2015年12月英语四级翻译练习：筷子

　　2.第2句中的“筷子的使用已有3000年的历史”可译为the use of chopsticks has a history of years.不过前面的“历史记载”译为historical record，英语的表达习惯忌讳重复用词，而historical是history 的派生词，故换种说法，译为dates back to three thousand yeare age.

　　3.第3句中的“以显所其富有”可用不定式短语to display their wealth表达，作目的状语，比they were rich表达更简洁些。

　　4.最后一句的主要结构为“尼克松总统也使用了筷子”，时间状语“到中国访问时”和地点状语“在欢迎宴会上”后置。而在英语的表达习惯中，时间状语常位于地点状语后，故译为at the welcoming banquet when he visited China.

　　参考译文

　　Chinese people use chopsticks every day, which seems a wonder to many foreigners. Histcaical records show that the use of chopsticks dates back to three thousand years ago. In ancient times, the rich used gold chopsticks to display their wealth. Chopsticks have many other functions as welL.In the past, for example, people used silver chopsticks to see if their food was poisoned.Nowadays many foreign friends try to use chopsticks when they visit China. It's said that President Nixon also used chopsticks at the welcoming banquet when he visited China.