Chapter Three: Passages for Translation PDF

# Chapter Three: Passages for Translation ## 1. Collisions Tailgating another vehicle is unsafe and illegal. Many rear-end collisions are caused by drivers following too close to the vehicle in front of them. The rules state that a driver must keep sufficient distance from the vehicle in front in...

# Chapter Three: Passages for Translation ## 1. Collisions Tailgating another vehicle is unsafe and illegal. Many rear-end collisions are caused by drivers following too close to the vehicle in front of them. The rules state that a driver must keep sufficient distance from the vehicle in front in order to stop safely and avoid a collision. Drivers should allow a minimum of two seconds' gap between their vehicle and the one ahead. At sixty kilometres an hour, this equates to thirty-three metres; at a hundred it equates to fifty-five metres. More distance is needed to safely stop in rain or poor visibility. ## 2. The Best Recruiting Agents In 1849 a servant girl wrote home to her brother from Port Adelaide, South Australia: "I have accepted a situation at £20 per annum, so you can tell the servants in your neighborhood not to stay in England for such wages as from £4 to £8 a year, but come here." Letters such as these, which were circulated from kitchen to kitchen and from attic to attic in English homes, were the best recruiting agents for the colonies, which were then so desperately in need of young women to serve the pioneers who were trying to create a new life for themselves in their chosen countries. Other girls read about the much better prospects overseas in newspapers and magazines, which also published advertisements giving details of free or assisted passages. ## 3. To Bring Back Lost Memories Our unconscious mind contains many millions of past experiences that, so far as our conscious mind knows, are lost forever. By means of several devices, we now know how to bring back lost memories. One method is "free association", used by psychiatrists. If a patient lets his conscious mind wander at will, it can give him clues to forgotten things which, if skillfully pursued by the doctor, will bring up whole networks of lost ideas and forgotten terrors. There are certain drugs which also help in this process; hypnotism, too, can be of tremendous value in exploring a patient's unconscious. ## 4. Alpine Forests Forests are the lifeguards of the snowy peaks of the Alps. They provide a natural barrier against avalanches and landslides, but the skiing industry, which proved a boon for poor Alpine farmers, is damaging the environment. Forests have been felled to make way for more ski runs, car parks, and hotels, and Alpine meadows have been abandoned by farmers keen to exploit tourism. Consequently, the avalanche has now become a common phenomenon. Forestry experts estimate that two-thirds of the several thousand avalanches that descend into inhabited parts each year are the result of forest depletion. ## 5. Allergic Reactions to Cosmetics In a recent survey, it was found that 25 percent of the women interviewed reported drying and burning of the skin after using certain soaps, ten percent had eye and nasal irritations after using certain perfumes, and eight percent had cracked lips after using certain lipsticks. The most common symptoms of allergic dermatitis are extremely dry skin, scaling, and redness with swelling and itching. The products most likely to cause this condition are lipstick, nail polish, soap, hair preparations, deodorants, and perfumes. Various drugs are being developed for the relief of allergy sufferers. However, your best help is to convert to a cosmetic product to which you have no harmful reaction. Remember that the product is not at fault or in any way injurious; it is your particular sensitivity to it that creates the problem. A line of hypo-allergenic cosmetics that are relatively free from substances that have been found to create allergic reactions is on the market. ## 6. Reading to the Child It is advisable for parents to read to their children at preschool and early primary levels. When they read to a child from story books, comic strips of the better type, and children's magazines, he becomes aware that books, magazines, and newspapers hold something of interest and amusement for him. He also comes to realize that this "something" which he enjoys is tightly locked within black and white symbols, and that these symbols can be unlocked only when one knows how to read. This awareness and interest form a springboard from which he can leap into learning to read in school, and into the voluntary reading of self-selected books. Parents, however, should not continue reading to their child year after year as he passes through the elementary grades. If the child can only get his reading pleasure through his parents' efforts, he may not have much incentive for doing the reading himself. Parents should decrease their reading to the child as he learns to read and put him on his own as soon as possible. (From Reading Instructions for Today's Children by Nila Banton) ## 7. Charles Chaplin In 1911 a penniless young music-hall artist left England for America. His future was uncertain, but he did not believe it could be unhappier than his past. He had grown up in the slums of London's East End and had experienced great poverty. His mother's life had been so hard that she had finally gone mad, and his father had died of drink. Both parents had been on the stage and lived in the hope that they would one day be stars. Their son was determined to succeed where they had failed. By 1914 his optimism and determination had been justified. Charles Chaplin was the most talked-about man in America, the king of silent movies. He was not only admired as a first-class actor and comedian; he was also making his name as a director. How did he reach the top of the film world in such a short time? He was not an instant success. His attempts to copy other slapstick comedians who were popular at that time were a failure. However, he gradually began to develop the character of the tramp that will always be connected with his name. He borrowed ideas from many sources and though he "stole" most of his clothes from other slapstick comedians of the time, he developed his own special mannerisms to go with them. He used his bowler hat to signal secret messages and his walking stick allowed him to cause confusion and punish his enemy from a distance. He got the idea for his famous flat-footed walk from a London taxi driver who had sore feet. ## 8. Life After Death Nearly all religions include the belief that human beings survive death in some form. For many people, such as the Balinese, a funeral symbolizes the passage from one life to another, rather than the end of a person's existence. In Bali, a cremation is therefore a time of joy and celebration. On the morning of the cremation, friends and relatives gather to pay their last respects and to eat and drink with the family. There is then a procession to the cremation ground, some men carrying the corpse in a tower built of bamboo and paper, and other men carrying a special container called a sarcophagus, which may be in the shape of a cow or a bull. At the cremation ground the body is transferred to the sarcophagus and when it has been reduced to ashes and the soul released, there is a happy noisy procession to the sea, where the ashes are scattered. This last section of the ceremony represents cleansing and purification. ## 9. Alfred Nobel - A Man of Contrasts Alfred Nobel, the great Swedish inventor and industrialist, was a man of many contrasts. He was the son of a bankrupt, but became a millionaire; a scientist with a love of literature; an industrialist who managed to remain an idealist. He made a fortune but lived a simple life, and although cheerful in company he was often sad in private. A lover of mankind, he never had a wife or family to love him; a patriotic son of his native land, he died alone on foreign soil. He invented a new explosive, dynamite, to improve the peacetime industries of mining and road building, but saw it used as a weapon of war to kill and injure his fellow men. During his useful life he often felt he was useless: "Alfred Nobel", he once wrote of himself, "ought to have been put to death by a kind doctor as soon as, with a cry, he entered life". World-famous for his work, he was never personally well-known, for throughout his life he avoided publicity. "I do not see," he once said, "that I have deserved any fame and I have no taste for it." Since his death, however, his name has brought fame and glory to others. His famous will, in which he left money to provide prizes for outstanding work in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology, Medicine, Literature and Peace, is a memorial to his interests and ideals. And so, the man who felt he should have died at birth is remembered and respected long after his death. ## 10. Attitudes Towards Money Generally, people are classified into three categories according to their attitudes towards money: misers, spenders, and economizers. Misers seem almost obsessed with the idea of saving, so they accumulate money in banks if their income is large, or in the house - stuffed in mattresses or under the living room rug - if they are low-income people. They deprive themselves of many things and spend money just on the most essential things. Spenders are people who have a tendency to spend too much on too many unnecessary things. They are often too generous, making elaborate gifts to friends and family. Credit cards in some spenders' hands are often dangerous weapons. They become addicted to using them, only to regret it later when the bills come in and they are unable to pay. Economizers are practical people who spend wisely, usually making use of a budget. They can enjoy more and various material things and activities due to their careful utilization of funds. They spend in moderation and save in moderation for their future retirement or the education of their children. Of these three types of people, economizers are what most of us are having to be in our age. The acute problems of inflation, shortages, and low salaries are forcing us to become economizers. It is the only way to be if we are to survive in the future. Hopefully, the misers and big spenders will modify their extreme attitudes towards money in these circumstances and convert into economizers. ## 11. Children Overweight Over the last ten years, western societies have seen close to a 20% rise in the number of children who are overweight. This problem has drawn the attention of many nutrition experts. This essay will discuss some reasons why obesity has increased and examine the consequences of this worrying trend. The main cause of this problem is poor diet. Over the last decade there has been a prolific increase in the number of fast food restaurants. For example, on nearly every high street there is a MacDonald's, Kentucky Fried Chicken and Pizza Hut. The food in these places has been proven to be very unhealthy, and much of the advertising is targeted at children, thus ensuring that they constitute the bulk of the customers of these establishments. However, it is not only due to eating out, but also the type of diet many children have at home. A lot of food consumed is processed food, especially with regards to ready-made meals which are a quick and easy option for parents who are working hard. The effects of this have been and will continue to be very serious. Firstly, there has been a large increase in health-related diseases amongst children, especially diabetes. This debilitating illness means that a child has to be injected with insulin for the rest of their life. Not only this, very overweight children often experience bullying from other children, which may affect their mental health. The negative stigma of being overweight may also affect self-esteem. Overweight also deprive obese children from practicing many activities of their age. To sum up, it is evident that there are several causes of obesity amongst children, and a variety of negative effects. Society must ensure that steps are taken to prevent this problem from deteriorating further. ## 12. Online Education As online learning becomes more common and more and more resources are converted to digital form, some people have suggested that public libraries should be shut down and, in their place, everyone should be given an iPad with an e-reader subscription. Although online education has become indispensable and easier to disseminate, learning in print material and reading in libraries are still capable of offering better cultural and educational benefits. Proponents of this idea state that it will save local cities and towns money because libraries are expensive to maintain. They also believe it will encourage more people to read because they will not have to travel to a library to get a book; they can simply click on what they want to read and read it from wherever they are. They could also access more materials because libraries will not have to buy physical copies of books; they can simply rent out as many digital copies as they need. However, it would be a serious mistake to replace libraries with tablets. First, digital books and resources are associated with less learning and more problems than print resources. A study done on tablet versus book reading found that people read 20-30% slower on tablets, retain 20% less information, and understand 10% less of what they read compared to people who read the same information in print. Additionally, staring too long at a screen has been shown to cause numerous health problems, including blurred vision, dizziness, dry eyes, headaches, and eye strain, at much higher instances than reading print does. People who use tablets and mobile devices excessively also have a higher incidence of more serious health issues such as fibromyalgia, shoulder and back pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, and muscle strain. I know that whenever I read from my e-reader for too long, my eyes begin to feel tired and my neck hurts. We should not add to these problems by giving people, especially young people, more reasons to look at screens. Second, it is incredibly narrow-minded to assume that the only service libraries offer is book lending. Libraries have a multitude of benefits, and many are only available if the library has a physical location. Some of these benefits include offering a quiet study space, giving people a way to converse with their neighbors, holding classes on a variety of topics, providing jobs, answering patron questions, and keeping the community connected. One neighborhood found that, after a local library instituted community events such as play times for toddlers and parents, job fairs for teenagers, and meeting spaces for senior citizens, over a third of residents reported feeling more connected to their community. Similarly, a Pew survey conducted in 2015 found that nearly two-thirds of American adults feel that closing their local library would have a major impact on their community. People see libraries as a way to connect with others and get their questions answered. These benefits cannot be offered by tablets. While replacing libraries with tablets may seem like a simple solution, it would encourage people to spend even more time looking at digital screens, despite the myriad issues surrounding them. It would also end access to many of the benefits of libraries that people have come to rely on. In many areas, libraries are such an important part of the community network that they could never be replaced by a simple object. # Chapter Four: List of Idioms and Phrases An idiom is a phrase where the words together have a meaning that is different from the dictionary definitions of the individual words. ## A - **A Bird In The Hand Is Worth Two In The Bush:** Having something that is certain is much better than taking a risk for more, because chances are you might lose everything. - **A Blessing In Disguise:** Something good that isn't recognized at first. - **A Chip On Your Shoulder:** Being upset for something that happened in the past. - **A Dime A Dozen:** Anything that is common and easy to get. - **A Doubting Thomas:** A skeptic who needs physical or personal evidence in order to believe something. - **A Drop in the Bucket:** A very small part of something big or whole - **A Fool And His Money Are Easily Parted:** It's easy for a foolish person to lose his/her money. - **A House Divided Against Itself Cannot Stand:** Everyone involved must unify and function together or it will not work out. - **A Leopard Can't Change His Spots:** You cannot change who you are. - **A Penny Saved Is A Penny Earned:** By not spending money, you are saving money (little by little). - **A Picture Paints a Thousand Words:** A visual presentation is far more descriptive than words. - **A Piece of Cake:** A task that can be accomplished very easily. - **A Slap on the Wrist:** A very mild punishment. - **A Taste Of Your Own Medicine:** When you are mistreated the same way you mistreat others. - **A Toss-Up:** A result that is still unclear and can go either way. - **Actions Speak Louder Than Words:** It's better to actually do something than just talk about it. - **Add Fuel To The Fire:** Whenever something is done to make a bad situation even worse than it is. - **Against The Clock:** Rushed and short on time. - **All Bark And No Bite:** When someone is threatening and/or aggressive but not willing to engage in a fight. - **All Greek to me:** Meaningless and incomprehensible like someone who cannot read, speak, or understand any of the Greek language would be. - **All In The Same Boat:** When everyone is facing the same challenges. - **An Arm And A Leg:** Very expensive. A large amount of money. - **An Axe To Grind:** To have a dispute with someone. - **Apple of My Eye:** Someone who is cherished above all others. - **As High As A Kite:** Anything that is high up in the sky. - **At The Drop Of A Hat:** Willing to do something immediately. ## B - **Buy A Lemon:** To purchase a vehicle that constantly gives problems or stops running after you drive itaway. - **Back Seat Driver:** People who criticize from the sidelines, much like someone giving unwanted advice from the back seat of a vehicle to the driver. - **Back To Square One:** Having to start all over again. - **Back To The Drawing Board:** When an attempt fails and it’s time to start all over. - **Baker's Dozen:** Thirteen. - **Barking Up The Wrong Tree:** A mistake made in something you are trying to achieve. - **Beat A Dead Horse:** To force an issue that has already ended. - **Beating Around The Bush:** Avoiding the main topic. Not speaking directly about the issue. - **Bend Over Backwards:** Do whatever it takes to help. Willing to do anything. - **Between A Rock And A Hard Place:** Stuck between two very bad options. - **Bite Off More Than You Can Chew:** To take on a task that is way too big. - **Bite Your Tongue:** To avoid talking. - **Blood Is Thicker Than Water:** The family bond is closer than anything else. - **Blue Moon:** A rare event or occurrence. - **Break A Leg:** A superstitious way to say 'good luck' without saying 'good luck', but rather the opposite. ## C - **Can't Cut The Mustard:** Someone who isn’t adequate enough to compete or participate. - **Cast Iron Stomach:** Someone who has no problems, complications, or ill effects with eating anything or drinking anything. - **Charley Horse:** Stiffness in the leg/ a leg cramp. - **Chew someone out:** Verbally scold someone. - **Chip on his Shoulder:** Angry today about something that occurred in the past. - **Chow Down:** To eat. - **Close but no Cigar:** To be very near and almost accomplish a goal, but fall short.