《中西文明对比》选译（八）
作者：梁昊 审订/陈国华
来源：《英语世界》2021年第12期
        【譯者言】 对照本期所选文本机器译文和人工译文的译法，我们可以看到，英汉词典里没有恰当的中文对应词时，机器翻译仅会给出一个最常见的对应词，人工翻译却可以随机应变，想出一个现有词典里没有的对应词。首页里的coherence就很好地说明了这一点。这个词派生自谓词cohere，后者的基本意思是stick together。人正常说话或写文章，前言要搭后语，这就是stick together，也就是“连贯”。可是作为社会核心价值的coherence显然不是“连贯”。《牛津高阶英汉双解词典》提供的中文对应词仅有“连贯性;一致性”;《英汉大词典》提供的是“1. 黏合（性）2. 一致（性）;协调 3. （尤指说话、写作等的）连贯性，前后一致，条理清楚;（文体等的）紧凑”;《新牛津英汉双解大词典》里是“1. 密切配合;团结一致;形成（逻辑关系清楚的）整体2.（论据、理论）连贯，前后一致”。这些对应词中只有“团结一致”沾边，但也不太合适。这时只要我们打开脑洞，稍微想一想自己会怎样表达社会成员彼此stick together，让社会具有怎样一种特质，“凝聚力”三个字很快就会浮现在脑海。此时我们不妨再查一下汉英词典，从反方向验证一下coherence与“凝聚力”是否彼此对应，就会发现“凝聚力”的英文对应词恰
好是cohere派生的另一个名词cohesion。作为语言学术语，cohesion通常译作“衔接”。韩礼德名著Cohesion in English的中文译名就是《英语的衔接》，书中讨论的正是cohesion与coherence的关系，前者侧重话语如何在形式上stick together，后者关注话语如何在意义上stick together。经过这样一番对比，我们可以得出结论，cohesion和coherence与“凝聚力”具有对应关系。
        不知机器翻译研究者能否让机器像人工这样自主学习，出一种语言里的每一个词在另一种语言里的每一个对应词。
        Moral Education in Today’s Schools：
        USA and UK
values翻译        Introduction
        In the late 20th century， Western institutions of cultural transmission， families in particular， have become less reliable. Divorces， for example， undermine the ability of families to pass on the central values on which a society depends for continuity， coherenc
e， and good order. Therefore public schools have progressively1 found themselves called on2 to accept unprecedented levels of responsibility for teaching in some formal way values which traditionally were learned elsewhere and much less self-consciously. This document summarizes a comparative study which examined recent governmental actions regarding moral education.
        Terminological Uncertainties about
        Moral Education3
        There seems to be no one word which captures the nuances4 of the topic. In the United States moral education refers to the broad concepts of right and wrong. However， for some， morality refers to cultural standards rather than some higher values.
        Values education is another term， but some have complained that “values” are what you get in a discount store5. “Values” in that sense have nothing to do with morality.
        The term traditional values has been used to point to6 traits which have been consider
ed valuable for a long time， though this phrase has become a political slogan to such an extent that it no longer communicates unambiguously7.
        The term virtue suggests traits which have constant and ongoing worth， but the connotation of “virtues” in current American usage implies something old-fashioned and perhaps obsolete.
        Ethics8 is another term which also has limitations. Ethics describe duties and obligations which are systematized， often into a code. Classes in ethics tend to focus on moral reasoning.
        A more promising term which is being rejuvenated in the United States is character education. “Character” is “a reliable inner disposition to respond to situations in a morally good way9.” It refers to the moral qualities and ethical standards which make up the inner nature of a person. Behavior is a product of character in this sense. Character education holds to the premise that civilization has a common core of shared values， referred to as “universal values” or “public values.” These universal values are seen as rational， objectiv
ely valid， universally accepted qualities， actions and ideals to which people of all civilized nations can ascribe， regardless of creeds， races， socio-economic status， gender， or ethnicity. The concept presumes that there is a unifying morality， necessary for the preservation of any society. For that reason all social institutions should feel obligated to teach these universal values to children.
        The current research consulted State Departments of Education in the United States and collected published information in the United Kingdom in order to find out how governments are becoming involved in character education.
        United States
        Though some states have no guidelines for this aspect of education， eight states （of the 19 respondents studied10） have passed legislation or policies requiring11 character education. For example， in California， since 1993： “Each teacher shall12 endeavor to impress upon the minds of the pupils the principles of13 morality， truth， justice， patriotism and a true comprehension of14 the rights， duties and dignity of Ameri
can citizenship， including kindness toward domestic pets and the humane treatment of living creatures， to teach them to avoid idleness， profanity and falsehood and to instruct them in manners and morals and the principles of a free government.”

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