Book 1 Unit 5 课文英汉对译

Book 1 Unit 5 课文英汉对译

Unit 5 Languages Around The World 世界上的语言
Reading and Thinking
THE CHINESE WRITING SYSTEM:
CONNECTING THE PAST AND THE PRESENT
汉字书写体系：连接过去与现在
China is widely known for its ancient civilisation which has continued all the way through into modern times, despite the many ups and downs in its history. There are many reasons why this has been possible, but one of the main factors has been the Chinese writing system.
尽管历史跌宕起伏，中国因其古代文明一直延续至今而闻名于世。其存续的原因颇多，但主要因素之一是汉字的书写体系。
At the beginning, written Chinese was a picture-based language. It dates back several thousand years to the use of longgu—animal bones and shells on which symbols were carved by ancient Chinese people. Some of the ancient symbols can still be seen in today’s hanzi.
汉字在最初是一种基于图形的语言。它可以追溯到数千年前使用龙骨的时期——古代中国人在这些骨头和壳上面刻画简单的符号。这些符号在今天的汉字中仍可看到。
By the Shang Dynasty (around 1600-1046 BCE), these symbols had become a well-developed writing system. Over the years, the system developed into different forms, as it was a time when people were divided geographically leading to many varieties of dialects and characters. This, however, changed under Emperor Qinshihuang of the Qin Dynasty (221-207BCE).
到商朝(约公元前1600年一前1046年)时，这些符号已经演变成一套成熟的书写体系。在随后的年代里，这一体系发展成不同的形式，这是由于当时中国人居住地域的分隔，从而导致不同方言和汉字变体的产生。然而，这在秦朝(公元前221年一前207年)秦始皇统治时期发生了变化。
Emperor Qinshihuang united the seven major states into one unified country where the Chinese writing system began to develop in one direction. That writing system was of great importance in uniting the Chinese people and culture. Even today, no matter where Chinese people live or what dialect they speak, they can all still communicate in writing.
秦始皇统一七个诸侯国后，在这个统一的国家里，汉字开始朝着一个方向发展。这个书写体系对于中国人民与中国文化的统一具有非凡的意义。即使在今天，不论住在哪里，也不论说何种方言，中国人仍然能通过书写(汉字)进行交流。
Written Chinese has also become an important means by which China’s present is connected with its past. People in modem times can read the classic works which were written by Chinese in ancient times. The high regard for the Chinese writing system can be seen in the development of Chinese characters as an art form, known as Chinese calligraphy, which has become an important part of Chinese culture.
汉字也成为连接中国现在与过去的一个重要媒介。现代中国人可以阅读古代中国人撰写的经典作品。中国人对其书写体系推崇备至，这体现在汉字发展为一种艺术形式——书法。书法已成为中国文化的一个重要组成部分。
Today, the Chinese writing system is still an important part of Chinese culture. As China plays a greater role in global affairs, an increasing number of international students are beginning to appreciate China’s culture and history through this amazing language.
今天，汉字仍然是中国文化的一个重要组成部分。随着中国在全球事务中扮演着更为重要的角色，越来越多的国际学生开始通过汉语这一奇妙的语言了解和欣赏中国的文化和历史。
Reading for Writing
LEARNING ENGLISH
学习英语
Wang Le王乐
Hey, everybody, what are your biggest problems with learning English?
嗨，大家好，请问你们在学习英语时遇到的最大问题是什么?
Liu Wen刘文
Hi! I’ve been studying English since primary school. I used to get high marks in English, but now I’m having a lot of trouble with my listening. When I listen to native English speakers talking in a video, I can catch only a few words. I can never quite get the main idea. Any advice?
你好！我从小学就一直在学英语。以前我的英语成绩还挺好的，但是现在我的听力有很大的麻烦。我在视频中听母语是英语的人说话时，只能听懂几个单词。我从来就没能完全搞懂过大意。有什么建议吗?
Jia Xin 佳欣
Listening to English radio programmes helps me get used to how fast native speakers talk. I also repeat what I hear to help myself to experience the feeling of the language. Sometimes I even record my voice so I can listen to myself and compare my pronunciation with the radio host’s! My biggest headache is how to be polite in English. It’s so much easier to just say “Open the window!”, but in English that can sound really terrible. I have to think about who I’m talking to and then decide whether to say, “Open the window, please!” or “Could you open the window, please?” or even longer “Would you mind opening the window, please?”
收听英语广播节目帮助我习惯母语人士的语速。我还会复述听到的内容，以此来培养语感。有时候，我甚至还给自己录音，那样一来，我可以听自己的发音，并把我的发音与广播主持人的进行比较！我最头痛的问题是如何用英语得体地表达。说“打开窗户!”很容易，可是在英语里，这样说听起来感觉很糟糕。我得考虑到我在跟谁说话，然后再决定是说“请打开窗户！”还是“请你打开窗户，好吗？”或者说句更长的“请问，您介意打开窗户吗？”
Li Rui李瑞
     Yeah, that’s really hard! I think it all depends on who you’re talking to. If I’m talking to a close friend, I can use short requests, like “Open the window”—our relationship is close and we’re equals, so I only need a few words to bridge the gap between us. But if I’m talking to someone who isn’t very close to me, I must make my request longer—and I must make it a question, not a demand, e.g., “Could you open the window, please?” If I’m talking to someone senior to me, then I should say, “Would you mind opening the window, please?” For me, vocabulary is my biggest problem—there are just SO MANY new words! I can’t keep all the new vocabulary straight in my head, and I certainly can’t remember how to use them all properly. HELP!
是啊，这真的很难！我觉得这完全取决于你在跟谁说话。如果我是跟一个亲密的朋友说话，我可以用简短的请求，如“打开窗户”，这是因为我们关系密切，彼此平等，所以我只需要说几个字就能让对方明白我的意思。但是，如果我是跟不太亲近的人说话，那么我就得把我的请求说得长一些——我得把它变成一个疑问句，而不是一个要求，例如：“麻烦你打开窗户，好吗？”如果我是在跟一个辈分或职位比我高的人说话，那么我得说：“请问，您是否介意打开窗户呢？”对我来说，词汇是最大的问题——生词太多了！我无法在脑子里记住所有的生词，当然也就记不住如何恰当地使用这些词汇。帮帮我吧！