为方便学习，本文所涉及的单词、词组、例句已单独拎出，请参见本次发送的第二篇文章
原文
工业革命前的中国 第五部分
Two things are outstanding in the creation of the English system of canals, and they characterise all the Indutrial Revolution.
One is that the men who made the revolution were practical men.
Like Brindley, they often had little education, and in fact school education as it then was could only dull an inventive mind.
The grammar schools legally could only teach the classical subjects for which they had been founded.
The universities also (there were only two, at Oxford and Cambridge) took little interest in modern or scientific studies; and they were closed to those who did not conform to the Church of England.
逐句对比
比较自己的翻译和庄绎传先生的, 学习差异所在.
Two things are outstanding in the creation of the English system of canals, and they characterise all the Indutrial Revolution.
我的译文：英国运河系统的开创中有两个突出的特点，这两点也代表了整个工业革命。
参考译文：在修建英国的运河网的过程中，有两点是非常突出的，这两点也正是整个工业革命的特点。
我的译文和参考译文的一个差别，outstanding 我放在前置形容 特点,即 突出的特点, 参考译文是作为后置形容 特点突出，相比之下，还是后者更通顺些。
庄先生也说 characterise 不好译哈哈，中文里没有对应的词。意思是 显示出...的特点。
英汉语言的一个重大差别在于重复，英语不喜欢重复，它在后面用 they来替代Two things，而中文不怕重复，我们习惯上喜欢重复的，所以可以看到 这两点 出现了两次。更多案例请参考本公众号文章 英汉语言比较：关于重复 一文。
One is that the men who made the revolution were practical men.
我的译文：其中一个特点是，那些改革者都是实干家。
参考译文：首先，发起这场运动的都是些实干家。
practical man 实干家，我译对了，开心。
Like Brindley, they often had little education, and in fact school education as it then was could only dull an inventive mind.
我的译文：如 Brindley，他们大多没接受过什么教育，事实上那时候的学校教育只能扼杀人的创造力。
参考译文：同布林德雷一样，他们一般都没受过什么教育，事实上当时那种学校教育也只能窒息人的创造性。
had little education 没受过什么教育，可以现学现用了，my parents had little education
这里的 dull 我翻译的过分了...学习一下 dull 和 unintelligent 的区别, 二者都用来形容精神活动不咋样，就是脑子不好使。unintelligent 程度更严重。
Dull and unintelligent are both used more objectively to describe people or behaviour revealing low mental ability.
Unintelligent, in fact, is almost completely devoid of emotional connotations: unintelligent answers to complex questions. Since mental ability is a matter of degree, the word may mask subjective judgement, except when used comparatively: gearing her lessons to the more unintelligent among her pupils. Dull can be used to express simple disapproval of the stupid and boring: The party was too dull for words; a dull-witted fool. The word is often used more objectively to refer to less than average mentality
经济学人有几篇文章标题就列了 dull。。。
Who says utilities are cold-hearted and dull?
The EU celebrates an outbreak of dull stability by having petty rows
The grammar schools legally could only teach the classical subjects for which they had been founded.
我的译文：中等学校也只按规定教授那些学校成立以来就用的经典课程。
参考译文：按规定，文法学校只能讲授古典学科，这些学校的办学宗旨本来就是如此。
瞅瞅我这典型的裹脚布的译文，sigh。遇到这种长句子，还是分解开来翻译的好。
这句话的架构，先拎主要成分：学校只教古典学科。
legally 副词，修饰整个句子，拎到最前面，按规定
grammar 修饰 school, 放到学校前面， 文法学校
for which they had been founded 其中：
they指代的是文法学校for which是倒装，其实是be founded for，宾语是teach classical subjects，
所以，这样一来，这段倒装句就可以单独作为一个句子来翻译了。
The universities also (there were only two, at Oxford and Cambridge) took little interest in modern or scientific studies; and they were closed to those who did not conform to the Church of England.
我的译文：大学（只有两所，剑桥大学和哈弗大学）也对现代化或科学研究不感兴趣；而且这些大学也不接纳那些不信奉英国教堂的人。
参考译文：大学（当时只有两所，一所在牛津，一所在剑桥）对现代的或科学的学科也不怎么感兴趣；这两所大学还把不信奉英国国教的人关在门外。
我孤陋寡闻了，Church of England 是有固定说法的：
专有名词 英国国教会，英格兰圣公会(其最高统治者是英国女王，不承认教皇的权威) The Church of England is the main church in England. It has the Queen as its head and it does not recognize the authority of the Pope.
conform to: satisfy a condition or restriction
这里注意区别一下 be close to 和 be closed to，前者是接近的意思，比如你找了个钱多事少离家近（close to home) 的工作, 后者是关闭的意思。
工业革命前的中国5
来练习一下吧
参考译文见下一篇翻译练习.
工业革命前的中国 第六部分
The other outstanding feature is that the new inventions were for everyday use.
The canals were arteries of communication: They were not made to carry pleasure boats, but barges.
And the barges were not made to carry luxuries, but pots and pans and bales of cloth, boxes of ribbon, and all the common things that people buy by the pennyworth.
These things had been manufactured in villages which were growing into towns now, away from London; it was a country-wide trade.