问答题
The word 'culture' is probably the single most central concept in twentieth- century anthropology. Anthropologists use the word 'culture' in a number of different senses. It seems to us that some of them use it as equivalent to what we call a form of social life. In its ordinary use in English, (46)'culture', which is much the same idea as cultivation, refers to the process by which a person acquires, from contact with other persons or from such things as books or works of art, knowledge, skill, ideas, beliefs, tastes, and sentiments. That is the definition of 'culture'. (47)In a particular society we can discover certain processes of cultural tradition, using the word tradition in its literal meaning of handing on or handing down. The understanding and use of a language is passed on by a process of cultural tradition in this sense. An Englishman learns by such a process to understand and use the English language, but in some sections of the society he may also learn Latin, or Greek, or French, or Welsh. In complex modern societies there are a great number of separate cultural traditions. By one a Person may learn to be a doctor or surgeon, by another he may learn to be an engineer or an architect. In the simplest forms of social life the number of separate cultural traditions may be reduced to two, one for men and the other for women. (48)If we treat the social reality that we are investigating as being not an entity but a process, then culture and cultural tradition are names for certain recognisable aspects of that process, but not of course, the whole process. The terms are convenient ways of referring to certain aspects of human social life. (49)It is by reason of the existence of culture and cultural traditions that human social life differs very markedly from the social life of other animal species. The transmission of learnt ways of thinking, feeling and acting constitutes the cultural process, which is a specific feature of human social life. (50)It is, of course, part of that process of interaction among persons which is here defined as the social process thought of as the social reality. Continuity and change in the forms of social life being the subjects of investigation of comparative sociology, the continuity of cultural traditions and changes in those traditions are amongst the things that have to be taken into account.
【答案解析】[原文再现] 'culture', which is much the same idea as cultivation, refers to the process by which a person acquires, from contact with other persons or from such things as books or works of art, knowledge, skill, ideas, beliefs, tastes, and sentiments. [结构分析] 本句的主干为'culture' refers to the process...。主语culture之后是由which引导的非限定性定语从句，宾语process之后则是由介词by+which引导的定语从句，该从句的主干为a person acquires...knowledge, skills...，介宾短语from contact with...在从句中作状语。 [译点分析] (1)cultivation意为“教养”；acquire意为“获得；习得”，该词为及物动词，后可跟具体名词，表示得到、学到某样东西，也可以跟抽象名词，常用的有skill, knowledge, reputation等。此处acquires的宾语为knowledge, skill, ideas, beliefs, tastes, and sentiments，在本句中两者被两个介词短语分隔开，可能给考生理解造成困难。 (2)句中出现了两个定语从句。一般而言，非限定性定语从句宜译为一个分句，而限定性定语从句如果过长，翻译时也应该单独成句。所以本句中的两个定语从句都不宜直接译作定语，而要单独成句，同时需要重复先行词。本句词汇的难度不大，翻译的关键在于对句子结构的分析和把握。
【正确答案】在一个特定社会中，我们可以发现一些文化传统过程，所谓传统在这里采用其原义“传承”。
【答案解析】[原文再现] In a particular society we can discover certain processes of cultural tradition, using the word tradition in its literal meaning of handing on or handing down. [结构分析] 本句的主干为...we can discover certain processes...。现在分词结构using the word tradition in its literal meaning of handing on or handing down表示伴随状况。句首介词短语in a particular society作地点状语。 [译点分析] (1)particular有“特别的；挑剔的；特定的”等含义，根据其修饰的society可以判断这里相当于specific，即“特定的”。literal meaning的含义是the basic or original meaning of an expression，即“基本的或最初的含义”，在句中可以翻译成“原义”或“字面意思”。 (2)using the word tradition in its literal meaning of handing on or handing down在句子中作伴随状语，但该结构表达一个完整的句意，因此翻译时可以考虑将其转译为一个句子。hand on和hand down的含义相同，都是“把……传下去”之意，因此翻译时使用省略法，只译成一个“传承”即可。
【答案解析】[原文再现] If we treat the social reality that we are investigating as being not an entity but a process, then culture and cultural tradition are names for certain recognisable aspects of that process, but not, of course, the whole process. [结构分析] 本句主干为...culture and cultural tradition are names for..., but not...。句首if引导条件状语从句，主干为：we treat the social reality as...；该从句中又嵌套着一个that引导的定语从句，修饰先行词reality。 [译点分析] (1)If we treat...but a process: treat...as...意为“把……当做、看做”；that we are investigating是修饰social reality的定语从句，结构简单，可直接译为前置定语“我们正研究的”。entity意为“实体；独立存在物”；being not an entity, but a process的语意重心在后，故翻译时应调整语序“是一个过程，而非一个实体”。 (2)names for...process: name意为“名字；代号”，可译为“代名词”。recognisable意为“可识别的；可辨别的”。
【正确答案】正是由于文化和文化传统的存在，人类的社会生活才明显有别于其他物种的社会生活。
【答案解析】[原文再现] It is by reason of the existence of culture and cultural traditions that human social life differs very markedly from the social life of other animal species. [结构分析] 本句为强调句It is...that...。被强调部分为原因状语by reason of existence of culture and cultural traditions。句子的主干为human social life differs from the social life...。 [译点分析] by reason of意为“由于”，例如：He was excused by reason of his age. 他因为年龄的关系而得到宽恕。markedly意为“明显地，显著地”。本句句式为强调句，翻译时应按原句语序顺译，这样可以更准确地呈现原句意义，突出被强调部分。
【答案解析】[原文再现] It is, of course, part of that process of interaction among persons which is here defined as the social process thought of as the social reality. [结构分析] 本句主干为It is...part of that process of interaction。which is here defined as the social process是定语从句，修饰先行词process of interaction among persons。过去分词结构thought of as the social reality是修饰social process的后置定语。 [译点分析] (1)句中的it代指上句中的the cultural process，为了避免歧义，翻译时应将其指代的内容译出，译为“这种文化过程”。 (2)interaction意为“互动”，其后有一个定语从句，修饰process of interaction，为了避免译文过长，可对此定语从句做断句处理；过去分词结构thought of as...意为“被当做……”，修饰前面的social process，翻译时可直接译为前置定语；be defined as在原句中为被动语态，根据汉语多主动原则，翻译时可以转化为主动含义“界定为”，不会造成歧义。