Part C Directions: Read the following

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问题 Part CDirections:Read the following text carefully and then translate the underlined segments into Chinese. Your translation should be written clearly on ANSWER SHEET 2. (10 points)  Since the days of Aristotle, a search for universal principles has characterized the scientific enterprise. In some ways, this quest for commonalities defines science. Newton’s laws of motion and Darwinian evolution each bind a host of different phenomena into a  explicatory frame work.  (46) In physics, one approach takes this impulse for unification to its extreme, and seeks a theory of everything—a  generative equation for all we see.It is becoming less clear, however, that such a theory would be a simplification, given the dimensions and universes that it might entail, nonetheless, unification of sorts remains a major goal.  This tendency in the natural sciences has long been evident in the social sciences too. (47) Here, Darwinism seems to offer justification for if all humans share common origins, it seems reasonable to suppose that cultural diversity could also be traced to more constrained beginnings.Just as the bewildering variety of human courtship rituals might all be considered forms of sexual selection, perhaps the world’s languages, music, social and religious customs and even history are governed by universal features. (48) To filter out what is unique from what is shared might enable us to understand how complex cultural behavior arose and what guides it in evolutionary or cognitive terms.  That, at least, is the hope. But a comparative study of linguistic traits published online today supplies a reality check. Russell Gray at the University of Auckland and his colleagues consider the evolution of grammars in the light of two previous attempts to find universality in language.  The most famous of these efforts was initiated by Noam Chomsky, who suggested that humans are born with an innate language-acquisition capacity that dictates a universal grammar. A few generative rules are then sufficient to unfold the entire fundamental structure of a language, which is why children can learn it so quickly.  (49) The second, by Joshua Greenberg, takes a more empirical approach to universality identifying traits (particularly in word order) shared by many language which are considered to represent biases that result from cognitive constraints.  Gray and his colleagues have put them to the test by examining four family trees that between them represent more than 2,000 languages. (50) Chomsky’s grammar should show patterns of language change that are independent of the family tree or the pathway tracked through it, whereas Greenbergian universality predicts strong co-dependencies between particular types of word-order relations.Neither of these patterns is borne out by the analysis, suggesting that the structures of the languages are lire age-specific and not governed by universals

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解析46. 物理学中的一个理论把这种归一的冲动发挥到了极致,它探寻一种万有理论——一个关于我们能看到的一切的生成方程式。  【解析】本句结构比较简单,为简单句,句子主干为one approach takes…and seeks…,而破折号后的内容是对前面提到理论的进一步解释说明。其中take…to extreme…意为“把…发挥到极致,把…推至极限”;theory of everything译为“万有理论”,即:适用于任何事物的理论;generative equation指“生成等式,生成方程”。47. 在这里,达尔文主义似乎提供了有力的理由,因为如果全人类有共同的起源,那么假设文化差异也能够追溯到更有限的源头好像就是合理的了。  【解析】对本句理解的关键在于for引导的句子,此处for引导原因状语从句,该状语从句中又包含一个由if引导的条件状语从句。it seems reasonable to suppose that可翻为一个长句,也可分开翻译为:那么假设文化差异也能追溯到更为有限的源头,这种假设看上去便是合理的了。对于“cultural diversity”的理解,考生容易受备考中经常遇到的“cultural diversity”的影响,而将其直接译为“文化多样性”,但在本文,前文很多次提到了共性,所以这里将其翻译为“文化差异”更合适。48. 把差异性和独特性从共性中过滤出来也许能让我们理解复杂的文化行为是如何产生的,是什么从进化或认知领域指导着它。  【解析】这句话的结构主要是对三个“what”从句的理解。第一个what引导的从句what is unique做filter out的宾语;第二个what引导的从句what is shared是介词from的宾语,from 是固定搭配filter out A from B中的介词;第三个what引导的what guides it in evolutionary or cognitive terms与how complex cultural behavior arose并列作动词understand的宾语。句子主干可看做:To filter out A from B enables us to understand C and D:A指的是what is contingent and unique;B指的是what is shared” how complex cultural behaviour arose;C指的是how complex cultural behaviour arose;D指的是what guides it in evolutionary or cognitive terms。49. 约书亚格林伯格为寻找语言的共性而付出努力提出了第二种理论。他采用了一个更实用的共性理论,做法是辨认出众多语言的共有特征(尤其是按照词序排列),这些特征被认为代表了由认知局限导致的偏差。  【解析】本句结构较为清晰,关键是对句子前部分的理解,需结合前文。此处the second与上文中The most famous of these efforts was initiated by Noam Chomsky相对应,所里应根据上下文和逻辑解释清楚,翻译为“第二种理论”,而不能单纯的翻译成“第二”。50. 乔姆斯基生成语法应该表明语言变化的模式,这些模式独立于族谱或贯穿其中的路径,然而格林伯格的共性理论预测词序关系的特殊类别之间(而不是其他)有着强烈的共存性。  【解析】该句话结构较为简单,比较复杂的是其中出现的术语和不熟悉的词汇。本句主要结构为:Chomsky’s grammar should show…whereas Greenbergian…。其中grammar指的是上文的“生成语法”,所以此处可把“生成语法”翻译出来;that引导定语从句that are independent of the family tree...修饰patterns;对于co-dependencies需根据上下词义及其词根词缀来猜测词义,由于下文指出两者关系,因此此处可将其翻译为“共存性”。
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