【正文】 ” (28) He left at one o’clock last night, when all the others were sleeping. In this sentence, the attributive clause is used to indicate “the time when he left”, so this clause can be regarded as a time adverbial clause. Besides, in translating this sentence, a transitional word can be used to link the two clauses to make the whole sentence natural. The translated version can be “他是昨天晚上1點(diǎn)走的，那時(shí)候，其他人都在睡覺。”Most of the long sentences in English are of this type, that is, requiring both obverse and reverse translation. So, it is required of the translator to first analyze the structure of the sentence and then understand the meaning of the sentence. The nest step is to translate the sentence in the correct order and in the mon way of expression in Chinese. Component translation Component translation is generally used in attributiveclause translation, provided that the attributive clause is relatively too long to be put before the noun in the translated version, and on the condition that the attributive is not so closely related to the main clause in meaning. Generally, the attributive clause can be translated as a separate sentence from the main clause, or it can be translated as an adverbial clause.(26)He decided to go to the market, which was far from his home, so he took a taxi. In this sentence, the clause, “which was far from his home” is used to modify the noun “the market”, but it is not so closely related to the main clause in meaning. Rather, it can be regarded as a turning point in the sentence, so it can be separated from the main clause. So the translated version is “他決定去那個(gè)市場，而那個(gè)市場離他家很遠(yuǎn)，所以他打了車去?！?Reverse translationMost of English sentence are, because of the thinking habit of Englishmen, different in word order, phrase order or clause order from Chinese sentences. Some sentences are pletely reversed according to Chinese grammar. Translating these sentences, as a result, requires the translator, first, to put the reversed segments in the normal order based on Chinese grammar. This is called reverse translation. (24)He picked up the book his mother gave him.This sentence contains an attributive clause to modify the noun “the book”, but we know that in Chinese, modifiers are generally put before the noun it modifies. So, in the translated sentence, the attributive clause should be put before the noun. However, there is an exception. If the attributive clause is too long, it is not proper to put the translated clause before the noun. This is because, if thus translated, the translated version would sound too awkward based on Chinese grammar. The details of this kind of translation will be discussed later. So, the translated version of the above example is “他拿起了媽媽給他的那本書?！?“Methods in translating long English sentences”[18]P149158Besides knowing the steps taken in translating long sentences, more important, perhaps, is to master the methods and skills in translating long sentences. Zhang Peiji in his book A Course in EnglishChinese Translation shows his opinion in translating long English sentences. Obverse translationAlthough English and Chinese sentences are different in the way of expression, some sentences in English are the same in word order and way of expression as Chinese sentences. Thus, in translating these sentences, the original word order need not be changed, making the translation process relatively easier. (22)Before I had my dinner, I went out to see whether my uncle had e back.In this sentence, “before I had my dinner” is a time adverbial clause. In Chinese, the time adverbial clause is usually put at the beginning of this adverbial clause. In Chinese, the time adverbial clause is usually put at the beginning of a sentence, so the translated version of this adverbial clause do not need to be changed to another position. Thus, the translate version should be “吃飯之前，我出去看看叔叔有沒有回來。 (19)He heard a girl crying outside.In this sentence, the word which has two ways of understanding is the word “crying”. As we know, the word “cry” has two meanings: one being the action of shedding tears, and the other being the action of shouting. To find out which is the correct meaning of the word “cry” in this sentence, the reader needs to take the whole context into consideration because the specific meaning of a word depends on the whole context.(iii) Identify subordinate clauseAfter finding out the main structure and meaning of the words in a sentence, subordinate clauses must also be identified to find out the relation between the subordinate clauses and the words and the main clause. As is known, each subordinate clause has its own function, either to modify a specific word, or to indicate its relation with the main clause. Whether a sentence is well and appropriately translated largely depends on whether the subordinate clause is thoroughly studied.(20)He opened the book that his father gave him as a gift at his thirteenth birthday.The main clause of this sentence is “he opened the book”, and that “his father gave him as a gift at his thirteenth birthday” is an attributive clause to modify the book. So the main clause should first be translated, and then the attributive clause should be translated in another clause or sentence to further introduce to the reader the source of the book. Thus, the sentence should be translated as followed. 他打開了那本書，那本書是他爸爸在他13歲生日時(shí)作為禮物送給她的。 a verb always indicates an action。In the above English sentences, there are two attributive clauses to modify two segments in the sentence, while in the Chinese sentence, all the sentences are equally important and e one after another in time sequence. 3. Steps and methods in long English sentence translationLong sentences make up a large portion in English, and there are several reasons for its frequent appearance. Reasons for frequent appearance of long English sentences Frequent use of modifiersCompared with Chinese, modifiers are much more frequently u