1. 得病以前，我受父母寵愛，在家中橫行霸道。
學生譯文（以下簡稱“學譯”）：Before the illness， I was much petted by parents， doing everything at will in the home.
學譯：Before I became ill， I have received all the favor of my parents， just like a little tyrant at home.
參考譯文：Before I fell ill， I had been the bully under our roofs owing to my doting parents.
我們知道，漢語表達大多為“意合”結構，結構鬆散，以一個一個看似並列的短句“拼湊而成，彼此邏輯關係不明顯；但英語則不同於漢語，它是形合語言，非常講究句子內部的邏輯關係的”外化“，所謂”外化“，即，使用Connectives來表現其邏輯關係。我國譯界有一個著名比喻：漢語句子的結構像”竹竿“，是一節接一節的；而英語句子則像”葡萄“，主幹很短，而”掛“在上面的'附加成分則很多。可以說，漢譯英的過程，是一個由”竹竿“向”葡萄“轉換的過程。首先要確定”一節接一節“的漢語句子，選其中的哪一節為英句的”（葡萄）主幹“。
上面的漢語原句就含有一定的邏輯關係。“受父母寵愛”是因，而“在家中橫行霸道”則是果。“果”應是全句的重心，英譯上句，“（葡萄）主幹”當選定“在家中橫行霸道”而非學生譯文所選的“我受父母寵愛”。
2. 一旦隔離，拘禁在花園山坡上一幢小房子裡，我頓感打入冷宮，十分鬱郁不得志起來。
學譯： When isolated and taken into custody in a small house on the hillside of our garden， I felt like I was abandoned， getting more and more depressed.
學譯： As soon as I was kept apart in a small flat built on the hillside in the garden， I suddenly felt being consigned to limbo， gloomily and disappointedly.
參考譯文：Feeling like being deposed into a cold palace，? I began to taste the bitterness of depression and frustration immediately after I was segregated and confined in a small house on a hillside in our garden.
漢語原句有“四節”，哪一部分應該成為英句之“主幹”？“我頓感打入冷宮”，還是“十分鬱郁不得志起來”？學譯都把“我頓感打入冷宮”處理為“主幹”，而參考譯文則反其道而行之。細細分析，“十分鬱郁不得志起來”和“我頓感打入冷宮”，兩者也有主次關係。顯然，“十分鬱郁不得志起來”為主，“我頓感打入冷宮”為次。兩者之間，不僅存在時間先後的順序，而且還存在著邏輯上的“因果”。因此，參考譯文處理得當。另一個值得參考之處在於：“主幹” （I began to taste the bitterness of depression and frustration）的前後均有附加成分，句子顯出“平衡美”。
3. 一個春天的傍晚，園中百花怒放，父母在園中設宴，一時賓客雲集，笑語四溢。
學譯： At one dusk in spring， flowers were blooming wildly in the garden， my parents were holding a banquet， in which guests were gathering， laughters could be heard everywhere.
學譯：On a spring evening，? hundreds of flowers were in full bloom in the garden where my parents hosted a banquet. For a while， guests gathered in large number， laughing and talking， which could be heard clearly.
參考譯文：On a spring evening，? my parents gave a banquet in the garden where a profusion of flowers were in full bloom. In no time， a crowd of their guests collected and laughter was heard all over there.
漢語原句的“節數”增加到“五節”。譯成英語，仍應確定正確的“主幹”，兩個“學譯”不謀而合，將“園中百花怒放”， 而不是“父母在園中設宴”作為“主幹”來處理。讀來，給人一種觀比薩斜塔的感覺。相比之下，參考譯文則給人一種美感，散發出濃郁的英語味？
