2017年翻译资格考试catti三级笔译实务练习题（3）

　　【汉译英】

　　论想象力的培养

　　我的讲话是主张培养想象力。

　　那么，我是从什么意义上使用“想象力”这个词的呢?“想象力”一词的定义是：“构思出理想图画的能力”;“向自己或他人描述不在眼前的事物的能力。”我在下面的讲话使用“想象力”这个词时，就具有这样的含义。

　　沿着这条思路，我相信可以把我的意思讲清楚。不在眼前的事物是什么呢?例如历史就是。历史讲的是过去的事情。从某种意义上来说，历史并不存在于脑中——就是说，你看不到过去的事情;但是学习历史能使你得到并增强理解不在眼前的事物的能力。因此我愿向你们推荐历史课，那是一门最值得学习的课程。

　　【参考译文】

　　I address these words in favor of the cultivation of the imagination.

　　In what sense, then, do I use th6 word "imagination"? The meaning of "imagination" is "the power of forming ideal pictures"; "the power of representing absent things to ourselves and to others."

　　That is the sense in which I shall use the word "imagination" in the course of my address.

　　Now follow out this thought and I think I can make my meaning clear. Absent things! Take history. History deals with the things of the past. They are absent in a sense, from your minds -- that is to say you cannot see them; but the study of history qualifies you and strengthens your capacity for understanding things that are not present to you, and thus I wish to recommend history to you as a most desirable course of study.