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  3. For generations, coal has been the lifeblood of this mineral-rich stretch of

For generations, coal has been the lifeblood of this mineral-rich stretch of

游客2024-01-02  16
问题    For generations, coal has been the lifeblood of this mineral-rich stretch of eastern Utah. Mining families proudly recall all the years they toiled underground. Supply companies line the town streets. Above the road that winds toward the mines, a soot-smudged miner peers out from a billboard with the slogan "Coal = Jobs."
   But recently, fear has settled in. The state’s oldest coal-fired power plant, tucked among the canyons near a town, is set to close, a result of new, stricter federal pollution regulations.
   As energy companies move away from coal toward cleaner, cheaper natural gas, people here have grown increasingly afraid that their community may soon slip away. Dozens of workers at the Carbon Power Plant have learned that they must retire early or seek other jobs. Local trucking and equipment outfits are preparing to take business elsewhere.
   "There are a lot of people worried," said Kyle Davis, who has been employed at the plant since he was 18. Mr. Davis, 56, worked his way up from sweeping floors to managing operations at the plant, whose furnaces have been burning since 1954. "I would have liked to be here for another five years," he said, "I’m too young to retire."
   But the Rocky Mountain Power, the utility that operates the plant, has determined that it would be too expensive to retrofit the aging plant to meet new federal standards on mercury emissions. The plant is scheduled to be shut by April 2015. "We had been working for the better part of three years, testing compliance strategies," said David Eskelsen, a spokesman for the utility. "None of the ones we investigated really would produce the results that would meet the requirements."
   For the last several years, coal plants have been shutting down across the country, driven by tougher environmental regulations, flattening electricity demand and a move by utilities toward natural gas. This month, the board of directors of the Tennessee Valley Authority, the country’s largest public power utility, voted to shut eight coal-powered plants in Alabama and Kentucky, and partly replace them with gas-fired power. Since 2010, more than 150 coal plants have been closed or scheduled for retirement.
   The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that the stricter emissions regulations for the plants will result in billions of dollars in related health savings and will have a sweeping impact on air quality. In recent weeks, the agency held 11 "listening sessions" around the country in advance of proposing additional rules for carbon dioxide emissions.
   "Coal plants are the single largest source of dangerous carbon pollution in the United States, and we have ready alternatives like wind and solar to replace them," said Bruce Nilles, director of the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign, which wants to shut all of the nation’s coal plants.
   For many here, coal jobs are all they know. The industry united the area during hard times, too, especially during the dark days after nine men died in a 2007 mining accident some 35 miles down the highway. Virtually everyone around here knew the men, six of whom remain entombed in the mountainside. But there is quiet acknowledgment that this place will have to change — if not now, soon.
   Pete Palacios, who worked in the mines for 43 years, has seen coal roar and fade here. Now 86, his eyes grew cloudy as he recalled his first mining job. He was 12, and earned US$1 a day. "I’m retired, so I’ll be fine. But these young guys?" Pete Palacios said, his voice trailing off.
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答案     美国犹他州东部地带矿产资源丰富，这里的人们世世代代以煤炭为生。每当想起在地下常年辛勤劳动的岁月，矿工家庭都会倍感自豪。镇上街道两旁，煤炭供应公司鳞次栉比。通向矿区的道路蜿蜒曲折，路上立着一处广告牌，上面一位满脸煤灰的矿工正凝视着前方，标语上写着“煤炭=就业”。
    然而，近来人们却开始担心。该州历史最久的燃煤电厂坐落在小镇附近的峡谷之中，因为要执行更严格的联邦治污新条例，即将被迫关闭。
    许多能源公司纷纷改变策略，弃用煤炭，改用更清洁廉价的天然气。当地人越来越担心他们的社区不久就会消失。卡本燃煤电厂(Carbon Power Plant)数十位工人得知，他们必须提前退休或另谋职业。当地的货运和设备公司也准备去别的地方发展业务。
    凯尔-戴维斯(Kyle Davis)从18岁起就在这家电厂上班，他说：“许多人都忧心忡忡。”自1954年建厂以来，该厂一直运转，从未间断。现年56岁的戴维斯先生在厂里从清洁工干起，一步步升做业务主管。他说：“我本来还想在这里再干五年，现在退休还是太年轻了点。”
    负责运营这家燃煤电厂的洛基山电力公司(Rocky Mountain Power)认为，要达到联邦汞排放新标准就得翻新改造这家老厂，但成本太高，并不可行。他们计划在2015年4月前将其关闭。公司发言人戴维-埃斯基尔森(David Eskelsen)说：“三年里，我们花了大量时间尝试达标的方法，但没有一个能真正满足达标要求。”
    近年来，迫于环保法规愈加严格，电力需求不断减少，很多电力公司转向天然气，美国各地的燃煤电厂相继关闭。田纳西河谷管理局(the Tennessee Valley Authority)是美国最大的公共电力公司。本月，该局董事会投票决定，关闭其在阿拉巴马和肯塔基两个州的8家燃煤电厂，其中一部分以燃气电厂取而代之。自2010年以来，已有超过150家燃煤电厂关闭，或计划歇业。
    美国国家环境保护局(the Environmental Protection Agency)估测，对电厂实行更严格的限排规定，将能节省数十亿美元的相关医疗支出，并能明显改善空气质量。近几周，环保局在美国各地举行了11次“听证会”，以便之后提出有关二氧化碳排放的补充规定。
    赛拉俱乐部(Sierra Club)开展的“超越煤炭”运动主张关闭美国所有的燃煤电厂。活动负责人布鲁斯-尼勒斯(Bruce Nilles)说：“在美国，燃煤电厂是有害碳污染物的最大排放源，而且现在我们已有风能和太阳能等替代性能源来取而代之。”
    对于这里的许多人而言，采煤是他们的一切。在艰难时期，尤其是在2007年矿难事件之后，是煤矿业将整个地区凝聚了起来。矿难发生在高速公路以南大约35英里的地方，造成九人丧生。当地人几乎都认识这些罹难者，其中六名矿工至今还埋在山下。然而，人们心里明白，这里将会发生变化——即使现在不变，将来很快也会变。
    皮特-帕拉西奥斯(Pete Palacios)在矿上工作了43年，见证了这里煤炭业的兴衰。现年86岁的他，回想起初次采煤的情形，不禁眼眶湿润了。当时他12岁，一天只挣一美元。他说：“我退休了，可以安享晚年了。但这些年轻人怎么办?”老人的声音越来越低沉。
解析 1．For generations，coal has been the lifeblood of this mineral-rich stretch of eastern Utah．美国犹他州东部地带矿产资源丰富，这里的人们世世代代以煤炭为生。
  分析  句子结构类
  本句如果按照英文的句子结构翻译，可能会产生这样的译文：世世代代，煤炭一直是矿产丰富的犹他州东部一带的命脉。这样的译文定语过长，比较生硬。英语句子语义常常是前重后轻，而汉语则一般是前轻后重，因此，翻译本句时可采用换序译法和断句译法，按照中文表达的逻辑顺序，译为“美国犹他州东部地带矿产资源丰富，这里的人们世世代代以煤炭为生”。
2．Above the road that winds toward the mines，a soot-smudged miner peers out from a billboard with the slogan“Coal=Jobs．”通向矿区的道路蜿蜒曲折，路上立着一处广告牌，上面一位满脸煤灰的矿工正凝视着前方，标语上写着“煤炭=就业”。
  分析  句子结构类
  本句中，road后面部分为定语从句，billboard则由后面的“with结构”来修饰，如果翻译为“在蜿蜒通向矿区的道路上面，一位满脸煤灰的矿工正从一个带着‘煤炭=就业’标语的广告牌往外凝视”，句式呆板繁复，比较拗口，且容易产生歧义，因此可采用断句译法，把句首的介词短语转换成主谓句，把句中的主句部分拆分成两句来处理，更符合汉语的表达习惯。
3．But recently，fear has settled in．然而，近来人们却开始担心。
  分析  句子结构类
  本句属于无灵主语句，主语fear是抽象名词。本句汉译时可以将主语调整为有灵主语，译为“然而，近来人们却开始担心”。
4．．．．people here have grown increasingly afraid that their community may soon slip away．当地人越来越担心他们的社区不久就会消失。
  分析  篇章理解类
  本句中slip away原意是“溜掉，悄悄离开”，但在译文中如使用本意显然不合适。文中提到当地人世世代代靠煤炭谋生，如今因为治污条例更加严格，越来越多的公司弃用煤炭，改用天然气，因此人们担心如果失去赖以生存的经济命脉，他们的社区将消失。因此，slip away译为“消失”更贴切。
5．“There are a lot of people worried，”said Kyle Davis，who has been employed at the plant since he was 18．凯尔-戴维斯(Kyle Davis)从18岁起就在这家电厂上班，他说：“许多人都忧心忡忡。”
  分析  句子结构类
  本句采取语态转换的译法，句中的被动语态who has been employed，在翻译过程中应根据汉语习惯，译为主动语态更为恰当。此外，句中还出现了人名、说话内容以及人物背景介绍。按照中文习惯，通常先介绍人物，然后引用他所说的内容。因此，翻译时需恰当调整句子结构，以使语句更为通顺且符合中文表达。
6．Mr．Davis，56，worked his way up from sweeping floors to managing operations at the plant，whose furnaces have been burning since 1954．自1954年建厂以来，该厂一直运转，从未间断。现年56岁的戴维斯先生在厂里从清洁工干起，一步步升做业务主管。
  分析  篇章理解类
  本句中sweeping floors，managing operations，furnaces have been burning since 1954，如果直译分别是“扫地”“管理运营”“炉子自从1954年起就一直燃烧着”，但这样的话，句子会过于生硬且拗口，因此需要进行适当意译，并表现出其中的隐含信息，可译为“从清洁工干起，一步步升做业务主管”“自1954年建厂以来，该厂一直运转，从未间断”。
7．For the last several years，coal plants have been shutting down across the country,driven by tougher environmental regulations，flattening electricity demand and a move by utilities toward natural gas．近年来，迫于环保法规愈加严格，电力需求不断减少，很多电力公司转向天然气，美国各地的燃煤电厂相继关闭。
  分析  句子结构类
  本句中虽然没有直接出现表示因果关系的连接词，但根据上下文可知，driven by后面的三个并列名词短语即为燃煤电厂纷纷关闭的原因。翻译时可采用换序译法和词性转换的译法，将tougher，flattening和a move进行适当词性转换，从而使中文句式结构整齐，语句通顺达意。
8．But there is quiet acknowledgment that this place will have to change—if not now，soon.然而，人们心里明白，这里将会发生变化——即使现在不变，将来很快也会变。
  分析  句子结构类
  本句中出现了一个由that引导的同位语从句，用来说明acknowledgment的具体内容。鉴于同位语从句略长，因此翻译时可采用顺译法。同时，无主句there be结构可转换成“人们”作主语，更符合中文表达习惯。
9．Now 86，his eyes grew cloudy as he recalled his first mining job．现年86岁的他，回想起初次采煤的情形，不禁眼眶湿润了。
  分析  增词减词类
  本句中，as是“当……”的意思，汉语一般将时间状语从句放在句子前部，但不一定必须保留“当”字，因为中文逻辑可自然分布于字里行间，所以本句中“当”可删减。句中his与he照应，翻译为中文时可减译。句首的now 86，在翻译时可结合上下文前后出现的he或his，增译为“现年86岁的他”，引领全句。
10．He was 12，and earned US$1 a day．当时他12岁，一天只挣一美元。
  分析  增词减词类
  本句如果直译为“他12岁，一天挣一美元”，缺乏一定的情感色彩，也无法体现“泪眼氤氲”。因此，可增译“当时”与前文衔接，并对应was的时态。同时，可在“挣一美元”前增加“只”，来体现感情色彩。
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