译文是过儿自己翻译的,有不妥的地方还请大家指出~~~
Recreational Vehicles:On the road
房车:在路上
经济学人的标题常常双关,比如这个on the road,即有车的形象,又暗指目前发展势头良好。
An all-American product finds new takers.
美国产品找到新买家。
1.千万不要看见an就说“一种美国产品”,英语的冠词是限于语法不得不加的,中文加上“一种"你试试,别扭不别扭。
2. all-American,这里应该指的是彻头彻尾的米国货,过儿想起川普大帝电台演讲一直强调的重振米国制造业:We want to build with American workers,and with American iron, aluminum and steel.米国的工人+米国的原材料。
3. taker,买家不一定非说buyer。
Early spring is the main selling season for recreational vehicles (RVs) and the phone on Tom Troiano's desk has been ringing incessantly.
早春是房车销售的黄金季,Tom Troiano桌上的电话一直响个不停。
1.黄金季,你说过“golden season"吗?
什么是golden season......放到搜索引擎里面,出来的都是金灿灿的图片,相当于我们说的金秋十月......
main,多么简单!
2.一直响个不停,你让过儿翻,脑子里想到的就是keep ringing。incessantly,记得用。
The owner of Continental RV, a dealership in Farmingdale, a village on Long Island, Mr Troiano is on track to sell more RVs this year than in any other since the early 2000s.
Tom Troiano是长岛法明代尔村房车经销店大陆房车(Continental RV)的老板,该店销售状况很好,预计今年销售额将达到2000年初以来的最高水平。
1.同声传译的宝宝们,看见owner基本就不用等了,很容易判断是上一句的Tom Troiano。上一句没头没脑地冒出了一个人名,下一句肯定要交代他的身份,不然为什么平白无故地说起这个人呢?
2. dealership,就素我们说的4S店啊!
3. on track
If an activity or a situation is on track, it is making progress and is likely to achieve something (often + to do sth)
Eg.
A fighter from Edinburgh is on track to become the world heavy weight boxing champion.
If the peace talks remain ontrack, an agreement can be expected by the end of the month.
根据这个解释on track两层含义:we are making progress and are expected to......于是过儿拆成两部分译:销售状况很好,预计......
以后若遇到这两层意思的中文,一个on track就搞定啦!
4. more than any other比较级表示最高级,高中就在学,记得用...
Buoyed by cheap financing, rising wages and inexpensive gas, travellers are once again splurging on big-ticket camper vans.
贷款利率低,工资上涨,油价低廉,驴友们再次疯狂了,不惜撒上大把钞票购买房车。
1 buoy:使XX振奋,注意还能用在市场、经济上面,提振市场,刺激经济。
但素,过儿并没有翻译这个词,因为中文不需要“这使得”之类的字眼,前三个理由一出,后面驴友疯狂是顺理成章的,中文的逻辑都藏在字里行间,不需要啰嗦。
2便宜的贷款,上涨的工资,不贵的油价,这样的中文不像话哦!记得偏正转主谓,一个个独立的小结构很清脆。
若是汉译英,记得主谓转偏正哦!否则Because the financing is cheap, the wages are rising and the gas is inexpensive, travellers... OMG,这句子没法看了。ε(┬┬﹏┬┬)3
3. splurge: spend a lot of money
4 big-ticket: expensive
5 camper vans,注意这个是英文的elegant variation,不需要翻译成露营车哦,继续用“房车”就好,否则细心的读者还以为前后说的是两种东西。
RVs are a quintessentially American invention: more than two-thirds are made in the United States.
房车是典型的美国发明:世界上三分之二以上的房车都产在美国。
1. quintessentially: the most typical
Nationally, sales surged to 430,000 units last year, a 40-year high.
去年全美销量飙升至43万辆,达到40年来最高水平。
1若给过儿这句中文,过儿会说:The sales of the whole country...中国人真的很喜欢说of😂nationally,记得这个用法,省个of,嗯。
At the inexpensive end they sell for as little as $5,000 for a caravan; deluxe versions cost up to $1m and are typically equipped with a bedroom, kitchen and bathroom that are bigger than in many European flats.
低端产品如旅行拖车,售价只在5000美元;豪华车型价格高达100万,一般有一个卧室、一个厨房、一个卫生间,比欧洲许多公寓房还大。
1.分号前面小半句翻成英文怎么办呢?Low-end products such as caravans are sold for $5000 each.逻辑不对额!5000美元的是拖车,不是所有的低端产品都这个价钱啊。所以千万不要字对字!
The share prices of Thor Industries, the biggest RV-manufacturer in America, and Winnebago, the third-largest, have risen by 43% and 17%, respectively, in the past year.
That is a big change.
去年,美国最大房车生产商霍尔工业和第三大生产商温内巴戈股价分别上涨43%和17%。
真是形势剧变。
这句没啥可说......pass
During the 2008-09 recession, notes Mr Troiano, RV dealerships everywhere closed down, leaving his shop among the very few left serving the New York metropolitan area.
Troiano指出,08-09年经济衰退,各处房车经销商纷纷倒闭,像他这样仍坚持在纽约大都市区经营的经销商没有几家。
1 leaving...字面意思:留下他的店铺成为仍坚持在纽约大都市区经营的为数不多的几家经销商之一。这个中文,你听得下去吗?😥
英文很喜欢among the very few...among the several...among the top...中文喜欢把重点落在“没有几家”上面。所以——
像他这样仍坚持在纽约大都市区经营的经销商没有几家。
Very few shops were left serving the New
York metropolitan area like his was.(译文回译)
地道程度立判。
The current rebound is mostly owing to the economy's recovery, but it also springs from the fact that new types of customer are embracing the lifestyle.
眼下销售回暖主要是经济复苏的结果,同时,有新的客户群开始崇尚这种生活方式,也是销售反弹的一个原因。
1. owe to,spring from:because of spring,多么轻盈的小动词!
2.客户群不一定非说group对不对?新的客户群就是新的类型的客户,type很准确。
3.崇尚embrace,embrace是个灰常灰常好用的词,不同语境可以译成欢迎、接纳等等,请脑补一下张开臂膀主动拥抱的画面,一般都是用它的比喻义。
A decade ago the average age of an RV-owner was 49, and over 90% were white, says Kevin Broom of the Recreational Vehicle Industry Association (RVIA) ,an industry body. That didn't bode well for the future. But stereotypes are being dented.
房车行业协会(RVIA)的Kevin Broom表示:十年前,房车车主平均年龄在49岁,白人占90%以上。这样的结构对于未来而言不是好事,不过人们眼中过去的情况正在逐渐发生改观。
1 bode well/bode ill:好兆头,坏兆头
2 dent:打击某个东西的表面让它凹下去,还可以当名词用。比如说乔布斯的名言:We’re here to put a dent in the universe.——活着就是为了改变世界。
put/make a dent
表示进展:I've been slaving all day, and I have hardly made a dent in my work.忙活了一天,没什么进展。
表示减少:The roof repairs made quite a dent in our savings.修屋顶花瘪了我们的钱包。
Anecdotal reports suggest that ethnic minorities now make up around a sixth of all new customers, says Mr Broom.
Broom先生说,一些非正式报告显示:少数族裔已经占到新客户总数的六分之一左右。
1 make up: account for,占...比例,注意不同于take up, take up是占...空间
The fastest-growing customer demographic is 35- to 44-year-olds. Another boost comes from affluent immigrants, who are keen to experience long, self-planned road trips in America.
增长最快的客户群体是35-44岁之间的人士。另一个迅速增长的群体是经济状况良好的移民,这些人非常渴望亲身体验美国的长途自驾游。
1 demographic: a group of customers who are of a similar age, the same sex, etc.
这个词比group精准多啦,也高大上一些。
2 boost,这个词我们更多当动词用,以后可以用来代替increase/growth。
3 keen:渴望的,热情的,考过CATTI,刷过政府工作报告的宝宝都知道,Weare keenly/soberly aware of the fact...
Mr Troiano's most recent big sale was to a rich Asian family. The industry hopes that its poor record with foreign sales—last year less than 1% of RVs produced domestically were shipped to foreign markets (excluding Canada) —may improve, too.
Troiano先生最近的一大单就来自于一个富裕的亚裔家庭。去年,国产房车出口海外市场(不包括加拿大)的比例还不到1%,面对海外销售的惨淡经营,业内希望今年出口销量也能有所增加。
1.注意1%的位置,英语数字习惯先说,汉语习惯放在最后。
2.shipped,比exported更有画面感。
3.英语的波折号,汉语记得拆开哦!我们不习惯带着波折号说话的。
China's government, for example, has pledged to build 2,000 campgrounds by 2020, up from an estimated 300 today, in a bid to promote domestic tourism, particularly to remote rural regions.
例如,中国政府承诺到2020年将建成2000个露营地,而目前这一数字估计只有300左右。此举旨在促进国内旅游业的发展,尤其是偏远农村地区的发展。
1.up from,不需要把增长翻出来,用一个“而”表示对比就够了。同样道理的还有compared with,也不用翻出“对比”的字眼,比如:
China will have 2000 campgrounds by 2020, compared with some 300 today.
2.in a bid to: in order to
Chinese firms such as Yutong Bus make RVs, but not of the quality that many Chinese want. The country imported 1,000 vehicles last year, over half of them American.
宇通客车等中国企业也生产房车,但质量达不到许多中国人的要求。去年中国进口房车1000辆,一半以上为美国制造。
1.质量达不到许多中国人的要求,这句话如果不经大脑就会译成but the quality doesn't meet many Chinese' demand.英文明明可以说得很紧凑。
2.再次注意1000的位置,1000 vehicles,房车1000辆,数字一先一后。
RV manufacturers are also marketing the notion that their motor homes can be commercial as well as leisure vehicles.
房车制造商同时也在推销一种理念,即房车既可用于商业用途,也可用作休闲车辆。
1.motor homes,elegant variation,还记得前面的camping van吗?都译成房车,不要换词。
2.“既可用作商业车辆,也可用作休闲车辆”,按照原文结构是这样。过儿感觉两个同样的结构不如换个说法,参差一点儿有生气。
They can allow travelling salesmen, businessmen and university-admissions officers to save onfood and hotel costs, for example, when they hit the road trying to recruit prospective new clients and students.
比如说,销售人员和商务人士出差寻找潜在客户,大学招生负责人外出招生,这时使用房车就能省下食宿费用。
1这句话把三类人和招募的两种对象拆散,重新组合来说的,这样更清楚。更重要的是,英语的主语是房车,而汉语主语换成了三类人。因为英语习惯不切换主语,而上一个宾语从句的主语就是房车,而汉语习惯围绕着一件事情说,使用多个主语带多个独立的主谓结构,更符合汉语表达习惯。
2 hit the road:start a journey.政经类的文章很喜欢用的同类词:embark on a journey.
3 prospective,这个词很棒,这里相当于potential。
The office, as well as home, can be wherever you park it.
只消停下车来,处处办公处处家。
1.这一句,考验中文的时候到啦...抛砖引玉求更好的译法。😋