翻译题
The most common criticism of philosophy is that it serves no practical purpose. What good is a theory of knowledge if it does not tell us more about man and the universe? And what good is a theory of ethics that does not tell us what we ought to do? Of all the philosophical doctrines, only one can fairly claim to meet this criticism and answer it fully. That doctrine is the moral theory known as Utilitarianism. When Jeremy Bentham looked at English law and society, he saw a tangle of confused traditions, pointless cruelties, human suffering, ineffective laws, and corrupt politicians. 【F1】One major obstacle to the reforms he desired was the lack of a rational method of evaluating existing practices and calculating the relative merits of proposed changes. The traditions of king and parliament, of common law and social custom, together with some conflicting doctrines, were the only guides to which men could appeal. Bentham proposed to sweep all this aside and put in its place one simple, precise, universal rule. Bentham asserted that the sole good in this world was happiness. Therefore, the more happiness the better. 【F2】And since it is any man's happiness, not merely my own, which is good, it follows that the more people who are happy, the better. 【F3】Putting these two conclusions together, Bentham formulated his fundamental rule of action: always do whatever seems likely to produce the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people. 【F4】Bentham referred to this as his "greatest happiness" principle, and since we call a thing "useful" when it is a means to happiness, Bentham's philosophy soon came to be called Utilitarianism. As we have seen, the fundamental principle of utilitarianism commands us to aim for the greatest happiness of the greatest number. Many of us are natural utilitarians; we think in terms of the greatest happiness rule without consciously realizing it. 【F5】For example, when we tax the rich in order to help the poor, we are implicitly assuming that the happiness we take from rich men is less than the happiness we give to the poor man. But utilitarianism is not only a rationale for existing laws and social policies. It is also a powerful argument for reform. If a practice does not maximize happiness, then utilitarianism tells us to change it. For example, experiments have shown that capital punishment does not lower the murder rate. Assuming that being executed makes a murderer unhappier than putting him in prison, it follows that we should not execute him, for according to utilitarianism, the only reason for executing the murderer would be to persuade potential murderers from similar acts of violence.
【答案解析】①本句为复合句，当中包含一个定语从句。主句主语为One major obstacle，其后的to the reforms是obstacle的修饰语，意思是“改革主要的阻碍”；he desired是定语从句，修饰reforms，该定语从句省略了引导词that。此句表达改革是“他希望”的。②the lack of a rational method表示“缺乏一个合理的手段”，具体为何种手段，介词of后面的内容作补充说明，and连接两个并列的动名词短语：evaluating…和calculating…，说明这种手段是评估现有做法并衡量变革的相对好处。③句末的of proposed changes修饰the relative merits，意为“提出变革的相对好处”，relative merits是“相对好处”的意思。
问答题12.【F2】
【正确答案】这是属于任何人的幸福，不仅仅是自己的——这点想法很好——由此可见，幸福的人越多越好。
【答案解析】①句首的原因状语从句中的it指上文提到的happiness，any man's happiness和my own happiness形成对比，分别是任何人的幸福和自己的幸福。my own后面省略了happiness，补全应为my own happiness。②which is good是非限制性定语从句，先行词是which前面一整句话，此从句是对前面所述情况作出评价。③句子的主句it是形式主语，真正的主语是that引导的主语从句。it follows that．．．为固定句型，通常表示“由此得出结论……，由此可见……”之意。根据前面提出的原因，这里可得出结论：the more people who are happy,the better，即幸福的人越多越好。
【答案解析】①句子主干为简单的主谓宾结构，冒号后的内容包含whatever引导的宾语从句。句首的现在分词Putting的逻辑主语是Bentham，即该动作由Bentham发出；主句的动宾结构formulate…rule of action表示“构想出……行为准则”。rule of action表示“行为准则”，即用于指示行为的原则。②冒号后为祈使句，对rule of action展开具体描述。do whatever seems likely意思是“做一切可能的事”；不定式短语to produce…表示目的，具体目的是“为最广大群体谋取最大幸福”。
【答案解析】①本句是并列句，其中由and连接两个分句。分句1的refer to sth．as sth．表示“把某物看作／称作某物”；greatest happiness意思是“最大的幸福”，根据上文，可知这里指的是“幸福最大化”的原则。②在原因状语从句中(we call…when…to happiness)，when引导时间状语从句，表示在“某物是获取幸福的一种手段”的前提下，我们称此物为“有用”(we call a thing“useful”)。其中，when it is…中的it指代a thing。分句2中的谓语部分came to be called…意为“被称为……”。
问答题15.【F5】
【正确答案】例如，当我们向富人征税用以帮助穷人时，我们默认了富人失去的幸福少于穷人得到的幸福。
【答案解析】①本句为带有时间状语从句的主从复合句，其中主句的宾语是由that引导的宾语从句充当。②时间状语从句中的in order to help the poor作目的状语，说明向富人收税是为了帮助穷人。tax the rich表示“向富人收税”。③that引导的宾语从句当中又含有两个定语从句。A be less than B结构意为“A少于B”，这里把the happiness we take from rich men与the happiness we give to the poor man作对比，说明前者失去的幸福少于后者得到的幸福。