2．4．1　Some English Numbers一些英语数字的翻译

2．4．1　Some English Numbers一些英语数字的翻译

There are some common English numbers that are usually used in materials about science and trade．In the first place，we should manage to memorize some commonly used ones like hundred(100 or百)，thousand(1，000 or千)and million(1，000，000 or百万)．At the same time，we should also know such numbers as billion，trillion，quadrillion and quintillion，which are quite different between American use and British use．Now let us look at some sentences with numerals and compare the original and the versions．

Foreign funds flowed into China in a spectacular way．The stock of foreign investment grew from under $ 5 billion in 1989 to nearly $ 90 billion by 1994．

　外资大量投向中国，外商投资总量由1989年的不足50亿美元增长到1994年的近900亿美元。

China has a grassland area of 390 million hectares，of which about 320 million hectares can be used，which places China third in the world in the area of usable grassland．

　中国现有草地面积3．9亿公顷，其中可利用面积3．2亿公顷，居世界第三位。

In 1977，the sum total of Chinese imports and exports was less than $ 15 billion，putting China＇s share of world trade at 0．6　percent．

　在1977年，中国进出口总额还不到150亿美元，仅占世界贸易总额的0. 6%。

In the second place，we should know some common phrases，which are composed of numerals and prepositions，or numerals and other words．They are usually used to indicate the indefinite scope or phenomenon，sometimes to indicate the statue of substances．

They packed the oranges in tens．

　他们把橘子十个十个地装成盒。

Ten to one she has forgotten it．

　她十有八九把这件事给忘了。

We do nothing by halves．

　我们不会做事不彻底。

Her name ranks last but one on the list．

　她的名字在名单上排在倒数第二。

Let＇s go fifty-fifty on the dinner check．

　餐费咱们均摊吧!

In a few minutes the students began to come in by twos and threes．

　几分钟之后，学生们三三两两走了进来。

Comments From the numbers above，we can see that we should not translate them directly and literally because these numbers indicate the indefinite scope rather than the exact numerals．We，while translating them，should understand their real meanings and conceptions．