原文:http://mp.weixin.qq.com/s?__biz=MzI5MzQ0NjMyMw==&mid=2247485074&idx=1&sn=b229c3f08ecacf8ea8b1ad73ac3a8a32&chksm=ec70b14edb07385854e635087575d74bed9470e0b0012a03df32da56cf1e6665df3696760b15#rd
这两天,中国975万名考生迎来了人生的第一搏。作为过来人,不管相隔多久,回忆起来总是历历在目、甚至心有余悸,却又无比怀念。每年6月初,高考也成为国内外媒体的重点报道话题,今天,我从香港《南华早报》、BBC和英国《卫报》中找了三篇有关高考的报道,从中选取了一些表达,和大家分享。通过本文,我们能学到:
“考试”用英语怎么说?
“考入大学”有哪些说法?
哪些词可以用来形容高考的重要性?
“大浪淘沙”用英文怎么说?
外媒如何评价中国高考?
一、“考试”用英语怎么说?
说道“考试”,我们首先想到的是 take the exam. 但外媒使用的却是另一个非常常见、但意想不到的的词——sit,我们来看BBC的报道:
Every year, more than nine million students in China sit a high-stakes examination - the gaokao.
sit 表示“坐”,但这里是它的熟词僻义,表示 to do an exam 参加考试,后面可以直接加考试,也可以先加一个介词 for,再加考试。这是一个非常正式的表达,在外刊中出现的频率也很高,比如《卫报》:
The day before the first morning paper, his parents had rented a hotel room next to Tsinghua University middle school, where he would sit his papers, so that they could arrange his meals and attend to his every other need.
这句话举了一个考生的例子,讲了父母对高考的重视程度。文中,sit his papers 就是“考试”的意思。
BBC还举了一个86岁的考生的例子:
Among the sea of fresh-faced teens sitting the exam in Nanjing, 86-year-old Wang Xia stood out as the city's - possibly the nation's - oldest test taker.
还有有关这位大龄考生的采访:
"I don't play mahjong, I don't have any particular hobby, but I do love reading and learning. Others may not support me, but I still want to sit for an exam, it's my spiritual pillar," he said.
二、“考入大学”有哪些说法?
2015年6月的BBC说道:
The latest test took place on Sunday and Monday. It is the only way for students to gain entry to university and pressure is high from parents and the nation.
gain entry to university 的意思是“考入大学”,gain entry to/into 可以用来表示 get into(进入) 的意思,比如,“中国入世”用英语就可以说:gain entry to the WTO. 某一企业、产品打入某市场,也可以说:... gain entry into the ... market.
除了 gain entry to university 之外,我们还可以用 admission 这个词,《南华早报》有一段谈到了高考作弊,我们一起来看:
Even though cheating carries a punishment of up to seven years in jail under Chinese law, there is no end to the schemes some will use to try to gain an edge over the millions of Chinese youth competing fiercely for admission into the country’s top universities.
compete for admission into universities 也可以用来表示“考入大学”,记住这个。另外,本段中还出现了一个重要表达:gain an edge over...,edge 在这里是个熟词僻义,表示“优势”,相当于 advantage. Gain an edge over 则表示“与...相比有优势,胜过一筹”。比如:
A well-written CV is a key factor in gaining a competitive edge over your rivals.
好的简历能让你比你的对手更有竞争优势。
三、哪些词可以用来形容高考的重要性?
高考的重要性不言而喻,但谈到“重要”,我们只能想到 important, crucial 等词,其他新鲜表达,纵然搜肠刮肚也想不出来了。我们看一下《 南早报》的开头:
The gaokao – China’s make-or-break college entrance exams – start on Thursday and will take place across the mainland through Saturday.
make 表示“做”,break 表示“破”,把这两个词连起来读:make-or-break,要么成要么败,有一种“不成功便成仁”的感觉。这比 important, crucial 更能体现出高考的重要性。
文章继续说道:
And while thousands of students will cope with the most important exam in their life – an assessment that can set the course for their future – by studying, studying and studying some more, there always seem to be others who will try to get better scores by cheating.
Set the course for one's future,决定一个人的人生轨迹,高考的重要性不言而喻。
四、“大浪淘沙”用英文怎么说?
《卫报》中有一段关于高考的评价,文章说道:
Given the intense competition for finite higher education resources, the argument goes, there has to be some way to separate the wheat from the chaff, and to give hardworking students from poorer backgrounds a chance to rise to the top.
这一观点认为,考虑到有限的高等教育资源面临激烈的争夺,必须用一种大浪淘沙的方式,让那些出身贫穷但学习刻苦的人有机会向上发展。
finite 是“有限的”,可以替换 limited,前段时间上映的热播电影《复联3:无限战争(Avengers: Infinity War)》中,“无限”用的就是 infinity 这个词,它是 finite 的名词形式的反义词。
里面还有这么一个表达:separate the wheat from the chaff,wheat 指“小麦”,chaff 指“糠,谷壳”,根据这些信息我们大致能推断出来,它表示“把好的东西和坏的东西区分开”,也就是“大浪淘沙”
2014年的《经济学人》中有篇文章讲到了农业投资,里面有这么一句话:
Investors need to separate the wheat from the chaff, too. Farm investing requires patience; it is ill-suited to flipping and trading.
Separate the wheat from the chaff 在这里是个双关,一方面指农业中的 wheat 和 chaff,另一方面,表示“认真筛选、剔除”的意思。这句话是说:投资者也应认真筛选。农业投资需要耐心;不适合频繁交易。
2014年5月的《经济学人》有一篇文章讲到了电子书的泛滥,因为电子书不需要审核,所以平台上电子书良莠不齐,带来了混乱,这需要出版商的审核:
Big publishers are also trying to separate the wheat from the chaff.
关于第五点,外媒如何评价中国的高考,我们下期将以精读的形式呈现给大家!
感谢阅读!