实践文本英译汉

BrazilBrazil, the biggest country in South America, has drawn the whole world‟s attention, as it will host the 2014 World Cup in less than a month. The country certainly has a long tradition of soccer and has won the World Cup five times. But except for w atching and playing soccer, Brazil‟s beautiful landscape, various cultural events and delicious food also make it a great traveling destination. As one of the New Seven Wonders and an icon of Brazil, Christ the Redeemer is the famous statue of Jesus Christ in Rio de Janeiro, also one of the largest *art deco-statues in the world. Located at the top of the 700-meter Corcovado Mountain, it offers a sweeping *panorama of Guanabara Bay. It stands 98 feet (30 meters) tall, not including its 26-foot (8-meter) *pedestal, and its arms stretch to a width of 92 feet (28 meters). Situated on the border of Brazil and Argentina, Iguazu Falls is one of the great natural wonders of the world. They feature on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Among its system of 275 waterfall s along the Iguazu River, the Devil‟s Throat is the most magnificent one. It‟s a U-shaped waterfall with a height of 269 feet (82 meters). At approximately 6,400 km, the Amazon River is the second longest river and the largest river by volume in the world. With 3,000 recognized species of fish, it is surrounded by half of the planet‟s remaining rainforests. Tourists can boat upriver into the damp and enjoy the unique and powerful ambience of the wild. As Brazil‟s best-known festival, Carnival is celebrated 46 days before the Easter festival and takes place over a period of about five days. Carnival is *derived from the word carnelevare, literally meaning “removal of meat”. Brazil‟s carnival began during the European dominated era when followers of the Roman Catholic Church would *indulge in a last day of alcohol, dance, fun and sex just before the start of Lent, a period of*abstinence from alcohol and other sins. Back then, people would exchange clothes and indulge in wild dancing. Nowadays, the most famous carnival is that held in Rio de Janeiro, where thousands of people, wearing masks and colorful costumes, dance samba to the sound of drums and music. Considered to be the national dish, feijoada is a black bean *stew with various types of beef and sausage. It originated from the time of colonization when the Portuguese brought their stew of black beans to Brazil. Its taste is strong, moderately salty but not spicy.Ten ways to get fired1. Lying on Your ResumeTell the truth from the start, because you will be held responsible for the information you provide -- and your employer will check it.2. Being Indiscreet About Your Job HuntIf you are in the market for a new job, don`t send your resume from your office computer, which most likely is monitored by IT. Assume your instant messages and emails are fair game as well.3. GossipingWalls have ears. Keep gossip to yourself. Winding up on the wrong side of the rumor mill can cost you more than somebody`s trust; it can mean your job.4. Taking Too Many Personal CallsSpending much of your work time orchestrating your own personal business usually results in being given an opportunity to spend all of your time on the phone on personal business -- looking for a new job, Star warns.5. Drinking at WorkOne of the quickest ways to be shown the door is drinking too much at lunch and walking into a wall. Maintaining your own clarity is extremely important.6. Surfing the Web ExcessivelySpending much of your workday cruising around cyberspace puts you just a point-and-click away from unemployment. And checking adult-oriented Web sites on the job is a definite no-no.7. Becoming Romantically Involved with the BossWhile it may make for great water-cooler discussion, a boss/direct-report romance can easily end with someone out of a job. (Hint: It`s usually not the boss.)8. Forgetting to Double-Check Your FiguresWhen working with numbers, scrutinize your work carefully. One stray zero could make the difference between being employed and unemployed, advises Star.9. Alienating Your CoworkersTo do your job effectively, you`ll need the cooperation, support and good will of those around you. Becoming detached from those you work with could get you replaced with someone who can work well with others.10. Pointing the Finger at Everyone but YourselfTake ownership of your job. If you make a mistake, own up to it. Don`t try to sweep your mistakes under the carpet -- or worse yet, blame somebody else -- because the truth will usually come back to bite you on the bottom line. And nobody wants to trust or employ a liar, says Star.Graduation SeasonCaps and gowns, laughter and tears. It‟s time for another set of graduates to say goodbye to their school days. There is no better way to celebrate these memorable moments and honor the passed youth than by taking photos. However, taking unique graduation photos requires some creative ideas. Here are popular styles and poses that previous graduates have experimented with.The end of school time means the beginning of a new phase in life. Graduation season is a time to reflect on the past and look forward to the future.Students from a Russian high school wrote their dreams on a blackboard and posed in front of it. Graduates from Hangzhou Dianzi University also followed this style. It is a good way to remind you not to forget your initial dreams and encourage you to fight for them. Just free your imagination anddraw whatever you want.Decorating caps is welcomed by foreign university students. Caps and gowns usually give graduates a uniform look, but eye-catching decorations can make them stand out and create impressive pictures.Writing messages on caps, like “Thanks mom and dad”, or “Genius grad” are popular choices. Asking your classmates or teachers to sign their names with colorful sketch pens is a good idea, too. You can also add embellishments like glittering stars, sequins, pastel colors, decorative beads, colorful crystals, or laces to draw more attention.Whether its film posters or famous world paintings, they always give graduates inspiration. In 2008, more than 40 graduates from Guanghua School of Management at Peking University reproduced the scene of Italian painter Raphael‟s great work The School of Athens. Popular film posters like You Are the Apple of My Eye, American Dreams in China are also choices for creative graduates. This style requires more time and cooperation, as all participants should use different poses and hold them for some time.Graduation photos are not just about gowns. You can play with many styles of clothing to create a variety of images. Chinese tunic suits let you go back to the 1920s, while a traditional cheongsam gives you an elegant look. Some students wear clothes in Han Chinese clothing to enjoy the fun of traveling through time.Zhang Yimou’s Coming HomeWhen you see the trailer for Coming Home , Zhang Yimou‟s latest project, you may not feel intrigued by it at first, due to the film‟s senior cast and historic setting.But rest assured, Coming Home will draw you in with its emotionally charged story of love, joy and sorrow.The movie follows a devoted couple, Lu Yanshi (Chen Daoming) and Feng Wanyu (Gong Li), who are separated when Lu is arrested as a political prisoner. Released during the last days of the “cultural revolution” (1966-76), Lu finally returns home only to find that his beloved wife has amnesia and is unable to recognize him. As a stranger in his broken family, Lu decides to resurrect their past together and reawaken his wife‟s memory.Just like the story suggests, Coming Home is a tearjerker. But different from those movies that make the audience cry by being evocative, such as Feng Xiaogang‟s Aftershock or Pixar‟s Toy Story 3, director Zhang‟s idea of moving the audience is quite special, and makes the most of his delicate skills.I n Coming Home, Zhang deals with a dramatic story in such a quiet way that the audience‟s emotions are drawn out little by little by the main characters, as they struggle in pain while their heroic inner strength shines.So, when you cry — and very likely you will — you will understand why: Because you wish a future happiness for the characters, and maybe because you can imagine the story having happened to your grandparents.Another impressive aspect is how Zhang uses “amnesia”, a narrative technique that‟s more common in romantic comedies. For that, he has Gong Li to thank the most. Gong, one of Zhang‟slongtime collaborators, knows precisely what the director wants. With a limited number of lines throughout the film, Gong is fully committed to her character and touches the audience with great facial expressions and subtle changes of emotion.Maybe now you understand why everyone can relate to the film. Although it reflects on a big era through the story of a small family, the era is only a backdrop. What moves the young audience here is love, and you will leave the cinema with a new understanding of it.When ‘no’ is right answerNo. It‟s a simple word, but it can be so difficult to say. Whether it‟s a favor asked by a friend, or a request from a co lleague, many people will say “yes” because they hate to let others down and saying “no” makes them feel uncomfortable.According to an article in The Wall Street Journal, people will even agree to unethical requests rather than risk the discomfort of saying no. In a recent study published in the journal Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, researchers recruited 25 college students and had them ask 108 strangers to vandalize a library book by writing a word in ink on one of the pages. While many of the strangers pointed out it was the wrong thing to do, or asked the students to take responsibility for any repercussions, half of the strangers agreed to deface the book — much more than the average of 29 percent that the students predicted. “One of our m ost fundamental needs is for social connection and a feeling that we belong” V anessa Bohns, who led the study, told The Wall Street Journal. “Saying …no‟ feels threatening to our relationships.”And we worry that saying no will change the way the other person views us. If you have a reputation of being a helpful and accommodating person, it is even harder to say no because you don‟t want to hurt that good reputation, says Adam Grant, a professor at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.“Every …no‟ is a missed opportunity to make a difference and build a relationship,” Grant wrote in a column for The Huffington Post.Saying no is a rejection and a lot of times it does hurt feelings. But even so, psychologists say, most people probably won‟t take our “no” as badly as we think they will. That‟s because of something called a “harshness bias” — our tendency to believe others will judge us more severely than they actually do.For those people pleasers, Grant says there‟s a big difference between ple asing people and helping them. “Being a giver is not about saying yes to all of the people all of the time to all of the requests. It‟s about saying yes to some of the people (generous givers who will return your favor, but not necessarily the selfish take rs) some of the time (when it won‟t compromise your own goals and ambitions) to some of the requests (when you have resources or skills that are uniquely relevant).”Always saying yes can make us overcommitted and put us under too much pressure. Saying no helps us protect our own priorities, psychologist Judith Sills told The Wall Street Journal. Another important reason to say no, Sills says, is it keeps us from caving in to peer pressure. “To have your own values, sometimes you have to say …no‟ to people with whom you don‟t agree,” Sills says.。