2008年高考英语广东卷的一篇阅读理解中的句子翻译

1 2008年高考英语广东卷的一篇阅读理解中的句子翻译

Great cultural changes led to more open communication and a more democratic process that encourages everyone to have a say.

“My parents were on the ‘before’ side of that change, but today’s parents, the 40-year-olds, were on the ‘after’ side,” explains Mr. Ballmer.

这两个句子选自2008年高考英语广东卷的一篇阅读理解，怎么翻译好呢？尤其是标红的内容，怎么理解？

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分类：英语翻译

最佳答案 2020-02-28 22:10

刘老师第一句的翻译很好。我认为刘老师对第二句中的before和after的理解有误。

句中的before和after应该是指时间上的先后，而不是空间上的前后。这篇文章应该是讲述父母与子女之间的关系。我的父母是文化变革以前的家长，和子女较少沟通，家长说了算，子女只能服从。现在的父母是文化变革之后的父母，他们和子女更像朋友关系，子女有发言权，他们是平等关系。

我在网上搜了一下，这篇文章的开头几段是这样的：

     Parents and kids today dress alike, listen to the same music, and are friends. Is this a good thing?
     Sometimes, when Mr. Ballmer and his 16-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, listen to rock music together and talk about interests both enjoy, such as pop culture, he remembers his more distant relationship with his parents when he was a teenager.
     "I would never have said to my mom, 'Hey, the new Weezer album is really great. How do you like it?'" says Ballmer." There was just a complete gap in taste."

从这几段文字的描述可以清楚看出，Mr. Ballmer的父母是老式的家长，和子女的爱好、兴趣有很大不同，他们之间存在代沟。所以，说Mr. Ballmer的父母站在这场文化变革的前线是不符合原文意思的，这种误解源自于将before和after表示时间位置误解为空间位置所致。