作者：丁衡祁

有人把“1987 年国务院批准唐山市为沿海经济开放城市”这个句子翻译成：In 1987, the State Department approved Tangshan city to be a coastal economic open zone. 这里有四个问题：第一，把中国的国务院译成了美国的国务院；第二，approve ... to be 这种用法不成立；第三，coastal economic open 这三个形容词的排列不当；第四，zone 这个词在这里不妥。

后来有人对这个句子进行了重新翻译，新的译法是：In 1987, the State Council approved Tangshan being an open city of coastal economy。可是这个译文中仍然存在两个不妥之处：一是 approve ... being 的用法也不成立；二是 coastal economy 的意思走了样，“沿海经济”仅仅相对“内陆经济”而言，是指具有沿海地区特色的经济，如捕渔业、深海养殖业、造船业、海洋运输业等，这与原文意思不符。

其实，这个句子的翻译方法很多，不下十余种：

In 1987, the State Council approved Tangshan of becoming a coastal city of open economy.（approve ... of becoming这种说法只适合口头表达，不宜作为正式的书面语言）

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 这种表达法最为可取，词典中就有类似的例句：The town has been designated (as) a development area.）

如果要突出唐山这个地名，还可以用被动语态的形式：Tangshang was designated (as) a coastal city of open economy by the State Council in 1987.

上面的例子说明，即使是一个比较简单的句子，翻译的方法也是多种多样。在翻译的过程中，也贯穿了多探索、多研究、多查阅的“三多”精神。