10. a
《英语应用文手册》第86页(山西人民出版社1984年):
We have pleasure in enclosing a check No. …for the sum of US$...issued by the Bank of China,Taiyuan,…
兹函附中国银行太原分行开出的第…号支票一张,计…美元,…
【评】句中的“a”应删去,也不可用“one”或“the”代替,因已有“No. …”限定check。其他如“Agreement No. …”,“Contract No. …”等前面也不可加“a(n)”,“one”,或“the”。
11. about
《英语类似句辨异》等59页(湖南人民出版社1984年):
He is about to start. 他即将动身。
(这个句子也可改为“He is about to starting.”)
【评】“be about”在用作“不久就要…”解时,通常接带“to”的不定式,极少接动名词。因此,“be about”
接动名词时不能有不定式符号“to”。
12. Chinese
《英语应用文手册》第16页:
As you know,the Chinese traditional painting and handwriting exhibition will be held at the Workers' Cultural Palace,Taiyuan,from October 1 to 15…十月一日至十五日在太原工人文化宫将举行中国国画和书法展览。
【评】按照英语习惯用法,“Chinese”应放在“traditional”后面,与汉语不同,必须注意。此外,该句中的“As you know”(用作插入语,意“你也知道”、“如你所知”)没有译出。
13. confer
《上海学生英文报》第1版(1985年6月12日):
Since 1982,7 postgraduates have been conferred doctor's degree and more than 2,400 master's.
【评】该句的意思是“1982年以来,已有七名研究生被授予博士学位,二千四百多名研究生被授予硕士学位。”但“conferred”用得不对。一般讲,我们该用“confer(a degree,title etc.)on(or upon)somebody”(授予某人以〈学位、称号等〉)这个结构。因此,该例句中的“conferred”应改为“awarded”。我们也可将该句改为“conferred”应改为“awarded”。我们也可将该句改为 “Since 1982,the doctor's degree has been conferred on (awarded to) 7 postgraduates and the master's degree on (to) more than 2,400 postgraduates.”
14. due to
《该怎么讲》第42页:
误:Due to the fog,the buses moved slowly.
正:Owing to / Because of the fog,the buses moved slowly.
【评】第二句中的“Owing to/Because of”用得完全正确,但第一句中的“Due to”在现代英语中不能算用错。根据一些英美出版的词典(包括Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English,Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary,The World Book Dictionary等)的说法,“due to”既可引起形容词短语作表语或定语用,又可引起副词短语作状语用(=owing to,because of),在许多著作中可以看到。现举几个例子说明“due to”可以表示“应归于”、“由于”等意思:All our achievements are due to the correct leadership of our Party. 我们的一切成就都应归功于党的正确领导。The credit is due to you. 荣誉应该归你。His success was duo to hard work. 他的成功是由于工作努力。The force due to gravitation causes objects to have weight.地心吸力使物体具有重量。Bearings must be properly lubricated,if not,there will be a large amount of energy wasted due to friction. 轴承必须适当润滑,不然会有大量的能由于摩擦而被消耗。
15. etc. (或etc)
《中国日报》(英文)(1983年6月24日):
China's output of grain went kip by 16 percent in 1982; cotton,by 66 per cent;…beef and mutton and etc. by more than 50 per cent each.
【评】该句的意思是1982年,中国的粮食产量增长16%;棉花增长66%;…牛羊肉等各增长50%以上。“但是“and etc.”是不正确的。“etc.”中的“et”意“and”,因此“and etc.”就像“and and so forth”一样是错误的。句中的“beef and mutton and etc.”可改为“bee-f,mutton,etc.”或“beef,mutton and others”。顺便一提,“etc.”前面的并列成分或项目不论是一个或几个,并列成分和“etc.”之间可加逗号,也可不加,没有区别。现举几个例子:Much,far,a bit etc. are also used to modify too. Much,far,a bit 等也可用来修饰too。/Cloth is the material that clothes,curtains etc. are made from. 织物是制衣服、帘子等的材料。/The following authors will be studied next year:—Milton,Tennyson,Browning etc.下列作家的著作将在明年学习:密尔顿、丁尼生、布朗宁等。/A full stop,a question mark,etc. is used at the end of a sentence.句号或问号等用于句尾。[这句中的“etc.”应译成“或…等”,因不是句号及问号等一起用于句尾。注意用“is”,不用“are”。]
16. facilitate
《中国日报》第4版(1984年1月27日):
Such an arrangement facilitates the reader greatly in finding a specific law or regulations.
【评】该句的意思是“这样的排列大大便于读者找到具体的法则或条例”。但“facilitate”接表人名词作为宾语还不能算是规范用法。“facilitate”通常不要求表人名词作为主语或宾语。因此,我们可将“facilitates”改为“assists”,或将该句改为“Such an arrangement greatly facilitates the reader's finding…”,“Such an arrangement makes it very easy for the reader to find...”,“Such an arrangement enables the reader to find very easily…”等。其他如:This machine facilitates our work. (一般不说This machine facilitates us in our work.)这部机器使我们工作容易。/Modern inventions facilitate housework. 现代发明使家务劳动轻便。/Compression facilitates the formation of a denser state. 压缩有利于形成密度较大的状态。
17. inform
Please inform him to write to us immediately.
请通知他立即写信给我们。
【评该】句中的“inform”用得不对,因在规范英语中没有“inform+宾语+带to的不定式”这种结构。我们可用“tell”或“notify”代替“inform”。其他如:Toll him to set to work in good earnest.叫他开始认真工作。/They were told to stay where they were.他们被通知留在原地。/He was notified to appear before the court. 他接到通知要他出庭。
18. no more than
《英语应用文手册》第110页:
Shanxi University and the other two educational institutions will,starting from June,1981,send no more than twenty qualified students and teachers to…山西大学等三院校愿从一九八一年六月开始,派出不超过廿名合格的学生或教师赴…
【评】该句中的“no more than twenty”不等于“不超过二十”。一般讲,“no more than+数字”表示“只…”和“仅(仅)…”的意思,有少的含义;“not more than+数字”表示“至多…”和“不超过…”的意思,没有多或少的含义。另外,“no less(或fewer)than+数字”表示“有…之多”和“多至…”的意思,强调数量多;“not less(或fewer)than+数字”表示“至少…”和“不少于…”的意思,不强调数量多少。因此,该句如以英语为准,则汉语的“不超过”应改为“仅仅”;如以汉语为准,则英语的“no more than”应改为“not more than”。其他如:The plant has no more than ten lathes · 这个厂只有十台车床。/The plant has not more than ten lathes. 这个厂至多有十台车床。顺便一提,该句的“qualified students and teachers”并不等于“合格的学生或教师”。
我们应该注意上述两对短语的意义区别,但在有些参考书中可以看到混用现象。例如四川人民出版社1980年出版的《英汉科技常用短语词典》第367页有:no more than five kilometers(最多有五公里,可能比五公里还要少一些);no less than five kilometers(最少有五公里,可能比五公里还要多一些)。这是将“no more than”和“no less than”分别作为“not more than”和“not less than”来理解,不足为训。(待续)