Unit 1
Benjamin Franklin: “The First American”

What makes sb. tick (口语) 某人的动机、动力等等：We’re trying to find out ~. 我们正设法查明他的动机是什么。
Draw out 逗引(某人)讲话，使说出(某事)
In defense of 保卫、保护
As far as 就。。。至于(表示程度、范围): I will help you ~ I can.我将尽力帮助你。
Subscription library 订阅图书馆或会员制图书馆，而不是译文中的捐赠图书馆!

Unit 2
Voracious Newspaper Readers

Human interest story: A human interest story is a type of news story that is concerned with the activities of a few named people. It is often considered to be the story behind the story, in that it shows the personal emotions behind a large news story affecting many people. An example would be an interview with a survivor of a natural disaster. 趣闻、轶事,可能好于译文中的“富于人情味的的报道”

The Thing I Really Like Is There’s No Tipping

Since the practice of tipping began in England in the Middle Ages, scholars have not been able to find any acronyms much earlier than the 20th century.
小费的习俗始于中世纪的英国，而学者们尚未能找到任何早于20世纪的首字母缩略词。

*译文版本不符合逻辑：学者们怎么可能从中世纪时期起就开始找“早于20世纪的首字母缩略词”呢？

…the waiters actually pay the restaurant a small fee for the opportunity to collect the large tips.
服务员要支付一笔费用给餐馆以得到获取丰厚小费的机会。
*译文中的“感谢”一词，在源文是好像看不出来，而且现实生活中也讲不通。

Unit 3

Tea in Britain
Do one’s bit: 尽自己的一分力量
Commutation Act: <<抵代税条例>>, 译文中的<<减刑法令>>似不妥，没有定罪，何来减刑？
Catch on: 变得流行
Not in the least because: 主要因为(负负得正)

Translation Skills
The existence of giant clouds was virtually required for the Big Bang, first put forward in the 1920’s, to maintain its reign as the dominant explanation of the cosmos.
宇宙大爆炸理论是20世纪20年代首次提出的，而要维持这一理论解释宇宙的主导地位，巨星云学说又几乎是不可缺少的。
*感觉译文很随意，没有体现出to maintain的不定式结构。

Women Who Want to Live on the Edge
Live on the edge: to have a type of life in which you are often involved in exciting or dangerous activities 过惊险刺激的生活
Britain has extreme sports women performing at the highest levels around the world. 英国有着许多女性参加极限运动的女性，她们的表现在全球都是首屈一指的。
*这里around the world好像应该修饰highest levels，而不是译文中的地点。

Unit Four
White House Given Deadline on CIA Leak

Come forward: 自告奋勇、主动要求、站出来
Hold on to: 拉住,抓牢

Exercise
A Coast Guard spokesman is quoted as saying that an oil slick has formed, measuring about one square mile.
据报道，一位海岸警卫队发言人说，海面上形成了一块约1平方英里的浮油。
*译文有漏译和错译。

Medical Privacy Law Creates Wide Confusion

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA): 健康保险便利和责任法案

*译文有漏译之嫌

Unit Five

The Takeout Business in Manhattan
Sooner or later, though, the distribution of takeout menus became so relentless that a lot of New Yorkers began to see …
不知过了多久。。。
*译文表达不甚准确。

...I occasionally get irritated when the steps in front of my house are littered with paper menus from two or three Chinese restaurants of the sort that seem to acquire their food from one gigantic kitchen, presided over in a dictatorial but not terribly inventive way by General Tso. ...那些餐馆好像都是从同一间硕大的厨房获取食品，并采用“左将军”那样专制又极其富有创意的方法来管理。(General Tso指左宗棠，据说发明了“左公鸡”，流行于美国)
*这里的General Tso是指左宗棠还是他发明的左公鸡，不是很清楚，好像一语双关似的，译文漏译了。

Jewish connoisseurs sometimes refer to soup dumplings bas "double-tray specials".  
犹太美食家有时称汤包为“双层特色点心”(double-tray specials)。  
*译文漏译  

...but also a liquid so tasty that diners tend to be sanguine about the clothing stains they acquire while trying to get to it. 
(汤包里)还有汤汁，由于汤汁十分美味，对吃汤包时衣服沾上的油渍，食客们却也常常满不在乎。
*译文意思正好相反。

Until some tweaking was done in the translation department a few years after the restaurant opened, that dish was actually on the menu as Dry Fish Stomach with Pork Sinus.
这样菜其实本来在菜单上写的是干鱼胃烧猪肉弯(Dry Fish Stomach with Pork Sinus),直到餐馆开张几年以后翻译部门才进行了一些改动。
*我的理解跟译文正好相反。