2015年上半年的全国翻译资格水平考试英语三级笔译于5月24日结束。此次的三级笔译英译汉部分的文章似乎加长了一些，总字数达到1120个英文单词。该文摘自《纽约时报》2013年11月28日刊登的一篇文章。

　　原文地址：www.nytimes.com/2013/11/28/us/a-part-of-utah-built-on-coal-wonders-what-comes-next.html

　　该文介绍了美国燃煤行业，即煤矿开采逐渐被天然气发电所替代。随着美国当局对碳排放更严格的法律法规的出台，很多州的燃煤电厂即将关闭，然而这一形势会造成当地的煤矿工人相继失业或提前退休。

　　从历年英译汉语段的考试选题而言，所有文章都选自《纽约时报》，而且没有长难句。只要把词汇查阅准确即可理解，并且文章比较口语化，基本没有难度。下面请看译文：

　　2015年5月三笔英译汉真题及【独家译文】

　　Section 1: English-Chinese Translation (50 points)

　　For generations, coal has been the lifeblood of this mineral-rich stretch of eastern Utah. Mining families proudly recall all the years they toiled underground. Supply companies line the town streets. Above the road that winds toward the mines, a soot-smudged miner peers out from a billboard with the slogan “Coal = Jobs.”

　　世世代代，煤炭始终是东犹他州这片矿产丰富地区的命脉。采煤的家庭自豪地回忆起他们在地下艰苦劳作的岁月。小镇的街道上煤炭供应公司鳞次栉比。在那蜿蜒曲折通往煤矿的山路上方，从广告牌的一侧露出一张矿工布满煤灰的脸，旁边写着这样的一句口号“煤碳=饭碗。”

　　But recently, fear has settled in. The state’s oldest coal-fired power plant, tucked among the canyons near town, is set to close, a result of new, stricter federal pollution regulations.

　　但最近，恐惧之感渐渐袭来。由于新颁布的联邦排放法规更严格，该州位于镇附近峡谷中的最古老的燃煤电厂已确定关闭。

　　As energy companies tack away from coal, toward cleaner, cheaper natural gas, people here have grown increasingly afraid that their community may soon slip away. Dozens of workers at the facility here, the Carbon Power Plant, have learned that they must retire early or seek other jobs. Local trucking and equipment outfits are preparing to take business elsewhere.

　　随着能源企业脱离煤炭，转向更清洁，更廉价的天然气，这里的人们也越来越担心他们的社区会很快悄然消失。在这里的工厂----卡本发电厂(碳发电厂)里的几十个工人已经得知，他们必须提前退休或寻求其他工作。当地的运输和设备装置企业正准备到其它地方寻找业务。

　　“There are a lot of people worried,”said Kyle Davis, who has been employed at the plant since he was 18.

　　凯尔·戴维斯自18岁就一直在这家工厂做工，他说：“这里有很多人在担心”。

　　Mr. Davis, 56, worked his way up from sweeping floors to managing operations at the plant, whose furnaces have been burning since 1954.

　　戴维斯先生现年56岁，他一路努力工作，从扫地工升任为工厂的业务主管，该厂的火炉自1954年以来一直在燃烧。

　　“I would have liked to be here for another five years,”he said. “I’m too young to retire.”

　　“我原本打算在这里再干五年，”他说。“我还太年轻，退休早了点。”

　　But Rocky Mountain Power, the utility that operates the plant, has determined that it would be too expensive to retrofit the aging plant to meet new federal standards on mercury emissions. The plant is scheduled to be shut by April 2015.

　　但管理这家工厂的洛基山电力公司认为，要改造老化的工厂来满足对汞排放的新的联邦标准这一做法实在成本太高。该工厂预计将于2015年四月关闭。

　　“We had been working for the better part of three years, testing compliance strategies,” said David Eskelsen, a spokesman for the utility. “None of the ones we investigated really would produce the results that would meet the requirements.”

　　该电厂的发言人大卫·艾斯克森说：“在过去的三年中，我们的时间主要用于检测电厂的各种合规策略。我们的检测发现，任何一种合规策略都无法达到新法规的要求。”

　　For the last several years, coal plants have been shutting down across the country, driven by tougher environmental regulations, flattening electricity demand and a move by utilities toward natural gas. This month, the board of directors of the Tennessee Valley Authority, the country’s largest public power utility, voted to shut eight coal-powered plants in Alabama and Kentucky and partly replace them with gas-fired power. Since 2010, more than 150 coal plants have been closed or scheduled for retirement.

　　近几年来，由于环保法规更加严格、电力需求不断下降、而公用事业公司又转向天然气供应，全国各地的燃煤电厂纷纷关闭。本月，全国最大的公共电力公司--田纳西流域管理局董事会投票决定，关闭位于阿拉巴马州和肯塔基州的八家燃煤电厂并将其中一些电厂升级为燃气电厂。自2010年以来，有150多家燃煤电厂已经关闭或即将退役。

　　The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that the stricter emissions regulations for the plants will result in billions of dollars in related health savings, and will have a sweeping impact on air quality. In recent weeks, the agency held 11 “listening sessions” around the country in advance of proposing additional rules for carbon dioxide emissions.

　　环保局预计，更加严格的排放法规将能节省数十亿美元的医疗开支并将对空气质量产生全面的影响/能明显改善空气质量。最近几周，环保局在提议出台二氧化碳排放补充条例之前，在全国范围内举行了11次“听证会”。

　　“Coal plants are the single largest source of dangerous carbon pollution in the United States, and we have ready alternatives like wind and solar to replace them,” said Bruce Nilles, director of the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal campaign, which wants to shut all of the nation’s coal plants.

　　塞拉俱乐部发起的“超越煤炭”运动希望关闭全国所有的燃煤电厂。该运动的负责人布鲁斯·奈尔斯说：“在美国，燃煤电厂是危险的碳排放的最大恶源。我们已有现成的方法比如用风能和太阳能取代燃煤电厂。”

　　For many here, coal jobs are all they know. The industry united the area during hard times, too, especially during the dark days after nine men died in a 2007 mining accident some 35 miles down the highway. Virtually everyone around Price knew the men, six of whom remain entombed in the mountainside. But there is quiet acknowledgment that Carbon County will have to change —if not now, soon.

　　对于这里的很多人而言，他们所知道的·只有煤炭开采工作。煤炭行业在艰难时期也能将该地区团结起来，尤其是在2007年矿难事件后的黑暗时期。那次矿难发生在沿高速公路向南大约35英里的地方，造成九名矿工遇难。普赖斯附近的所有人几乎都认识遇难者，其中有六名遇难者至今仍埋葬在山腰处。但是现在每个人的心里都清楚，卡本县将会发生变化，即便不是现在发生，也会很快就发生。

　　Pete Palacios, who worked in the mines for 43 years, has seen coal roar and fade here. Now 86, his eyes grew cloudy as he recalled his first mining job. He was 12, and earned $1 a day. “I’m retired, so I’ll be fine. But these young guys?” Pete Palacios said, his voice trailing off.

　　皮特·帕拉斯奥斯已经86岁高龄了，曾在矿山工作43年，见证了煤炭行业的兴衰。他12岁时就开始工作，每天可以赚到一美元，回忆起自己第一份采矿工作时，老人的目光中充满了忧愁。他说：“我已经退休了，所以我可以安享晚年。但是这些年轻人今后该怎么办呢?”老人说这番话时声音越来越低沉。

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（责任编辑：何莹莹）