Amplification and Omission

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1 Amplification and Omission
Both amplification and omission are useful techniques used in the translation from Chinese into English, and vice versa. The different characteristics of the structures between Chinese and English make the translators adopt properly the techniques of amplification and omission in the translation practice.

2 Amplification 1. Words supplied for grammar construction 1) Adding subjects and objects 他决心继续他的实验,不过这次将用另一种办法来做。 He is determined to continue his experiment but this time he’ll do it in another way. 书到后应立即付款。 You are supposed to pay right after the books are delivered.

3 2) Adding articles 宿舍外的骚动分子分散了我的注意力。 A disturbance outside my dormitory distracted my attention. 你认为我花园里那红白相间的玫瑰怎么样？ How do you like the red and white roses in my garden? 任何物质，不论是固体、液体或气体，都是由原子构成的。 Any substance is made up of atoms where it is a solid, a liquid, or a gas.

4 3) Adding conjunctions and connective words (and, or, but, for, so…that…, too…to, as well as, in general, with regard to, in particular) 我告诉他该走了，他匆匆忙忙地走了。 I told him it was time to go and he hurried away. 这个工作对专家来说容易，对没有经验的人来说困难。 The work is easy for an expert, whereas it is difficult for an inexperienced person.

5 变化太小，观察不出。 The change is too little to be observed. 我们是多年的朋友，一旦分开，难免会依依不舍。 Since we are close friends for years, surely we cannot tear away from each other, once we have to part company. 那对年轻夫妇当时非常穷，买不起价钱如此昂贵的彩电。 The young couple were so poor that they could not afford such an expensive colour TV set.

6 4) Adding prepositions 礼拜天图书馆不开门。 On Sundays the library remains closed. 这个问题似乎有办法解决。 There seems to be a solution to this problem. 过去二十年中，对于癌的起因的研究在数量上有了很大的增长。 In the past twenty years, there has been a great increase in the amount of research being done on the cause of cancer.

7 2. Words supplied for semantic completion
我不爱喝饮料。 I don’t like soft drinks. 在背后说我们好话的人才是一个真正的朋友。 He is a friend indeed that speaks well of us behind our backs. 一个篱笆三个桩，一个好汉三个帮。 A fence needs the support of three stakes, a capable fellow needs the help of three other people.

8 3. Words supplied for rhetoric
这孩子是可爱。 The child is lovely indeed. 他就出生在那间斗室里。 It was in that small room that he was born. 有些人人以为男孩子总是比女孩子聪明。然而，事实并非如此。 Some people believe that boys are cleverer than girls. However, this is not necessarily the case.

9 在任何情况下，中国都不会首先使用核武器。
Under no circumstance should China be the first to use nuclear weapons. 她觉得她再也不能忍受她丈夫的侮辱。 She doesn’t feel that she can stand her husband’s insult any longer. 他们早该停止争论了。 It is high time that they should stop their argument.

10 4. Words supplied for cultural communication
班门弄斧 to show off one’s proficiency with axe before Lu Ban the master carpenter 八仙过海，各显神通 like the way the Eight Fairies crossed the sea, each displaying his own talent (The eight immortals of Taoism in Chinese folklore)

11 1. Words omitted for grammar construction
Omission 1. Words omitted for grammar construction 1) Quantifiers 一支笔 a pen 一朵花 a flower 一匹马 a horse 一堵墙 a wall 一把椅子 a chair 一面镜子 a mirror 一块肥皂 a cake of soap 一串葡萄 a bunch of grapes 一粒沙子 a grain of sand

12 2) Function words 无论谁去，我都没意见。 Whoever goes, I shall have no objection. 快点吧。他们一定在等着我们。 Hurry up. They will be waiting for us. 你一定听到消息了，所以我没有必要重述。 You will have heard the news, so I need not repeat it. 上星期他来看过我。 He came to visit me last week.

13 3) Collocation and tense
虽然他们知道这场比赛必输无疑，但是他们决不放弃。 Though they know the competition is lost, they will by no means give up. 因为可能下雨，所以他们决定不去旅行了。 As it looked like rain, they decided to give up the trip.

14 2. Words omitted for semantic completion
1) Category words 他们的乐观主义精神令我们大为感动。 Their optimism moved us greatly. 中国的落后状态必须改变。 The backwardness of China must be changed. 他感到了一种爱国热情在胸中激荡。 He felt the patriotism rise within his heart.

15 2) Idioms and four-character phrases
自给自足 self-sufficient 经久耐用 durable 清规戒律 taboos 水深火热 in deep water 花言巧语 fine words

16 日日夜夜 day and night 江河湖泊 rivers and lakes 男女老少 men and women, old and young 亭台楼阁 pavilions and towers

17 3) Empty words 这个大厅有四大优点：明亮、宽敞、样式新颖、没有回声。 The advantages of the hall are bright, spacious, fashionable and without echo. 经济特区的设立给我们的社会带来了极大的繁荣、极大的昌盛。 The setting of special economic zone has brought us a flourishing society.

18 3. Words omitted for rhetoric
1) Avoiding of redundant parallels 是战士就穿上军装，是学生就带上红领巾。 A serviceman should wear his uniform, a pupil his scarf. 叹世事之浩渺，哀万物之无常 bemoan the unpredictability of the world’s affairs

19 2) Pursuing brevity 我们必须培养发现问题、分析问题、解决问题的能力。 We must cultivate the ability to find, analyze and solve problems. 学习外语的人从实践中学到的知识比从书本上学到的知识要多。 A foreign language learner will get more knowledge from practice than from books.

20 在紧要关头，你首先必须弄清楚事情的轻重缓急，孰先孰后。
Facing a critical moment, you should make clear the priorities first. 但我的事现在已经搞得满城风雨，人人皆知了。 But there had been too much publicity about my case.

21 In order to reappear the emphasis and special rhetoric, the following English sentences needn’t adopt the technique of omission. 我帮助他，他帮助我。 I help him, and he helps me. 敌是敌，友是友，必须分清敌我界限。 A friend is a friend, a foe is a foe; one must be clearly distinguished fron the other.

22 对比与练习（六） 1. 大作收到，十分高兴。 2. 没有调查研究就没有发言权。 3. 该地区已没有什么城乡差别。
4. 如果你听懂了这篇文章，就用自己的话复述出来。 5. 人类利用自然科学去了解自然，改造自然。 6. 我已经提前完成了交给我的工作，他也提前 完成了交给他的工作。 7. 这些都是人民内部矛盾问题。 8. 生也好，死也好，我们要忠于党，忠于人民，忠于 祖国。

23 Reference Translation for Exercise No. 6
1. I was very glad to have received your writing. 2. He who makes no investigation and study has no right to speak. 3. There is little difference between town and country in this region. 4. If you comprehend this article while listening, retell it in your own words. 5. People use natural science to understand and change nature. 6. I have fulfilled my assigned work ahead of schedule, so has he. 7. All these are contradictions among the people. 8. Live or die, we should be loyal to our Party, to our people and to our motherland.