1987年考研翻譯題及參考答案

Section III English-Chinese Translation

Translate the following passage into Chinese. Only the underlined sentences are to be translated. (20 points)

Have there always been cities? (26) Life without large urban areas may seem inconceivable to us, but actually cities are relatively recent development. Groups with primitive economics still manage without them. The trend, however, is for such groups to disappear, while cities are increasingly becoming the dominant mode of man’s social existence. (27) Historically, city life has always been among the elements which form a civilization. Any high degree of human endeavor and achievement has been closely linked to life in an urban environment. (28) It is virtually impossible to imagine that universities, hospitals, large businesses or even science and technology could have come into being without cities to support them. To most people, cities have traditionally been the areas where there was a concentration of culture as well as of opportunity. (29) In recent years, however, people have begun to become aware that cities are also areas where there is a concentration of problems. What has happened to the modern American city? Actually, the problem is not such a new one. Long before this century started, there had begun a trend toward the concentration of the poor of the American society into the cities. Each great wave of immigration from abroad and from the rural areas made the problem worse. During this century, there has also been the development of large suburban areas surrounding the cities, for the rich prefer to live in these areas. Within the cities, sections may be sharply divided into high and low rent districts, the “right side of town” and the slums.

Of course, everyone wants to do something about this unhappy situation. But there is no agreement as to goals. Neither is there any systematic approach or integrated program. Opinions are as diverse as the people who give them. (30) But one basic difference of opinion concerns the question of whether or not the city as such is to be preserved. Perhaps transportation and the means of communication have really made it possible for there to be an end to the big cities. Of course, there is the problem of persuading people to move out of them of their own free will. (31) And there is also the objection that the city has always been the core from which cultural advancement has radiated. Is this, however, still the case today in the presence of easy transportation and communication? Does culture arise as a result of people living together communally, or is it too the result of decisions made at the level of government and the communications industry?

It is probably true to say that most people prefer to preserve the cities. Some think that the cities could be cleaned up or totally rebuilt. This is easy to say; it would not be so easy to do. (32) To be sure, a great rebuilding project would give jobs to many of those people who need them. Living conditions could not help but improve, at least for a while. But would the problems return after the rebuilding was completed?

Nevertheless, with the majority of the people living in urban areas, the problem of the cities must be solved. (33) From agreement on this general goal, we have, unfortunately, in the past proceeded to disagreement on specific goals, and from there to total inaction. At the basis of much of this inaction is an old-fashioned concept -- the idea human conditions will naturally tend to regulate themselves for the general goal.

26. 對我們來說，生活要是沒有廣大的城市地區似乎是不可想象的，但實際上城市還是比較按期才發展起來的。

27. 從歷史上看，城市生活始終是文明的一個組成部分。

28. 如果沒有城市的支持，簡直難以想象會有大學，醫院，大企業，甚至連科學技術也不會有。

29. 可是，近幾年來人們開始意識到城市也是問題集中的地方。

30. 但是，一個最主要的分歧意見是，像目前這樣的城市是否還要保存下去。

31. 同時也有人反對說，文化方面的進步，始終是以城市為中心而向外輻射的。

32. 誠然，一個宏偉的重建計劃也許能為許多需要工作的人提供就業機會。

33. 遺憾的是，過去我們在總目標方面意見是一致的，但涉及到各個具體目標時，意見就不一致，因而也就根本沒有什么行動。

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