A Translation Report On An Introduction To Petroleum Technology,Economics And Politics (Chapters 7-8)

As a branch of English for Science and Technology(EST),Petroleum English is one of the representatives of EST.From lexical level,EST has a high specialty with numerous terminologies and flexible word formation.In terms of sentence structure,the long sentences such as attributive clauses and adverbial clauses as well as passive voice are widely used in EST.In a word,it is of high logic and objectivity.The translation of petroleum technical texts demands the combination of basic knowledge of English and background knowledge of petroleum.But that is far from enough.The book An Introduction to Petroleum Technology,Economics and Politics written by American writer James G.Speight covers most aspects of petroleum industry,including the origin and occurrence of oil,exploration,drilling,recovery and transportation,oil culture,oil prices and oil supply.The translator chooses the Chapters 7 and 8 as the source text of the translation practice.And the translator hopes to have a better understanding of the characteristics of sci-tech texts and acquire some translation skills as well as learn more knowledge about the petroleum industry through the translation practice.The report consists of four Chapters.The first Chapter introduces the background of the translation and the significance of the translation report to the translator,to the domestic oil companies,people involved in petroleum industry and those who will do research on the translation of petroleum technical English.The second Chapter concentrates on the translation process,which includes the preparation before translation,the lexical and syntactic features of source text and the preparation work before the translation.The third Chapter is the main part of the report with the description of the translation methods of the lexis,long and difficult sentences and passive voice under the guidance of the "Functional Equivalence"theory put forward by Eugene A.Nida.As to the lexis,the translator describes the translation skills of terminologies and non-terminologies.For the long andcomplicated sentences,the translator intends to adopt various translation methods according to the features of sentences to achieve functional equivalence.In Chapter four,the translator summarizes the lessons and experience in the translation process and points out the limitations in the thesis.Through the translation practice,the translator learned about the lexical and syntactic features of technical texts and acquired some translation skills,which lay a foundation for future translation practice.Meanwhile,the translator hopes the translation report can provide certain references for personnel engaged in petroleum technical translation.