翻译题
人类性格与行为形成的原因及影响 ——1990年英译汉及详解 People have wondered for a long time how their personalities and behaviors are formed. It is not easy to explain why one person is intelligent and another is not, or why one is cooperative and another is competitive. Social scientists are, of course, extremely interested in these types of questions.【F1】They want to explain why we possess certain characteristics and exhibit certain behaviors. There are no clear answers yet, but two distinct schools of thought on the matter have developed. As one might expect, the two approaches are very different from each other. The controversy is often conveniently referred to as "nature vs. nurture". 【F2】Those who support the "nature" side of the conflict believe that our personalities and behavior patterns are largely determined by biological factors.【F3】That our environment has little, if anything, to do with our abilities, characteristics and behavior is central to this theory. Taken to an extreme, this theory maintains that our behavior is pre-determined to such a great degree that we are almost completely governed by our instincts. Those who support the "nurture" theory, that is, they advocate education, are often called behaviorists. They claim that our environment is more important than our biologically based instincts in determining how we will act. A behaviorist, B. F. Skinner, sees humans as beings whose behavior is almost completely shaped by their surroundings.【F4】The behaviorists maintain that, like machines, humans respond to environmental stimuli as the basis of their behavior. Let us examine the different explanations about one human characteristic, intelligence, offered by the two theories.【F5】Supporters of the "nature" theory insist that we are born with a certain capacity for learning that is biologically determined. Needless to say: They don't believe that factors in the environment have much influence on what is basically a predetermined characteristic. On the other hand, behaviorists argue that our intelligence levels are the product of our experiences.【F6】Behaviorists suggest that the child who is raised in an environment where there are many stimuli which develop his or her capacity for appropriate responses will experience greater intellectual development. The social and political implications of these two theories are profound.【F7】In the United States, blacks often score below whites on standardized intelligence tests. This leads some "nature" proponents to conclude that blacks are biologically inferior to whites.【F8】Behaviorists, in contrast, say that differences in scores are due to the fact that blacks are often deprived of many of the educational and other environmental advantages that whites enjoy. Most people think neither of these theories can yet fully explain human behavior.
【答案解析】本句考查的重点是：主语从句和动词词组。 句子的主干是一个由that引导的主语从句，关于主语从句，我们直接把它翻译出来，后面再加上句子的谓语。这里if anything是插入语，可以翻译成“如果…和…有一些联系的话”而从句的主语是ourenvironment，is central to this theory则是整个句子的谓语。
问答题4.【F4】
【正确答案】行为主义者坚信，人像机器一样，对环境的刺激作出反应，这是他们行为的基础。
【答案解析】本句考查的重点是：宾语从句。 本句的主语是behaviorists，谓语是maintains，而that引导的是一个宾语从句。like machines是一个插入语，直译成“就像机器一样”即可。从句中的主体是“humans respond to environment stimuli”．“asthe basis of”是一个介词词组，意为“是…的基础”。但本从句前半部分太长，直接放在基础前会显得头重脚轻，所以可以先译出前半部分，再在后面补充说明“这是…的基础”。
问答题5.【F5】
【正确答案】支持“先天论”的人坚持说，我们生来就具有一定的学习才能，这是由生物因素决定的。
【答案解析】本句考查的重点是：定语从句和被动语态。 本句的主语是supporters，of介词短语作supporters的定语限定了主语。that引导的定语从句引出了insist的内容。“be born with”的意思是“生来就有…／天生就有…”。learning后的that引导的是对capacity的定语从句，意为这种能力是由生理因素决定的。be determined在这里是对被动语态的考察。
【答案解析】本句考查的重点是：词义的引申和介词搭配。 本句中，In the United States可直译为“在美国”。后面的句子中，blacks和whites不是黑色和白色的意思，而是代表着白人和黑人。score是本句的谓语，意为得分。而on引导的介词短语则引出了score的范围．即黑人到底在哪个领域上输给了白人。