2012年硕士研究生入学考试英语（一）翻译文章，出自《自然周刊》（Nature）2011年4月20日的一篇社论“普遍真理”（Universal truths），为方便参考，兹引录如下：

Since at least the days of Aristotle, a search for universal principles has characterized the scientific enterprise. In some ways, this quest for commonalities defines science: without it, there is no underlying order and pattern, merely as many explanations as there are things in the world. Newton's laws of motion, the oxygen theory of combustion and Darwinian evolution each bind a host of different phenomena into a single explicatory framework.

46. In physics, one approach takes this impulse for unification to its extreme, and seeks a theory of everything — a single generative equation for all we see. It is becoming less clear, however, that such a theory would be a simplification, given the proliferation of dimensions and universes that it might entail. Nonetheless, unification of sorts remains a major goal.

This tendency in the natural sciences has long been evident in the social sciences too. 47.Here, Darwinism seems to offer justification, for if all humans share common origins, it seems reasonable to suppose that cultural diversity could also be traced to more constrained beginnings. Just as the bewildering variety of human courtship rituals might all be considered to be forms of sexual selection, perhaps the world's languages, music, social and religious customs and even history are governed by universal features. 48. To filter out what is contingent and unique from what is shared might enable us to understand how complex cultural behaviour arose and what guides it in evolutionary or cognitive terms.

That, at least, is the hope. But a comparative study of linguistic traits published online today (M. Dunn et al. Nature doi:10.1038/nature09923; 2011) supplies a reality check. Russell Gray at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, and his colleagues consider the evolution of grammars in the light of two previous attempts to find universality in language.

The most famous of these efforts was initiated by Noam Chomsky, who postulated that humans are born with an innate language-acquisition capacity — a brain module or modules specialized for language — that dictates a universal grammar. A few generative rules are then sufficient to unfold the entire fundamental structure of a language, which is why children can learn it so quickly. Languages would diversify through changes to the 'parameter settings' of the generative rules.

49.The second, by Joshua Greenberg, takes a more empirical approach to universality, identifying traits (particularly in word order) shared by many languages, which are considered to represent biases that result from cognitive constraints. 50. Chomsky's and Greenberg's are not the only theories on the table for how languages evolve, but they make the strongest predictions about universals.

Gray and his colleagues have put them to the test using phylogenetic methods to examine four family trees that between them represent more than 2,000 languages. A generative grammar should show patterns of language change that are independent of the family tree or the pathway tracked through it, whereas Greenbergian universality predicts strong co-dependencies between particular types of word-order relations (and not others). Neither of these patterns is borne out by the analysis, suggesting that the structures of the languages are lineage-specific and not governed by universals.

This does not mean that cognitive constraints are irrelevant, or that there are no other universals dictated by communication efficiency. It is surely inevitable that cognition sets limits on, say, word length. But such 'universals' seem likely to be relatively trivial features of languages, just as may be the case for putative universals in music and other aspects of culture.

The conclusion? We should perhaps learn the lesson of Darwinism: a 'universal' mechanism of adaptation says little in itself about how a particular feature got to be the way it is, or about how it works. This truth has dawned on physicists too: universal equations are all very well, but the world actually consists of particular solutions, and these are generally the result of contingent history. One size does not always fit all.

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v472/n7342/full/472136a.html

       引文中划线部分是翻译考题，出题者出题时，做出了相应的更动，但不妨碍我们参考阅读。与往年相比，今年英语（—）的翻译要难得多，属于社会科学性质的。如果具备一定的语言学知识，可能会好很多，这也要求考研同学平时什么文章都要多一点，多多积累自己的百科知识，也只有这样才能打好考研英语的基础。

       现将参考译文，拟译如下，以供参考。

46. In physics, one approach takes this impulse for unification to its extreme, and seeks a theory of everything — a single generative equation for all we see.

46. 在物理学中，一种途径将这种同一性（普遍性）的探求发挥到极致，并诉求一种普世理论，即一条具有普遍性的生成等式。

       【在这个句子中，考点在this impulse for unification、take sth to its extreme、a theory of everything、a single generative equation for all we see等短语在这个语境中的语境意义，也就是说，即使这些词汇都认识，也不能按照字典意思一一排列。】

47.Here, Darwinism seems to offer justification, for if all humans share common origins, it seems reasonable to suppose that cultural diversity could also be traced to more constrained beginnings.

47. 譬如，达尔文物种起源论似乎可提供有力的佐证。如果人类享有共同的起源，那么似乎可以合理地认为，文化多样性也应享有更近似的根源。

【这句话中的here起举例说明的作用，不能翻译成地点状语“在这里”。此外，句中的justification、it seems reasonable to suppose、more constrained beginnings、trace等都需要透彻的理解和谨慎的处理。】

48. To filter out what is unique from what is shared might enable us to understand how complex cultural behavior arose and what guides it in evolutionary or cognitive terms.

48. 从共性中区别出个性，可使人从进化的视角或认知的角度，洞悉复杂的文化行为赖以产生的方式，探求诱发文化行为的因素。

【本句中，to filter out、what is unique、what is shared、how complex cultural behavior arose、what guides it、in evolutionary or cognitive terms等的理解是翻译该句的重点所在。由于都是略带术语性质的文化词汇，所以对于没有相关专业知识的考生而言，真可谓雪上加霜！】

49.The second, by Joshua Greenberg, takes a more empirical approach to universality, identifying traits (particularly in word order) shared by many languages, which are considered to represent biases that result from cognitive constraints.

49．第二则语言普遍论是由约瑟夫·格林伯格提出的，以实证方式辨识世界诸语所共享的特征，特别是词序，这些语言特征被视为由人类认知局限引发的偏见。

【原文中有个错误，即Joseph Harold Greenberg (1915- ),并非是Joshua。文中的the second指the second attempt或the second effort与前文the most famous of these efforts was initiated by Chomsky相呼应，因此翻译时应还原，否则译文会发生歧义。此外，traits、to represent biases that result from cognitive constraints、takes a more empirical approach to universality等的理解也十分重要。】

50. Chomsky's grammar should show patterns of language change that are independent of the family tree or the pathway tracked through it, whereas Greenberian universality predicts strong co-dependencies between particular types of word-order relations.

50. 乔姆斯基语法揭示的是语言变化的模式，这些模式与语言谱系树或由其追溯的路径无关，而格林伯格的普遍性理论预示了特定词序关系中存在紧密的依存关系。【乔姆斯基的普遍语法可呈现语言变化的诸种模式，这些模式不依谱系树而存在，也不依贯穿谱系树的路径而存在，而格林伯格派主张的普遍性理论则预言：特定词序类型关系间存在紧密的依存性。】

【这句中的the family tree、the pathway tracked through it、are independent of、predict、 strong co-dependencies、particular types of word-order relations等的理解，对翻译这样专业的语言学材料是十分重要的。】