漢譯英的簡潔、精煉（二）

　　二、一些特定的短語、用法也能使句子簡潔、地道。如：

　　1、你要是跟我們一起就好了!

　　If only you could be with us!

　　2、畫筆之于畫家有如鋼琴之于音樂家。

　　The brush is to the painter what the piano is to the musician.

　　3、一半是因?yàn)閯诶郏话胧且驗(yàn)闅鈶?，他病倒了?/p>

　　Between overwork and indignation, he was laid up. (or: what with overwork what with indignation, he was laid up.)

　　4、天氣一會(huì)兒冷，一會(huì)兒熱。

　　The weather is now cold, now hot. (or: The weather is now cold, then hot. )

　　5、有兩家便宜的旅館，若都不行的話，不妨還是回你從前住的地方去吧。

　　There are two cheap hotels, but failing either of these, you may as well go back to where you were before.

　　6、這本書不是一下子就能吃透的。

　　The book cannot be understood at one swoop.

　　7、他總是輕言細(xì)語地跟別人講話。

　　He is always soft-spoken.

　　8、它的眼帶出進(jìn)退兩難的神情。

　　The look in its eyes shows that the little creatures is of two minds.

　　三、名詞化結(jié)構(gòu)往往包括動(dòng)作行為的邏輯內(nèi)涵，但句式表現(xiàn)卻非常簡潔。需要注意的是，名詞化結(jié)構(gòu)往往用于很正式的文體之中。如：

　　1.他貪污了大量公款，鋃鐺入獄了。

　　His egregious embezzlement led to his imprisonment.

　　2.由于無法弄到實(shí)驗(yàn)器材，實(shí)驗(yàn)進(jìn)展起來非常困難。

　　The unavailability of apparatus rendered the experiment rather difficult.

　　3.我家和他家很近，路途上也方便，所以每月都要往來一次。

　　The convenient proximity between the two families enabled our monthly visit.

　　4.由于電信、傳媒的發(fā)達(dá)，人們之間聯(lián)系日益緊密，地球仿佛成了地球村。

　　The sophistication of telecommunication and mass media brings about increasing interconnection among people and turns the globe into a village.

　　5.雨水一刻不歇地下著，運(yùn)動(dòng)會(huì)只好擱淺了。

　　The relentless determination of the rain wrecked the sports meet.

　　6.這位老人舉止優(yōu)雅，可以看得出，他從前過著非常從容的生活。

　　The old man’s graceful appearance betrayed his previous easy days.