2．4. 3 Compare and Analyze比较与分析
Suppose that we lined up our①roughly 14 million USbusinesses in order of size，starting with the smallest，along an imaginary road from San Francisco to New York．There will be 4，500 businesses to the mile，or a little less than one per foot．Suppose further that we planned a flag for each business．The height of the flagpole represents the annual volume of sales and each②$10，000 in sales is shown by one foot of pole．
The line of flagpoles is a very interesting sight．From San Francisco to about Nevada，it is almost unnoticeable，a row of poles about a foot high．From Reno eastward the poles increase in height until，near Columbus，Ohio—③about four-fifths of the way across the nation—flags fly about 10 feet in the air．
But as we approach the eastern terminus，the poles suddenly begin to mount．There are about 300，000 firms in the country with sales④over $500，000．These corporations occupy the last 75 miles of the 3，000-mile road．There are 200，000 firms with sales⑤over $1 million．They occupy the last 50 miles．Then there are 1，000firms with sales of⑥$50，000，000 or more．They take up⑦the last quarter mile before the city limits，flags flying at cloud height，5，000 feet up．
At the very gates of New York，on the last 100 feet of the last mile，we find the 100 largest industrial firms．They have sales of⑧at least $ 1．5 billion，so that their flags are already miles high．Along the last 10 feet of road，there are the 10 largest companies．Their sales are⑨roughly $10 billion and up．Their flags fly 190 miles in the air，literally in the stratosphere．
美国大概有①1，400万家商行，假设我们按其规模大小排列，从最小的开始，沿着一条想像的路线从旧金山一直排到纽约。那么，每英里将有4，500家商行，或者说每英尺就将近有一家商行。我们进一步设想为每一家商行树一杆旗帜，旗杆的高度代表商行的年销售量，每一英尺的旗杆表示②1万美元(10，000美元)的销售量。
这种旗杆的队列会是一种非常有趣的景象。从旧金山到内华达州的里诺附近，这些高约一英尺的旗杆队列几乎不引人注意。但从里诺一直向东至俄亥俄州的哥伦布市的附近延伸，旗杆高度不断在增加——横跨美国③大约五分之四的路程——旗帜便会在大约10英尺高的空中飘扬。
但是，当我们接近东部终点时，旗杆突然开始增高。全国大约有30万家商行的年销售量④超过50万美元(500，000美元)。而这些公司就集中在全程3，000英里的最后75英里。20万家公司⑤超过100万美元，它们集中在最后50英里。再往前延伸，有1，000家公司的销售量达到或⑥超过5千万美元(50，000，000美元)，它们在到达纽约市前的⑦最后四分之一英里，这些旗杆在5，000英尺高度的云端飘扬。
就在纽约市的边缘，即最后一英里的最后100英尺的路上，我们看到100家最大的工业公司。它们的年销售量⑧至少达15亿美元，它们的旗杆已有一英里之高。在这条想像道路的最后10英尺，有10家最大的公司。它们的销售量⑨大概有100亿美元甚至更高。它们的旗帜会处在190英里的高空，几乎可以说是在同温层里飘扬。
注:选自唐述宗，《托福应试大全》，浙江大学出版社，1990。译文有修改。
Notes: In this passage，there are many numbers，some of which will be chosen to show the techniques in translating them．Firstly，we should pay attention to English number words like million，billion and the like，and render them correctly．Secondly，when we translate numbers like②④⑥，we have two ways: one is to directly put them into Arabic numerals，that is，$ 10，000—10，000美元，$ 500，000—500，000美元，and $ 50，000，000—50，000，000美元; the other is to translate them into Chinese characters，that is，$ 10，000—1万美元，$ 500，000—50万美元，and $ 50，000，000—5千万美元．Thirdly，we correctly and clearly express approximate numbers roughly，about，over，at least，or more，and up，etc．as in expressions①③④⑤⑥⑧⑨．