英汉翻译复建1——Life in the Universe

原文

“Are there living things anywhere else in the Universe?”

To answer this question, first we must consider what makes a living thing, whether plant or animal, and then what conditions living things need in order to go on living.

Living things, like everything else, are made of atoms, which are grouped into molecules. A molecule is the very smallest possible bit you can have of any substance. When you break up a molecule of water, for example, you no longer have water at all, but only the atoms of which water is made—one atom of oxygen and two of hydrogen. The molecules of living things are made, not of two or three atoms, but of hundreds or thousands in different complicated patterns.

If they become too hot, these complicated molecules of living things break up into separate atoms and cease to be living. Therefore, there cannot be life on the Sun or any of the stars because they are far too hot.

Living molecules are also damaged by X-rays, and many of them by ultra-violet rays, so they are not likely to exist on a planet close to the Sun or any other star where there is no atmosphere to keep off these radiations.

Living things also need energy to make them breathe, grow and move. On Earth plants and animals get their energy, directly or indirectly, from the Sun. So planets, which are far from the Sun and extremely cold, are not places where living things could exist. It seems that we still have a long way to go before we get a satisfactory answer.

文本分析

本文文字浅显易懂，没有找到出处，也许是儿童科普读物吧==，属于科技类文本。

英国翻泽理论家纽马克将各种文本分为三大类型,即严肃文学作品、官方文告、自传文学、私人书信"等归类为“表达型文本将”，将“自然科学、科技、工商经济”类文书归为“信息型文本”，将“通告、说明书、公共宣传、通俗作品”等归为“呼唤性文本”，对于不同的文本,翻译时采取的策略是不同的。纽马克认为“表达型文本”翻译时，必须遵从作者的“神圣的”核心地位,宜采用“语义翻译”方法，以彰显个性；而后两种文本的核心是“真实性”与“读者层”，因此翻译时采用“交际翻译”策略（原传道，2005）。

翻译此类文本，要注重忠实性，准确性，同时，也要关注可读性。

做到忠实、准确要特别注意术语的表述。如文中出现的两个概念，star和planet（同时也要关注satellite），虽然都可以叫做星星，但含义实际有很大区别。

Star: a fixed luminous point in the night sky which is a large, remote incandescent body like the sun

Planet: a celestial body moving in an elliptical orbit round a star

可见，star指恒星，planet指行星。如果这两个概念没搞清楚，很容易出现误译，如：Living molecules are also damaged by X-rays, and many of them by ultra-violet rays, so they are not likely to exist on a planet close to the Sun or any other star where there is no atmosphere to keep off these radiations. 如果将两者任一的译成星星，意思就千差万别了。

另，注意where there is no atmosphere to keep off these radiations修饰的是planet。太阳是有大气层的^^。

试译

“宇宙中的其他地方有生命吗？”

要回答这个问题，我们首先需要知道生物，包括动物和植物是由什么组成的，其次再考虑生物需要什么生存条件。

生物与其他东西一样，都由原子组成，原子又以一定顺序组成分子。分子是构成物质的最小单位。以水为例，分解水分子后，水便不存在了，只能得到一个氧原子和两个氢原子，它们组成水的原子。生物的分子并非只由两三个原子构成，而是由成百上千个原子以各不相同且复杂的模式组合而成。

如果温度太高，这些复杂的分子将会分解为单独的原子，生物就会死亡。因此，太阳或其他恒星上都不会产生生命，因为它们的温度过高。

X射线也会破坏分子结构，紫外线也会损伤很多分子。因此，靠近太阳或靠近其他恒星的行星，它们因为没有大气层阻隔辐射，所以不太可能产生生命。

同样，生物呼吸、生长及行动都需要能量支撑。地球上的动植物直接或间接地从太阳获取能量。所以，远离太阳的行星，温度极低，也不适宜孕育生物。看来，要得到满意的答案，仍然还有很长的路要走。

ps. 更多的是存个人笔记..

另，这篇太简单，没难度，因为即兴开始，没有具体找材料，后面文本的难度会陡增...tbc...

参考文献

[1] 原传道. 2005. 英语“信息型文本”翻译策略. 中国科技翻译(03): 50-52+23.

[2] 冯庆华，穆雷. 2008. 英汉翻译基础教程. 北京：高等教育出版社.