分类：学海无涯Lifelong Learning

不积跬步，无以至千里；不积小流，无以成江海。
Without accumulating small steps, one cannot reach a thousand miles; without small streams accumulated, rivers and sea cannot be formed.

《荀子 | 劝学篇》

splutter [V-I]	If something splutters, it makes a series of short, sharp sounds. 发劈啪声	Suddenly the engine coughed, spluttered, and died. 突然发动机扑哧扑哧、劈啪作响，然后熄火了。
debilitate [V-T]	If you are debilitated by something such as an illness, it causes your body or mind to become gradually weaker. 虚弱	Stewart took over yesterday when Russell was debilitated by a stomach virus. 昨天因拉塞尔患有肠炎身体变得虚弱，斯图尔特已经接管了他的工作。
succumb [V-I]	If you succumb to temptation or pressure, you do something that you want to do, or that other people want you to do, although you feel it might be wrong. (向诱惑、压力) 屈服	Don’t succumb to the temptation to have just one cigarette. 不要屈服于只抽一支烟的诱惑。
undesirable [ADJ]	If you describe something or someone as undesirable, you think they will have harmful effects. 不受欢迎的、不利的	Inflation is considered to be undesirable because of its adverse effects on income distribution. 通货膨胀因其对收入分配的反作用而被认为是不利的。
understatement [N-UNCOUNT]	Understatement is the practice of suggesting that things have much less of a particular quality than they really have. 低调说法、轻描淡写	To say I’m disappointed is an understatement. 说我很失望是很轻的说法。

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不积跬步，无以至千里；不积小流，无以成江海。
Without accumulating small steps, one cannot reach a thousand miles; without small streams accumulated, rivers and sea cannot be formed.

《荀子 | 劝学篇》

embezzle [V-T]	If someone embezzles money that their organization or company has placed in their care, they take it and use it illegally for their own purposes. 挪用、侵吞	One former director embezzled $34 million in company funds. 一位前任主管挪用了3400万美元的公司资金。
steadfast [ADJ]	If someone is steadfast in something that they are doing, they are convinced that what they are doing is right and they refuse to change it or to give up. 坚定的	He remained steadfast in his belief that he had done the right thing. 他仍然坚信自己做了正确的事情。
resolute [ADJ]	If you describe someone as resolute, you approve of them because they are very determined not to change their mind or not to give up a course of action. 坚定的	Voters perceive him as a decisive and resolute international leader. 选民认识到他是一位果断、坚定的国际领袖。
turmoil [N-VAR]	Turmoil is a state of confusion, disorder, uncertainty, or great anxiety. 混乱、骚乱	She lived through the turmoil of the French Revolution. 她经历过法国大革命的混乱之后仍旧活着。
attenuate [V-T]	To attenuate something means to reduce it or weaken it. 使减小、使减弱	You could never eliminate risk, but preparation and training could attenuate it. 风险不可能完全消除，但可以通过防范和培训来降低。

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不积跬步，无以至千里；不积小流，无以成江海。
Without accumulating small steps, one cannot reach a thousand miles; without small streams accumulated, rivers and sea cannot be formed.

《荀子 | 劝学篇》

Many adjectives and adverbs that are carried over into translations from the Chinese originals are simply redundant in English.

Quadrupling GNP will provide a new starting point from which, in another 30 to 50 years, we shall approach the level of the developed countries.

Intensifiers (like “serious”, “great”, “extremely” or “certainly”) should be looked upon with suspicion: more often than not, an English text is better off without them.

A skilled writer will try to find, in the rich vocabulary the language has to offer, a strong, precise word that by itself will convey the meaning of both the intensifier and the weak word.

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不积跬步，无以至千里；不积小流，无以成江海。
Without accumulating small steps, one cannot reach a thousand miles; without small streams accumulated, rivers and sea cannot be formed.

《荀子 | 劝学篇》

arduous [ADJ]	Something that is arduous is difficult and tiring, and involves a lot of effort. 艰难的	He never seeks credit for himself, but is always ready to take on arduous tasks. 他在荣誉面前从不伸手，但在艰巨任务面前却当仁不让。
vacillate [V-I]	If you vacillate between two alternatives or choices, you keep changing your mind. 犹豫不决	We cannot vacillate on the question of the party’s leadership. 在党的领导权问题上我们不能动摇。
unequivocal [ADJ]	If you describe someone’s attitude as unequivocal, you mean that it is completely clear and very firm. 明确的、 不含糊的	In my opinion the answer is an unequivocal “no”. 按我的意见，答案是个干脆利落的“不”字。
confiscation [N-COUNT]	A confiscation is something taken away by the government, usually as a punishment. 没收、充公	The new laws allow the confiscation of assets purchased with proceeds of the drugs trade. 新法律允许没收用毒品交易获得的收益所购置的资产。
imperative [N-COUNT]	An imperative is something that is extremely important and must be done. 当务之急	The most important political imperative is to limit the number of U.S. casualties. 政治上的当务之急是控制美国的伤亡人数。

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不积跬步，无以至千里；不积小流，无以成江海。
Without accumulating small steps, one cannot reach a thousand miles; without small streams accumulated, rivers and sea cannot be formed.

《荀子 | 劝学篇》

curtail [V-T]	If you curtail something, you reduce or limit it. 缩减 、限制	NATO plans to curtail the number of troops being sent to the region. 北大西洋公约组织计划缩减派往该地的部队数量。
entice [V-T]	To entice someone to go somewhere or to do something means to try to persuade them to go to that place or to do that thing. 怂恿 、诱使	Retailers have tried almost everything, from cheap credit to free flights, to entice shoppers through their doors. 从低价信贷到免费航班，零售商们几乎用尽一切办法说服购物者惠顾。
assimilate [V-T/V-I]	When people such as immigrants assimilate into a community or when that community assimilates them, they become an accepted part of it. 同化; 被同化	There is every sign that new Asian-Americans are just as willing to assimilate. 各种迹象表明新的亚裔美籍人简直一样愿意被同化。
merit [N-UNCOUNT]	If something has merit, it has good or worthwhile qualities. 优点; 价值	The argument seemed to have considerable merit.
merit [N-PLURAL]	The merits of something are its advantages or other good points. 好处	They have been persuaded of the merits of peace. 他们已经被说服，认识到了和平的好处。

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不积跬步，无以至千里；不积小流，无以成江海。
Without accumulating small steps, one cannot reach a thousand miles; without small streams accumulated, rivers and sea cannot be formed.

《荀子 | 劝学篇》

Whatever function the category noun serves in Chinese, in English it is generally useless. All it adds to the sentence is weight without substance.

But sometimes the third word called upon to do the verb-work is an adjective. Then it is the adjective that should be promoted to the rank of verb, while the idle words are dismissed from service.

However, no matter whether the verbs appear combined with nouns or standing independently, they do nothing but delay the advent of the main action.

The expressions in this group have been so weakened by constant repetition that they have lost their power of exhortation.

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不积跬步，无以至千里；不积小流，无以成江海。
Without accumulating small steps, one cannot reach a thousand miles; without small streams accumulated, rivers and sea cannot be formed.

《荀子 | 劝学篇》

presumptuous [ADJ]	If you describe someone or their behaviour as presumptuous, you disapprove of them because they are doing something that they have no right or authority to do. 擅自作主的、冒昧的	It would be presumptuous to judge what the outcome will be. 断定结果将会如何未免冒失。
precept [N-COUNT]	A precept is a general rule that helps you to decide how you should behave in particular circumstances. 准则、规则	An electoral process based on the central precept that all people are born equal. 以所有人生而平等这一核心准则为基础的一种选举程序。
laconic [ADJ]	If you describe someone as laconic, you mean that they use very few words to say something, so that they seem casual or unfriendly. 寡言的; 言简意赅的	Usually so laconic in the office, Dr. Lahey seemed less guarded, more relaxed. 平常在办公室里寡言少语的莱希医生似乎少了些拘谨，多了几分轻松。
arguably [ADV]	You can use arguably when you are stating your opinion or belief, as a way of giving more authority to it. 可以说	Arguably the most important conclusion that emerges from the data, however, is not something that we found—but what we did not. 可以说，从这些数据中得出的最重要的结论并不是我们发现了什么，而是我们没有发现什么。

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不积跬步，无以至千里；不积小流，无以成江海。
Without accumulating small steps, one cannot reach a thousand miles; without small streams accumulated, rivers and sea cannot be formed.

《荀子 | 劝学篇》

Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts.

It follows that any words which perform no useful function in the sentence–that is, which add nothing to the meaning–should be edited out.

Draft translations are commonly full of unnecessary words, and even polished final versions are seldom free of them.

If you are on the alert to recognize them, chances are that you will find words that could and should have been omitted.

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不积跬步，无以至千里；不积小流，无以成江海。
Without accumulating small steps, one cannot reach a thousand miles; without small streams accumulated, rivers and sea cannot be formed.

《荀子 | 劝学篇》

I hope, however, that it will prove equally useful to other Chinese who are called upon to write English and who wish to improve their mastery of it.

But to one degree or another, the work of all but the most highly trained and experienced among them will inevitably contain elements of Chinglish.

My purpose is rather to show translators–and, by extension, others who are writing directly in English–how to recognize elements of Chinglish in a first draft and how to revise it so as to eliminate those elements.

Translation is not a science but a craft, and craftsmen in any field may have different opinions as to the best solution to a given technical problem.

The criticism and advice of these two knowledgeable editors, one native speaker of each language, have been, quite simply, indispensable.

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