Theirs was a serious business,and even those reviewers who wore their learning lightly,like George Bernard Shaw and Ernest Newman,could be trusted to know what they were about.
词汇:1. business工作
2. reviewer评论家
3.wear one's learning lightly不卖弄学问
3. learning 学问
4.lightly轻微地
5.be about从事于
分句1:Theirs was a serious business
分句2:even those reviewers could be trusted to know(主语补语)
后置定语:who wore their learning lightly
介词短语作后置定语:like George Bernard Shaw and Ernest Newman
宾语从句: what they were about
参考译文:他们所从事的是严肃的工作,即使像萧伯纳和欧内斯特 纽曼一样不卖弄自己学问的评论家,也知道自己在做什么,这点足以让人信任。
翻译之道:1.句中的to know what they were about是主语 those reviewers的补语,译者将主语和补语处理成并列分句,末尾以“这”字进行概括,符合翻译之道,值得一学。2.句中的who从句直接译为定语,不显局促,可取。