УпражнениеIV. Переведите текст письменно (Контрольная работа к уроку 6): Doubt cast on the Premier
Prime Minister Tony Blair conceded privately that Iraq did not have quickly deployable weapons or mass destruction as the British government was claiming as justification for war, Robin Cook, the former foreign secretary, said Sunday.
Cook said that the prime minister also made it clear to him in a conversation two weeks before combat operations began that he did not believe Saddam Hussein's weapons posed a "real and present danger" to Britain.
"I am certain." Cook writes, 'the real reason he went to war was that he found it easier to resist the public opinion ofBritain than the request of the president of the United States."
Mr Blair was so close to Mr Bush that the other presidents and prime ministers of Europe beat a path to Downing Street to be briefed on what America was really thinking It made Mr Blair a disproportionately honoured guest in Jerusalem, Gaza, Delhi, Riyadh, Islamabad - you name it. But this particular party is now over. One thing that has ended it is the changing mood in Britain. Voters - or, at least, the editorialists who claim to speak tor voters - say that it is time for Mr Blair to stay home a while and concentrate on his day job.
The Times
October 8, 2003
Урок 7
Упражнения
УпражнениеI. В отличие от информационных сообщений целью публицистических текстов является не только сообщить читателю о каком-либо событии, но и воздействовать на него. Такие тексты представляют большую трудность для переводчика (см. переводческий комментарий в конце урока 7) Переведите тексты I - 5 с листа:
Текст 1
In his victory speech President-elect George W. Bush said: "Our nation must rise above a house devided Americans share hopes and values tar more important than any political disagreement. Republicans want the best for our nation. And so do Democrats." "I have faith that with God's help we'll create an America that is educated.
Together we will work to make all our public schools excellent, teaching every student of every background and every accent, so that no child is left behind".
Note: Public schools in the USA arc local schools controlled and paid by the stale
Текст 2
A LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Sir. why did Arnold Schwarzenegger a celebrity from his Terminator-3 premiere, a Democrat and a Liberal tor social issues ran for the governor of California as a Republican ?
It Mr Schwarzenegger had D [for Democrat] behind his name instead of an R [tor Republican], those same people who are attacking him would be supporting him
So is Mr Schwarzenegger: a Rino (Republican In Name Only).
Financial Times
Tuesday, October 7, 2003
Текст 3
During his brief campaign Mr Schwarzenegger promised to improve public education while cutting taxes, be was vague about how he would deal with a budget deficit estimated at between $8bn and $20bn (Ј5-12bn>.
These problems cannot simply be terminated.
But as cruel fate would have it, today's vote is no more likely to resolve California's problems than a Hollywood happy ending is to bring peace and love to a troubled world.
The Guardian
Friday, October 10, 2003
Текст 4
The Democrats, who control the state legislature, said yesterday that they would cooperate with the new governor. "I'm not sure he knows how complicated and screwed up it is to run a state this size," said the state senate leader John Burton "What is he going to do to work with us? The ball's in his court."
Текст 5
As Mr Schwarzenegger, the victor came on stage to address the adoring crowd in Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles he was greeted by America's most famous political family, the Kennedys. Mr Schwarzenegger's wife, Maria Shriver, is a niece of John F. Kennedy; her mother, Eunice Shriver, is the late president's sister. Eunice's husband and Maria's father is Sargent Shriver, who was a member of JFK's cabinet and a former candidate for vice-president. All around them were smiling and cheering cousins and sisters and brothers-in-law.America's greatest Democratic family, savouring a famous Republican victory.
Financial Times
October 9, 2003
Note: JFK - John F. Kennedy; L A - Los Angeles.
Текст 6
'NO TIME FOR MOVIES' AS CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR GETS DOWN TO BUSINESS
Duncan Campbellin Los Angeles
The governor-elect of California. Arnold Schwarzenegger, is to ask President Bush for financial assistance to deal with the state's budget crisis It is the first indication of how the actor's election could have a part to play in next year's Presidential election.
He [Mr Bush] promised me that he will do everything possible to help California, so I'm looking forward to working with him and asking tor a lot - a lot -
offavours." said Mr Schwarzenegger at a press conference held in the LA hotel where he had celebrated his victory the previous night.
The Guardian October 10, 2003
When people callthis beast to mind They marvel more and more At such alittle tail behind. So large a trunk before
The Guardian 1983
Упражнение II.Прочтите тексты 7, 8 и 9 и объясните на русском языке, что такое "school voucher reform", которую предлагают ввести в штате Огайо, какая тому причина, какие трудности возникают с претворением этой реформы в жизнь.
(voucher - официальное разрешение на получение денег для каких-либо целей)
Текст 7
US public schoolsystem remains a disgrace. Only a third ofits pupils make it to the end of the course. Two numbers hang over it as a constant reprimand: one and 14 The city's public-school children have less than a one-in-14 chance of graduating on time and being able to perform adequately at basic subjects. But they have a more than one-in-14 chance of being a victim of crime dining their years in school.
America's mayors are belatedly trying to take direct control ofschools And George Bush has just pushed through an education bill that should eventually make schools more accountable for their results. The so-called vouchers represent the biggest potential forreform.
The Economist
February 23, 2003
Текст 8 HANDS UP FOR VOUCHERS
The Cleveland (Ohio) voucher programme was originally set up as a response to the catastrophic failure ofthe city's public schools.
The state decided on amodest experiment: to give parents a voucher that could be used to send their children to a range of schools, including local religious schools.
The vouchers allow poor parents to choose where tospend the money the city or the state allots for their children's education. In particular, they can take their children nut of failing public schools and put them into private ones
Supporters have hailed the scheme as the best chance of reformingAmerica's lousy public school system. But there is a hitch. In Cleveland, as in most big cities in America, most private schools are faith-based ones. Opponents of vouchers claim that spending public money at these schools violates the constitution's separation ofchurch and state. Moreover, the separation of church and state is a good thing: the events of September 11th have certainly not lessened our desire to keep religious zealotry outof classrooms. And far more serous is a worry that the more children quit the public system, the worse the remaining public schools will become.
The bitter debate over faith-based schoolsshould not be allowed to obscure the central rationale for vouchers: to improve the wretched education that too many poor American children receive. That is a credo that all Americans, whatever their beliefs.
can rally round.
The Economist February 23,2001
Текст 9
The United States Supreme Court began to hear arguments in the Cleveland school-voucher case, in which it must decide whether state-supplied vouchers can be used in religious schools despite the constitutional separation of church and state.
The Economist Decembers, 2003
Упражнение III.Переведите тексты 10, 11 и 12 с листа без предварительной подготовки:
Текст 10
A LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Thomas Hall Nottingham
I find it incomprehensible that some universities wish to charge £10,000 a year in tuition fees. I am a first-year student at college, and I dread the £9,000debt I know 1 will have. How anyone could contemplate paying £30.000 fora degree - whether it be from the best university or not - is beyond me. But it universities wish to charge this much, let them. Anyone who can afford to attend one is either foolish or has Parents with money to burn. I applied to both Warwick and Nottingham, but am now happy not to have gone to either
Текст 11 D Kelly
Keele University
What a brilliant idea by some top universities to become private institutions. Like public schools, they would no longer be eligible for, or indeed require, government grants since they would be self-sufficient. This would release a substantial amount of money that could be distributed to those universities that remain in the public sector.
Dr Lolo Davies
Текст 12
Most foreign nationals scorn those Americans who make no effort to learn the local tongue. The American practice of living in self-imposed ghettos - where only English is spoken - is particularly irksome. "We call them 'the lazy Americans'." says a Mexican auto executive. "They can't read the local papers and don't want to They are out of touch with the local business scene. Yet Detroit lets them make the decisions "
The American predilection for English is hardly discouraged in the country's schools. At least 20 percent of the nation's high schools teach no foreign languages at all.
Still, there are many students who want to learn foreign languages. Some study Spanish so they can understand the country's growing. Hispanic population; others want to study the language of their immigrant ancestors, another reason for an interest in learning a foreign language is the tight job market. "It you have two qualified people applying lor a job at an international firm and only one speaks a foreign language, it's obvious who will be chosen," says Blanche Hamilton, who runs the foreign-language program in Atlanta's public schools.
Упражнение IV. Переведите тексты 13, 14 по одному предложению с повторениями ("Аргументы и факты", 2003, № 10):
Текст 13
В США число негосударственных вузов в 2 раза больше, чем государственных, и степень доверия к ним выше, чем > нас Однако обучается в них только четверть всех студентов страны. В Японии число обучающихся к негосударственных вузах существенно больше, чем в государственных Но эти вузы принадлежат обычно крупнейшим корпорациям, которые готовят специалистов для себя.
(государственные вузы (США) - public universities,
негосударственные - private universities)
Текст 14