US Journalism suffers rough year in credibility

　　一年来，美国新闻界信誉下降

　　Obviously, this sentence is about a thing which happened in the past. But here, the Present Tense is used. When it is translated into Chinese, the past tense should be expressed clearly, otherwise, Chinese readers may be confused.

　　(2) The infinitives employed to indicate future

　　Future actions can be expressed by the pattern “be+infinitive”, among which “be” is frequently omitted to save space. When this pattern is translated into Chinese, the Chinese characters such as “将”, “要” and “会” that can indicate future should be used. For instance:

　　U.S. to ease technology sale to China

　　美将简化对华科技销售

　　2.3 Rhetorical Features and Translation

　　In order to make the language vivid, eye-catching and easy to understand, journalistic English often uses rhetorical devices. But they also put translators into a kind of dilemma that information should be truthfully transmitted to TL readers whereas the rhetorical features of news texts should also be reserved. Translators should use the communicative method and the semantic method alternately in dealing with the news texts characterized by figures of speech.

　　Communicative translation provides readers with the precise information embedded in news texts. Translators are supposed to associate the connotations of figures of speech with relevant news reports. Furthermore, translators need likewise polish their language to protect the original information from being distorted by readers.

　　Semantic translation helps retain the original style. Translators need first to conduct an in-depth study on the figures of speech, figuring out their connotations in the news context and comparing them with Chinese rhetoric. In specific procedures, translators may consider possible substitution by the same type of Chinese figures of speech. Ifit is far from likely to achieve, translators need resort to other rhetoric means in Chinese. In a word, translators should bring Chinese readers similar or even the same experience as English readers have had while appreciating the news texts. Of course, this kind of work must be conducted under the premise that the significance of accurate information should not be diminished.

　　(1) Metaphor is a rhetorical device that is often used in journalistic English. The news events can be made more vivid, concrete and distinctive. For example:

　　(1) “Congressional Democrats remain slightly puzzled about how to react to Bush’s strategy of proffering a velvet glove clutching a closed wallet.”

　　“国会中民主党人关于如何对布什的这种态度做出反应仍然带几分疑惑：他戴着一副天鹅绒手套，但却紧紧抓住钱包，不愿将它打开。”

　　Here, “proffering a velvet glove clutching a closed wallet” involves that Bush posed to be generous, but in fact he did not like to spend money on citizens.

　　(2) Metonymy is a figure of speech in which one word or phrase is substituted for another with which it is closely associated. It is used in journalistic English to save space, avoid repetition as well as enhancing language images and expressive effects. For instance:

　　“Chinese doesn’t agree to apply to the sword to solve the Gulf Crisis.”

　　“中国人民不主张用武力解决海湾危机。”

　　Here “sword” is used instead of “force”.

　　(3) Antithesis is a figure of speech in which sharply contrasting ideas are juxtaposed in a balanced or parallel phrase or grammatical structure. Here is an example:

　　Big crime, small cities

　　小城，大案

　　“Big” and “small” constitute a sharp contrast between the size of cities and the criminal record, which is intended to call for public awareness. To retain the effect and give the same feeling to Chinese readers, translators can also use a Chinese antithesis, i.e. “小” and “大”.

　　The above examples of handling figures of speech also indicate that the application of communicative translation and semantic translation need be controlled by translators in a flexible way with different amount emphasis on content and form.

　　Conclusion

　　Each kind of translation practice should have theoretical basis and each translation theory has its distinctive advantage which is much suitable for correspondent text. Compared with other dominant translation theories, the main spirits of Peter Newmark’s communicative translation and semantic translation are well applied to news translation. According to Newmark, communicative translation conveys the original message in a form that conforms to the linguistic, cultural and pragmatic conventions of TL; semantic translation consequently strives to reproduce the form of the original as closely as TL norms will allow.