【F1】
Polls, including one carried out in four large countries by the Kaiser Family Foundation, an American think-tank, and The Economist, find that most people in good health hope that, when the time comes, they will die at home.
And few, when asked about their hopes for their final days, say that their priority is to live as long as possible. Rather, they want to die free from pain, at peace, and surrounded by loved ones for whom they are not a burden.
Some deaths are unavoidably miserable. Not everyone will be in a condition to toast death's imminence with champagne, as Anton Chekhov did. What people say they will want while they are well may change as the end nears (one reason why doctors are sceptical about the instructions set out in "living wills" ). Dying at home is less appealing if all the medical kit is at the hospital. 【F2】
A treatment that is unbearable in the imagination can seem like the lesser of two evils when the alternative is death.
Some patients will want to fight until all hope is lost.
【F3】
But too often patients receive drastic treatment in spite of their dying wishes—by default, when doctors do "everything possible", as they have been trained to, without talking through people's preferences or ensuring that the prognosis is clearly understood.
Just a third of American patients with terminal cancer are asked about their goals at the end of life, for example whether they wish to attend a special event.
【F4】
This newspaper has called for the legalisation of doctor-assisted dying, so that mentally fit, terminally ill patients can be helped to end their lives if that is their wish.
But the right to die is just one part of better care at the end of life. The evidence suggests that most people want this option, but that few would, in the end, choose to exercise it. To give people the death they say they want, medicine should take some simple steps.
More palliative care is needed. This neglected branch of medicine deals with the relief of pain and other symptoms, such as breathlessness, as well as counselling for the terminally ill. 【F5】
Until recently it was often dismissed as barely medicine at all; mere tea and sympathy when all hope has gone.
Even in Britain, where the hospice movement began, access to palliative care is patchy. Recent studies have shown how wrongheaded that is. Providing it earlier in the course of advanced cancer alongside the usual treatments turns out not only to reduce suffering, but to prolong life, too.
【答案解析】解析：本句为复合句。主句主语为Polls，谓语为find，宾语是由that引导的宾语从句，该宾语从句的主干为most people…hope that…，其中第二个that引导的为宾语从句，作hope的宾语，该宾语从句的主干为they will die at home，when引导的句子为时间状语从句。including引导的为插入语，补充说明polls，其中carried out作后置定语修饰先行词one。本句在涉及同位语翻译时选择了将其译在它所修饰的先行词前面“美国智库凯撒家庭基金会”，翻译同位语时可以按正常的语序翻译，即先翻译先行词后翻译其同位语；也可用冒号或破折号连接；有时由名词短语充当的同位语在翻译成汉语时要将同位语部分与主语部分分开，从而引起两个句子；由疑问词what，who，which，when，where，how以及连接词whether引导的同位语及其从句在翻译成汉语时，一般将同位语放在先行词之前。
问答题
【F2】
【正确答案】正确答案：当面临死亡和生存两者抉择时，想象中难以忍受的治疗似乎也不那么可怕了。
【答案解析】解析：本句为复合句。本句主干为A treatment…can seem like the lesser of two evils。that引导的为定语从句，修饰先行词treatment；when引导的为时间状语从句，其主干为the alternative is death。本句中的the lesser of two evils译为“也不那么可怕了”，采取了意译的翻译策略。意译（free translation；paraphrase；liberal translation）是指根据原文的大意来翻译，不作逐字逐句的翻译（区别于“直译”）。通常在翻译句子或词组（或更大的意群）时使用较多，意译主要在原语与译语体现巨大文化差异的情况下得以应用。从跨文化语言交际和文化交流的角度来看，意译强调的是译语文化体系和原语文化体系的相对独立性。大量的实例说明，意译的使用体现出不同语言民族在生态文化、语言文化、宗教文化、物质文化和社会文化等诸多方面的差异性。意译更能够体现出本民族的语言特征。
【答案解析】解析：本句为复合句。主干为This newspaper has called for the legalisation of doctor-assisted dying，so that引导的为结果状语从句，if引导的为条件状语从句。在翻译被动语态时，可以译成汉语被动句，使用“被、受、遭、让、给、由、把、得到、受到、加以、得以、为……所、由…… 来”等等。例如，He had been fired for refusing to obey orders from the head office．他因拒绝听从总公司的命令而被解雇了。
【答案解析】解析：本句为复合句。该句主干为it was often dismissed，as引导的为状语。冒号后为补充说明，when引导的为时间状语从句。翻译本句中的it时，需要结合上文，it在这里指代palliative，译为“这种治疗方式”。tea and sympathy 为固定搭配，译为“对不幸者的安慰与同情”。