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2010 “彼岸新航道杯” 河北省首届高校翻译大赛 翻译学习材料 主办：河北省翻译工作者协会 承办：河北彼岸教育咨询公司 新航道国际教育集团石家庄学校 二一年三月二十四日 大学河北 翻译达人目 录 百科英文 . 3 Anthropology . 3 Psychology .34 Astronomy.59 Ecology .118 Geology .131 Geography.153 Biology.164 汉英翻译篇章 . 272 其他翻译知识 . 291 1. 翻译思想 .291 2. 翻译技巧 .295 3. 翻译大家 .303 4. 翻译资源 .308 2 大学河北 翻译达人2010“彼岸新航道杯”河北省首届高校翻译大赛 百科英文AnthropologyI INTRODUCTION Anthropology, the study of all aspects of human life and culture. Anthropology examines such topics as how people live, what they think, what they produce, and how they interact with their environments. Anthropologists try to understand the ful range of human diversity as well as what all people share in common. Anthropologists ask such basic questions as: When, where, and how did humans evolve? How do people adapt to different environments? How have societies developed and changed from the ancient past to the present? Answers to these questions can help us understand what it means to be human. They can also help us to learn ways to meet the present-day needs of people all over the world and to plan how we might live in the future. II KEY CONCEPTS Much of the work of anthropologists is based on three key concepts: society, culture, and evolution. Together, these concepts constitute the primary ways in which anthropologists describe, explain, and understand human life. A Society and Culture Two interrelated anthropological concepts, society and culture, are crucial to understanding what makes humans unique. In its general sense, a society consists of any group of interacting animals, such as a herd of bison. But human societies often include millions or bil ions of people who share a common culture. Culture refers to the ways of life learned and shared by people in social groups. Culture differs from the simpler, inborn types of thinking and behavior that govern the lives of many animals. The people in a human society generally share common cultural patterns, so 3 大学河北 翻译达人anthropologists may refer to particular societies as cultures, making the two terms somewhat interchangeable. Culture is fundamentally tied to peoples ability to use language and other symbolic forms of representation, such as art, to create and communicate complex thoughts. Thus, many anthropologists study peoples languages and other forms of communication. Symbolicrepresentation allows people to pass a great amount of knowledge from generation to generation. People use symbols to give meaning to everything around them, every thought, and every kind of human interaction. B Evolution Tree of Human Evolution Fossil evidence indicates that the first humans evolved from ape ancestors at least 6 million years ago. Manyspecies of humans followed, but only some left descendants on the branch leading to Homo sapiens. In this slide show, white skulls represent species that lived during the time period indicated; gray skulls represent extinct human species. Most anthropologists also believe that an understanding of human evolution explains much about peoples biology and culture. Biological evolution is the natural process by which new and more complex organisms develop over time. Some anthropologists study how the earliest humansevolved from ancestral primates, a broader classification group that includes humans, monkeys, and apes. They also study how humans evolved, both biologically and culturally, over the past several million years to the present. Humans have changed little biologically for the past 100,000 years. On the other hand, todaysworldwide culture, characterized by the rapid movement of people and ideas throughout the world, is only a few hundred years old. Todays global-scale culture differs vastly from that of the small-scale societies (nonindustrialized societies, with smal populations) in which our ancestors lived for hundreds of thousands of years. Understanding these kinds of societies and their cultures 4 大学河北 翻译达人can help us make more sense of how people cope with life in todays culturally diverse and complex world. III FIELDS OF ANTHROPOLOGY Because anthropology is a very broad field of study, anthropologists focus on particular areas of interest. In the United States, anthropologists generally specialize in one of four subfields: cultural anthropology, linguistic anthropology, archaeology, and physical anthropology. Each of the subfields requires special training and involves different research techniques. Anthropology departments in col eges and universities in the United States usually teach courses covering all of these subfields. In many other countries it is common for the subfields to be found in their own academicdepartments and to be known by different names. For example, in Britain and other parts of Europe, what Americans call cultural anthropology is commonly called social anthropology or ethnology. Also in Europe, archaeology and the field of linguistics (including what American anthropologistsstudy as linguistic anthropology) are often considered as fields distinct from anthropology. A Cultural Anthropology Cultural anthropology involves the study of people living in present-day societies and their cultures. Cultural anthropologists study such topics as how people make their living, how people interact with each other, what beliefs people hold, and what institutions organize people in a society. Cultural anthropologists often live for months or years with the people they study. This is called fieldwork. Some must learn new, and sometimes unwritten languages, and this may require extra training in linguistics (the study of the sounds and grammar of languages). Cultural anthropologists commonly write book-length (and sometimes shorter) accounts of their fieldwork, known asethnographies. B Linguistic Anthropology World Languages Interactivity 5 大学河北 翻译达人Listen to and compare phrases from different languages. Linguistic anthropology focuses on how people use language in particular cultures. Those who practice this form of anthropology have a substantial amount of training in linguistics. Linguisticanthropologists often work with people who have unwritten (purely spoken, or oral) languages or with languages that very few people speak. Linguistic anthropological work may involve developing a way to write a formerly unwritten language. Cultures often use these written versions to teach their children the language and thus keep it in use. Some linguistic anthropologists specialize in reconstructing dead languages (languages no longer in use) and their connections to living languages, a study known as historical linguistics. C Archaeology Archaeology focuses on the study of past, rather than living, human societies and culture. Most archaeologists study artifacts (the remains of items made by past humans, such as tools, pottery, and buildings) and human fossils (preserved bones). They also examine past environments to understand how natural forces, such as climate and available food, shaped the development of human culture. Some archaeologists study cultures that existed before the development of writing, a time known as prehistory. The archaeological study of periods of human evolution up to the first development of agriculture, about 10,000 years ago, is also called paleoanthropology. Other archaeologists study more recent cultures by examining both their material remains and written documents, a practice known as historical archaeology. D Physical Anthropology 6 Forensic Anthropology 大学河北 翻译达人Forensic anthropologists specialize in the analysis of human corpses or remains for legal investigations. In this photo, a forensics team working for the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia examine human remains on a hillside near Srebrenica in northeastern Bosnia. Forensic analysis helps investigators determine how large numbers of civilians died in the Yugoslav Wars of Succession (1991-1995), information needed to convict those responsible for the killings. Corbis Physical anthropology, also known as biological anthropology, concentrates on the connectionsbetween human biology and culture. Some physical anthropologists, like some archaeologists, study human evolution. But physical anthropologists focus on the evolution of human anatomy and physiology, rather than culture. Areas of particular interest include the evolution of the brain, especially the areas of the brain associated with speech and complex thought; of the vocal apparatus necessary for speech; of upright posture; and of hands capable of making and using tools. Physical anthropologists work from the belief that humans are primates. Primatology, the study of the behavior and physiology of nonhuman primates, is a specialized area of interest within physical anthropology. Some physical anthropologists specialize in forensic science, the study of scientific evidence for legal cases. Forensic anthropologists, with their knowledge of human anatomy, sometimes get called upon by law enforcement officials to identify the sex, age, or ancestry of human remains7 大学河北 翻译达人found at crime scenes or uncovered by excavations. Forensic anthropologists also have exhumed mass graves in cases of genocide, the crime of mass murder usually associated with wars. In some cases, anthropologists have provided evidence used in war crimes trials to convict guilty parties. IV ANTHROPOLOGY AND OTHER SOCIAL SCIENCES Anthropology shares certain interests and subjects of study with other fields of social science,especially sociology, psychology, and history, but also economics and political science.Anthropology also differs from these fields in many ways. Like sociology, anthropology involves the study of human society and culture. But anthropology began as the study of small-scale tribal societies, large-scale chiefdoms, and ancient civilizations, and later moved to include global-scale societies. Sociology, on the other hand, has alwaysemphasized the study of modern and urbanized societies. Anthropology involves the comparison of different societies in order to understand the scope of human cultural diversity. Sociology, on the other hand, frequently examines universal patterns of human behavior. Anthropology also examines certain aspects of human psychology. Anthropology studies how people become enculturatedshaped by their culture as they grow up in a particular society. Through enculturation, people develop culturally accepted ideas of what behavior is normal or abnormal and of how the world works. Anthropology examines how peoples patterns of thought and behavior are shaped by culture and how those patterns vary from society to society. By contrast, psychology generally focuses on the universal characteristics of human thought and behavior, and studies these characteristics in individual people. The study of history is also a part of anthropology. In its formal sense, the term history refers only to periods of time after the invention of writing. Anthropologists often study historical documents to learn more about the past of living peoples. Historical archaeologists, who specialize in the study of historical cultures, also study written documents. But all anthropologists primarily study people, their societies, and their cultures. Historians, on the other hand, primarily study written records of the pastfrom which they cannot learn about human societies that had or have no writing. See also History and Historiography. In addition, anthropology examines some topics also studied in economics and political science.But anthropologists focus on how aspects of economics and politics relate to other aspects of culture, such as important rituals. Anthropologists who specialize in the study of systems of exchange in small-scale societies may refer to themselves as economic anthropologists. V UNDERSTANDING HUMAN DIVERSITY 8 大学河北 翻译达人Anthropologists have particular ways of approaching their studies. They compare differencesamong human societies to get an appreciation of cultural diversity. They also study the ful breadth of human existence, past and present. In addition, anthropologists try to appreciate all peoples and their cultures and to discourage judgments of cultural superiority or inferiority. A Making Comparisons Most anthropological studies involve making comparisons. Only through comparison can anthropologists learn about the uniqueness of particular cultures as wel as the characteristics that people in all cultures share. For example, comparison has helped anthropologists learn about the variety of ways in which people classify their kinship relations. People of European descent, as wel as various Eskimo and Inuit groups, regard all children of their parents siblings as cousins. But in many other cultures, people may regard some of those same relations as the equivalent of a European or Eskimo brother or sister. See also Kinship and Descent. Anthropologists also study how culture has evolved, and continues to evolve, by comparing cultural traits among different groups of people, both past and living. Patterns of similarity and increasing complexity over time can be seen in such cultural traits as forms of language or types of tools. These patterns indicate when and where cultural innovation has occurred and how ideas and people have moved around the world. A linguistic anthropologist, for instance, might trace the development and spread of new words or forms of grammar through history. A cultural anthropologist might look for the same kinds of trends and changes in the organization of families in societies of different scale or economic system. Archaeologists, as well, often study trends of styles in artifacts, such as types of pottery. By comparing humans with other animals, and particularly other primates, anthropologists can learn about the uniqueness of humans as a species. For instance, unlike other primates, humanscommonly use language; use fire; adorn themselves with clothing, jewelry, or body markings; manufacture and decorate objects; and have beliefs about the supernatural. Comparison also reveals what humans and nonhuman primates have in common. Most primates, including humans, share many biological characteristics, such as relatively large brains, grasping hands, acute vision and depth perception, and teeth designed to eat a variety of foods. Many primates, particularly our closest biological relatives, the chimpanzees, are highly intelligent and social animals like people. Anthropologists believe that many of the characteristics shared by humans and nonhuman primates, but not found in other animals, were probably also shared by our earliest ancestors. 9 大学河北 翻译达人Some physical anthropologists study human genetics, the science of biological heredity. By comparing genetic differences among contemporary human populations, anthropologists try to understand when various populations branched off from a common ancestor, and how each population has adapted to its environment (see Race). For instance, anthropological research suggests that highly pigmented, or dark, skin evolved in the tropics as a protection against intensesunlight. Lighter, unpigmented skin most likely evolved in temperate climates to absorb more light, which is crucial for the bodys ability to make vitamin D. Comparative genetic research has also shown that despite genetic differences, all humans are extremely closely related. Such research suggests that all humans probably share a common ancestor who lived as recently (in evolutionary terms) as 150,000 to 200,000 years ago. A cross-cultural perspective allows anthropologists to step back and view human cultural and biological development with relative detachment. As recently as the late 19th century, sociologistsand early anthropologists believed that cultural development meant progressa series of improvements in human life marked by inventions and discoveries. However, as anthropologistsstudied more cultures, their research suggested that cultural developments are not alwaysadvantageous, but that every cultural group lives in a way that works wel for many of its people. For example, anthropological research has revealed how the technology of food productionchanged over the past 15,000 years. Al people once made their living by hunting and foraging using tools of stone, wood, and bone. Subsequently, some societies moved to gardening and herding, then to plow agriculture using metal tools, and then to industrial factory production using machinery powered by internal combustion engines. Many people think of the evolution of food production as a story of progress and improvement. But archaeological evidence shows that the first development of agriculture, as early as 9000 BC in the Middle East, may have hurt peoples health. These early farmers, who settled in vil ages, became dependent on a very limited diet of harvested crops as opposed to the varied and nutritious diet available to them as nomadic foragers. B Examining Many Perspectives Because anthropology examines human culture from s
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