英语角-圆桌会议 RoundTable1226 - 奇葩翻译重现江湖

 Topic1 "Optional Class System" in High School, is it necessary or not?

The Ministry¹ of Education said it would introduce a new student assessment² system to supplement the national college entrance exam, as a way to reform the country's test-centric approach to education. Education experts indicate that high schools in China may adopt a "Class-selection-system" to coordinate³ with the reform.

Do we need such a system in high school?

Topic2 An open letter from a teacher at Sichuan UniversityOn Dec 23, an open letter from Zhou Ding, a history teacher at Sichuan University, aroused heated discussion on the Internet, which makes him controversial online. In the letter, Zhou criticized the current higher education system in China and pointed⁴ out the problems Chinese universities are facing.

Did the complaint in the open letter make sense?

Topic3 Weird⁵ TranslationsMany public venues⁶ in China put up signs in both Chinese and English, with the influx⁷ of millions of overseas tourists and an increasing number of expats living in China.

But some of these venues should have been more thoughtful and dedicated⁸ in providing the information in English.

The latest translation mishap⁹ was spotted¹⁰ in Xi'an North Railway Station (wait, according to regulations it should be translated as Xi'an Bei Station), in which the sign "Please wait behind the yellow line" becomes "Please wait outside a noodle". The actual Chinese is "请在一米线外等候".

Is there a serious problem of bad English translations in China?

Topic4 Gome Cancels Orders for Cars with Wrong PricingA well-known e-commerce website in China has unilaterally canceled orders for cars sold on its websites after it found a mistake on the price tag.

Hong Kong-listed home appliance retailer¹¹' Gome mistakenly set the prices for a BMW car worth at 1.7 million yuan, at 170,000 yuan on its e-commerce unit.

The pricing mistake was taken as a special deal by customers who placed a dozen or so orders within just several hours of the trading.

What went wrong? Who has more reason?

Topic5 A High School in Xi'an Banns X'mas in CampusA high school in Xi'an issued a Christmas ban to its students on Dec. 24, prohibiting them from celebrating Christmas Eve but requiring them to watch a video about Confucius instead. The management said that it was a measure to ask the students to value traditional Chinese culture. Does it make sense?

1 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

2 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

3 coordinate   

adj.同等的，协调的；n.同等者；vt.协作，协调

参考例句：

• You must coordinate what you said with what you did.你必须使你的言行一致。
• Maybe we can coordinate the relation of them.或许我们可以调和他们之间的关系。

4 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

5 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

6 venues   

n.聚集地点( venue的名词复数 )；会场；（尤指）体育比赛场所；犯罪地点

参考例句：

• The band will be playing at 20 different venues on their UK tour. 这个乐队在英国巡回演出期间将在20个不同的地点演出。
• Farmers market corner, 800 meters long, 60 meters wide livestock trading venues. 农牧市场东北角，有长800米，宽60米的牲畜交易场地。 来自互联网

7 influx   

n.流入，注入

参考例句：

• The country simply cannot absorb this influx of refugees.这个国家实在不能接纳这么多涌入的难民。
• Textile workers favoured protection because they feared an influx of cheap cloth.纺织工人拥护贸易保护措施，因为他们担心涌入廉价纺织品。

8 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

9 mishap   

n.不幸的事，不幸；灾祸

参考例句：

• I'm afraid your son had a slight mishap in the playground.不好了，你儿子在操场上出了点小意外。
• We reached home without mishap.我们平安地回到了家。

10 spotted   

adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的

参考例句：

• The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
• Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。

11 retailer   

n.零售商(人)

参考例句：

• What are the retailer requirements?零售商会有哪些要求呢？
• The retailer has assembled a team in Shanghai to examine the question.这家零售商在上海组建了一支团队研究这个问题。