Suggested Topics for Discussion
1. What are the two principles of translation classification? What are the main types of translation? What is the difference between literary and informative translations?
2. How can literary translations be sudivided? What is the main difficulty of translating a work of high literary merit? What qualities and skills are expected of a literary translator?
3. How can informative translations be subdivided? Are there any intermediate types of translation? What type of informative translations plays an especially important role in the modern world?
4. What is the main goal of a technical translation? What specific requirements is the technical translator expected to meet? What problems is the theory of technical translation concerned with?
5. What are the main characteristics of translations dealing with newspaper, diplomatic and other official materials? What specific problems emerge in translating film scripts and commercial advertisements?
6. What is the main difference between translation and interpretation? Which of them is usually made at a higher level of accuracy? Are there any intermediate forms of translation?
7. How can interpretation be classified? What are the characteristic features of consecutive interpretation? What is the role of notation in consecutive interpretation?
TextI(SCIENTIFIC)
(1) Water has the extraordinary ability to dissolve a greater variety of substances than any other liquid. (2) Falling through the air it collects atmospheric gases, salts, nitrogen, oxygen and other compounds, nutrients and pollutants alike. (3) The carbon dioxide it gathers reacts with the water to form carbonic acid. (4) This, in turn, gives it greater power to break down rocks and soil particles that are subsequently put into solution as nutrients and utilized by growing plants and trees. (5) Without this dissolving ability, our lakes and streams would be biological deserts, for pure water cannot sustain aquatic life. (6) Water dissolves, cleanses, serves plants and animals as a carrier of food and minerals; it is the only substance that occurs in all three states — solid, liquid and gas — and yet always retains its own identity and emerges again as water.
II(NEWSPAPER)
(7)1 am often asked what I think of the latest opinion poll, especially when it has published what appears to be some dramatic swing in "public opinion". (8) It is as if the public seeing itself reflected in a mirror, seeks reassurance that the warts on the face of its opinion are not quite ugly as all that! (9) I react to these inquiries from the ludicrous posture of a man who, being both a politician and a statistician cannot avoid wearing two hats. (10) I am increasingly aware of the intangibility of the phenomenon described as "public opinion". (11) It is the malevolent ghost in the haunted house of politics. (12) But the definition of public opinion given by the majority of opinion polls is about the last source from which those responsible for deciding the great issues of the day should seek guidance.
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Text AnalysisI
1. What type of text is it? What makes you think that it is informative? What type of words are predominant in the text? What branch of science do most of the terms belong to?
2. What is the difference between substance and matter? Why should water fall through the air? How can water "collect" various substances?
3. What elements make up carbonic dioxide? What is carbonic acid? What are carbonates? What other acids or salts do you know? What is solution? How does water provide food for plants and trees?
4. What is the difference between a stream and a river? What do plants need for their growth? When can a lake be called a biological desert? What is pure water? What is aquatic life? Why can pure water not sustain aquatic life?
5. Why can water be called a carrier of food? What do we call water in solid state? What is the general term for liquids and gases? How can water retain its identity? Does it mean that it always has the same properties or the same composition?
II
6. What type of text is this? Are there any literary devices in it? Is its subject literary or informative? Is it narrated in the first or in the third person? Is its author a man of letters or a scientist?
7. What is an opinion poll? What are people usually polled about? Are the results of an opinion poll published in newspapers? What is a swing hi public opinion? Why are the words "public opinion" written in inverted commas? What swing in public opinion may be described as dramatic?
8. In what mirror does the public see itself? What is a wart? What warts are referred to in the text? Why should the public seek any reassurance?
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9. What does the author mean by saying that he has to wear two hats? In what way can a phenomenon be intangible? What is a haunted house? Is a "ghost" something real, easily defined or understood?
10. Does a "definition" mean in this context an explanation or the result? What is the meaning of the phrase "He is the last man to help you"? Does the author think the results of an opinion poll to be a reliable source of information?
Problem-Solving ExercisesA. Text Type Features
I. Identify the names of chemical elements in the text and give their Russian equivalents.
П. Find 10 words (other than the names of elements) which have permanent equivalents in Russian.
Ш. Would you use the transcription method to transfer into Russian theterms "pollutants and nutrients" in sentence (2) or would you opt for a description?
IV. Which of the following phrases, if any, would you choose to translate sentence (2): падаяввоздухе, перемещаясьввоздушнойсреде, выпадаяввидеатмосферныхосадков? Give your reasons.
V. Name two Russian terms for "carbon dioxide" in sentence (3).
VI. Use a Russian prepositional phrase to translate sentence (3).
VII. How should the structure "this gives it greater power" in sentence (4) be changed in translation to fit the Russian technical usage?
VIII. Suggest a scientific turn of phrase in Russian to translate the phrase "water... serves plants and animals" in sentence (6).
IX. Should the Russian for "three states" in sentence (6) be just трисостояния or should the full form агрегатныесостояния be preferred?
X. Translate the phrase "it has published what appears to be some dramatic
swing" in sentence (7) transforming "it has published" into опубликованныерезультаты and "what appears to be" into по-видимому, свидетельствуют.
XL Discuss the pros and cons of the possible Russian structures to begin sentence (8) such as: можноподумать, какбудтобы, делообстоиттак, какбудто, etc.
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XII. Would you retain the figure of speech in sentence (8) in your Russian translation (бородавкиналицеобщественногомнения) or would you prefer a less extravagant variant, e.g. изъяны?
XIII. Which Russian equivalent is more preferable as the substitute for the "public" in sentence (8): публика, общественность? Why?
XIV. Suggest two Russian idiomatic expressions equivalent to the English idiom "to wear two hats" (sentence 9).
XV. Which of the following Russian equivalents to the English phrase "to seek guidance" (sentence 12) would you prefer: искатьсовета, спрашиватьсовета, обращатьсязаруководством, руководствоваться? Or would you suggest something else?
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