2019专八汉译英真题:白洋淀
(translated by alexcwlin; edited by Adam Lam)

白洋淀曾有“北国江南”的说法，
Lake Baiyang territory was once labelled “River’s South of the North”.
但村舍的形制自具特色，与江南截然不同。
But construction of rural houses has its unique features, which is distinctly different from those south of Yangtze River.
南方多雨，屋顶是坡顶；
Rain is abundant down south, and so roof-tops are sloping in shape.
这里的村舍则不同，
Houses in villages here are different.
屋顶是晒粮食的地方，。
Roof-tops are where food is sun-dried.
而且历史上淀里每逢水大洪泛，村民就得把屋里的东西搬到屋顶上
Also historically, every time when there was a flood, people would move household items up on the roofs.
房屋彼此挨得很近，有些屋顶几乎相连。
Houses often are squeezed closely together, and some roofs are almost joint.