翻译题
【F1】The concept of life expectancy at birth is well understood by most people: the average age in which babies bom today will die if death rates throughout their life course resemble those today. We have known for decades that in the U.S., on average, women live longer than men; whites live longer than blacks; and the rich and well educated live longer than those with low socioeconomic status. 【F2】What we are only recently beginning to understand, however, is that educational attainment is becoming the single most important social determinant of longevity in America. The new research shows that college-educated white women are expected to live 9.3 years longer than their low-educated counterparts—those who have not completed high school—compared with only a 2.5-year difference in 1990. Variation is perhaps the second most important measure in statistics—the first being the average— summarizing the extent to which observations are spread around the average. 【F3】For example, we can observe two populations with identical life expectancy, but, from an individual perspective, the one with larger variation in life spans will have greater uncertainty in the age of death. If life span variation is very small, most deaths are concentrated close to the average; if variation is large, some individuals will die prematurely, whereas others will survive to a very old age. To put it concretely, if you had to bet on how long you will live, your best bet would depend more than anything else on your educational attainment. 【F4】Although betting on how long we will live may seem like an odd endeavor, this is precisely what we do, whether implicitly or explicitly, when we make decisions throughout the course of our life. Variation in life spans also affects the social and economic institutions planning for our old age, including the Social Security Administration and programs like Medicare. They too have to balance between contributions and benefits in an era of growing uncertainty about how long we will live. Perhaps more fundamental, the growing inequality in life spans—both in average and in variability—raises questions concerning distributive justice. 【F5】For example, if those at the lower rungs of the socioeconomic ladder are less likely to survive to old age—and, importantly, face greater uncertainty about their chances of survival—should we institute a differential retirement age? And what would such a scheme look like?
【答案解析】①本句为主从复合句。冒号前为主句，冒号后至句末为同位语从句，解释说明主句主语The concept of life expectancy at birth的内容。②主句为被动语态的主谓宾结构；at birth为后置定语修饰life expectancy．意为“出生时的预期寿命”。③冒号后同位语从句包含一个定语从句和一个条件状语从句。从句主句将宾语前置于句首，由定语从句in which．．．修饰，正常语序应为babies born today will die in the average age，其中born today为过去分词作后置定语修饰babies，意为“今天出生的婴儿”。④从句中的介词短语throughout their life course为后置定语，their指代主句中的babies，death rates throughout…course意为“在这些婴儿生命历程中的死亡率”；代词those指代death rates。
【答案解析】①本句是由转折连词but连接两个简单句的并列句；两个分句均为主谓宾结构。②分句1中，介词短语with identical life expectancy为后置定语，惨饰宾语two populations，说明这两组人群的平均寿命相同。③分句2中，from an individual perspective为方式状语，表示从个人角度来看；the one指代前句中两组人群中的其中一组，介词短语with larger…spans为后置定语，修饰the one，说明这是寿命变化较大的人群；句末的in the age of death作状语。
【答案解析】①本句为主从复合句；主句为主系表结构，表语由从句what we do构成。②让步状语从句为主谓宾结构，主语为现在分词短语betting on．．．live，包含一个宾语从句how Iong we will live。③whether implicitly or explicity可视作插入语；时间状语从句中，介词短语throughout the course of our life为时间状语，意为“贯穿我们整个人生中”。
【答案解析】①本句为主从复合句。主句为主谓宾结构的疑问句；条件状语从句由and连接两个分句，均为主谓宾结构。②从句中，介词短语at the lower．．．ladder为后置定语，修饰主语those，说明这些是社会经济地位较低的人；are less like to意为“不太可能……”；破折号后and连接的句子与前一分句并列，主语为those；介词短语about their．．．survival为后置定语，修饰uncertainty，说明是有关生存抉择的不确定性。