翻译题
I'm having a bit of an existential crisis. According to a new research, if I'm anything like the average person, around half the people I consider my friends don't consider me theirs in return. Of course, I already knew unbalanced friendships existed. But in every case I can think of, it's me who's not especially invested, and the other person who doesn't realise it. I'm not supposed to be the desperate one. Yet if studies such as this are correct, the phenomenon is so widespread that it's highly unlikely I'm an exception. 【F1】As with the famous finding that almost everyone thinks they're in the top 60% of safe drivers, we can't all be the ones with an accurate sense of who really likes us. And if we're stumbling through life with such a distorted understanding of our social circles, where does that leave all the other received wisdom about friendship's importance? 【F2】It has been found that friends keep us mentally healthy, alive for longer, less vulnerable to depression and more financially successful—but how much of that comes from actually having friends, versus believing that you do? Perhaps it shouldn't be surprising to learn that, when it comes to friendship, we're in the grip of an ego-boosting mistaken belief. 【F3】People with healthy self-esteem habitually overestimate both their interpersonal skills and their control over events; some psychologists argue that mildly depressed people have a more accurate grasp of their abilities than the non-depressed. To thrive in the world, it's often more useful to feel good about yourself than it is to see things as they are. Oh, and one more reason not to go mad about the thought that your "friends" might secretly not like you: this particular study, as with so many in social psychology, focused on university students. It's well-known that our social circles shrink as we mature. 【F4】But isn't it possible that this shrinkage is better thought of as a kind of separating, as we zero in on those friendships that are actually reciprocated? There are certainly reasons to worry about a loneliness crisis among the elderly, but having only a few friends may not be good evidence for it 【F5】If I make it to my final years with only a handful of friendships, because life has filtered them down to the ones that really count, I'm not sure I'd call that a sad state of affairs. I'd call it an efficient use of my remaining time.
【答案解析】①本句是包含一个同位语从句和两个宾语从句的主从复合句。②as with表示“正如……一样”，引导类似情况。③第一个that引导同位语从句修饰finding，说明这个研究结果的具体内容，即：Almost everyone thinks they're in the top 50％ of safe drivers，大意为“几乎所有人都认为自己的驾驶技术比过半的人值得信赖”，这种普遍的自我认识偏差也体现在主句所描述的情况中：we can't all be the ones with an accurate sense of who really likes us，即“我们也不能准确说出谁喜欢我们”。
【答案解析】①本句是由but连接的两个分句组成，其中分句1包含一个主语从句。②it has been found that…中it为形式主语，that引导的内容是句子的真正主语，即friends keep us…successful has been found。③keep sb．+a.，表示“使某人保持……”，此句中keep连续接四个形容词：heathy，alive，vulnerable和successful，均为us的宾语补足语。④破折号后是but连接的分句2，是对分句1进行补充，其中that指代前面整个句子，即“朋友使人……”这个事实。comes from表示原因，作者列举了两个原因，形成对比，一个是actually having friends，一个是believing that you do，do指have friends，分别为“实际拥有的朋友”、“自认为是朋友的人”。
【答案解析】①本句是由两个分句组成，其中分句2包含一个宾语从句。②分句1是简单的主谓宾结构，with healthy self-esteem作后置定语修饰主语people，意为“自尊心良好的人”。overestimate有两个并列宾语，分别是interpersonal skills和control over events，表示“社交能力”和“掌控事情的能力”。③that引导的宾语从句为分句2的宾语，说明心理学家指出的内容；have a grasp of sth．表示“掌握……”，more…than为比较结构，将mildly depressed people和the non-depressed作比较。
【答案解析】①本句是主从复合句，包含一个原因状语从句。主句为反问句，isn't it possible that可以解读为肯定句it is possible that…，that引导主语从句。②this shrinkage指的是上句中的our social circles shrink as we mature，“随着年龄的增长，我们的社交圈在不断缩小”；is better thought of as a kind of separating中，better thought of表示“看作……更好”，a kind of separating意思为“一种分开”。整句话大意为，把社交圈的缩小看成人与人之间的一种分开更好。③as引导原因状语从句，as意为“由于”，zero in on意为“把注意力集中于某事”；该句中的that引导定语从句，修饰先行词friendships，说明这是一种“得到回应的友谊”。
【答案解析】①本句是包含一个条件状语从句和一个原因状语从句的主从复合句，主句还包含了一个宾语从句。②it在这里指生命，make it to my final year指生命到晚年的时候；with only a handful of friendships是伴随状语，a handful强调“少”，即到了晚年，朋友越来越少。③because引导的原因状语从句解释前面的条件状语从句。filter…down to…表示“筛选至，过滤至……”；定语从句that really count修饰the ones，说明剩下的都是重要的朋友。④I’m not sure I'd call that a sad state of affairs中，that指朋友所剩不多这种情况；sad state of affairs意思是“一种悲凉的处境”。