摘要：考研英语经典真题解读，1998年英语翻译真题精练精讲，通过真题掌握解题思路及把握规律。

　　一、全真试题
　　Theywere by far，thelargest and most distant objects that scientists had ever detected: a strip ofenormous cosmic clouds some 15 billion light-years from earth.
　　（71）But even more important，it was the farthest thatscientists had been able to look into the past，for what they were seeingwere the patterns and structures that existed 15 billion yeas ago. Thatwas just about the moment that the universe was born. What the researchersfound was at once both amazing and expected: the US National Aeronautics andSpace Administration’s Cosmic Background Explorer satellite—Cobe—had discoveredlandmark evidence that the universe did in fact begin with the primevalexplosion that has become known as the Big Bang（the theory that the universe originated in anexplosion from a single mass of energy）.
　　（72）The existence of the giantclouds was virtually required for the Big Bang，first put forward in the1920s，tomaintain its reign as the dominant explanation of the cosmos.According to the theory，the universe burst into being as asubmicroscopic，unimaginablydense knot of pure energy that flew outward in all directions，emitting radiation as itwent，condensinginto particles and then into atoms of gas. Over billions of years，the gas was compressed bygravity into galaxies，stars，plants and eventually，even humans.
　　Cobeis designed to see just the biggest structures，but astronomers would like to see muchsmaller hot spots as well，the seeds of local objects like clusters andsuperclusters of galaxies. They shouldn’t have long to wait.（73）Astrophysicists workingwith ground-based detectors at the South Pole and balloon-borne instruments areclosing in on such structures，and may report their findings soon.
　　（74）If the small hot spots lookas expected，that will be a triumph for yet anotherscientific idea，a refinement of the Big Bang called theinflationary universe theory. Inflation says that very early on，the universe expanded insize by more than a trillionfold in much less than a second，propelled by a sort ofantigravity.（75）Odd though it sounds，cosmic inflation is ascientifically plausible consequence of some respected ideas in elementaryparticle physics，and many astrophysicists have been convincedfor the better part of a decade that it is true.

　　二、翻译题解
　　（71）But even more important, it was the farthest that scientists had been able to looksinto the past, forwhat they were seeingwere the patterns andstructures thatexisted 15 billion years ago.
　　句子拆分：
　　拆分点参考：标点符号，从属连词
　　Buteven more important,// it was the farthest //that scientists had been able tolook into the past, // for what they were seeing were the patterns andstructures // that existed 15 billion years ago.
　　解析：
　　句子结构为：主句+ for 引导的原因状语从句。
　　for引导的原因状语从句的主语为what主语从句。
　　evenmore important为整个句子的状语
　　词的处理：
　　evenmore important 更为重要的是（形容词短语做状语，较特殊）
　　thepatterns and structures （宇宙云的）形状和结构
　　15billion years ago 150亿年前
　　技巧点拨：
　　（1）状语But even more important 直接翻译到句子最前面即可，“但更为重要的是”。
　　（2）第一个that为定语从句修饰the farthest，其中，the farthest为“the+形容词”表示一类人、一类事物的结构，此处需要运用增词法将其翻译完整，即“最遥远的景象”；此外that定语从句需前置。
　　（3）第二个that引导的定语从句结构较简单，直接前置为“（存在于）150亿年前的......”。
　　完整译文：
　　但更为重要的是，这是科学家们所能观测到的最遥远的过去的景象，因为他们看到的是150亿年前宇宙云的形状和结构。
　　（72）The existence of the giantclouds was virtually required for the Big Bang, first put forward in the1920s, to maintain its reign as the dominant explanation of the cosmos.
　　句子拆分：
　　拆分点参考：标点符号，分词，动词不定式
　　Theexistence of the giant clouds was virtually required for the Big Bang, //firstput forward in the 1920s, // to maintain its reign as the dominant explanationof the cosmos.
　　解析：
　　（1）整体结构是：The existence... wasvirtually required for..., to maintain...
　　（2）first put forward in the1920s是过去分词短语作插入语，为theBig Bang的定语。
　　（3）不定式短语to maintain its reign为目的状语修饰require
　　（4）介词短语as the dominant explanationof the cosmos做状语修饰maintain