翻译题目

丝绸之路(the Silk Road)是中国古代的一条商业贸易路线(trade route)。丝绸之路以古代中国的政治、 经济、文化中心——古都长安为起点，一直延伸至中亚、北非和欧洲。它最初的作用是出口中国生产的丝绸。随着时间的推移，丝绸之路逐渐变成了一条连接东西方的主要道路，促进了东西方的经济文化交流。后来，有学者把所有沟通中西方的商路统称为丝绸之路。

表达难点

1.第2句较长，经分析可发现，“古代中国的政治、经济，文化中心”为“古都长安”的同位语，这里可以处理成 that 引导的定语从句。翻译本句时，可先翻译主干(It started from..., and stretched all the way to...), 然后再插入定语从句和后半句的地点。

2.第3句中的定语“中国生产的”用过去分饲短语produced in China来表达，作后置定语，简洁地道。

3.第4句中的定语“连接东西方的”用分词短语connecting the East and the West来表达。“促进了......经济文化交流”可译为and promoted the economic and cultural exchanges，但用现在分词短语 promoting the economic...来表达，能让句子结构更紧凑。原句中有两个“东西方”，故把后一个译为the two parties，以避免重复。

4.最后一句中的“有学者......”可译为存现句there are some experts...，但不如处理为some experts... 简洁。

参考译文

The Silk Road is a trade route in ancient China. It started from the ancient capital Chang'an that was the center of politics, economy and culture in ancient China, and stretched all the way to Central Asia, North Africa and Europe. Its original function was to export the silk produced in China. As time went by, the Silk Road gradually became a main road connecting the East and the West, promoting the economic and cultural exchanges between the two parties. Later, some experts call all the trade routes between China and the West "the Silk Road ".