英语专八考试汉译英考前练习讲解（11）
你知道白蚁之害吗?一座大厦如果有了白蚁，不加防治，不到十年时间，里面的地板壁板，都会蛀蚀一空。一般的房屋受了严重的蚁害，有的还会突然倒塌下来，伤了性命。电杆被白蚁蛀蚀，一般两三年就要换一次。船只有了白蚁，轻的会将货物蛀烂，重的会使船沉没。铁路枕木如果受白蚁侵蚀，火车就有出轨的危险。白蚁这种害虫，实在是相当可恶的。在我们的社会里，则有另一种“白蚁”。前些日子报载吉林省外贸局副局长王震宇利用职权，大慷国家之慨，吃喝玩乐，请客送礼，浪费惊人，不也是一种“白蚁”之害吗?
白蚁
* [termite] 等翅目的一种像蚂蚁的昆虫,群居,取食木材,对森林、建筑、桥梁等为害极大
*White ants
*害: harm; harmfulness; destruction, destructiveness, destructivity
The Destructiveness of Termites
Termites are destructive
The Destructive Termites
你知道白蚁之害吗?
*译文: Do you know how destructive termites are?
*Do you know termites are destructive?
* Have you heard of destruction by termites?
一座大厦如果有了白蚁，不加防治，不到十年时间，里面的地板 、壁板，都会蛀蚀一空。
*大厦: edifice, high-rise, mansion, tall building
* 有了白蚁: 这里似乎有“白蚁泛滥成灾”或“闹蚁灾”的意思, be infested with ,be rampant with
* 一座大厦如果有了白蚁，不加防治:
*防治: prevent and control; check
*(如果)不加防治: 加以: 对……进行 (无需翻译)
*不到: less than; fewer than; with ten years
*地板: wooden floor
*壁板: wall paneling
*蛀蚀: bore, worm-eaten; moth-eaten; eat away, damage
*一空: 一点不剩 nothing is left; …to nothing ; with nothing left; eat away all…
参考译文
If a tall building were infested with termites and nothing were done to prevent and control them, the entire wooden floor and wall paneling inside it would have been eaten away in less than ten years.
一般的房屋受了严重的蚁害，有的还会突然倒塌下来，伤了性命。
*受了……害: be infested with; be affected by; suffer (severe damage) from; termite-ridden(充满……的), be invaded by
一般的房屋受了严重的蚁害，有的还会突然倒塌下来，伤了性命。
*一般的房屋(如果)受了严重的蚁害: 此句为条件关系. Ordinary houses
*另外可以把“有的”与“一般的房屋”合起来，变成 “some of the ordinary houses might collapse if heavily damaged by termites.
一般的房屋受了严重的蚁害，有的还会突然倒塌下来，伤了性命。
“会”字的翻译: will, would, can, could, may, might
*倒塌: collapse, topple, crumble
*伤了性命: cause death; cause a loss of life*参考译文:
*1. If seriously damaged, some houses of the ordinary kind might topple, causing deaths.
*2. If ordinary houses suffered from termite attack, some would collapse, killing people inside.
*3. Some of the ordinary houses damaged by termites might collapse, causing casualties.
电杆被白蚁蛀蚀，一般两三年就要换一次。
*电杆: wire pole，不能译成electric pole(带电的杆子)
*一般: usually; as a rule ; ordinary; common; generally speaking;
*更换: substitute; replace
电杆被白蚁蛀蚀，一般两三年就要换一次。
*Generally speaking, termite-eaten wire poles ought to be replaced every two or three years.