作者：丁衡祁

有人把“1987 年國務院批準唐山市為沿海經濟開放城市”這個句子翻譯成：In 1987, the State Department approved Tangshan city to be a coastal economic open zone. 這里有四個問題：第一，把中國的國務院譯成了美國的國務院；第二，approve ... to be 這種用法不成立；第三，coastal economic open 這三個形容詞的排列不當；第四，zone 這個詞在這里不妥。

后來有人對這個句子進行了重新翻譯，新的譯法是：In 1987, the State Council approved Tangshan being an open city of coastal economy?？墒沁@個譯文中仍然存在兩個不妥之處：一是 approve ... being 的用法也不成立；二是 coastal economy 的意思走了樣，“沿海經濟”僅僅相對“內陸經濟”而言，是指具有沿海地區特色的經濟，如捕漁業、深海養殖業、造船業、海洋運輸業等，這與原文意思不符。

其實，這個句子的翻譯方法很多，不下十余種：

In 1987, the State Council approved Tangshan of becoming a coastal city of open economy.（approve ... of becoming這種說法只適合口頭表達，不宜作為正式的書面語言）

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 這種表達法最為可取，詞典中就有類似的例句：The town has been designated (as) a development area.）

如果要突出唐山這個地名，還可以用被動語態的形式：Tangshang was designated (as) a coastal city of open economy by the State Council in 1987.

上面的例子說明，即使是一個比較簡單的句子，翻譯的方法也是多種多樣。在翻譯的過程中，也貫穿了多探索、多研究、多查閱的“三多”精神。