问英语
原书主词条 · 2 个连续词条

trouble

原书 PDF 第 1602 页

trouble1

问

In order to show his boss what a careful worker he was, he took ____ trouble over the figures.

A. extensive B. spare C. extra D. supreme(全国四级,00.6-40)

[原译]他为了向老板表示自己多么精细，在数字上自找不必要的麻烦。（《全国大学英语四级考试题精解》，对外经贸大学出版社，p.373）

请问译文忠实于原文吗？

答

原译文是违背原意的。究其原因,是译者误解了 take (the) trouble 的含义。take (the) trouble 相当于 take pains, 意为:“尽力”“下功夫”“费苦心”“花费精力”, 而不是“找麻烦”(见下条):

  1. Don't take too much trouble over finding the exact right word. 不要花太多的精力去推敲用哪个词更恰当。

  2. I wish I had taken the trouble to study this matter more carefully. 要是当初我更仔细地研究此事就好了。

  3. It was good of you to take the trouble to help us. 你不辞辛苦地来帮助我们，真是太好了。

[试题句意]为了向老板显示他是一个非常细心的工作人员，他在数字上下了额外的功夫。

Markdown：英语常见问题解答大词典-9.md · 732—751 行PDF：第 1602 页 · trouble 1-2

trouble2

take trouble/have trouble

问

take trouble 与 have trouble 在《现代英语用法词典》(外研社, p. 1601) 里均被译为“费事”，它们的意思是否相同？

答

take(the) trouble 是指“费心”“费力”，后面可接带 to 的动词不定式，表示“费心或费力去做某事”：

  1. Please take the trouble to read the contract thoroughly. (FWF) 请费心把合同全文认真地读一下。

  2. He took the trouble to gather the materials for us. 他不辞辛苦地为我们收集资料。

have trouble 则是“有困难”,后面可跟(in)doing sth. 或 with sth. 表示“在……上有困难,很费力”:

  1. The patient has trouble breathing—I think he's dying. (Chambers) 这个病人呼吸困难，我看他要死了。

  2. I had a lot of trouble finding the book you wanted. (Chambers) 我费了很大劲才找到了你所需要的那本书。

  3. I had some trouble in reading the letter. His handwriting is very bad. (Palmer) 我读这封信很费力。他写的字太糟了。

练习

  1. Sometimes children have trouble ____ fact from fiction and may believe that such things actually exist.

    1. A

      of separating

    2. B

      for separating

    3. C

      separating

    4. D

      to separate(全国四级,02.1-53)

Markdown：英语常见问题解答大词典-9.md · 752—779 行PDF：第 1602 页 · trouble 1-2