被動語態譯法
This seems mostly effectively done by supporting a certain amount
of research not related to immediate goals but of possible
consequences in the future.
【結構分析】本句應先譯by supporting…這個方式狀語，再譯主句This seems mostly effectively
done.
【參考譯文】給某些與當前目標無關但在將來可能產生影響的科研以支持，看來通常能有效地解決這個問題。
New sources of energy must be found, and this will take time, but it
is not likely to result in any situation that will restore that
sense of cheap and plentiful energy we have had in the times past.
【結構分析】被動結構new sources of energy must be found 應譯為主動。
【參考譯文】我們必須要找到新地能源，但這需要時間；而過去我們感到地那種能源廉價而充足地情況，將不大可能再出現了。
The supply of oil can be shut off unexpectedly at any time, and in
any case, the oil wells will all run dry in thirty rears or so at
the present rate of use.
【結構分析】本句中地被動結構可以根據漢語的習慣直接以為被動句。
【參考譯文】石油供應可能隨時被切斷；不管怎樣，以目前這種消費速度，只需30年左右，所有的油井都會枯竭。
Over the years, tools and technology themselves as a source of
fundamental innovation have largely been ignored by historians and
philosophers of science.
【結構分析】本句中的被動語態也可以直接譯成漢語的被動語態。
【參考譯文】工具和技術本身作為根本性創新的源泉多年來在很大程度上被科學史學家和科學思想家們忽視了。
And it is imagined by many that the operations of the common mind
can be by no means compared with these processes, and that they have
to be acquired by a sort of special training.
【結構分析】這個句子有三個被動結構：…. is imagined…， …be compared…, …be
required…。第一個被動結構的后面有動作的發出者，這種被動有時只要把動作發出者提到前面就可以變成主動: it is
imagined by many that = many imagine that,
上海道正認為譯起來也比較容易；"許多人認為…"，這屬于被動改主動的第一種情況。第二種情況是漢語不需要做任何改動就能將被動譯成主動，句中第二個被動結構就屬于這種情況，be
compared with
可以直接譯為："與…….相比較"，因為"與…被比較"在漢語里顯然是錯誤的。第三種情況則需要對整個句子做很大的調整才能正確處理好：句中第三個被動結構后面雖然有介詞by引導動作發出者，但簡單地交換主語和賓語的位置顯然行不通，根據上海道正學校教學與研究表明這種情況通常是由于詞的使用造成的，如代詞they到底指什么？動詞required在句中究竟是什么意思？解決這些問題需要進一步了解英漢兩種語言在用詞上的差異。
【參考譯文】許多人以為，普通人的思維活動根本無法和科學家的思維過程相比，他們還以為這些思維過程必須經過某種專門訓練才能掌握。
譯路通武漢漢口翻譯公司整理
2012.6.2