外事翻译练习-温总理:改革开放是中国发展的永恒动力02

今年是中国改革开放30周年。30年前的中国是个什么样子？那时，我们刚刚结束了“文化大革命”，整个国家处于封闭半封闭的落后状况，国民经济走到了崩溃的边缘。中国向何处去？这个重大而紧迫的问题摆在了中国人民面前。我们坚持解放思想，实事求是，选择了改革开放的道路，这是决定当代中国命运的关键抉择。

This year marks the 30th anniversary of reform and opening-up in China. What was China like 30 years ago? At that time, we had just put an end to the "Cultural Revolution", and the country was in a backward and closed or semi-closed state with the economy on the brink of collapse. "Where should China go?" was a big and pressing question facing the Chinese people. Following the principles of freeing minds and seeking truth from facts, we chose the path of reform and opening-up, a critical choice that has since shaped the course of development of contemporary China.

中国的改革发端于农村。开始时是涓涓细流，后来发展成势不可挡的洪流。改革从农村到城市，从经济领域到政治、文化和社会等各个领域。中国的开放则从建立深圳等四个经济特区到沿海、沿江、沿边城市，再到全方位、多层次的全面开放。

China's reform began in the rural areas. It spread from the country to cities and from the economic sector to the political, cultural, social and all other fields. What started as a small stream grew into an unstoppable mighty current. The opening-up endeavor started with the establishment of Shenzhen and three other special economic zones and expanded to cities along the coast, rivers and border areas and eventually became an all-directional and multi-tiered opening-up.

[1] 句型解析

№.1 - on the brink of collapse

【解析】处于崩溃的边缘

【举一反三】这是一个在日常表达中很有用的句型，例如“美国国际集团向员工支付超过1.5亿美元的奖金，而他们的业绩就是将这个金融巨头推到了崩溃的边缘。”翻译为：

"On the recent scandal of more than $150 million in bonuses paid to the AIG employees whose work pushed the financial giant to the brink of collapse."

№.2 - start as...

【解析】作为...开始

【举一反三】文中前一句同样有用到另一个意义和用法相近的短语"begin in(从...开始)"，希望大家能对两个短语的用法好好掌握，并对其意义加以区分。

№.3 - grow into...

【解析】长成，发展成为...

【举一反三】在这里也可以替换为"evolve into(进化成为，渐渐发展成为...)"，例如“这个村庄很快发展为主要的工业中心”可翻译为：

"The village quickly grew into/evolved into a key industrial centre."