Module 10 Coping tactics in interpreting
I Theory and skills
由于口译的现场性强，口译工作常伴随巨大的压力，即使是语言能力很强、准备工作做得非常充分的译员，口译中仍可能由于讲话人的语速太快、口音太重、信息太密集，或者由于现场环境和口译员自身状态等原因而出现困难，译员需要尽量不动声色地应对这些临时出现的困难，让口译继续进行下去。因此有人将口译过程比作是一个危机处理过程，这的确道出了口译工作中不为一般人所知的方面。
口译理解中最常见的困难是没听清或没听懂一个单词、句子甚至是一段话，或者是听懂了但记不住。无论遇到哪种情况，最重要的一点是保持冷静，不要慌张。口译不是字词的对译，而是信息的传达。一个词或几个词没听懂，并不一定会影响对整段话的理解，关键在于保持冷静心态，继续往下听，往往根据上下文能够得出整段话的含义和关键信息所在。因此，对于个别未听懂的部分，可以省略或者采取模糊处理的方法，即说一些与上下文并不矛盾但并没有什么实质性内容的话。但如果遇到关键的信息没有听懂，口译无法继续，则需要请讲话人解释一下，再进行口译。但这种方法不宜使用得过于频繁，以免造成听众对口译员的不信任。在条件不允许的情况下，只能根据自己对口译任务和讲话人背景的了解，结合上下文进行合理猜测。
听懂了但记不住也是初学者经常碰到的问题，这是由于口译记忆本身的局限性加上译员笔记运用不当造成的。口译记忆和口译笔记的技巧在前面几课已经进行了详尽的阐述。这里需要特别强调的是，口译记忆和笔记针对的是信息，而不是原语讲话的具体用词。如果记忆只是停留在原语的字词表层，未能对信息进行逻辑分析等深加工，那么信息遗忘的几率则相对较高。笔记如果只记了一些零散的词语，而没有体现逻辑线索，也无法起到对整段信息进行提示的作用。有的学员在听完一段话后，往往记住了一些细节，而对信息的组织和结构却很模糊，这是学口译的人特别应该注意避免的。
口译员的困难不仅来自于原语理解，也来自译语表达。口译表达障碍主要表现为译员短时记忆失效以及无法找到确切合适的译语表达。口译表达中的应对技巧旨在帮助译员跨越现场遇到的表达障碍，尽量消除其消极影响，保持听众对译员的信任，使口译能正常进行下去。译员可采取的现场策略主要包括四大类。
笼统表达
当译员无法准确、完整译出某个表达或讲话人所列举的一连串名词时，可通过使用上义词或较模糊的一般化表达概而述之。如将“Look, how well-equipped a Chinese kitchen is. There is a fridge and a freezer, a dish-washer, a washing machine with a spin-dryer, a cooker and a vacuum-cleaner.”译成“看，中国家庭的厨房配置多齐全！电冰箱、洗碗机等家电，应有尽有。”；将会议主席“Mr. Werner Steinbeck”译成“主席先生”；“三千四百三十二万”译成“more than thirty-four million”。
解释
当译员对某一表达无法找到确切的译语表达时，可通过解释的办法将信息传达给听者。如将“三农问题”译成“the issue of agriculture, rural areas and farmers”；将“打着灯笼无法找”译成“hard to come by, rare”；“红烧狮子头”译成“a stewed large pork ball with brown sauce”；“a Catch-22 situation”译成“两难境地”；“gopher”译成“一种生活在北美洲和中美洲的穴居动物”。
原语复读
对于某些词或术语，译员若由于时间关系，或由于不知道对应的译文表达，或由于根本不理解原语意义以至无法给出译文时，便可采用原语复读的做法，即模仿原语读音将信息传送给听者，如原语复读“IOU”，“太极”，“旗袍”，“Mr. Montgomery”“Mississippi”“PowerPoint”和“TGV”等。
原语复读有时非常有效，在技术性强的会议上尤其实用。
信息省略
当译员认为将接收到的信息全盘机械地翻译过去无法达到交际目的时，可以采用“信息省略”的策略，即有意识地省略部分信息。这些情形包括：讲话人太罗嗦，不断重复；原语太模糊；原语文化寓意太微妙。信息省略并不等同于信息丢失，其目的是帮助译员更好地完成交际任务，达到交际的目的。例如，对于中文开场白“谢谢大家光临。由于本人学识浅薄，加之准备不充分，所讲之处肯定多有疏漏和不妥，请大家包涵”，译员只需翻译最主要的信息，即“Thank you for coming”，后面的信息带有浓厚的中国文化色彩，不必直译出来，否则，会使目的语听众难以接受，以至影响交际效果。
II Skills practice
Teaching tips: Encourage the students to accept the fact that interpreting is crisis management in itself and coping is part of the job even for veteran interpreters. Good preparation and confidence in addition to one’s language competence and interpreting skills can help reduce the need for coping.
Instruction: Interpret the following passage, trying to use the coping tactics we introduced in section I.
10.1 Speech by Sir John Bond at the China Development Forum
Good evening, Ladies and Gentlemen.
I have to say it's great to be standing in an economy that's growing at seven per cent. Life's a lot more fun when an economy is growing. I'd certainly like to spend more of my time here than in economies growing at 1.5 per cent.
I gave a speech in the US last month when I pointed out that China had been the world's largest economy for 18 out of the last 20 centuries. And there is no doubt in my mind that China will regain that position.
I feel privileged to be here to listen to China's leaders explain their policies, and their thinking. I also think that the willingness to listen to other people's experiences shows a mature attitude which is in contrast, I am sorry to say, to many in the West.
It is always a matter of amazement to me that some Western politicians and
commentators – from countries that are no larger than one province of China – feel well qualified to tell China how it should be governed.
It behoves all of us to understand that the challenge of governing a country of 1.3 billion people is something that nobody is qualified to speak on, except China's leaders themselves, and, I guess maybe India's.
It seems to me that every nation needs policies to suit its own history and culture. It is arrogant in the extreme to think that there is a one-size-fits-all solution that works for everyone, and even more arrogant to think that your particular solution is the only one.
I have nothing but admiration for the progress China has made since I first visited in 1972. The Chinese leadership has shown great skill in achieving stunning economic growth over the past 25 years while at the same time managing the change and transition that this level of growth inevitably brings.
The development of consumer markets is an important part of this process. Because two-thirds of most economies are driven by consumer spending, China has huge potential consumer markets which will underpin economic growth both today and, even more so, tomorrow.
Globally, HSBC sees the consumer markets of tomorrow as China, India, Brazil, Mexico; all countries that have the potential to move very rapidly up the GDP-per-capita scale. We would put China at the top of the list.
Everywhere I go, I see tangible signs of China's progress: in the hotels, in the airports, the transport systems. And there is much more to come.
Getting the right products in the right people's hands at the right prices is the fundamental task of a consumer economy. Putting in place the distribution systems to facilitate the creation of consumer markets is going to be hugely important in the years ahead.
In a market, you need measures to protect consumers, but not in such a heavy-handed way as to discourage investment. Drawing the line between the interests of the consumers and the interests of the producers is a delicate task for governments and business people.
I do not underestimate the challenges that China faces. But based on the track record over the past 25 years, I know China will meet the challenge and leapfrog the West in many areas – I think of technology and communications. And in the process, China has the opportunity to avoid some of the pitfalls that have snared（设圈套；阻碍）progress elsewhere.
The scale of the opportunity for China makes this the most important meeting that I attend
every year. I am honoured to be a participant.
10.2 Opening Speech at the Western China International Economic & Trade Fair
Governor Zhang, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen:
I am delighted to be here this morning to open the Western China International Econoic and Trade Fair. I would like to thank the People's Government of Sichuan for inviting us to attend this important event where government leaders from Beijing and twelve other provinces meet to discuss strategies for developing China's Western Region. //
This event reflects the strong commitment of the Government and the people of China to develop its Western Regions. I am very impressed with the enthusiasm and determination demonstrated not only by the public sector, but also by the increasing level of private sector interest in supporting the Western development goals set forth by the government. //
Although opening to the rest of the world is vital, China's future is chiefly determined by the growth of its domestic market. The Government's push to accelerate the development of the western provinces is vital to the success of achieving sustained growth for China in the long run. To the extent the growth rate of western provinces lags, it will retard the growth rate of the whole economy. Given the significant incidence of poverty in the western provinces, growth is essential to create the jobs needed to reduce poverty and the prevailing inequalities. //
The mission of the World Bank Group is closely aligned with development priorities associated with the nexus of issues surrounding growth, poverty, and inequality. Over the past two decades, we have provided about 8 billion Dollars to support about 100 projects in China's western provinces. The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, has been very active in supporting private sector investments in the Western Region. The IFC has invested over one billion Dollars in more than 40 projects in China. Close to 20% of these investments are in China's West. //
These investment activities have been instrumental in supporting the growth of the domestic private sector and in mobilizing FDI. The World Bank and IFC will continue to support the Government and the private sector in their efforts to accelerate the western development. It is encouraging to see, therefore, that all of the important agents of change are coming together to develop the private sector as the new engine for growth in China's lagging areas. //
The purpose of my current visit to China is to assess recent economic developments in China, and discuss with senior leaders of the Government about the World Bank Group's assistance strategy for China after its accession to the WTO. I started my visit two days ago in the western province of Yunnan and have now come to Sichuan. I have seen good
examples of how the World Bank Group can offer assistance to the Government and the private sector to develop China's West. // There are also formidable challenges, however, that cannot be overlooked. These include, but are not limited to, continued efforts to create and improve the enabling business environment, and managing growth in a socially equitable and environmentally sustainable manner. But I am confident that these challenges will be managed. //
In closing, I would like to thank the Government of Sichuan for its support to World Bank and IFC operations in Sichuan. We look forward to working with all of you to contribute to the development of China's West and to improve people's lives in this important part of the country. Thank you! //
III Interpreting practice
Instruction: Familiarize yourself with the following words and phrases, and start interpreting at the end of each segment.
10.3第四届中国国际高新技术成果交易会开幕辞
尊敬的各位来宾、各位朋友、女士们、先生们：
在秋天这个收获的季节，在中国美丽的南海之滨，我们迎来了第四届中国国际高新技术成果交易会，迎来了世界各地的新老朋友。在此，我代表中国政府，向前来参加盛会的海内外嘉宾表示热烈的欢迎！向所有关心和支持“高交会”的朋友们表示衷心的感谢！//
高新技术是先进生产力的集中体现和主要标志，是推动人类社会发展进步的强大动力。知识的不断创新和科技的突飞猛进，不仅极大地推动了全球经济的发展，并越来越深刻地改变和丰富了人们的生活。//
中国的科技发展离不开世界，世界科技的进步也需要中国。中国已经加入了世界贸易组织，正以全方位开放姿态积极融身于全球化浪潮之中。作为国际高科技领域的一支重要力量，中国将以其丰富的科技和知识资源，更加广泛和深入地开展国际高新技术领域的交流与合作，努力为世界科技发展和人类进步事业做出更大的贡献。//
中国国际高新技术成果交易会是中国高新技术领域对外开放的一项重要举措。此前，我们成功地举办了三届“高交会”。“高交会”集中地展示了一大批我国最新的高新技术成果，展示了国际知名的高科技公司的先进产品和技术，广泛传播世界高科技发展的前沿理念，有效地推动了科技成果向现实生产力的转化，“高交会”已成为中国与世界在高新技术领域的开放窗口和交流舞台。//
女士们、先生们，我深信，本届交易盛会一定会给与会的朋友们带来收获；我预祝，第四届“高交会”取得更加丰硕的成果！//
10.4 Speech at International Seminar on HRD in Western China
词汇与短语
HRD (Human Resources Development) 人力资源开发
bidding for the Olympic Games 申奥
highlight 使显著，突出
influx 流入
disparity 差距
ADB (Asian Development Bank) 亚洲开发银行
“go west” “到西部去”
absorptive capacity 吸收能力
reiterate 重申
Mr. Chairman, distinguished participants, ladies and gentlemen:
It is a pleasure for me to address this International Seminar on Human Resource Development in Western China. //
A few days ago, we were all impressed by the excellent presentation of the Beijing Olympic Committee in the bidding for 2008 Olympic games. The China that the world sees on international TV is vivid images of modern office buildings and retail complexes, fashionably dressed people and economic success stories. The luxury hotel that this conference is taking place in is a good example of this image of China. However, as those of us who have traveled extensively in China know, this is not a complete picture of China. //
There are many things that one could talk about to highlight these differences between the coastal regions and the interior regions. For example, during the 1990s the economy grew about 30 percent faster on the East Coast than in the interior provinces; GDP per capita in the interior provinces is slightly less than half that of the coastal area; 82 percent of all foreign funded enterprises are located on the East Coast; and only 6 percent of the foreign trade generated by foreign funded enterprises originated in the interior regions. //
The picture painted by these regional disparities makes a compelling case to accelerate growth in the interior provinces. The Government’s Western Development Strategy will accelerate the development of the western region and promote further reform and opening-up. ADB welcomes and supports this strategy. //
I would now like to take a few minutes to tell you what the ADB is doing to help promote development in the western region. The ADB's operational strategy for China is designed to promote sustainable, pro-poor economic growth to reduce poverty and improve productivity and people’s welfare. //
Since beginning operations in 1986, ADB has lent about $10 billion to China. China makes very good use of the ADB's money. Projects are implemented on or ahead of schedule and generally achieve their objectives. //
There has been a dramatic shift in the geographic focus of the ADB's operations. Between 1986 and 1995 about two thirds of our lending was to support projects along the East Coast and about one third was for projects in the interior provinces. The Government and the ADB adopted a goal to promote growth in the poorer inland provinces. //
Better human resources are needed to better manage investment and attract more investors to the western region. Thus, human resource development has emerged as one of the top priorities in carrying out the “go west” policy. There is an abundant supply of cheap labor in the interior regions. However, there is a shortage of high-level talents and managerial professionals.// The Western Region faces many challenges. The ADB’s experience is that institutions and human resources are weaker in the interior provinces than along the coast. Unless addressed, this will hinder the social and economic development in the region. The ADB has committed 70 percent of its assistance to the interior provinces where economic development is slow and poverty is widespread. However, the success in accelerating the development of the western region depends on its absorptive capacity. This needs to be strengthened through institutional and human resource development. //
The ADB is preparing for a technical assistance project together with the Western Region Development Office of the State Council on Human Resource Development in the Western Region. The scope of this study will focus on capacity building and human resource development in the fields of development planning and project financial management. //
The ADB will work jointly with the Western Region Development Office and the Asian Development Bank Institute to develop this program. Key inputs will include advisory services, an international conference, domestic workshops and training activities. //
Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen, in conclusion, I wish to reiterate the ADB’s strong support for the Government’s strategy to accelerate development in the western region.
I wish you success in your deliberations in this important conference. Thank you. //
IV Self-study material
10.5 Carly Fiorina’s remarks at Tsinghua University
Xie xie. Xia wu hao. Those are the only two words of Chinese I know. That's not true, I know a third – Ni hao. I want to thank all of you for taking time out of your what I know to be a very busy study schedule to be here today. I know this is valuable time for you that you could be using to work, or study, or maybe to play Sword on line. Thank you for having me here today.
Coming from a company that has “invent” as part of our branding, as part of our signature, I sometimes begin speeches by saying that invention and innovation have been part of the DNA of HP for more than sixty years. Our scientists and engineers today generate more than 11 patents every day. We spend more than 4 billion dollars a year on R&D. So invention is part of our future as well as part of our past.
That all sounds pretty impressive until you think about China’s history, and you realize that “invent” has been part of China’s DNA for more than 5,000 years. Every schoolchild in America learns about China’s many gifts to this world – from the invention of paper, to gunpowder, the wheelbarrow, the compass, acupuncture – right up to the first blast furnace and the first use of iron casting, back in the sixth century BC.
As a company, we at HP are especially indebted to a man named Bi Sheng, who had the vision in 1045 A.D. to invent the world’s first movable type, which led to its first printer – a full 300 years before Gutenberg's invention of movable type changed the western world. So today, I want to issue a belated thank you to Bi Sheng for having the foresight to set in motion a process that would eventually lead to a 20 billion dollar business for HP.
That great tradition of invention and innovation has certainly been carried on here at Tsinghua, where some of the finest instructors in the world today are working to train some of the finest scientists and engineers. It’s a bit ironic that this school was originally established nearly 100 years ago as a place from where young Chinese could go to America and other western nations to learn from us. Today, the rest of the world, I think, has much to learn from China.
It’s always struck me that the process of invention is a little bit like the process of being a college student. After all, as an inventor, you go into a lab and you have a strong but perhaps vague idea of what you want to achieve. By working hard, experimenting, learning along the way, and using as a guide the work of those who went before you – you advance down the road towards discovery. You may not end up where you started – or even where you expected, but if you are successful, then begins another difficult process of trying to make your invention work in the world around you.
Like inventors, many of you have traveled the same road over the last four years here in university. The person you are today – the goals you have today, the dreams you have today – may be different from the ones you had when you first came here. And now, you are becoming prepared to take all that you’ve learned here and make it work in the world around you.
I believe that young people are graduating today into a world filled with more hope and more promise than at any other time in our history. I know sometimes that might sound strange, because we think always of the dangers and challenges in the world around us. But I have studied history in my life. I do believe this is an era of great promise and great opportunity.
This school has prepared all of you for that same journey. As you work to take what you have learned here and apply it to the world around you, I hope that you will also strive to use your capabilities to create communities that are not just richer, but better; to judge success not just by the number of networks you connect, but by the number of people you
connect; that you won’t just help make better companies, but better communities, and a better world.
It’s that same kind of thinking that brought us to China in the first place. It was 22 years ago that HP opened our first office here in China, in an old municipal factory located in Beijing. A day before the opening, there was still sawdust on the floor, and two of our engineers worked so hard to get our systems ready that they slept overnight in the building on folding cots. When we opened that building , it was the first partnership of its kind to be sponsored by the government of the People’s Republic of China in conjunction with a foreign company.
In 1985 our first joint venture agreement was signed between our then chairman, Dave Packard, and the then Minister of Information Technologies, Jiang Zemin.
One newspaper recalled that that day there was “much hand-shaking and drinking of green tea.” At the dedication ceremony, our representative at the time (Bill Doolittle) said that “it was our hope that by exchanging experiences, not only would we contribute to the progress of our industries and the growth of our economies, but to the friendship of our countries and the humanity of the world.”
That’s the same wish I leave you with here today. This University, I believe, has prepared you well and taught you the lessons of character and capability. The leaders of tomorrow will be the people of your age with the drive and commitment to fulfill their own potential and to help others reach their potential.
This is a world that in fact has always been driven by the young. Galileo published his first book on gravity at age 22. The founders of HP, Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard, were in their 20's when they began the company. Bill Gates after all started Microsoft when he was 22. Or think about a lesson of one of this school’s great founders – Zhao Yuanren, one of Tsinghua’s Great Four Tutors, who knew 10 European languages and dozens of Chinese dialects, who accompanied British philosopher Bertrand Russell around China and translated his English into the local dialect at each of their destinations. He was only 28 at the time.
And let us not forget that the world’s very first computer programmer was a woman in her 20s named Ada Byron Lovelace. She lived more than 150 years ago. She greatly expanded on the work of her mentor, the renowned mathematician Charles Babbage, whose work on the analytical engine preceded the modern computer. Today, the computer language Ada is named for her.
Your job, your great opportunity, is to harness the forces of change swirling all around you, in whatever field you decide to enter, and to take full advantage of the possibilities at your fingertips. Leadership can take place in acts large and small, it can come not just from CEOs and Prime Ministers, but can come as well from ordinary citizens who believe in the
potential of others. I hope that whatever you do, you will remember your own power and dedicate yourself to the cause Tsinghua has prepared you so well for: to dedicate yourself to unlock the potential in others; to believe in the potential of yourself; to make this era the most exciting in all of human history – and to prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that everything is possible.
Thank you.
Module 10 Coping tactics in interpreting
I Theory and skills
由于口译的现场性强，口译工作常伴随巨大的压力，即使是语言能力很强、准备工作做得非常充分的译员，口译中仍可能由于讲话人的语速太快、口音太重、信息太密集，或者由于现场环境和口译员自身状态等原因而出现困难，译员需要尽量不动声色地应对这些临时出现的困难，让口译继续进行下去。因此有人将口译过程比作是一个危机处理过程，这的确道出了口译工作中不为一般人所知的方面。
口译理解中最常见的困难是没听清或没听懂一个单词、句子甚至是一段话，或者是听懂了但记不住。无论遇到哪种情况，最重要的一点是保持冷静，不要慌张。口译不是字词的对译，而是信息的传达。一个词或几个词没听懂，并不一定会影响对整段话的理解，关键在于保持冷静心态，继续往下听，往往根据上下文能够得出整段话的含义和关键信息所在。因此，对于个别未听懂的部分，可以省略或者采取模糊处理的方法，即说一些与上下文并不矛盾但并没有什么实质性内容的话。但如果遇到关键的信息没有听懂，口译无法继续，则需要请讲话人解释一下，再进行口译。但这种方法不宜使用得过于频繁，以免造成听众对口译员的不信任。在条件不允许的情况下，只能根据自己对口译任务和讲话人背景的了解，结合上下文进行合理猜测。
听懂了但记不住也是初学者经常碰到的问题，这是由于口译记忆本身的局限性加上译员笔记运用不当造成的。口译记忆和口译笔记的技巧在前面几课已经进行了详尽的阐述。这里需要特别强调的是，口译记忆和笔记针对的是信息，而不是原语讲话的具体用词。如果记忆只是停留在原语的字词表层，未能对信息进行逻辑分析等深加工，那么信息遗忘的几率则相对较高。笔记如果只记了一些零散的词语，而没有体现逻辑线索，也无法起到对整段信息进行提示的作用。有的学员在听完一段话后，往往记住了一些细节，而对信息的组织和结构却很模糊，这是学口译的人特别应该注意避免的。
口译员的困难不仅来自于原语理解，也来自译语表达。口译表达障碍主要表现为译员短时记忆失效以及无法找到确切合适的译语表达。口译表达中的应对技巧旨在帮助译员跨越现场遇到的表达障碍，尽量消除其消极影响，保持听众对译员的信任，使口译能正常进行下去。译员可采取的现场策略主要包括四大类。
笼统表达
当译员无法准确、完整译出某个表达或讲话人所列举的一连串名词时，可通过使用上义词或较模糊的一般化表达概而述之。如将“Look, how well-equipped a Chinese kitchen is. There is a fridge and a freezer, a dish-washer, a washing machine with a spin-dryer, a cooker and a vacuum-cleaner.”译成“看，中国家庭的厨房配置多齐全！电冰箱、洗碗机等家电，应有尽有。”；将会议主席“Mr. Werner Steinbeck”译成“主席先生”；“三千四百三十二万”译成“more than thirty-four million”。
解释
当译员对某一表达无法找到确切的译语表达时，可通过解释的办法将信息传达给听者。如将“三农问题”译成“the issue of agriculture, rural areas and farmers”；将“打着灯笼无法找”译成“hard to come by, rare”；“红烧狮子头”译成“a stewed large pork ball with brown sauce”；“a Catch-22 situation”译成“两难境地”；“gopher”译成“一种生活在北美洲和中美洲的穴居动物”。
原语复读
对于某些词或术语，译员若由于时间关系，或由于不知道对应的译文表达，或由于根本不理解原语意义以至无法给出译文时，便可采用原语复读的做法，即模仿原语读音将信息传送给听者，如原语复读“IOU”，“太极”，“旗袍”，“Mr. Montgomery”“Mississippi”“PowerPoint”和“TGV”等。
原语复读有时非常有效，在技术性强的会议上尤其实用。
信息省略
当译员认为将接收到的信息全盘机械地翻译过去无法达到交际目的时，可以采用“信息省略”的策略，即有意识地省略部分信息。这些情形包括：讲话人太罗嗦，不断重复；原语太模糊；原语文化寓意太微妙。信息省略并不等同于信息丢失，其目的是帮助译员更好地完成交际任务，达到交际的目的。例如，对于中文开场白“谢谢大家光临。由于本人学识浅薄，加之准备不充分，所讲之处肯定多有疏漏和不妥，请大家包涵”，译员只需翻译最主要的信息，即“Thank you for coming”，后面的信息带有浓厚的中国文化色彩，不必直译出来，否则，会使目的语听众难以接受，以至影响交际效果。
II Skills practice
Teaching tips: Encourage the students to accept the fact that interpreting is crisis management in itself and coping is part of the job even for veteran interpreters. Good preparation and confidence in addition to one’s language competence and interpreting skills can help reduce the need for coping.
Instruction: Interpret the following passage, trying to use the coping tactics we introduced in section I.
10.1 Speech by Sir John Bond at the China Development Forum
Good evening, Ladies and Gentlemen.
I have to say it's great to be standing in an economy that's growing at seven per cent. Life's a lot more fun when an economy is growing. I'd certainly like to spend more of my time here than in economies growing at 1.5 per cent.
I gave a speech in the US last month when I pointed out that China had been the world's largest economy for 18 out of the last 20 centuries. And there is no doubt in my mind that China will regain that position.
I feel privileged to be here to listen to China's leaders explain their policies, and their thinking. I also think that the willingness to listen to other people's experiences shows a mature attitude which is in contrast, I am sorry to say, to many in the West.
It is always a matter of amazement to me that some Western politicians and
commentators – from countries that are no larger than one province of China – feel well qualified to tell China how it should be governed.
It behoves all of us to understand that the challenge of governing a country of 1.3 billion people is something that nobody is qualified to speak on, except China's leaders themselves, and, I guess maybe India's.
It seems to me that every nation needs policies to suit its own history and culture. It is arrogant in the extreme to think that there is a one-size-fits-all solution that works for everyone, and even more arrogant to think that your particular solution is the only one.
I have nothing but admiration for the progress China has made since I first visited in 1972. The Chinese leadership has shown great skill in achieving stunning economic growth over the past 25 years while at the same time managing the change and transition that this level of growth inevitably brings.
The development of consumer markets is an important part of this process. Because two-thirds of most economies are driven by consumer spending, China has huge potential consumer markets which will underpin economic growth both today and, even more so, tomorrow.
Globally, HSBC sees the consumer markets of tomorrow as China, India, Brazil, Mexico; all countries that have the potential to move very rapidly up the GDP-per-capita scale. We would put China at the top of the list.
Everywhere I go, I see tangible signs of China's progress: in the hotels, in the airports, the transport systems. And there is much more to come.
Getting the right products in the right people's hands at the right prices is the fundamental task of a consumer economy. Putting in place the distribution systems to facilitate the creation of consumer markets is going to be hugely important in the years ahead.
In a market, you need measures to protect consumers, but not in such a heavy-handed way as to discourage investment. Drawing the line between the interests of the consumers and the interests of the producers is a delicate task for governments and business people.
I do not underestimate the challenges that China faces. But based on the track record over the past 25 years, I know China will meet the challenge and leapfrog the West in many areas – I think of technology and communications. And in the process, China has the opportunity to avoid some of the pitfalls that have snared（设圈套；阻碍）progress elsewhere.
The scale of the opportunity for China makes this the most important meeting that I attend
every year. I am honoured to be a participant.
10.2 Opening Speech at the Western China International Economic & Trade Fair
Governor Zhang, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen:
I am delighted to be here this morning to open the Western China International Econoic and Trade Fair. I would like to thank the People's Government of Sichuan for inviting us to attend this important event where government leaders from Beijing and twelve other provinces meet to discuss strategies for developing China's Western Region. //
This event reflects the strong commitment of the Government and the people of China to develop its Western Regions. I am very impressed with the enthusiasm and determination demonstrated not only by the public sector, but also by the increasing level of private sector interest in supporting the Western development goals set forth by the government. //
Although opening to the rest of the world is vital, China's future is chiefly determined by the growth of its domestic market. The Government's push to accelerate the development of the western provinces is vital to the success of achieving sustained growth for China in the long run. To the extent the growth rate of western provinces lags, it will retard the growth rate of the whole economy. Given the significant incidence of poverty in the western provinces, growth is essential to create the jobs needed to reduce poverty and the prevailing inequalities. //
The mission of the World Bank Group is closely aligned with development priorities associated with the nexus of issues surrounding growth, poverty, and inequality. Over the past two decades, we have provided about 8 billion Dollars to support about 100 projects in China's western provinces. The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, has been very active in supporting private sector investments in the Western Region. The IFC has invested over one billion Dollars in more than 40 projects in China. Close to 20% of these investments are in China's West. //
These investment activities have been instrumental in supporting the growth of the domestic private sector and in mobilizing FDI. The World Bank and IFC will continue to support the Government and the private sector in their efforts to accelerate the western development. It is encouraging to see, therefore, that all of the important agents of change are coming together to develop the private sector as the new engine for growth in China's lagging areas. //
The purpose of my current visit to China is to assess recent economic developments in China, and discuss with senior leaders of the Government about the World Bank Group's assistance strategy for China after its accession to the WTO. I started my visit two days ago in the western province of Yunnan and have now come to Sichuan. I have seen good
examples of how the World Bank Group can offer assistance to the Government and the private sector to develop China's West. // There are also formidable challenges, however, that cannot be overlooked. These include, but are not limited to, continued efforts to create and improve the enabling business environment, and managing growth in a socially equitable and environmentally sustainable manner. But I am confident that these challenges will be managed. //
In closing, I would like to thank the Government of Sichuan for its support to World Bank and IFC operations in Sichuan. We look forward to working with all of you to contribute to the development of China's West and to improve people's lives in this important part of the country. Thank you! //
III Interpreting practice
Instruction: Familiarize yourself with the following words and phrases, and start interpreting at the end of each segment.
10.3第四届中国国际高新技术成果交易会开幕辞
尊敬的各位来宾、各位朋友、女士们、先生们：
在秋天这个收获的季节，在中国美丽的南海之滨，我们迎来了第四届中国国际高新技术成果交易会，迎来了世界各地的新老朋友。在此，我代表中国政府，向前来参加盛会的海内外嘉宾表示热烈的欢迎！向所有关心和支持“高交会”的朋友们表示衷心的感谢！//
高新技术是先进生产力的集中体现和主要标志，是推动人类社会发展进步的强大动力。知识的不断创新和科技的突飞猛进，不仅极大地推动了全球经济的发展，并越来越深刻地改变和丰富了人们的生活。//
中国的科技发展离不开世界，世界科技的进步也需要中国。中国已经加入了世界贸易组织，正以全方位开放姿态积极融身于全球化浪潮之中。作为国际高科技领域的一支重要力量，中国将以其丰富的科技和知识资源，更加广泛和深入地开展国际高新技术领域的交流与合作，努力为世界科技发展和人类进步事业做出更大的贡献。//
中国国际高新技术成果交易会是中国高新技术领域对外开放的一项重要举措。此前，我们成功地举办了三届“高交会”。“高交会”集中地展示了一大批我国最新的高新技术成果，展示了国际知名的高科技公司的先进产品和技术，广泛传播世界高科技发展的前沿理念，有效地推动了科技成果向现实生产力的转化，“高交会”已成为中国与世界在高新技术领域的开放窗口和交流舞台。//
女士们、先生们，我深信，本届交易盛会一定会给与会的朋友们带来收获；我预祝，第四届“高交会”取得更加丰硕的成果！//
10.4 Speech at International Seminar on HRD in Western China
词汇与短语
HRD (Human Resources Development) 人力资源开发
bidding for the Olympic Games 申奥
highlight 使显著，突出
influx 流入
disparity 差距
ADB (Asian Development Bank) 亚洲开发银行
“go west” “到西部去”
absorptive capacity 吸收能力
reiterate 重申
Mr. Chairman, distinguished participants, ladies and gentlemen:
It is a pleasure for me to address this International Seminar on Human Resource Development in Western China. //
A few days ago, we were all impressed by the excellent presentation of the Beijing Olympic Committee in the bidding for 2008 Olympic games. The China that the world sees on international TV is vivid images of modern office buildings and retail complexes, fashionably dressed people and economic success stories. The luxury hotel that this conference is taking place in is a good example of this image of China. However, as those of us who have traveled extensively in China know, this is not a complete picture of China. //
There are many things that one could talk about to highlight these differences between the coastal regions and the interior regions. For example, during the 1990s the economy grew about 30 percent faster on the East Coast than in the interior provinces; GDP per capita in the interior provinces is slightly less than half that of the coastal area; 82 percent of all foreign funded enterprises are located on the East Coast; and only 6 percent of the foreign trade generated by foreign funded enterprises originated in the interior regions. //
The picture painted by these regional disparities makes a compelling case to accelerate growth in the interior provinces. The Government’s Western Development Strategy will accelerate the development of the western region and promote further reform and opening-up. ADB welcomes and supports this strategy. //
I would now like to take a few minutes to tell you what the ADB is doing to help promote development in the western region. The ADB's operational strategy for China is designed to promote sustainable, pro-poor economic growth to reduce poverty and improve productivity and people’s welfare. //
Since beginning operations in 1986, ADB has lent about $10 billion to China. China makes very good use of the ADB's money. Projects are implemented on or ahead of schedule and generally achieve their objectives. //
There has been a dramatic shift in the geographic focus of the ADB's operations. Between 1986 and 1995 about two thirds of our lending was to support projects along the East Coast and about one third was for projects in the interior provinces. The Government and the ADB adopted a goal to promote growth in the poorer inland provinces. //
Better human resources are needed to better manage investment and attract more investors to the western region. Thus, human resource development has emerged as one of the top priorities in carrying out the “go west” policy. There is an abundant supply of cheap labor in the interior regions. However, there is a shortage of high-level talents and managerial professionals.// The Western Region faces many challenges. The ADB’s experience is that institutions and human resources are weaker in the interior provinces than along the coast. Unless addressed, this will hinder the social and economic development in the region. The ADB has committed 70 percent of its assistance to the interior provinces where economic development is slow and poverty is widespread. However, the success in accelerating the development of the western region depends on its absorptive capacity. This needs to be strengthened through institutional and human resource development. //
The ADB is preparing for a technical assistance project together with the Western Region Development Office of the State Council on Human Resource Development in the Western Region. The scope of this study will focus on capacity building and human resource development in the fields of development planning and project financial management. //
The ADB will work jointly with the Western Region Development Office and the Asian Development Bank Institute to develop this program. Key inputs will include advisory services, an international conference, domestic workshops and training activities. //
Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen, in conclusion, I wish to reiterate the ADB’s strong support for the Government’s strategy to accelerate development in the western region.
I wish you success in your deliberations in this important conference. Thank you. //
IV Self-study material
10.5 Carly Fiorina’s remarks at Tsinghua University
Xie xie. Xia wu hao. Those are the only two words of Chinese I know. That's not true, I know a third – Ni hao. I want to thank all of you for taking time out of your what I know to be a very busy study schedule to be here today. I know this is valuable time for you that you could be using to work, or study, or maybe to play Sword on line. Thank you for having me here today.
Coming from a company that has “invent” as part of our branding, as part of our signature, I sometimes begin speeches by saying that invention and innovation have been part of the DNA of HP for more than sixty years. Our scientists and engineers today generate more than 11 patents every day. We spend more than 4 billion dollars a year on R&D. So invention is part of our future as well as part of our past.
That all sounds pretty impressive until you think about China’s history, and you realize that “invent” has been part of China’s DNA for more than 5,000 years. Every schoolchild in America learns about China’s many gifts to this world – from the invention of paper, to gunpowder, the wheelbarrow, the compass, acupuncture – right up to the first blast furnace and the first use of iron casting, back in the sixth century BC.
As a company, we at HP are especially indebted to a man named Bi Sheng, who had the vision in 1045 A.D. to invent the world’s first movable type, which led to its first printer – a full 300 years before Gutenberg's invention of movable type changed the western world. So today, I want to issue a belated thank you to Bi Sheng for having the foresight to set in motion a process that would eventually lead to a 20 billion dollar business for HP.
That great tradition of invention and innovation has certainly been carried on here at Tsinghua, where some of the finest instructors in the world today are working to train some of the finest scientists and engineers. It’s a bit ironic that this school was originally established nearly 100 years ago as a place from where young Chinese could go to America and other western nations to learn from us. Today, the rest of the world, I think, has much to learn from China.
It’s always struck me that the process of invention is a little bit like the process of being a college student. After all, as an inventor, you go into a lab and you have a strong but perhaps vague idea of what you want to achieve. By working hard, experimenting, learning along the way, and using as a guide the work of those who went before you – you advance down the road towards discovery. You may not end up where you started – or even where you expected, but if you are successful, then begins another difficult process of trying to make your invention work in the world around you.
Like inventors, many of you have traveled the same road over the last four years here in university. The person you are today – the goals you have today, the dreams you have today – may be different from the ones you had when you first came here. And now, you are becoming prepared to take all that you’ve learned here and make it work in the world around you.
I believe that young people are graduating today into a world filled with more hope and more promise than at any other time in our history. I know sometimes that might sound strange, because we think always of the dangers and challenges in the world around us. But I have studied history in my life. I do believe this is an era of great promise and great opportunity.
This school has prepared all of you for that same journey. As you work to take what you have learned here and apply it to the world around you, I hope that you will also strive to use your capabilities to create communities that are not just richer, but better; to judge success not just by the number of networks you connect, but by the number of people you
connect; that you won’t just help make better companies, but better communities, and a better world.
It’s that same kind of thinking that brought us to China in the first place. It was 22 years ago that HP opened our first office here in China, in an old municipal factory located in Beijing. A day before the opening, there was still sawdust on the floor, and two of our engineers worked so hard to get our systems ready that they slept overnight in the building on folding cots. When we opened that building , it was the first partnership of its kind to be sponsored by the government of the People’s Republic of China in conjunction with a foreign company.
In 1985 our first joint venture agreement was signed between our then chairman, Dave Packard, and the then Minister of Information Technologies, Jiang Zemin.
One newspaper recalled that that day there was “much hand-shaking and drinking of green tea.” At the dedication ceremony, our representative at the time (Bill Doolittle) said that “it was our hope that by exchanging experiences, not only would we contribute to the progress of our industries and the growth of our economies, but to the friendship of our countries and the humanity of the world.”
That’s the same wish I leave you with here today. This University, I believe, has prepared you well and taught you the lessons of character and capability. The leaders of tomorrow will be the people of your age with the drive and commitment to fulfill their own potential and to help others reach their potential.
This is a world that in fact has always been driven by the young. Galileo published his first book on gravity at age 22. The founders of HP, Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard, were in their 20's when they began the company. Bill Gates after all started Microsoft when he was 22. Or think about a lesson of one of this school’s great founders – Zhao Yuanren, one of Tsinghua’s Great Four Tutors, who knew 10 European languages and dozens of Chinese dialects, who accompanied British philosopher Bertrand Russell around China and translated his English into the local dialect at each of their destinations. He was only 28 at the time.
And let us not forget that the world’s very first computer programmer was a woman in her 20s named Ada Byron Lovelace. She lived more than 150 years ago. She greatly expanded on the work of her mentor, the renowned mathematician Charles Babbage, whose work on the analytical engine preceded the modern computer. Today, the computer language Ada is named for her.
Your job, your great opportunity, is to harness the forces of change swirling all around you, in whatever field you decide to enter, and to take full advantage of the possibilities at your fingertips. Leadership can take place in acts large and small, it can come not just from CEOs and Prime Ministers, but can come as well from ordinary citizens who believe in the
potential of others. I hope that whatever you do, you will remember your own power and dedicate yourself to the cause Tsinghua has prepared you so well for: to dedicate yourself to unlock the potential in others; to believe in the potential of yourself; to make this era the most exciting in all of human history – and to prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that everything is possible.
Thank you.