Winter break translation exercise 1 - translate the following piece of interesting news into Chinese (your winter break homework)

Solved: the mystery of why locusts swarm

Neurochemical transforms loner insects into collective menace

By Steve Connor, Science Editor
Friday, 30 January 2009

They first became famous in the Book of Exodus as the eighth of the 10 plagues of Egypt, but it has taken another few thousand years – and the skills of modern scientists – to work out why desert locusts suddenly swarm in vast numbers.

Desert locusts usually live shy, solitary lives. But every now and again they join together in gregarious bands that actively seek out each other until they form hungry swarms. These can contain a billion or more individuals that each day can devour their own body weight, with devastating consequences for crops and vegetation.

How this dramatic transformation comes about has been a mystery since biblical times – which is why locust plagues were often seen as acts of God. Now scientists have discovered a link to a neurochemical called serotonin, found in the brains of many animals including humans.

A study by the universities of Oxford, Cambridge and Sydney has found a build-up of serotonin in the nerves of the middle part of the locust's body controlling its legs and wings causes, within the space of a couple of hours, the solitary locust to turn into its swarming alter-ego.

The finding opens the possibility of stopping the process long before it happens, by blocking the action of serotonin.

This could be used to prevent the massive destruction of crops that occurs when locusts swarm – a threat affecting the livelihoods of one-tenth of the world's population. Globally there are about a dozen species of swarm-forming locust in a belt covering some 20 per cent of the world's landmass, from north Africa to China.

Last November, a locust swarm 3.7 miles long devastated agricultural production in parts of Australia, and in 2004 half the crops of Mauritania were lost as a result of similar locust swarms.

The transition usually happens after rainfall has caused an explosion in numbers. During a subsequent drought, the solitary locusts are forced closer together on smaller patches of remaining vegetation. It is this enforced mingling that triggers the physical change from solitary to gregarious, said Steve Rogers of Cambridge University, a member of the group behind the study, which is published in the journal Science.

"The gregarious phase is a strategy born of desperation and driven by hunger – swarming is a response to find pastures new," said Dr Rogers.

"We have now found the mechanism that controls the process. We've opened the black box of how this works," he said.

Swidbert Ott, a member of the Cambridge team, said: "Serotonin profoundly influences how humans behave and interact, so to find the same chemical causes a normally shy insect to form huge groups is amazing."

Reference translations for your final examination

Paris is a city of romance, history, and fashion,
but is also known as a city of art.
There are more than a hundred and ten art museums here
but the most famous is this one, the Louvre.
Every year more than five and a half million people pass through here.
The Louvre is the largest museum in the world
and the largest building in Paris.
It started out in year 1200 as a modest palace
and it expanded over the next seven hundred years
to its current size.
In the 16th Century it began housing the royal art collection.

A few centuries ago two gentlemen with a dispute
could draw swords in a place like this.
By the 19th Century dueling was outlawed
but knowing how to use a sword was still an important part
of a young nobleman’s training.
Today we may not see the flash of swords in the streets of Paris,
but you can still take on an opponent the old-fashioned way.
Fencing Club of Paris
In France this is one of the best sports. So we want to be the top.

巴黎是一座愛情、歷史與時尚之都，
同時也以藝術聞名於世。
巴黎有110間以上的藝術博物館，
但是最有名的就是這一間 – 羅浮宮。
每年有超過550萬以上的遊客到這裡參觀，
羅浮宮不但是全世界最大的博物館，
也是巴黎最大的建築物。
它起建於西元1200年，當時只是座小宮殿，
但是在爾後的七百年間，不斷擴建，
成為今日的規模。
從16世紀起，它開始成為皇室收藏藝術品的所在。

幾世紀前，士紳之間如果發生解決不了的爭端，
常會在這種地方拔劍想向。
19世紀起，法律開始禁止這種決鬥，
但是，知道如何用劍，仍是年輕貴族們
養成教育中的重要一環。
今日，我們可能在巴黎街頭不再會看到刀光劍影，
但是，仍可以在某種場所用這古老的方式，挑戰對手 –
巴黎擊劍俱樂部
在法國，擊劍是最好的幾項運動之一，所以我們想成為此中翹楚。

*********************************
It was a bleak, rainy day, and I had no desire to drive up the winding mountain road to my daughter Carolyn’s house. But she had insisted that I come see something at the mountain. So here I was, reluctantly making the two-hour journey through fog that hung like veils.

By the time I saw how thick it was near the summit I’d gone too far to turn back. Nothing could be worth this, I thought as I inched along the perilous highway.

“I’ll stay for lunch but I’m heading back down as soon as the fog lifts “ I announced when I arrived.

But I need you to drive me to the garage to pick up my car, Carolyn said. “Could we at least do that?”

那是個下著雨又冷颼颼的日子，我完全提不起興趣開車爬上蜿蜒的山道，去女兒卡珞琳家。但她苦苦相邀，一定要我去山頂看些東西。
雖然老大的不願意，但我還是踏上了兩小時的旅途，這一路上白霧茫茫，如紗如帳。

到達山頂看到霧有多濃的時候，要折回已經晚了。「無論有什麼好看的東西，都不值得我走這遭」，我一面想，一面在險象環生的公路上磨蹭著前進。

一到女兒家門，就對她說：「我在這吃午飯，但是霧一散，我就要下山回去。」

卡珞琳央求地說：「但是，你至少得先載我到保養場取車，這個總沒問題吧?」

Bonus translation exercise 8 (prose)

If I rest, I rust

Orison Swett Marden

The significant inscription found on an old tombstone -- "If I rest, I rust -- would be an excellent motto for those who are afflicted with the slightest taint of idleness. Even the industrious might adopt it with advantage to serve as a reminder that, if one allows his faculties to rest, like the iron in used key, they will soon show sighs of rust, and, ultimately, cannot do the work required of them.

Industry keeps bright the key that opens the treasury of achievement.

Reference Translation of Exercise 6 (titanium toothbrush)

For Teeth, the future Gleams with Titanium
牙齒潔亮健康，未來要靠鈦牙刷

Titanium, the metal used in everything from jet engine to eyeglass frames, has taken on yet another role as the crucial components of two tooth-brushes that aim to revolutionize the conservative dental hygiene.
從噴射機引擎到眼鏡框架都用的鈦金屬，將再扮演起一個新角色。有兩種以鈦為關鍵材料的新牙刷，將在向來保守的口腔衛生界掀起革命。

One of the brushes dispenses with toothpaste, instead employing a core of titanium dioxide that generates a plaque-removing electrochemical reaction. The other uses fine, flexible titanium bristles that can last for years. Both are getting favorable, if preliminary, reviews from scientists, dentists and consumer testers.
其中一把是免用牙膏的牙刷，利用二氧化鈦的芯心產生電化學反應來清潔牙菌斑；另外一把則是以纖細又有彈性的含鈦刷毛所製成的牙刷，可使用好幾年，都不會損壞。雖然目前只是在初步測試階段，但是許多科學家、牙醫師、消費者在試用後，都給這兩把牙刷正面的評價。

The manual toothbrush has remained largely unchanged for generations. The new brushes take some getting used to.
人類目前使用的牙刷已使用好幾世代，大致沒甚麼改變，因此，這種新牙刷的引進，還有待人們慢慢去習慣。

When somebody eats his favorite salsa, the aftertaste, “normally kind of stagnant and sour,” is simply gone, it’s the most bizarre feeling.
每當你吃完所熱愛的墨西哥莎莎醬後，嘴裡總有股除不掉的酸味，現在，這種味道完全消失了，這種感覺真讓人覺得奇妙。

Admittedly, it’s awkward, because the brush must be activated by bright light. The brush, available at soladey-usa.com, relies on a property of titanium dioxide. It is photocatalytic, meaning that it causes chemical reactions in the presence of light.
無可否認地，由於這款牙刷必須靠強光才能啟動，讓人覺得很不方便。這種可以從soladey-usa.com網站買到牙刷，全靠二氧化鈦的一種光催化特性，也就是說，當光照射二氧化鈦後，它會產生化學反應。

Light shining on the titanium dioxide rod in the brush’s handle generates negatively charged electrons, which steal positively charged ions from dental plaque, causing oxidation. Brushing creates a slurry of negatively charged saliva, which attracts and decomposes plaques.
牙刷握把內有一根二氧化鈦的芯子，光線照射後會產生負電離子，它會吸引並結合牙菌斑的正電離子，產生氧化作用，進而消除牙菌斑。用這種牙刷刷牙時，會產生大量含負電離子的唾液，會吸引並分解導致牙周病的牙菌斑。

Bonus translation exercise 7

Nation's first face transplant done in Cleveland

By MARILYNN MARCHIONE

CLEVELAND (AP) — A woman so horribly disfigured she was willing to risk her life to do something about it has undergone the nation's first near-total face transplant, the Cleveland Clinic announced Tuesday. Reconstructive surgeon Dr. Maria Siemionow and a team of other specialists replaced 80 percent of the woman's face with that of a female cadaver a couple of weeks ago in a bold and controversial operation certain to stoke the debate over the ethics of such surgery.

The patient's name and age were not released, and the hospital said her family wanted the reason for her transplant to remain confidential. The hospital plans a news conference Wednesday and would not give details until then.

The transplant was the fourth worldwide; two have been done in France, and one was performed in China.

Quiz announcement

Dear students,

You will be given a translation (E-C) quiz in the coming session. The question (source text) will be selected from some paragraph of the last 3 group translation exercises ("smart pill," "Marco Polo," "titanium toothbrush")

Please prepare yourselves for the quiz!

Group Exercise 6 -- Revolutionary Tooth Brush

For Teeth, the future Gleams with Titanium

Titanium, the metal used in everything from jet engine to eyeglass frames, has taken on yet another role as the crucial components of two tooth-brushes that aim to revolutionize the conservative dental hygiene.

One of the brushes dispenses with toothpaste, instead employing a core of titanium dioxide that generates a plaque-removing electrochemical reaction. The other uses fine, flexible titanium bristles that can last for years. Both are getting favorable, if preliminary, reviews from scientists, dentists and consumer testers.

The manual toothbrush has remained largely unchanged for generations. The new brushes take some getting used to.

When somebody eats his favorite salsa, the aftertaste, “normally kind of stagnant and sour,” is simply gone, it’s the most bizarre feeling.
For Teeth, the future Gleams with Titanium
Admittedly, it’s awkward, because the brush must be activated by bright light. The brush, available at soladey-usa.com, relies on a property of titanium dioxide. It is photocatalytic, meaning that it causes chemical reactions in the presence of light.

Light shining on the titanium dioxide rod in the brush’s handle generates negatively charged electrons, which steal positively charged ions from dental plaque, causing oxidation. Brushing creates a slurry of negatively charged saliva, which attracts and decomposes plaques.