比較結構是考研翻譯中非常重要的考點之一,比較結構包括以下兩種類型:①當要表達的事物之間在某一方面一樣時,可用 as…as…(后接形容詞或副詞,as much / many…as…(后接名詞或動詞)結構,no less...than (=not any less...than...)...,no more...than (=not any more...than...)...。②表達事物之間差別的結構可采用 more (…than) 或 less (…than),后可接形容詞、副詞、動詞或名詞。但要注意的是 more…than 還可譯作“與其說……,不如說……” 實際上,英語的比較結構比較復雜,翻譯時應注意英漢兩種語言在表達上的差異。處理時應先識別比較結構,然后判斷比較對象。
【真題例句1】
There is more agreement on the kinds of behavior referred to by the term than there is on how to interpret or classify them.
For the women of my generation who were urged to keep juggling through the 80’s, downshifting in the mid-90s is not so much a search for he mythical good life—growing your own organic vegetables, and risking turning into one—as a personal recognition of your limitations.結構分析:
【解析】
這句話的平行結構是兩個名詞短語:a search for he mythical good life—growing your own organic vegetables, and risking turning into one和a personal recognition of your limitations. 本句主干由not so much…as…固定搭配連接構成的一個長句,其準確的翻譯應為“與其……不如……”,而這種翻譯成中文之后通常讓人產生理解上的障礙。這種搭配出現在客觀試題的閱讀文章中,通常可以直接把它理解成“不是……而是……”。
The ideal listener stays both inside and outside the music at the moment it is played and enjoys it almost as much as the composer does at the moment he composes.
【解析】
The ideal listener... enjoys it almost as much as the composer at the moment he composes 中does 代替enjoys,表示對音樂的“欣賞”。這里as much as 同樣表示同等程度。