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原文再现
我们求学最难得的是诚恳的良师与和爱的益友，所以选校应该以有无诚恳、和爱的空气为准。如果能得这种学校空气，无论是大学不是大学，我们都可以心满意足。做学问全赖自己，做事业也全赖自己，与资格都无关系。
“学以致用”本来不是一种坏的主张；但是资廪兴趣人各不同，莫为社会需要而忘却自己。任何科目，只要和你兴趣资察相近，都可以发挥你的聪明才力，都可以使你效用于社会。所以你选课时，旁的问题都可以丢开，只要问：“这门功课合我的胃口么？”
汉语“形散而神聚”的意合特点在散文中表现得尤其明显，在这篇文章中也是如此：在上一句中似乎还在讲着学校的“空气”，下一句却已经跳跃到了“资格”。在读汉语的时候，我们是可以轻松就读出作者在其中蕴含的逻辑的，然而要翻译成更为地道、更符合英语国家读者阅读习惯的英语，我们就要更多地考虑一下英文重形合的表达习惯，对译文做出一点调整。
比如“做学问全赖自己，做事业也全赖自己，与资格都无关系。”一句，大部分同学都译为如“Study relays on oneself, so does business, nothing to do with qualification. ”，读起来就不那么清晰，和上文的连接也不那么紧密，如果能在“qualification”加上“university”，或者改成“university certification”就会自然顺畅很多。
在这一点上，分子同学的译文做的非常出色：
The prize（prize用作形容词的时候多表示“获奖的”，用作动词时可意为珍贵、珍视） things in school are dedicated teachers and wonderful friends. In this regard, the presence of them should be the policy when it comes to choosing schools. As long as there are the two things, we should be content, in college or not. It is us, not the colleges we go in, that is responsible for the pursuit of knowledge or career.
The policy（这里说的是一种主张或看法，跟policy的意思还是稍有不同） “studying something in order to apply it” is all right. Each of us, however, differs in talents and interests. So, do not abandon what you really like for the need of the society. Any subject, so long as it（it删去更好一些） interesting and suitable, enables you to display your abilities and talents. Thus, when it comes to decide a right subject, you only need to consider one thing: Is this what I really want?
选段是朱光潜先生写给读者的书信，是以读者为中心的号召型文本，在翻译的时候不应该拘泥于原文的字词表述，而应该更多地用意译的方法来表现原文的精神。比如说大家看以下的几句译文：
The most rare thing for us to seek knowledge is the sincere good teacher and the good friend, so a school with sincere, and love atmosphere should be the standard of choosing schools.
Thus, whether there is sincere and loving air should become the criterion when we choose a school.
So when we choose a school, we should be based on its sincerity and the air of love.
在中文中，这一句说的是“选校应该以有无诚恳、和爱的空气为准”，很多同学都是像上面的译文一样直接按照中文的原句，将“选校”（choosing schools）、“空气”（atmosphere）以及“准”（standard／criterion）都直译了出来，这样读起来就非常生硬，其实这句话是说我们选择的学校，首先是要有诚恳和爱的空气，所以译为“We should choose a school with the atmosphere of love and sincerity.”就会更为清楚。
在这一方面，严明同学的译文值得大家借鉴：
In the school days, what we really want for is great earnest teachers and good loving friends. Thus, in the choice of a school, the atmosphere of love and sincerity they create should serve as a gauge. If the ambiance resides there, in a college or not, we will be easily satisfied to attend.（这一句结构有点散，因此可能造成表意略有歧义。） After all, knowledge, you gain on your own; career, you pursue all by yourself—it has nothing to do with the levels of your school.
“Study and apply” is not some bad word of advice per se, but you don’t want to be tuned in to the social needs at the expense of losing sight of your interests and aptitudes, in which people differ from one another. Mind you, any subject of study to which they perfectly conform will bring them into full play, and then you can be “applied” to the society accordingly. So, when it comes to what courses to take, just leave this and that aside and ask yourself this, “Am I interested at all?”
本文节选自一篇给读者的书信，因此在语言风格，包括人称的选用等方面，以平实、交流感强为佳，人称的选择上，应多用第一人称和第二人称，而尽量不要使用冷冰冰的叙述表述和客观的第三人称，比如以下的这篇译文，最大的问题语言表述就是与语体语域不相符：
Nothing can be called for a blessing for the learner than him being surrounded by dedicated teachers and good-natured mates. Hence, whether it be a university, a school imbued with an air of dedication and goodwill is the school of his choice. The learner should bear in mind that it is competence and dedication instead of qualification that determines whether one can succeed in academic study or business undertaking.
To learn what is useful to the society is not a bad idea at all; but the learner shall not bow to social pressure at the expense of his own interests, given that people are of different interests and talents. A subject, so long as it matches the learner’s interests and competence, can fulfill him and make him an asset to the society. When it comes to selecting a course, the learner shall have nothing but one question in mind – Is it a course that suits my interests?
本周获得优胜的是Nicholas同学：
There is nothing rarer than sincere teachers and amiable friends in our pursuit of higher education, so an atmosphere of sincerity and amiableness should be the be-all and end-all on the choice of school. And we shall rest satisfied if a school, university or not, offers such an atmosphere. Both academic and career developments depend solely on ourselves and have nothing to do with qualifications.
It does no harm to advocate "learning for practical usage" in the first place; however, given that gifts and interests differ from one person to another, we should not disregard ourselves only to answer the call of society. Any subject, so long as it matches up with our interests and gifts, is able to leverage our wisdom and talents to serve society. Therefore, when it comes to course selection, we ask no other questions but this: "Is this course right up my alley?"
这篇译文表意清晰，行文老道，符合文体要求，读来也非常上口。
《奥运城市》杂志英文编辑，中央电视台、新华社特约同传，外研社经典重译项目组成员，参与翻译、审校《夜色温柔》《武后传》《内河航行记》等多部经典名著，译著包括创新传播教科书《什么是时尚设计预测》等。
