Question

翻译1篇文章

It is sometimes said that the English are polite people. This can make life difficult for foreigners. Suppose a foreign boy asks an English girl to go out with him and she says, "If I finish my work, I'll meet you in the cafe at 7 o'clock." Is she saying "yes" or "no" to his invitation?

In grammatical terms, she is using the conditional structure(表示条件的句式). By using the conditional, speakers of English can avoid (避免) giving a "yes" or "no" answer to a question. It enables people to be diplomatic(婉转的). If the girl doesn't want to go out with the boy, she won't appear at the cafe. She will let him understand she is still working. If she wants to go out with him, but doesn't want to appear too easy to catch, she has achieved (达到) that with her reply. Here she uses the first conditional which shows probability, it seems that she will go to the cafe. Being polite can make life very difficult!

The conditional is often used by people like politicians(政客), for example--who wish to avoid speaking out their ideas. This is very important if they are on their way to discuss an agreement. No one wants to give away his or her points before he or she starts. A government spokesman might say to a group of workers, "If we could pay you more, we would." The use of the conditional here makes room for argument although the speaker is using the second conditional form, which shows improbability. So it is unlikely the workers will get their rise.

"If" is a small word, which often appears in the English language. It can show politeness, reported speech and conditionals such as the First---probability---if I can come to your party, I will; the Second---improbability---if I saw you tomorrow, I'd give you the book; and the Third---impossibility (meaning it is too late to change something that has happened)--if you have told me, I would have helped you.

Answer 1

通常人们都说英国人是很文雅的。但这却让外国人觉得这样活的很累。试想一个外国男孩问一个英国女孩是否可以和他一起出去时，英国女孩回答道：“如果我完成了我的工作，我们7点整将在咖啡屋见面。”那么她到底是“答应”还是“拒绝”了他的邀请呢？

在语法结构上，他使用的是虚拟语气条件句。在使用那个这种结构的情况下，话者（英国人）会避免直接用“是”或“不是”回答问题，人们使用这种语气能变得婉转些。如果那个女孩不想和那个男孩出去，她将不会出现在咖啡屋。她会让那个男孩认为自己还在工作。如果她想和男孩出去，但是不想太轻而易举的去赴约，那么就通过她的答复来实现自己的目的。在这里她使用了表达可能性的第一条件句，意思是似乎她将要去咖啡屋。可见文雅使得生活变的很累。

条件句通常使用在政客间。比如说——一个人想避免直接表达自己的观点。如果他们是按照他们的方式去讨论一项协议的话（条件句）这就将变得尤为重要。没有人想在自己的观点发表前泄露自己的观点。一位政府发言人也许会对一组工人说“如果我们可以给予你们更多，我们（会这样）做。”尽管他使用的是第二条件句，但在这里用这种条件用法给自己留了争论的余地，实际表达的是不可能（给予更多）。所以工人们涨薪的要求是不太可能（实现的）。

“如果”是一个微不足道的词汇，但是它经常出现在英语中。它表示有礼，优雅，在报告演讲中和表示条件的用法中经常出像。举例说明：第一种类型———可能地———如果我能参加你的聚会，我将（去）；第二种类型———不大可能地———如果明天我能看到你，我将给你书；第三种类型———不可能地（意味太晚很难改变一些已经发生的事）———如果你告诉了我，我将一定帮助你。

水平有限翻译的不太好，请多多指教