中式英语之鉴.docx

中式英语之鉴.docx

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中式英语之鉴

PartOne:

UnnecessaryWords

AllauthoritiesonthestyleofEnglishproseagreethatgoodwritingisconcise.Carefulwriterssaywhattheymeaninasfewwordsaspossible.

Vigorouswritingisconcise.Asentenceshouldcontainnounnecessarywords,aparagraphnounnecessarysentences,forthesamereasonthatadrawingshouldhavenounnecessarylinesandamachinenounnecessaryparts.

Itfollowsthatanywordswhichperformnousefulfunctioninthesentence—thatis,whichaddnothingtothemeaning—shouldbeeditedout.

AlmosteverytextthathasbeentranslatedintoEnglishfromChinese（orthathasbeenwrittendirectlyinEnglishbyanativespeakerofChinese）containsunnecessarywords.Drafttranslationsarecommonlyfullofthem,andevenpolishedfinalversionsareseldomfreeofthem.

ReadanythingthathasbeenpublishedinEnglishforforeignreaders—amagazinearticle,anewsstory,anadvertisement,agovernmentreport—andyouarelikelytofindsuperfluouswords.ReadeventheshortestofEnglishtexts—thelabelonafoodproduct,abillboardonChang’an,thecompanynameonthefrontofabuilding—and,ifyouareonthealerttorecognizethem,chancesarethatyouwillfindwordsthatcouldandshouldhavebeenomitted.UnnecessarywordsarethehallmarkofChinglish.

Unnecessarywordscanbeanypartofspeech—nouns,verbs,adjectives,adverbs,prepositions,articles,andsoon.Inthefollowingchaptersweshallconsiderthemostimportanttypes,startingwithunnecessarynounsandverbs,whichoftengohandinhand.

I.UnnecessaryNounsandVerbs

Nouns

MostunnecessarynounsinChinglishappearnotalonebutinshortphrases,combinedwitharticlesandprepositions.Whenyoueliminatethenouns,youeliminatethearticlesandprepositionsaswell.

Manyofthesenounsareeasytorecognize.Theyareplainlyredundantbecausetheirsenseisalreadyincludedorimpliedinsomeotherelementofthesentence.Hereareafewexamples（A）withsuggestedrevisions（B）andcommentsinbrackets.

加快经济改革步伐

A:

toacceleratethepaceofeconomicreform

B:

toaccelerateeconomicreform

（Toaccelerate=toincreasethepaceof）

农业获得大丰收

A:

Therehavebeengoodharvestsinagriculture.

B:

Therehavebeengoodharvests.

[“Harvest”impliesagriculture:

therearenoharvestsinindustry.]

城乡人民生活水平持续上升。

A:

Livingstandardsforthepeopleinbothurbanandruralareascontinuedtorise.

B:

Livingstandardsinbothurbanandruralareascontinuedtorise.

【Thenotionoflivingstandardsappliesonlytopeople.】

这些困难从本质上说是暂时的。

A：

Thesehardshipsaretemporaryinnature.

B:

Thesehardshipsaretemporary.

[Anyadjectivesdescribesthe“nature”or“character”ofthenounitmodifies.Tosaythathardshipsare“temporaryinnature”islikesayingthattheChineseflagisredincolor”orthatpandasarefewinnumber.”]

我国未来的经济发展在很大程度上有赖于……

A：

Thedevelopmentofoureconomyinthefuturewill,toalargeextent,dependon…

B:

Thedevelopmentofoureconomywill,toalargeextent,dependon…

[Thefuturetenseoftheverb（willdepend）issufficienttoexpressfuturity.]

我们应采取一系列措施来保证……

A:

weshouldadoptaseriesofmeasurestoensurethat….

B:

weshouldadoptmeasurestoensurethat….

[Herethepluralformof“measures”coversthesenseofa“series”]

Otherunnecessarynouns（orgerunds）maybelesseasytoidentify.Nevertheless,alittlethoughtwillrevealthattheyaddnothingtothemeaningofthesentence.Whentheyaredeleted,thesenseisnotdiminished,onlyclarified.Someexamples:

在实现农业机械化和电气化后……

A：

followingtherealizationofmechanizationandelectrificationofagriculture

B：

followingtheofmechanizationandelectrificationofagriculture

必须加强国防建设。

A:

Itisessentialtostrengthenthebuildingofnationaldefense.

B:

Itisessentialtostrengthennationaldefense.

这些构成了努力实现过渡时期的伟大任务的重要条件。

A:

Theseconstituteimportantconditionsinstrivingforthefulfillmentofthegeneraltaskinthetransitionalperiod.

B:

Theseareimportantconditionsforfulfillingthegeneraltaskinthetransitionperiod.

当时，东北的形势仍然是敌强我弱。

A:

AtthattimethesituationinnortheastChinawasstillonewheretheenemywasstrongerthanthepeople'sforces.

B:

Atthattimetheenemywasstillstrongerthanthepeople'sforcesinnortheastChina.

["Situation"isaparticularlydangerousnoun.Notonlyisitgenerallyunnecessary,butitdragsotherunnecessaryelementsafterit（inthisinstance,"onewhere"）.

解决问题的关键在于削减开支。

A:

Thekeytothesolutionliesinthecurtailmentofexpenditure.

B:

Thesolutionistocurtail（or.cutbackon）expenditure.

["Key"issometimesuseful,butusuallyittoocanbedispensedwith.Andlike"situation,"itoftenleadstofurtherunnecessarycomplications（here,"liesin"）.]

党内民主是已详细讨论过的问题。

A:

Inner-Partydemocracyisasubjectthathasbeendiscussedindetail.

B:

Inner-Partydemocracyhasbeendiscussedi