例1： Amazed scientists discover space is full of vast oceans of water C1 European scicntists using an ultracold orbiting telescope have discovered ummaginable volumes of water in the space between the stars.The discovery raises new questions about life elsewhere in the universe -and pro- vides new answers about why life was possible on Earth. 1.2 The scientists were astounded to find water vapour in the freezing atmospheres of Jupiter,Uranus. Ncptune and Saturn.They also revealed yesterday that they have detected water in the atmosphere of Saturn' mysterious moon Titan which is to be visited by.a joint US-European probe in 2001.They have even identified a cloud of water,less than a lght year across,in the con- stellation Orion. C3 )Hydrogen is the raw material of the universe. ()xygen is made in huge quantities by the stars.So water should be no surprise.There have been fleeting glimpses of water vapour on the Sun's surface,and in March the Americans confirmed the presence of water on the Moon. But the discovery of vast oceans of water vapour -the mass of which in the Milky Way galaxy alone would equal that of tens of thousands of suns -by the European Space Agency's (ESA)infrared space observatory IS()as- tonished astronomers. 19
〔1〕“I think our imaginations failed to describe the variety of places,the variety of circumstances,and the variety of conditions under which we found it,"said Paul Murdin,of the British National Space Centre,yesterday. [.5]Using instruments called spectroscopes,scientists have identified an astonishing range of organic molecules in space,including hydrogen cyanide,alcohol and formaldehyde.But water is the first requirement for life. The f600 million IS()experiment confirms once again that there could be life on planets in other solar systems. The next step will be to look for tell-tale signs of life it- self:conceniration of oxygen or ozone in distant planetary atmospheres. C6]The IS()discovery also confirms a growing belief that water on Earth may have been delivered by comets, icy scraps of dust left over from the birth of stars. [7]The experiment opens a new window on the uni- verse.More than 1,000 astronomers from Europe,Japan and the US have used the telescope,launched in 1995,for more than 26,000 observations.The data returned will keep researchers busy for years. C8)"All the missions we undertake in ESA have to be unique,"said Roger Bonnet,head of science at the space agency."In principle,the Americans have done ev. crything,so what remains to be done is impossible.Ail our missions are Mission Impossible,but IS()is more im- possible than any other. C9)I5(should have survived for only 18 months but 20
is still operating after 29.The telescope posed a huge technical challenge:to detect infrared rays,it had to be cooler than any object it looked at -and the average tem perature of deep space is 270C.So IS()had to be cooled with liquid helium which kept the instrument's tempera- ture just above absolute zero (.273C). 10]The satellite has peered into clouds of space dust to watch the formation of solar systems,and deep into the heart of ultraluminous galaxies.It has also witnessed two galaxies colliding and,in one of them,the signature of a black hole sucking a blaze of stardust into itself.Besides mapping the edge of the known universe.it has also seen a star being born inside the Horsehead nebula. (Popular Science,8 Apr.1998) 摘详文： 科学家发现太空存在大量的水 〔1)欧洲科学家利用超冷轨道望远镜发现星际空间 存在大量的水。该发现向人类提出了宇宙其他地方是否 存在生命的新问题，也为地球上存在生命提供了新的解 释。 〔2]科学家惊奇地发现在木星、天王星、海王星和士 星的低温大气中存在水蒸汽。他们还透露已探测到土星 的一颗神秘的卫星“泰坦”的大气中存在水，甚至确定猎 户星座土存在云状水层， 〔3氢是宇宙的基本元素.恒星又大量地产生氧元 素，所以水的生成不足为奇在太阳的表面观察到稍纵即 21
逝的水蒸汽。三月份，美国人证实了月球上水的存在，而 欧州空间研究所(FSA)红外线太空天文台(IS())发现大 量水蒸汽存在于银河系中，其规模相当于成千上万个太 阳表面的水蒸汽，这灵令天文学家们为之一振。 “4们利用光谱仪，科学家已发现太空中存在大量的有 ,分子.包括氰化氢、酒精和甲醛分子。耗资6亿英镑的 )实验再次证实，在太阳系的其他星体上可能存在生 命，下一步就是寻找生命存在的标志：遥远行星的大气中 是否存有氧气或臭氧、 5)S)的发现使人更加相信：地球上的水来自彗 星、恒星形战时留下的宇宙尘埃冰屑。 【分析】很明显，原作十个自然段，摘译后被删除了五个门然 段：段L4们和段〔7一10们。首先我们认为要介绍给国内读者的是“科 学家发现太空存在人量的水”这-一事实，以之为准绳，对原作进行 删减，因此原段〔2（为“原文第2段”的简称.下文的译段X」”同 which is to be visited by a joint US-European probe in 2004. ·的省去，使译文专注现在的事实，不说将来的事，原段〔2第 中的yesterday亦省略，这·明确时间概念在此显得并不重要， 刊意“他们还透露已探测到上足的-颗神秘的卫星‘泰坦的大气 中存在水”足以反映这信总·山于传输信息的翻译和出版时空障 碍、对济文读者前，“昨天”已成久远 识段Ay是the British National Space Centre的Paul Murdin 说的话.可省。原段〔？1)：写的是红外线太空天文台实验研究的 意义、过程、时间、规模、技术要水和所取得的进展。这些过程、力式 -于段等均是发现太空存在水的背景知识，与我们要译介的事实结 果去其远，我们感兴趣的史是科技信息，为大众读者快速传输科 技成就发展。 22
节段〔3)和“欧洲空间研究所(ESA)红外线太空火文ì (S)”中的缩略语还可考虑保留与否，若是给综合性报刊给人众 看，可省；若是给专业情报刊物，给专业读者看，可保留。同理.原段 〔6中的)也要还原为全称“红外线太空天文台” 例2： Felicia's Journey Wilum Trer C1 ]The sun is warm now,the water of the river undisturhed.Seagulls teeter on the parapet in front of her,boats go by.The line of trees that breaks the monotony of the pavement is laden with leaves in shades of russet.Figures stride purposefully on a distant bridge. figures in miniature,creatures that could be unreal. Somewhere a voice is loud on a megaphone. [2]She is not hungry.It will he a few hours before she begins to feel hungry and then there will be the throwaway stuff in the bins.The sky is azure,evenly bluc.hardly faded at the edges at all.She moves a hand back and forth on a slat of the seat she is sitting on.her fingers caressing the smooth timber,the texture different where the paint has worn away. [3]The gap left where a tooth was drawn a fortnight ago has lost its soreness.She fcels it with her tongue. pressing the tip of her tongue into the cavity,recalling the aching there has bcen.It was the Welshman,Davo,who said that.They went along together because he knew the 23