2019年6月大学英语四级翻译练习题：风筝

　　风筝是中国的一个发明，被赞誉为现代飞机的先驱。它为科学的发展和飞机的生产做出了贡献。第一架飞机的形状便是根据风筝造出来的。中国最早的风筝都是用木头做的，最早可追溯到至少两千年前的战国时期(the Warring StatesPeriod)。纸被发明后，人们开始使用这种新材料制作风筝。早期的风筝被用于军事目的。据历史文献记载，那时风筝的尺寸很大，有些大到足以能够把人带到空中来观察敌人的行动。

　　参考翻译:

　　The kite, a Chinese invention, has been praised asthe forerunner of modern aeroplane. It hascontributed to the development of science andproduction of aeroplanes.The first plane was shapedafter the kite.The earliest Chinese kites were made ofwood which can date back as far as the Warring States Period,at least two millennia ago. Afterthe invention of paper, kites began to be made of this new material.Early kites were used formilitary purposes.Historical records say they were large in size;some were large enough tocarry men up in the air to observe enemy movements.

　　1.风筝是中国的一个发明，被赞誉为现代飞机的先驱:“发明”可译为invention, “中国四大发明”则可译为the fourancient Chinese 。

　　2.它为科学的发展和飞机的生产做出了贡献：“做出贡献”可译为contribute to, 也可译为make contributions to,要注意这里的to是介词。英语中to是介词的短语还有be usedto(习惯于)，be addicted to(沉溺于),be devotedto(献身于)， be adjusted to(适应)等。

　　3.最早可追溯到至少两千年前的战国时期：“最早可追溯到”可译为date as far back as,也可译为date backas early/far as。