当翻译的一天 A Day as an Interpreter
The first day my sister Ann hosted a foreign friend was full of stumbles and troubles.
The other day, Ann went to school to fetch her guest an exchange student from a U.S. middle school. After a brief self introduction, the two girls decided to saunter around the city. In the taxi, when the driver inquired the destination, it suddenly occurred to Ann that she hadn＇t exchanged ideas about it with her guest yet. To her surprise, before she could say anything,the American girl took out a pile of cards from her bag, randomly picked one out to the driver. Reading the card on which the name of the bund was printed bilingually, the driver started the engine, added sarcastically to my sister, "So, you are a foreigner too, aren＇t you?"
At noon, Ann invited her new friend to lunch. The waitress couldn＇t speak English; the menu was packed with tricky and confusing names;the American vegetarian was so particular about what she ate, all of which made the little interpreter helterskelter. She was trying her best to balance the demand and supply when she suddenly found both parts silently looking at her with a strange expression. Only then did she realize that she was constantly talking to the Chinese waiter in English and to the American in Chinese !
After the meal, they went straight to XiangYang Market.The American girl was at once fascinated by the lovely stuffs there. At first, Ann did behave like a hospitable host, but when she came across a cute handbag, she just couldn＇t help bargaining with the shopkeeper. Unfortunately, when she successfully got the new bag with half the price cut, she just recognized that her new friend was nowhere to be found. It was not until 30 minutes later that she caught the girl in a corner shop and prevented her from paying 200 Yuan for a simple false silver necklace.
"Even hanging about is no easy job," signed Ann to me. It is true, but even the most unpleasant experience can teach us how to do better the next time, can＇t it?
简 评
本文记叙了中国女孩Ann第一次做翻译陪同美国朋友的经历。作者用几件小事写出了一天的波折，刻画出小翻译的热情，窘迫和缺乏经验，以及美国女孩的独立与率性。结尾以一个反意疑问句点明文章中心：不愉快的经历也能对人有所教益。这样深化了主题，达到了以小见大的效果。
文章篇幅不长，却将一天的历程讲得生动，清楚，使人如临其境。这主要得益于作者善于把握重点及对动词短语运用较为恰当。如午饭一节描写小翻译手忙脚乱的形象极为生动，令人忍俊不禁。 而如“saunter around”,“randomly picked one out”,"packed with”，“balance the supplyand demand”等表达都相当简洁传神。从全文来看，作者文笔流畅自然，语句富有节奏，尤其是“full of stumbles and troubles”，“helter—skelter”等词汇有几分押韵，使文章读来朗朗上口。
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