2019年翻译资格考试中级笔译练习题：防止事故发生

　　只有制定更严格的法律才能防止事故发生

　　尽管现在幸福和长寿比以前更容易得到，但每天却有很多人丧身车轮。人和车的冲突永无止境，人却是受害者。世界上每年都有成千上万的人死于车祸, 我们再也不能坐视不管。

　　有一种说法我认为是对的，每当人们手握方向盘的时候，他们的个性就显露出来了。勿容置疑汽车将人们的恶性显露出来。平时安静的人一开车马上变得让人认不出。他们变得具有攻击性，极度自私，像两岁孩子一样任性。

　　令人惊奇的是人们对于肇事者的态度十分纵容。为他们提供了各种便利条件。由于严重的交通拥挤，城市几乎变得不适合认居住。乡村也被各种公路网所污染。大量的交通死亡人数也只不过是一些数字，被人们所遗忘。

　　我们必须要建立一种世界制度来制止这种对生命的扼杀。一些国家关于驾驶的法律太松懈，甚至最严酷的法律也是那么无力。被普遍接受的世界制度对于降低事故率只会有利。

　　参考译文

　　Only Stricter Traffic Laws Can Prevent Accidents

　　Though the possibility of living a long and happy life is greater than ever before, every day we cites the incredible slaughter of men, women and children on the roads. Man versus the motorcar! It is a never-ending battle which man is losing. Thousands of people in the world are killed or horribly mutilated each year and we are quietly sitting back and letting it happen.

　　It has been rightly said that when a man is sitting behind a steering wheel, his car becomes the extension of his personality. There is no doubt that the motorcar often brings out a man’s very worst qualities. People who are normally quiet and pleasant may become unrecognizable when they are behind a steering wheel. They are ill-mannered and aggressive, willful as two-year olds and utterly selfish.

　　The surprising thing is that society smiles so benignly on the motorist and seems to condone his behavior. Everything is done for his convenience. Cities are allowed to become almost uninhabitable because of heavy traffic; the countryside is desecrated by road networks; and the mass annual slaughter becomes nothing more than a statistic, to be conveniently forgotten.

　　It is high time a world code were created to reduce this senseless waste of human life. With regard to driving, laws of some countries are notoriously lax and even the strictest are not strict enough. A code which was universally accepted could only have dramatically beneficial effect on the accident rate.