作者：丁衡祁

有人把“1987 年國務院批準唐山市為沿海經濟開放城市”這個句子翻譯成：In 1987, the State Department approved Tangshan city to be a coastal economic open zone. 這里有四個問題：第一，把中國的國務院譯成了美國的國務院；第二，approve ... to be 這種用法不成立；第三，coastal economic open 這三個形容詞的排列不當；第四，zone 這個詞在這里不妥。

后來有人對這個句子進行了重新翻譯，新的譯法是：In 1987, the State Council approved Tangshan being an open city of coastal economy。可是這個譯文中仍然存在兩個不妥之處：一是 approve ... being 的用法也不成立；二是 coastal economy 的意思走了樣，“沿海經濟”僅僅相對“內陸經濟”而言，是指具有沿海地區特色的經濟，如捕漁業、深海養殖業、造船業、海洋運輸業等，這與原文意思不符。

其實，這個句子的翻譯方法很多，不下十余種：

In 1987, the State Council approved Tangshan of becoming a coastal city of open economy.（approve ... of becoming這種說法只適合口頭表達，不宜作為正式的書面語言）

In 1987, the State Council approved / endorsed the establishment of Tangshan as a coastal city of open economy.

In 1987, the State Council granted approval / endorsement to Tangshan as a coastal city of open economy.

In 1987, the State Council granted Tangshan the status of a coastal city of open economy.

In 1987, the State Council endorsed the upgrading / elevating of Tangshan to the status of a coastal city of open economy.

In 1987, the State Council approved / endorsed the motion / proposal of turning Tangshan into a coastal city of open economy.

In 1987, the State Council designated / established Tangshan as a coastal city of open economy. (designate 這種表達法最為可取，詞典中就有類似的例句：The town has been designated (as) a development area.）

如果要突出唐山這個地名，還可以用被動語態的形式：Tangshang was designated (as) a coastal city of open economy by the State Council in 1987.

上面的例子說明，即使是一個比較簡單的句子，翻譯的方法也是多種多樣。在翻譯的過程中，也貫穿了多探索、多研究、多查閱的“三多”精神。