本文作者G.C.索恩利，美國著名的科技小說家，以科普作品見長。本文選自于English Through Reading，屬于典型的非文學(xué)翻譯，由莊繹傳翻譯。科技文獻(xiàn)被動(dòng)語態(tài)居多，本文主要學(xué)習(xí)被動(dòng)語態(tài)的四種譯法，可以結(jié)合《十二天突破英漢翻譯(筆譯篇)》同時(shí)學(xué)習(xí)。

There are three main groups of oils: animal, vegetable and mineral.

油可以分為三大類：動(dòng)物油；植物油；礦物油。

Great quantities of animal oil come from whales, those enormous creatures of the sea which are the largest remaining animals in the world.

大量的動(dòng)物油是從鯨魚身上得來的。鯨魚是海里的龐然大物，是世界上現(xiàn)有動(dòng)物中最大的一種。

To protect the whale from the cold of the Arctic seas, nature has provided it with a thick covering of fat called blubber.

大自然為了保護(hù)鯨魚，讓它不致在北冰洋受凍，便讓它長了厚厚的一層脂肪，叫做鯨脂。

When the whale is killed, the blubber is stripped off and boiled down, either on board ship or on shore.

鯨魚殺死之后，把鯨脂剝下來熬油，這項(xiàng)工作有的是在船上進(jìn)行的，有的是在岸上進(jìn)行的。

It produces a great quantity of oil which can be made into food for human consumption.

這樣，就能生產(chǎn)出大量的油，供人們食用。

A few other creatures yield oil, but none so much as the whale.

有些動(dòng)物也出油，但都沒有鯨魚出得多。

The livers of the cod and the halibut, two kinds of fish, yield nourishing oil.

鱈魚和比目魚，這兩種魚的肝臟出的油營養(yǎng)豐富。

Both cod liver oil and halibut liver oil are given to sick children and other invalids who need certain vitamins.

從這兩種魚得來的魚肝油可以給缺少某種維生素的患兒或其他病人服用。

These oils may be bought at any chemist's.

這兩種魚肝油在任何一家藥房里都可以買到。

Vegetable oil has been known from antiquity.

植物油自古以來就為人們所熟悉。

No household can get on without it, for it is used in cooking.

任何家庭都離不開它，因?yàn)樽鲲埖臅r(shí)候就要用它。

Perfumes may be made from the oils of certain flowers.

有花兒產(chǎn)生的油可以用來制造香水。

Soaps are made from vegetable and animal oils.

植物油和動(dòng)物油還可以用來制作肥皂。

To the ordinary man, one kind of oil may be as important as another.

對(duì)一般人來說，這種油或那種油可能都是重要的。