and social factors combine to create a lower quality of life for women.
尽管在大多数国家妇女的预期寿命高于男性,但一些卫生和社会因素综合起来导致妇女的生活质量较低。
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Indeed, many call commuting stressful, and something to do “when they are young”.
事实上,很多人都表示通勤让人很疲惫,只有“年轻时”才能扛得住。
- 固定表达:call sth +adj.这种结构表示“认为某物/某事如何”,比如美联社例句:University President Teresa Sullivan called the allegations “Shocking”. 校长苏利文认为这样的罪行让人震惊。
如果是call sb/sth +n.的结构,则表示“把……说成;认为……是;将……称为”,如call him a traitor称他是叛徒。
今天这句话中stressful和commuting something to do “when they are young”并列。这样还原应该容易理解了:Indeed, many call commuting stressful, and call commuting something to do “when they are young”.
call commuting something to do “when they are young”是call sth + n.的结构,something to do “when they are young”是一起的,表示“年轻时做的事”。
- 一词多义:stressful作为形容词有多个含义,这里帮大家分一下类:
A. 表示“有压力的;压力大的”,相当于pressured,比如Elite Daily在描述20岁的人生压力时是这样说的:
It's a stressful, confusing chapter of life between the joyous and beer-infused years of college and actual adulthood.
20多岁的人生有压力,有困惑,你即将从快乐的大学时光迈向成年人的世界。
我们说工作压力大也可以用这个词:The workplace had gotten more stressful than it was just a few decades ago,. 现在工作比几十年前压力大。
B. 表示“紧张而忙碌的;繁重的”,多用于修饰life和job,相当于busy,比如lead stressful lifestyles out of necessity迫于生计不得不过着紧张忙碌的生活;stressful jobs最繁重的工作。
C. 表示“艰难的”,相当于tough,arduous和hard,比如四六级真题中出现的这句:It was a stressful time for all of us. 对我们所有人来说,那是一个艰难的时期。
说到stressful,我们还要回顾一下它对应的名词stress的相关用法,常见的短语有suffer from stress有精神压力,cope with stress应对压力,emotional/mental stress感情/思想负担,stress management压力管理。
stress levels表示“压力水平”,比如China Daily例句:Exercise might also improve mood by reducing stress levels. 运动还能通过降低人们的压力水平,从而提高心情状态。
post-traumatic stress disorder指“创伤后应激障碍”,简称PTSD,如这句:
Women who have experienced violence from a partner are more likely to suffer from depression, anxiety, panic attacks and post-traumatic stress disorder.
曾遭受家暴的病人更可能患上抑郁症、焦虑症、无端恐惧症和创伤后应激障碍。
所以,如果你想表达“西方国家的年轻人承受着越来越大的压力”,就可以像卫报这样说:Young people were increasingly reporting higher stress levels around the western world.
stress也可以作为动词来用,表示强调,同义词有emphasize,underline和underscore,比如外刊例句:Researchers have stressed the importance of connecting education with technology. 研究人员强调了技术与教育结合的重要性。
还有be stressed out,表示“因心理紧张而被压垮的”,同义表达有be worn out,be under too much pressure和be overloaded。形容词是stressed-out,比如经济学人标题就用到了这个词:Stressed-out Chinese love melodrama about courtly life越是压力过大的中国人越喜欢看宫廷剧。
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第三句:To promote newly built districts, high-speed railway stations are often built far from existing city centres, obliging commuters to travel long distances from stations to workplaces.
为了促进新开发区域的发展,高铁站往往建在远离现有城市中心的地方,所以从高铁站到工作地点还有很长一段路。
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句子结构分析:这句话的主*分是high-speed railway stations are often built far from existing city centres,主语是high-speed railway stations,使用被动语态are often built;To promote newly built districts表示目的;obliging commuters to travel long distances from stations to workplaces是现在分词形式作主干的结果状语。
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newly built表示“新建的”,比如《新英汉大辞典》例句:Row upon row of newly built warehouses line the waterfront. 江岸新建的仓库鳞次栉比。
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Existing:现有的。
"Envisioning future infrastructure from scratch is far easier and more cost efficient than retrofitting an existing urban fabric,' Grady Gammage, a spokesman for the venture said in the statement. (18年西外MTI翻硕真题讲解英译汉)
该投资集团发言人格雷迪·甘米奇(Grady Gammage)在声明中表示:“与改造现有城市结构相比,打造一个全新社区会更为容易,也更具成本效益。”
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travel long distances是一起的,表示走很长路或乘坐某交通工具得很长时间。如worldbank上这句:Many teachers live outside the local community and must travel long distances to teach. 许多教师来自他乡,并且需要长途跋涉来上课。
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一词多义:oblige作为动词有多个意思和用法,这里给大家分类讲解:
A. oblige有“责任,义务”的意思。be obliged to do sth表示“应该做某事”,比如:Banks should be obliged in return to help reinvigorate the real economy. 作为回报,银行应承担起帮助重振实体经济的义务。
名词是obligation,表示家庭责任,家庭义务。如:Family obligations often lead women to choose to work part-time. 女性往往会因为家庭责任而选择从事兼职工作。
B. be obliged to do sth表示强迫/迫使干某事,如The President was obliged to concede power to the army. 总统*把权力让给军队。
C. oblige也有“(根据要求或需要)帮忙,效劳”的意思,比如《牛津词典》例句:Call me if you need any help—I'd be happy to oblige. 若有需要,尽管给我打电话。我很乐意帮忙。
今天这里是B层意思,表示*,迫使,不得不。obliging commuters to travel long distances from stations to workplaces是oblige sb to do sth的用法,我们知道高铁站一般在郊区,所以下了高铁,还有很长一段路才能到上班的地方。
obliging commuters to travel long distances from stations to workplaces这个字面意思是迫使通勤者从高铁站到工作地点……,这样翻译不通顺,可以换个说法,即所以从高铁站到工作地点还有很长一段路。
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第四句:All this exacts a toll on marriages and families.
这一切给婚姻和家庭带来了不利影响。
- 固定表达:exacts a toll on表示“带来不利影响;造成不良后果(也就是付出代价)”的意思,exact可以替换为take。比如外媒在报道不合理的“996”制度时是这样用的:The relentless nature of the work culture now seems to be taking a toll on tech workers powering the sector. 如今看来残酷的工作文化给辛苦贡献的技术人员带来了痛苦。
经济学人在表达“高昂物价使生活水准大打折扣”时是这么说的:
But despite 15 years of deflation, Japan's punishingly high prices still take a toll on its residents' standard of living.
尽管日本连续15年出现通货紧缩,其高昂的物价仍然使居民的生活水准大打折扣。
如果在toll前面加上一个heavy来修饰,也就是take a heavy toll,意思就变成了“带来严重影响;带来沉重打击;使遭受重创”,比如经济学人的这句:In Italy and America, where the pandemic has taken a heavier toll, interest from foreign tourists has weakened significantly more.
类似的还有固定表达take a battering和take a hit。注意区别:take a heavy toll on sth是指“对……产生严重影响/打击”,而sth take a battering/ take a hit/ be hit hard by/ be badly affected by都表示sth受到严重影响/打击。
比如经济学人说“报纸业遭受重创”时用到了take a battering:The newspaper industry is taking a battering.
在描述疫情使澳大利亚和日本的原油和股票受到重创时,卫报用到了take a hit:As businesses in China remain shuttered and travel bans mount, crude oil and shares in Australia and Japan also take a hit.