Great value is placed on the in-depth research, meticulous classification and resourceful compilation of the most relevant and valid historical data on the life of the great poet Ai Qing, a worthy but painstaking effort that spanned thirty years of unabated passion that accompanied the book's author in his scholarly journey through Ai Qing's life, thereby making him an undisputed authority on the study of Ai Qing.

下面請看另一個例子。這個例子取自一所名牌大學的中英文網站：

學校校園占地7000余畝，園內樹木蔥蘢，碧草如茵，環(huán)境優(yōu)雅，景色秀麗，綠化覆蓋率72%，被譽為“森林式大學”。

(The university) covers an area of over 1,153 acres with picturesque environment, elegant surroundings and has 72% greenery coverage, which has been honored as the "University in the Forest".

這段譯文的毛病與前面談到的把“入口”譯成enter the mouth 的毛病有著本質的區(qū)別。這里的譯者顯然是正經學過英語的。雖然我國英語教育極其重視語法，但學生老師使用英語時語法錯誤還是十分常見。從語法來看，此處譯文語法沒有大毛病，但有小毛病。首先，environment與surroundings兩個并列名詞之間不用連詞，給人“懸念”，覺得這個意群還沒完，而且environment前面缺少不定冠詞。其次，which從句離被修飾語（大學）太遠，這一點應該是這段話中的主要語法錯誤。總之，語法是小毛病，最大的毛病是中文腔太足,多處用詞不當,如covers應改成occupies, surroundings是指校園以外（這顯然不是作者或譯者的原意），honored as的用法也是怪誕不經。此外，原文里本來似乎有點詩情畫意，在譯文里卻喪失殆盡。筆者試譯如下，希望比原譯有所改進：

Known as a "woodland garden university", our campus spans over 1,153 acres, with green space accounting for 72 percent, soaking in a lash, picturesque ambience that combines invitingly natural beauty with elegantly landscaped charm.

此處舉這些例子的意圖

是作為一枚鏡子，照一照反向的情況。品嘗一下中式英文的味道，然后再回過頭來看看，可以對英式中文有更敏銳的感覺。的確，有人雖然在寫英文時如此偏愛中文思維，在將英文譯成中文時卻死死抱住英文思維不放，這就是造成許多弊病的癥結所在。需要再次強調指出，使用中文時，尤其在將外文譯成中文時，我們必須用中文思維。