【答案解析】Our institute employed an English teacher. When chatting with Chinese students especially about some jokes, he never laughed even without any expression on his face. But it came to some insipid stories, he would burst into laughter by surprise with his face towards the sky, nearly oversetting with chair, and then we looked at each other in astonishment, wondering whether the teacher was mentally ill.
One day, he gave an essay to students to see how well students could write in English. Chinese students were quick at writing and we finished it in a while and handed it in immediately. However, students felt doubted after they read the best passage chosen by the teacher. After all, how the passage filled with lies can be evaluated as "the best one"? The passage told about the dining hall in the school. The author was a peaceable and timid guy who was anxious about offending the school authority so as to be not beneficial for his graduation. Thus, ignoring the reality, he made up some good aspects in great praise of the dining hall. Since the teacher knew very well how terrible the dining hall"s conditions were, why did he choose this passage?
The teacher said, "The passage is indeed an excellent one." Picking up the passage, he read, "The most beautiful place on campus is not classroom, nor is playground, but the dining hall, Look, the windows are so clean that you hardly notice there is any glass." Yet everyone still did not understand how can he be humorous? The teacher continued, "If you tumble by occasion, you will be surprised to find that you actually don"t fall over, because there is not any dust left on your clothes..."
Students seemed to be cottoning on. The teacher went on with a laugh, "How delicate, abundant and tasty the food is here! It is only in the dining hall can you enjoy having dinner..." Suddenly, students burst into laugh. Following this logic, we can find lots of perfect and amusing articles with quick wit. [解析]
他每每与中国学生聊天，聊到可笑之处时，他不笑，脸上也没表情；可是有时毫不可笑的事，他会冷不防放声大笑，笑得仰面朝天，几乎连人带椅子要翻过去。
分号把句子分为两层，第一层中“他每每与中国学生聊天，聊到可笑之处时”作时间状语，而且句中把“聊到”这个主动作用了两次，因为汉语常重复，但翻译为英文时，合并同类项，只翻译一个“聊到”即可。主句中“他不笑”，“脸上也没有表情”是次要动作，处理为状语成分。第二层中“可是有时毫不可笑的事”作条件状语，把句子结构补充完整是“聊到毫不可笑的事的时候”，主要动作是“他会冷不防放声大笑”，后面连接两个作补充修饰成分的次要动作，“笑得仰面朝天”处理为介词短语，“几乎连人带椅子要翻过去”处理为伴随状语。
“毫不可笑的事”中的“事”，在翻译中不要翻译为“thing”，“thing”一般表示的是“事实，事件，情况”，较为正式宽泛。而翻译为“story”，表示“对往事或含有情节的事情的描述”，更加具体而实用。
When chatting with Chinese students especially about some jokes, he never laughed even without any expression on his face. But it came to some insipid stories, he would burst into laughter by surprise with his face towards the sky, nearly oversetting with chair.
汉语长句中会包含多个动作词，在翻译中时要清主要的动作和次要的动作，主要的动作处理为主句中的主动词，而次要动作的动词要用介词短语、从句或状语的形式来表达。
写作文的学生人很老实，胆子又小，生怕得罪校方，妨碍将来毕业，便不顾真假，胡编乱造，竭力美化，唱赞歌。
根据意思给句子分层，第一层“写作文的学生人很老实，胆子又小”是对学生性格的描述。第二层“生怕得罪校方，妨碍将来毕业”是记叙学生的写作目的。第三层“便不顾真假，胡编乱造，竭力美化，唱赞歌”是最后发生的结果动作。第一层可作第二层的原因，故合并为一句。第三层是一句。在第二层的翻译中，主动作是“胡编乱造，竭力美化，唱赞歌”，“便不顾真假”表伴随状态处理为状语。“竭力美化”和“唱赞歌”表一个意思，意译即可。
The author was a peaceable and timid guy who was anxious about offending the school authority so as to be not beneficial for his graduation. Thus, ignoring the reality, he made up some good aspects in great praise of the dining hall.
汉语表达常重复，以强化表达效果，翻译为英文时去掉重复的表达方式，利用英语本身的词汇表达来实现效果强化。