英语翻译是一种很难的题型，但是它是必考题，所以，如果想考高分的学生，一定要突破翻译这一关，下面是沪江小编为大家整理的大学英语精读第三册第一单元课文翻译，希望同学们能够认真练习，迎接考试，一起来看看吧!

Unit 1

A young man finds that strolling along the streets without an obvious purpose can lead to trouble with the law. One misunderstanding leads to another until eventually he must appear in court for trial……

一个年轻人发现，在街上漫无目的的闲逛也会带来涉及法律上的麻烦。一种误解导致另一种误解，直到最终他必须在法庭上接受审判…….

A. Brush with the Law

法律小冲突

I have only once been in trouble with the law. The whole process of being arrested and taken to court was a rather unpleasant experience at the time, but it makes a good story now. What makes it rather disturbing was the arbitrary circumstances both of my arrest and my subsequent fate in court.

我平生只有一次陷入与法律的冲突。被捕与被带上法庭的整个经过在当时是一种令人极不愉快的经历，但现在这却成为一个好故事的素材。尤其令人恼怒的是我被捕及随后在法庭上受审期间的种种武断情形。

In happened in February about twelve years ago. I had left school a couple of months before that and was not due to go to university until the following October. I was still living at home at the time. 事情发生在十二年前的二月，那是我中学毕业已经几个月了，但是要等到十月份才能上大学，所以当时我仍在家中。

One morning I was in Richmond, a suburb of London near where I lived. I was looking for a temporary job so that I could save up some money to go travelling. As it was a fine day and I was in no hurry, I was taking my time, looking in shop windows, strolling in the park, and sometimes just stopping and looking around me. It must have been this obvious aimlessness that led to my downfall.

一天上午，我来到离我住地不远的伦敦郊区的里士满，那是我正在找一份临时的工作，一边攒些钱去旅游。由于天体晴朗，有没有什么急事，我便悠然自得的看看窗店橱窗，逛逛公园，有时干脆停下来四处观望。一定是这种显然无所事事的样子使我倒了霉。

It was about half past eleven when it happened. I was just walking out of the local library, having unsuccessfully sought employment there, when I saw a man walking across the road with the obvious intention of talking to me. I thought he was going to ask me the time. Instead, he said he was a police officer and he was arresting me. At first I thought it was some kind of joke. But then another policeman appeared, this time in uniform, and I was left in no doubt.

事情发生在十一点半左右，当我在当地图书馆谋之未成，刚从那里出来，就看见一个人从马路对面走过来，显然是想跟我说话。我愿意为他是要问我时间。想不到他说他是警察，要逮捕我。开始我还以为这是个玩笑。但紧接着又来了一个穿着警服的警察，这下我无可置疑了。

'But what for?' I asked.

“为什么抓我,”我问。

"Wandering with intent to commit an arrestable offence,' he said.

“四处游荡，有作案嫌疑，”他说。

'What offence?' I asked.

“做什么案,”我又问。

'Theft,' he said.

“偷东西，” 他说。

'Theft of what?' I asked.

“偷什么”我追问。

'Milk bottles,' he said, and with a perfectly straight face too!

“牛奶瓶”他说，表情极端严肃。

'Oh,' I said.

“噢，”

It turned out there had been a lot of petty thefts in the area, particularly that of stealing milk bottles from doorsteps.

事情是这样的，这一带经常发生小偷小摸的案件，尤其是从门前台阶上偷走牛奶瓶。

Then I made my big mistake. At the time I was nineteen, had long untidy hair, and regarded myself as part of the sixties' 'youth countercultrue. As a result, I want to appear cool and unconcerned with the incident, so I said, 'How long have you been following me?' in the most casual and conversation tone I could manage. I thus appeared to them to be quite familiar with this sort of situation, and it confirmed them in their belief that I was a thoroughly disreputable character.

接着，我犯了个大错误，那是我才十九岁，留着一头乱蓬蓬的长发，自以为是六十年代“青年反主流文化”的一员。因此，我想对此表现出一副冷漠，满不在乎的态度，于是用一种很随便的无所谓的腔调说:“你们跟我多久了,”这样一来，我在他们眼里，我是惯于此种情形的，这又使他们确信我是一个彻头彻尾的坏蛋。

A few minutes later a police car arrived.

几分钟后来了一辆警车。

'Get in the back," they said. 'Put your hands on the back of the front seat and don't move them.'

“坐到后面去，”他们说:“把手放在椅背上，不许乱动。”

They got in on either side of me. I wasn't funny any more.

他俩分别坐在我的左右，这下可不是闹着玩的了。

At the police station they questioned me for several hours. I continued to try to look worldly and au fait with the situation. When they asked me what I had been doing, I told them I'd been looking for a job. 'Aha,' I could see them thinking, 'unemployed'.

在警察局，他们审问了我好几个小时。我继续装着老于世故，对此种事习以为常的样子。当他们问我一直在干什么事时，我告诉他们我在找工作。“啊哈”，这下我可看到他们在想，“无业游民”。

Eventually, I was officially charged and told to report to Richmond Magistrates' Court the following Monday. Then they let me go.

最后，我被正式指控，并得到通知下周一到里士满地方法院受审。他们这才让我走。

I wanted to conduct my own defence in court, but as soon as my father found out what had happened, he hired a very good solicitor. We went along that Monday armed with all kinds of witnesses, including my English teacher from school as a character witness. But he was never called on to give evidence. My 'trial' didn't get that far. The magistrate dismissed the case after fifteen minutes. I was free. The poor police had never stood a chance. The solicitor even succeeded in getting costs awarded against the police.

我本想在法庭上自我辩护，但是父亲一弄清事情原委后，就为我请了一位很不错的律师。就在那个星期一，我们带着各种证人出庭了，这其中包括我的中学英语教师作为我的平行见证人。但法庭没有传唤他作证。对我的“审判”并没有进行到那一步，才开庭十五分钟，法官就驳回了此案。我被无罪释放。可怜的警察毫无胜诉的机会。我的律师甚至成功的使警察承担了诉讼费。

And so I do not have a criminal record. But what was most shocking at the time was the things my release from the charge so clearly depended on. I had the 'right' accent, respectable middle-class parents in court, reliable witnesses, and I could obviously afford a very good solicitor. Given the obscure nature of the charge, I feel sure that if I had come from a different background, and had really been unemployed, there is every chance that I would have been found guilty. While asking for costs to be awarded, my solicitor's case quite obviously revolved around the fact that I had a 'brilliant academic record'.

这样， 我没有留下任何犯罪记录。但当时，最令人震惊的是我被无罪释放所明显依赖的证据:我有标准的口音，有受人尊重的中产阶级父母来到法庭，有可靠的证人，还有，很明显我请得起很好的律师。想到这次指控的含混不清的特点，我敢断定，我如果出生在一个不同背景的家庭，并真失了业，则完全可能被判为有罪。当我的律师要求赔偿诉讼费时，他的辩词很显然的紧紧围绕着我“学习成绩优异”这一事实。

Meanwhile, just outside the courtroom, one of the policemen who had arrested me was gloomily complaining to my mother that another youngster had been turned against the police. 'You could have been a bit more helpful when we arrested you,' he said to me reproachfully.

与此同时，在法庭外面，曾逮捕我的警察中的一个沮丧的想我的母亲抱怨说，又有一个小伙子要与警察做对了。他以责备的口气对我说:“我们抓你的时候，你本可以帮帮忙的。”

What did the mean? Presumably that I should have looked outraged and said something like, 'Look here, do you know who you're talking to? I am a highly successful student with a brilliant academic record. How dare you arrest me!' Then they, presumably, would have apologized, perhaps even taken off their caps,and let me on my way.

他这话是什么意思,也许是说我因该做出大发雷霆的样子，并说:“喂，你们知道是在和谁说话么,我是品学兼优的高材生。你们怎么敢抓我,”那样的话，他们也许会向我道歉，可能还会脱帽致意，让我扬长而去。

英语翻译非常不简单，在英语翻译中，要了解英语与其它语言的历史文化背景，了解同一时期下不同的阅读人群的读写习惯等。如果想做一名翻译员的话，扎实的外语功底和广泛而过硬的专业外语知识是必不可少的。沪江小编希望大家能认识到翻译的重要性。