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1st Annual ProZ.com Translation Contest: "Awakening" » English to Chinese

Competition in this pair is now closed.

Source text in English

Heathrow Airport is one of the few places in England you can be sure of seeing a gun. These guns are carried by policemen in short-sleeved shirts and black flak-jackets, alert for terrorists about to blow up Tie-Rack. They are unlikely to confront me directly, but if they do I shall tell them the truth. I shall state my business. I’m planning to stop at Heathrow Airport until I see someone I know. (...)

Astonishingly, I wait for thirty-nine minutes and don’t see one person I know. Not one, and no-one knows me. I’m as anonymous as the drivers with their universal name-cards (some surnames I know), except the drivers are better dressed. Since the kids, whatever I wear looks like pyjamas. Coats, shirts, T-shirts, jeans, suits; like slept-in pyjamas. (...)

I hear myself thinking about all the people I know who have let me down by not leaving early on a Tuesday morning for glamorous European destinations. My former colleagues from the insurance office must still be stuck at their desks, like I always said they would be, when I was stuck there too, wasting my time and unable to settle while Ally moved steadily onward, getting her PhD and her first research fellowship at Reading University, her first promotion.

Our more recent grown-up friends, who have serious jobs and who therefore I half expect to be seeing any moment now, tell me that home-making is a perfectly decent occupation for a man, courageous even, yes, manly to stay at home with the kids. These friends of ours are primarily Ally’s friends. I don’t seem to know anyone anymore, and away from the children and the overhead planes, hearing myself think, I hear the thoughts of a whinger. This is not what I had been hoping to hear.

I start crying, not grimacing or sobbing, just big silent tears rolling down my cheeks. I don’t want anyone I know to see me crying, because I’m not the kind of person who cracks up at Heathrow airport some nothing Tuesday morning. I manage our house impeccably, like a business. It’s a serious job. I have spreadsheets to monitor the hoover-bag situation and colour-coded print-outs about the ethical consequences of nappies. I am not myself this morning. I don’t know who I am.

The winning entry has been announced in this pair.

There were 33 entries submitted in this pair during the submission phase, 7 of which were selected by peers to advance to the finals round. The winning entry was determined based on finals round voting by peers.

Competition in this pair is now closed.


Entries (33 total; 7 finalists) Expand all entries

Entry #7292
Winner
Voting points1st2nd3rd
6715 x43 x21 x1
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry3.093.24 (17 ratings)2.94 (16 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 2 users entered 2 "like" tags
  • 5 users agreed with "likes" (6 total agrees)
+5
1
希思罗机场是一个肯定能看到枪的地方,这在英国并不多见。
Flows well
Flows well​ in Chines​e. People ​never say ​"One of...​" in Chine​se
wonita (X)
+1
此刻,没有孩子们的嬉闹声,也没有飞机从头顶呼啸而过的声音
Flows well
eng2chi
Entry #8161
Finalist
Voting points1st2nd3rd
347 x42 x22 x1
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry3.293.44 (16 ratings)3.14 (14 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 3 users entered 3 "like" tags
  • 3 users agreed with "likes" (4 total agrees)
  • 1 user disagreed with "likes" (1 total disagree)
-1
+2
1
希斯罗机场是英国少数可以看到枪支的地方之一。身穿短袖衬衣和黑色防弹衣的警察荷枪实弹,随时警惕,以防恐怖分子在Tie-Rack(领带及时尚配饰专卖店)制造爆炸事件。
Flows well
Simple and​ natural
Jason Young
保险公司的前同事应该还是整日枯坐在办公桌前,就像我之前经常说的那样。说这些话的时候我也和他们一样坐在那儿,消磨时间,无所事事,
Flows well
Jingjing Yu (X)
+2
说这些话的时候我也和他们一样坐在那儿,消磨时间,无所事事,但是艾莉却稳步向前,获得雷丁大学博士学位并成为研究员,这是她的第一次晋升。
Flows well
I like the​ way how y​ou organiz​e your sen​tences in ​Chinese
wonita (X)
Entry #7960
Finalist
Voting points1st2nd3rd
275 x43 x21 x1
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry3.003.17 (12 ratings)2.83 (12 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 2 users entered 3 "like" tags
  • 5 users agreed with "likes" (9 total agrees)
+3
1
稱頭
Flows well
Very idiom​atic!
Flowing Clouds
+4
看起来全都像是穿过一夜的睡衣裤那样惨不忍睹
Good term selection
Jason Young
+2
安慰我说
Good term selection
Jason Young
Entry #6433
Finalist
Voting points1st2nd3rd
174 x401 x1
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry3.043.31 (13 ratings)2.77 (13 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 3 users entered 3 "like" tags
  • 4 users agreed with "likes" (4 total agrees)
  • 1 user disagreed with "likes" (1 total disagree)
-1
+3
自从在家看孩子后,
Good term selection
eng2chi
我们近来交往的成年友人都身居要职,所以马上就会碰见他们也说不定。他们说男人打理家务完全是正当工作,没勇气还办不到呢。是呀,是得有男子气概才能窝在家里看孩子哪。
Flows well
Xiaochuan Cao
+1
我开始哭泣,不是一脸痛楚,不是呜咽抽噎;而是任由豆大的泪珠顺着脸颊悄然滚落。
Good term selection
Jingjing Yu (X)
Entry #6266
Finalist
Voting points1st2nd3rd
163 x42 x20
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry2.752.82 (17 ratings)2.67 (15 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 2 users entered 2 "like" tags
  • 3 users agreed with "likes" (5 total agrees)
  • 1 user disagreed with "likes" (1 total disagree)
+3
他们应该不会冲着我来
Flows well
Jingjing Yu (X)
-1
+2
1
成年人朋友们
Good term selection
eng2chi
Entry #7565
Finalist
Voting points1st2nd3rd
142 x42 x22 x1
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry2.883.08 (13 ratings)2.67 (12 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 1 user entered 1 "like" tag
但事不凑巧
Flows well
Jia Di
Entry #6329
Finalist
Voting points1st2nd3rd
61 x402 x1
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry2.702.85 (13 ratings)2.55 (11 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 2 users entered 2 "like" tags
  • 3 users disagreed with "likes" (3 total disagrees)
-3
特来阔(Tie-Rack)精品店
Good term selection
eng2chi
我不由自主地默默念叨起那些熟人来,他们真令我失望,他们怎么就不在周二清晨奔向那些令人心醉神迷的欧洲各地呢。
Flows well
Xiaochuan Cao