An Advanced Course
in Interpretation
高级口译教程
Unit 10
Some Useful Idioms
? 三十六行,行行出状元。
? Every profession produces its
own leading authority,/
Every trade has its own
master.
? 精诚所至，金石为开。
? Absolute sincerity will move
a heart of stone,/ No
difficulty is insurmountable if
one sets his mind to it.
? 旧瓶装新酒
? New wine in old bottles –
new content in old form
? 苦干加巧干
? Work both arduously and
skillfully
? 只可意会，不可言传
? Can be understood but not
described
? 将在外，君命有所不受。
? A field general is not bound
by the emperor’s orders.
? 君子动手，小人动手。
? A gentleman uses his tongue,
a bastard,his fists.
Some Useful Idioms
? 人多好办事。
? Many hands make light work.
? 起承转合
? Opening,developing,
changing approach and
concluding – the 4 steps of
Chinese classic writing
? 皮笑肉不笑
? Put on a false smile
? 令人哑口无言
? Strike somebody dumb,strike
somebody speechless
? 莫须有的罪名
? Fabricated charges
? 明一套，暗一套
? Do one way in the open and
another in secret
? 勉为其难
? Undertake to do what is
beyond one’s power
? 惊天地，泣鬼神
? Startle the universe and move
the gods –very moving
? 惊慌失措，手忙脚乱
? Be thrown into panic and
utter confusion
Some Useful Idioms
? 酒逢知己千杯少，话不投机
半句多。
? For a congenial friend,a
thousand toasts are too few;
in a disagreeable
conversation,one word more
is too many.
? 雷声大，雨点小
? Loud thunders but small
raindrops – much said but
little done
? 解铃还须系铃人。
? It is better for the doer to
undo what he has done.
? 乐天知命
? Be contented with one’s lot
? 眉毛胡子一把抓
? Try to grasp the eyebrows
and the beard all at once,try
to attend to big and small
matters all at once.
? 连环计
? A series of stratagems
? 空头支票
? A bounced check,lip service
? 家丑不可外扬。
? Domestic shame should not
be made public,/ Don’t wash
your dirty linen in public.
Some Useful Idioms
? 三天打鱼，两天晒网。
? Spend three days fishing and
two days drying nets,work
(or study) on and off
? 家书抵万金。
? A letter from home is worth
ten thousand pieces of gold.
? 明枪易躲，暗箭难防。
? It is easy to evade a visible
spear,but hard to guard
against an unseen arrow –
better an open enemy than a
false friend
? 机不可失，时不在来。
? Once lost,an opportunity is
never found again,/ Now or
never.
? 近水楼台先得月。
? A waterfront pavilion gets the
moonlight first – the
advantage of being in a
favored position.
? 风声鹤唳，草木皆兵
? Be so panic-stricken as to be
scared by the whistle of the
wind and the rustle of a leaf
Please watch and interpret:
? 看到生病的母亲受苦使我伤
心。
? 布朗先生想在退休后搬到乡
下去住。
? 我父母不准我在外面呆到半
夜以后。
? 别拿你那些鸡毛蒜皮的事同
我纠缠。
? 他们对没被邀请的事装作满
不在乎的样子。
? 这些规章制度早就名存实亡
了。
? 我们必须坚持真理，而真理
必须旗帜鲜明。
? 问题非常复杂，很难断定谁
是谁非。
? It hurts me to see my sick mother
suffer,
? Mr,Brown wants to move to live in
the country after his retirement,
? My parents don’t allow me to stay out
later than midnight,
? Don’t pester me with your trivial
matters,
? They pretended they didn’t care a bit
about not being invited,
? These rules and regulations have long
existed only in form and not in reality.
? We must firmly uphold truth and
truth requires a clear-cut stand,
? The matter is so complicated that it is
difficult to judge who is right and who
is wrong,
Please watch and interpret:
? 弄虚作假骗取荣誉是他的
惯用伎俩。
? 他多年对老板奴颜婢膝，
但并没有得到提拔。
? 俄国政府为其国内的人才
外流而担心。
? 看到国家财产受到损害我
们不能袖手旁观。
? 尽管我们一再批评，他依
然如故。
? 青年人朝气蓬勃，正在兴
旺时期。
? 挣钱多的人多交税是合情
合理的。
? 他是真心实意的，你完全
可以放心。
? It is his customary tactics to seek honor
through fraud and deception,
? He was not promoted although he had
licked his boss’s boots,
? The Russian Government is worried about
the brain drain from the country,
? We mustn’t stand by with folded arms
when we see state property being damaged,
? Despite our repeated criticism,he remains
unchanged,
? Young people full of vigor and vitality are
in the heyday of life,
? It’s logical that people who earn more
money should pay higher taxes,
? You may rest assured that he is in earnest,
Please watch and interpret:
? 他一直在盘算着如何自
圆其说。
? 我主意已定，你不要枉
费口舌劝我啦。
? 公司总经理将设宴为您
洗尘。
? 感谢你为我们所作的精
心安排。
? 这座寺庙历史悠久，可
追溯到初唐时期。
? 和平与发展仍然是我们
时代的潮流。
? 这两家公司的合并是双
赢战略的典范。
? 这些课程是为了扩大学
生的知识面，发挥个性
特长。
? He has been thinking all the time about how
to justify his argument,
? I have made up my mind,Don’t waste your
breath trying to persuade me,
? The managing director of the company will
host a banquet in your honor,
? Thank you very much for your thoughtful
arrangement for us,
? This temple has a long history,dating back to
the early period of the Tang Dynasty,
? Peace and development remains the trend of
our times,
? The merger of the companies is a fine model
of win-win strategy,
? These courses are intended for extending the
students’ scope of knowledge and developing
their personality and special skills,
Please watch and interpret:
? 这是一所专门培养管
理人才的高等学府。
?
? 中国必须走一条适合
自己国情的发展道路。
? 相对论的一个显著成
果在于它改变了我们
的时空观。
? 评判中餐烹调优劣的
三大要素是色香味。
? 中餐先上冷盘，而西
餐则先上汤。
? 中国的网民人数将跃
居全球第二，仅次于
美国。
? This institution of higher learning aims
exclusively at bringing up management
specialists,
? China must take a road to development that
is suited to its national conditions,
? A remarkable consequence of relativity is
the way it has changed our idea of time and
space,
? The three essential factors by which Chinese
cooking is judged are known as color,aroma
and taste
? A Chinese dinner begins with cold dishes,
and a Western dinner with a soup,
? China will have the second largest netizen
population in the world,next only to that of
the US,
Unit 9 Cultural Exchanges
? 中国确保 12亿多人的 生存权和发展权,这是对世界
人权进步事业的 重大贡献 。 集体人权与个人人权 的
紧密结合和协调发展是中国人权事业发展的必然道
路。
(CI) To ensure the 1.2 billion Chinese
people the rights to subsistence and
development is in itself a major contribution
to the progress of the world human rights
cause,The close combination and coordinated
development of collective and individual
human rights is the only way to development
in the human rights cause in China.
Unit 9 Cultural Exchanges
? 中国既不能 照抄 西方资本主义国家的发展模
式，也不能 硬搬 其他国家建设社会主义的模
式，而必须走 适合自己国情 的发展道路。
? China cannot copy the development model
of Western capitalist countries,nor can it
mechanically follow other countries’ models
of building socialism,On the contrary,it must
take a road to development that is suited to
its own national conditions.
Unit 9 Cultural Exchanges
? 维护中华民族的团结统一，是 中华民族伟大
复兴 的根本基础，是 全国各族人民 的根本利
益所在。
? Safeguarding solidarity and unity of the
Chinese nation is the very foundation of the
great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and
is where the fundamental interests of the
people of all ethnic groups lie.
Unit 9 Cultural Exchanges
? 中华文明 绵绵 几千年,维护国家统一 始终是中国历
史的主流，是中国人民世世代代极其珍视的 崇高目
标 。世界上只有一个中国,实现中国的完全统一 是
全体中国人民的共同愿望。
(CI) In the Chinese civilization of
several thousand years in continuous
succession,to keep the nation unified has
always been the mainstream in Chinese history
and a lofty goal that the Chinese people have
cherished from generation to generation,
There is but one China in the world,The
realization of China’s complete
reunification is the common aspiration of the
entire Chinese people.
Unit 9 Cultural Exchanges
? 中华民族历来爱好自由和平。中国人民始终希望 天下太平,
希望同各国人民友好相处。任何一个国家的建设和发展，都
需要一个 和平稳定的国际国内环境 。中国人民在近代饱受战
争和被侵略的痛苦，更深感自由与和平的珍贵。
? The Chinese nation always loves freedom and peace,
The Chinese people have always longed for peace
prevailing across the world and wished to live in
harmony with the people of all the other countries,
The construction and development of every country
requires a peaceful and stable international and
domestic environment,In the not far distant past,
the Chinese people suffered immensely from the
scourge of war and aggression,so now they feel all
the more strongly the value of freedom and peace.
Unit 9 Cultural Exchanges
? Some people say that the United States is,a
melting pot”,while others say that it is,a
salad platter”,In my view,rather than a
melting pot,the US today may be more
accurately described as a multicultural
society in which acculturation is defined more
in terms of,integration” than,assimilation”.
(CI) 有些人说美国是,熔炉,，也有些人说美国是
,色拉拼盘,。依我所见，或许较为确切的说法是，
今日美国不是什么熔炉，而是一个 多元文化的社会 。
在这个社会里，文化融合的定义应该是,结合,而
非,同化,。
Unit 9 Cultural Exchanges
? The United States has always been a
heterogeneous society with cohesion based
partly on mutual respect and partly on one
group’s values dominating all others, Much
hostility is created by the ignorance of
other cultures and failure to recognize their
existence.
（ CI）美国从来就是一个 多元化的社会 。它的凝聚力
部分是建立在 相互尊重 的基础上，部分建立在 一个
群体的价值观支配着其他群体的价值观 的基础上。
对其他文化的忽视和不认可往往是孳生敌意的土壤。
in Interpretation
高级口译教程
Unit 10
Some Useful Idioms
? 三十六行,行行出状元。
? Every profession produces its
own leading authority,/
Every trade has its own
master.
? 精诚所至，金石为开。
? Absolute sincerity will move
a heart of stone,/ No
difficulty is insurmountable if
one sets his mind to it.
? 旧瓶装新酒
? New wine in old bottles –
new content in old form
? 苦干加巧干
? Work both arduously and
skillfully
? 只可意会，不可言传
? Can be understood but not
described
? 将在外，君命有所不受。
? A field general is not bound
by the emperor’s orders.
? 君子动手，小人动手。
? A gentleman uses his tongue,
a bastard,his fists.
Some Useful Idioms
? 人多好办事。
? Many hands make light work.
? 起承转合
? Opening,developing,
changing approach and
concluding – the 4 steps of
Chinese classic writing
? 皮笑肉不笑
? Put on a false smile
? 令人哑口无言
? Strike somebody dumb,strike
somebody speechless
? 莫须有的罪名
? Fabricated charges
? 明一套，暗一套
? Do one way in the open and
another in secret
? 勉为其难
? Undertake to do what is
beyond one’s power
? 惊天地，泣鬼神
? Startle the universe and move
the gods –very moving
? 惊慌失措，手忙脚乱
? Be thrown into panic and
utter confusion
Some Useful Idioms
? 酒逢知己千杯少，话不投机
半句多。
? For a congenial friend,a
thousand toasts are too few;
in a disagreeable
conversation,one word more
is too many.
? 雷声大，雨点小
? Loud thunders but small
raindrops – much said but
little done
? 解铃还须系铃人。
? It is better for the doer to
undo what he has done.
? 乐天知命
? Be contented with one’s lot
? 眉毛胡子一把抓
? Try to grasp the eyebrows
and the beard all at once,try
to attend to big and small
matters all at once.
? 连环计
? A series of stratagems
? 空头支票
? A bounced check,lip service
? 家丑不可外扬。
? Domestic shame should not
be made public,/ Don’t wash
your dirty linen in public.
Some Useful Idioms
? 三天打鱼，两天晒网。
? Spend three days fishing and
two days drying nets,work
(or study) on and off
? 家书抵万金。
? A letter from home is worth
ten thousand pieces of gold.
? 明枪易躲，暗箭难防。
? It is easy to evade a visible
spear,but hard to guard
against an unseen arrow –
better an open enemy than a
false friend
? 机不可失，时不在来。
? Once lost,an opportunity is
never found again,/ Now or
never.
? 近水楼台先得月。
? A waterfront pavilion gets the
moonlight first – the
advantage of being in a
favored position.
? 风声鹤唳，草木皆兵
? Be so panic-stricken as to be
scared by the whistle of the
wind and the rustle of a leaf
Please watch and interpret:
? 看到生病的母亲受苦使我伤
心。
? 布朗先生想在退休后搬到乡
下去住。
? 我父母不准我在外面呆到半
夜以后。
? 别拿你那些鸡毛蒜皮的事同
我纠缠。
? 他们对没被邀请的事装作满
不在乎的样子。
? 这些规章制度早就名存实亡
了。
? 我们必须坚持真理，而真理
必须旗帜鲜明。
? 问题非常复杂，很难断定谁
是谁非。
? It hurts me to see my sick mother
suffer,
? Mr,Brown wants to move to live in
the country after his retirement,
? My parents don’t allow me to stay out
later than midnight,
? Don’t pester me with your trivial
matters,
? They pretended they didn’t care a bit
about not being invited,
? These rules and regulations have long
existed only in form and not in reality.
? We must firmly uphold truth and
truth requires a clear-cut stand,
? The matter is so complicated that it is
difficult to judge who is right and who
is wrong,
Please watch and interpret:
? 弄虚作假骗取荣誉是他的
惯用伎俩。
? 他多年对老板奴颜婢膝，
但并没有得到提拔。
? 俄国政府为其国内的人才
外流而担心。
? 看到国家财产受到损害我
们不能袖手旁观。
? 尽管我们一再批评，他依
然如故。
? 青年人朝气蓬勃，正在兴
旺时期。
? 挣钱多的人多交税是合情
合理的。
? 他是真心实意的，你完全
可以放心。
? It is his customary tactics to seek honor
through fraud and deception,
? He was not promoted although he had
licked his boss’s boots,
? The Russian Government is worried about
the brain drain from the country,
? We mustn’t stand by with folded arms
when we see state property being damaged,
? Despite our repeated criticism,he remains
unchanged,
? Young people full of vigor and vitality are
in the heyday of life,
? It’s logical that people who earn more
money should pay higher taxes,
? You may rest assured that he is in earnest,
Please watch and interpret:
? 他一直在盘算着如何自
圆其说。
? 我主意已定，你不要枉
费口舌劝我啦。
? 公司总经理将设宴为您
洗尘。
? 感谢你为我们所作的精
心安排。
? 这座寺庙历史悠久，可
追溯到初唐时期。
? 和平与发展仍然是我们
时代的潮流。
? 这两家公司的合并是双
赢战略的典范。
? 这些课程是为了扩大学
生的知识面，发挥个性
特长。
? He has been thinking all the time about how
to justify his argument,
? I have made up my mind,Don’t waste your
breath trying to persuade me,
? The managing director of the company will
host a banquet in your honor,
? Thank you very much for your thoughtful
arrangement for us,
? This temple has a long history,dating back to
the early period of the Tang Dynasty,
? Peace and development remains the trend of
our times,
? The merger of the companies is a fine model
of win-win strategy,
? These courses are intended for extending the
students’ scope of knowledge and developing
their personality and special skills,
Please watch and interpret:
? 这是一所专门培养管
理人才的高等学府。
?
? 中国必须走一条适合
自己国情的发展道路。
? 相对论的一个显著成
果在于它改变了我们
的时空观。
? 评判中餐烹调优劣的
三大要素是色香味。
? 中餐先上冷盘，而西
餐则先上汤。
? 中国的网民人数将跃
居全球第二，仅次于
美国。
? This institution of higher learning aims
exclusively at bringing up management
specialists,
? China must take a road to development that
is suited to its national conditions,
? A remarkable consequence of relativity is
the way it has changed our idea of time and
space,
? The three essential factors by which Chinese
cooking is judged are known as color,aroma
and taste
? A Chinese dinner begins with cold dishes,
and a Western dinner with a soup,
? China will have the second largest netizen
population in the world,next only to that of
the US,
Unit 9 Cultural Exchanges
? 中国确保 12亿多人的 生存权和发展权,这是对世界
人权进步事业的 重大贡献 。 集体人权与个人人权 的
紧密结合和协调发展是中国人权事业发展的必然道
路。
(CI) To ensure the 1.2 billion Chinese
people the rights to subsistence and
development is in itself a major contribution
to the progress of the world human rights
cause,The close combination and coordinated
development of collective and individual
human rights is the only way to development
in the human rights cause in China.
Unit 9 Cultural Exchanges
? 中国既不能 照抄 西方资本主义国家的发展模
式，也不能 硬搬 其他国家建设社会主义的模
式，而必须走 适合自己国情 的发展道路。
? China cannot copy the development model
of Western capitalist countries,nor can it
mechanically follow other countries’ models
of building socialism,On the contrary,it must
take a road to development that is suited to
its own national conditions.
Unit 9 Cultural Exchanges
? 维护中华民族的团结统一，是 中华民族伟大
复兴 的根本基础，是 全国各族人民 的根本利
益所在。
? Safeguarding solidarity and unity of the
Chinese nation is the very foundation of the
great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and
is where the fundamental interests of the
people of all ethnic groups lie.
Unit 9 Cultural Exchanges
? 中华文明 绵绵 几千年,维护国家统一 始终是中国历
史的主流，是中国人民世世代代极其珍视的 崇高目
标 。世界上只有一个中国,实现中国的完全统一 是
全体中国人民的共同愿望。
(CI) In the Chinese civilization of
several thousand years in continuous
succession,to keep the nation unified has
always been the mainstream in Chinese history
and a lofty goal that the Chinese people have
cherished from generation to generation,
There is but one China in the world,The
realization of China’s complete
reunification is the common aspiration of the
entire Chinese people.
Unit 9 Cultural Exchanges
? 中华民族历来爱好自由和平。中国人民始终希望 天下太平,
希望同各国人民友好相处。任何一个国家的建设和发展，都
需要一个 和平稳定的国际国内环境 。中国人民在近代饱受战
争和被侵略的痛苦，更深感自由与和平的珍贵。
? The Chinese nation always loves freedom and peace,
The Chinese people have always longed for peace
prevailing across the world and wished to live in
harmony with the people of all the other countries,
The construction and development of every country
requires a peaceful and stable international and
domestic environment,In the not far distant past,
the Chinese people suffered immensely from the
scourge of war and aggression,so now they feel all
the more strongly the value of freedom and peace.
Unit 9 Cultural Exchanges
? Some people say that the United States is,a
melting pot”,while others say that it is,a
salad platter”,In my view,rather than a
melting pot,the US today may be more
accurately described as a multicultural
society in which acculturation is defined more
in terms of,integration” than,assimilation”.
(CI) 有些人说美国是,熔炉,，也有些人说美国是
,色拉拼盘,。依我所见，或许较为确切的说法是，
今日美国不是什么熔炉，而是一个 多元文化的社会 。
在这个社会里，文化融合的定义应该是,结合,而
非,同化,。
Unit 9 Cultural Exchanges
? The United States has always been a
heterogeneous society with cohesion based
partly on mutual respect and partly on one
group’s values dominating all others, Much
hostility is created by the ignorance of
other cultures and failure to recognize their
existence.
（ CI）美国从来就是一个 多元化的社会 。它的凝聚力
部分是建立在 相互尊重 的基础上，部分建立在 一个
群体的价值观支配着其他群体的价值观 的基础上。
对其他文化的忽视和不认可往往是孳生敌意的土壤。
