英语四级翻译训练每日一题附答案和讲解 第197期:光棍节
请将下面这段话翻译成英文:
光棍节(Singles'Day)-11月11日是在20世纪90年代开始流行的。单身青年互相请客吃饭或送礼物给心上人,以告别单身。赠送礼物的传统使光棍节成为购物节,因为所有销售商,从卖珠宝的到卖电视的,甚至到卖汽车的,都看到了这个营销机会,并推出了光棍节促销活动。这是美国“网络星期一(CyberMonday)”—感恩节周末后的第一天—的翻版,这天圣诞采购开始,是商人售卖最忙碌的一天。
参考答案:
Singles,Day —Nov.11 began to gain its popularity in the 1990s. Unattached young people would treat each other to dinner or give gifts to the person he/she loves to end their single status. That gift-giving helped to turn Singles'Day into a shopping festival as sellers of everything from jewelry to TVs,even to cars saw a marketing opportunity and launched Singles'Day sales. It is similar to Monday in the United States—the day after Thanksgiving weekend,when online Christmas shopping begins and merchants have their busiest sales day.
.单身青年互相请客吃饭或送礼物给心上人,以告别单身:“互相请客吃饭”可译为treat each other to dinner。treat表示“请客,款待;对待”,常用于以下词组中:trick or treat (不招待就使坏)、dutch treat (各付己账)、treat with (处理;应付)、treat as(对待;把......看作….)。“告别单身”即“结束单身状态”,可译为end their single status。
2.赠送礼物的传统使光棍节成为购物节,因为所有销售商,从卖珠宝的到卖电视的,甚至到卖汽车的,都看到了这个营销机会,并推出了光棍节促销活动”:其中的“使...成为”可译为turn…into。“营销机会”可译为marketing opportunity。“推出了光棍节促销活动”中的“推出”可译为launch, “促销”可译为sale,因此可译为launch Singles' Day sales。
3.这是美国“网络星期一”—感恩节周末后的第一天—的翻版,这天圣诞采购开始,是商人售卖最忙碌的一天:“…的翻版”是翻译难点。“翻版”的意思就是“二者(在某种程度上)相同”,或者说是一个事物的两种表现形式。但译为the same as是不贴切的,因为二者并不相同,可用similar to表达。