1. Figures In Interpreting 数字口译

2.  Chinese,  十, 百, 千, 万, 十万, 百万, 千万, 亿, 十亿 …, which are actually the multiples of 十.  English,  no equivalents of “ 万 ” and “ 亿 ”. Relevant figures have to be converted on the basis of “thousand”, “million” and “billion”.

3.  figures, illogical in nature No matter how good an interpreter’s memory is, he/she cannot expect to memorize all figures, especially big ones.

4. 1. Interpreting Cardinal Numbers  1. Interpreting Numbers Smaller than One Hundred  It is easy to interpret numbers below one hundred because there is a regular set of numerals in English, which constitutes the basis of the whole English numeral system.

5.  2. Converting Three- and Four-Digit Numbers ( 百，千 )  Equivalents of the Chinese “ 百 ”and “ 千 ” can be found in English, i.e. “hundred” and “thousand”.  In British English, numbers involving 3 digits should be marked off with the word “and” between the second and third digits (counting from right to left).

6.  E.g. 二百零七 ( 207):  two hundred seven ( in AmE)  two hundred and seven (in BrE)  四千七百五十二 ( 4752):  four thousand seven hundred fifty two ( in AmE)  four thousand seven hundred and fifty two ( in BrE)

7.  3. Converting Five- and Six-Digit Numbers （万，十万）  “ 万 ”and“ 十万 ” no equivalent cardinal numbers in English, figures must be expressed by the multiple of “thousand” and converted into “ 十 千 ”and “ 百千 ”.

8.  E.g. 三万一千五百三十六 (31,536): =31 千 5 百 3 十 6  thirty-one thousand, five hundred thirty-six (in AmE)  thirty-one thousand, five hundred and thirty-six (in BrE)  八十八万四千九百七十二 (884,972): =884 千 9 百 7 十 2  Eight hundred eighty-four thousand, nine hundred seventy- two (in AmE)  Eight hundred eighty-four thousand, nine hundred and seventy-two (in BrE)

9.  4. Interpreting Seven-, Eight- and Nine-digit Numbers ( 百万，千万，亿 )  百万 million  千万 and 亿. Any number between “ 百万 ” and “ 十亿 ” (or “ 万亿 ” in BrE) must be expressed by the multiple of “million”. 千万 = 十个百万 (ten million), 亿 = 百个百万 ” (one hundred million).

10.  E.g. 二千二百三十四万五千 (22,345,000)  =22 百万 345 千  twenty-two million, three hundred and forty- five thousand  四亿七千五百六十七万九千 (475,679,000)  =475 百万 679 千  four hundred seventy-five million, six hundred seventy-nine thousand

11.  5. Interpreting Ten- and More Than Ten-digit numbers ( 十亿及十亿以上 )  十亿 billion in AmE. one thousand million in BrE. 百亿 ” and “ 千亿 ” must be converted on this basis. 万亿 trillion in AmE. billion in BrE.

12.  E.g. 四百五十亿 (45,000,000,000)=45 个 10 亿  forty-five billion / forty-five thousand million  一千亿 (100,000,000,000)=100 个 10 亿  one hundred billion/ one hundred thousand million

13. Fractions and Decimals  1. Fractions  Fractions are composed of the numerator ( 分子 ) and the denominator ( 分母 ). Cardinal numbers are used for the numerator while ordinal numbers are used for the denominator.

14.  E.g. one-fifth nine-tenths  Special expressions: a/one half, a/one quarter, three quarters  In case the numerator and the denominator are big numbers, both are pronounced as cardinal numbers, and joined by the word “over” in between. E.g. 26/95: twenty-six over ninety-five

15.  2. decimals “0” before the decimal point is sometimes omitted, or read as naught (BrE) or zero (AmE). “0” after the decimal point is read as the letter o. Numbers after the decimal point are read separately. e.g. 0.8: point eight; zero/naught point eight. 49.95: forty-nine point nine five; forty-nine ninety-five

16.  计划生育是中国的基本国策。但贵国许多人不太理 解。实际上，从 1971 年至 1998 年，由于中国实行计 划生育政策，中国减少了 3.38 亿人口。这相当于美 国和加拿大两国人口的总和，也相当于整个欧盟 15 国人口的总和。而且我国的人均国民生产总值上升 到世界第七位。如果不实行计划生育，恐怕会是倒 数第七位。而目前印度人口有九个亿。据专家测算， 按他们目前这种人口增长率，到 2050 年，他们的人 口就会超过我们中国。

17.  Notes: 计 s, CN 基策 But 你 × 理 71-98 ∵计 S 人 ↓338m =US+CA =EU 15 口 ∑ 且 CN GNP ↗ No. 7(7th) If × 计 S 7 th ← 印 人 9 亿 If now ↑, 2050y, ＞ CN //

18.  We have now crossed the vast distance. We have communication, cooperation, trade, investment, tourism, and cultural and scientific exchanges. For example, in 1972, there were now Americans as tourists in the P. R. C.; last year there were over 100,000. in 1972, there were no students from the P. R. C. studying in the United States; last year there were over 12,000. In 1972, there was no trade between the two countries, last year trade went over six billion dollars. That’s an indication of what has happened in just 13 short years.

19.  Notes: We ︵ dist We 交, 合 trad, 投， tour cul & sci ←→ eg. ’72 no US 人 → 中.y ＞ 100 千 ’72 × 学 →US.y ＞ 12 千 ’72 × trad.y ＞ 6b ind: 发生？ In13y//

20. Interpreting Questions Involving Ordinal Numbers Some questions in Chinese involving ordinal numbers are quite difficult to interpret. For example, we tend to ask questions like “ 您这 是第几次来中国了？ ” which cannot be rendered directly into English. This sort of questions has to be interpreted by using a different sentence structure.

21. 1. 您这是第几次来中国了 ? How many times have you been in China? How many times have you visited China? This isn’t your first visit to china, is it? Is this your first visit to China?

22. 2. 你们队得了第几名？ How did your team come out ( in the match)? Did your team win the match / Championship? Did you win / get the first place in the competition? How far did you go in the competition? Which place did you win?

23. 3. 这是你第几个孩子？／ 这孩子是老几呀？ Is this your eldest / youngest child? ( 你排行老几 ?) How many sisters and brothers do you have? Are you the eldest / youngest child in your family?

24. Indefinite numbers 不确定数目  1. Approximate numbers( 大约 ) In Chinese: 约 / 大约 / 大概 + round number( 整数 ) or: round number+ 来、左右 In English: about/ around /roughly /some /approximately / more or less / in the neighborhood of + round number or: round number + or so / or thereabout / in the rough

25.  2. Numbers smaller than round numbers( 少 于 ) In Chinese: 少于 / 小于 / 低于 / 不到 / 不及 + number Or: number + 以下 / 以内 In English: fewer than/ less than / under / below / within + number

26. 3. Numbers with the meaning of “nearly”( 将近 ) In Chinese: 近 / 快 / 将近 / 接近 / 几乎 / 差不多 / 差一点 / 差一点 不到 In English: nearly / almost / toward / close on

27. 4. Indefinite numbers with the meaning of “more than” In Chinese: 多于 / 大于 / 高于 / 超过 + round number or: round number + 多 / 几 / 以上 In English: More than/over/above/upwards of + round number or: round number + and more/odd/and odd

28. 5. Numbers between particular numbers 介于 In Chinese: 到 / 至 + two numbers or: 介于 + two numbers+ 之间 In English: from… to… or: (anywhere) between… and… e.g. 三到五天： from 3 to 5 days

29. 6. Indefinite numbers which are adjacent 相邻 数目 两三个： two or three 两个或两个以上： two or more

30. 7. Indefinite numbers like 数十， 数百 …. English speakers add the word “of” after the plural forms of ten/dozen/score/hundred /thousand/million/billion. e.g. 数十 / 几十 : tens of (20-99), dozens of (24-99), scores of (40-99), decades of (20-99) 数百 / 数以百计 / 成百 : hundreds of (200-999), several hundred, by the hundred 数万 / 数以万计 / 好几万 : tens of thousands of 数十万 / 几十万 : hundreds of thousands of ……..

31. Suggested Methods for Taking Figures  The success of figure conversion depends largely on whether the figures can be taken down speedily and accurately. Listed below are a number of efficient ways of jotting down figures.

32.  1.  b. m. th.  十 千 百 十  亿，亿 万 万，万 万 千，百 十 个  Jot down the numbers you hear in the process of interpreting under/above each corresponding word. This form applies to both C-E and E-C interpreting.

33.  two billion, eight hundred sixty-three million, five hundred eighty-nine thousand put down the figure like this:  2, 8 6 3, 5 8 9,  b. m. th.  十 千 百 十  亿，亿 万 万，万 万 千，百 十 个  A mere look at the corresponding Chinese numerical words will unmistakably tell you how the figure should be converted

34.  五百三十七万零四百 write it down in the same way:  b. m. th.  十 千 百 十  亿，亿 万 万，万 万 千，百 十 个  5, 3 7 0, 4

35.  2. Jot down the figures in Arabic numerals and mark them off with a comma for every three digits ( counting from the end ). Each comma represents a group of three “0”. e.g. fifty thousand: 50, four hundred thousand: 400, three million: 3,,

36.  3. Take the first one or few letters of the numerical words, with “b” for billion, “m” for million, and “th” for thousand. (Why not “t”, t can symbolize trillion.) e.g. 三千六百万： 36 m 八十三亿： 8.3 b

37.  4. Convert figures above one million by marking them off with the decimal point “.”. E.g. 九百六十三万 9.63 m 五百七十八亿 57.8 b 三万八千六百亿 3.86 tri

38. 5. Use horizontal lines above the numerals, each line representing a group of three zeros. ( Or comma after the numeral, each comma representing three zeros. ) E.g. 85,000 85, / 85 24,000,000 24,, / 24

39. Symbols for Figures  5,000 : 5’ 5, 5 5th  32,000: 32’ 32,, 32 32th  7,000,000: 7’’ 7,, 7 7m  25,000,000: 25’’ 25,, 25 25m  1,000,000,000: 1’’’ 1,,, 1 1b

40. units  吨 = t ton 千克 = kg  米 = m 千米 = km  哩 = mil 平米 = ㎡  平方公里 = k ㎡ 立米 = m 3 cubic  千瓦 = kw kilowatt 千瓦小时 = kwh

41. Exercise  Work in pairs. One student reads the following figures aloud in the language given, the other takes notes and then interprets them into the target language. Take turns to practice.

42.  四千三百八十六  二百七十四点九  五万五千九百三十二  十一万零八百四十一  五十四万九千六百三十八  二百七十四万三千六百九十四  八千八百五十九万七千三百二十  二亿三千七百一十五万零二百三十六  十六亿八千九百九十万三千七百五十四  七百零四亿九千三百五十七万九千零四十八

43. One hundred and thirteen point eight four Six thousand four hundred and thirty-one Seventy hundred and forty two Eight hundred and thirty seven thousand one hundred and five Nine hundred and sixty five thousand and seventy seven Four million eight hundred and three thousand seven hundred and twelve Ninety four million two hundred and seventeen thousand eight hundred and twenty six Five hundred and thirty million one hundred and thirty nine thousand seven hundred and forty seven Two billion five hundred and thirty-three million eight hundred and five thousand one hundred and one

44.  E-C figures interpreting  F:\ 口译 \ 口译教材 Mp3\10_10.mp3 F:\ 口译 \ 口译教材 Mp3\10_10.mp3  C-E figures interpreting  F:\ 口译 \ 口译教材 Mp3\10_20.mp3 F:\ 口译 \ 口译教材 Mp3\10_20.mp3

45. Useful expressions with figures  is … long / in length  has a total length of…  has a population of …  covers/ has an area/a territory of…

46. Pair work A: Give the figures concerning the coming 4 countries after the model. B: Interpret the figures.

47.  Belgium has an area of …. square kilometers with a population of (and its population is)….., and the population density is …per square kilometer.

48.  Country Area/km Population Population  density / per km²  Belgium 1.000 10,100,000 330  Denmark 43, 000 5,200,000 120  Germany 337,000 81,200,000 226  France 544, 000 57,600,000 106

49.  Country Area/km Population Population  density / per km²  Spain 505, 000 39,100,000 78  Finland 337, 000 5,100,000 15  Italy 301,000 57,100,000 189  Britain 244,000 60,943,000 237

50. Expressing Multiples ( 倍数表示法 ) Multiple interpreting is another headache for interpreters, many interpreters feel confused about it, because there are many different expressions of multiples in both Chinese and English.

51. E.g. 这支铅笔的长度是那支（铅笔）的 3 倍。 这支铅笔比那支（铅笔）长两倍。

52. This pencil is 3 times as long as that one. This pencil is 3 times longer than that one. This pencil is 3 times the length of that one.

53. Another example: Asia is 4 times larger than Europe. ( It equals to : Asia is 4 times as large as Europe.) 亚洲的面积是欧洲的 4 倍。 亚洲比欧洲大 3 倍。

54. 为了避免出错，同时也是为了照顾语感和避免 麻烦，在口译倍数时原则上应选用能顾及原 文整数的译法，以免 把英文倍数减去一倍 的 译法。

55. 2. 倍数减小的句型译成 " 是 …… 的 1/n" 或 " 比 …… 减少 （ n － 1 ） /n" e.g. A body would weigh six times less on the moon than on the earth. 物体在月球上的重量是地球上的 1/6 。（减少 5/6 ） e.g. My luggage is twice as light as his. 我的行李是他行李的 1/2 。

56. Expressions of Trends  Figures are often used to show a trend or a change, thus, interpreters should know some expressions of trends to enrich the delivery.

57.  1. the trend of “up” 上升 to rise a rise 增加 to increase an increase 提高 to climb a climb 增长 to grow a growth 暴涨 to jump a jump 升至 to reach 上升 to go up 高得多 much higher / far higher a great deal higher

58.  2. the trend of “down” 下降 to fall a fall 下跌 to dropa drop 下降，下滑 to decline a decline 减少 to decrease a decrease 暴跌，跳水 a sharp drop 降至最低点 to bottom out 减速 to slow down 略微低于 fractionally / marginally lower 稍微低于 somewhat / slightly / a little lower 远低于 far / much / considerably / substantially lower

59.  3. the words with the meaning of fluctuation and stability 达到平衡 to level off/out 保持平衡 to remain stable 波动 to fluctuate 保持在 to stand/remain at 达到高峰 to reach a peak

60.  4. the use of “of, by, to, at” a + n. (up or down) + of = v. (up or down) + by 增加（减少）了 E.g. There was a rise of 5%. = The figure rose by 5%. v. (up or down) + to 增加（减少）到 11_10.mp3

61. 百分数与 by 连用，作状语。 与去年同期相比，国家第一季度的总收购量增长了 6.2% 。 The total volume of state purchase in the first quarter rose by 6.2 ％, compared with the same period of last year. 百分数单独做状语。 去年日本小汽车产量比 1990 年下降了 12 ％。 The output of cars in Japan last year was 12% less than in 1990. 百分比作定语、宾语。 金属损耗减少到 30 ％以下。 The loss of metal has been reduced to less than 30%.

62. Interpreting Exercise  EU-China relationship The European Union (EU) 欧洲联盟 European Community (EC) 欧洲共同体 European Economic Community (EEC) 欧洲经济共同体 Cyprus 塞浦路斯 the Czech Republic 捷克共和国 Estonia 爱沙尼亚 Latvia 拉脱维亚 Lithuania 立陶宛 10_30.mp3

63. Interpreting exercise  China-ASEAN relationship Brunei 文莱 Cambodia 柬埔寨 Laos 老挝 Myanmar 缅甸 dialogue partners 对话伙伴 On a sound track 运行情况良好 Free Trade Bloc 自由贸易区 observe 奉行 遵守 Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence 和平共处五项原则..\ 口译教材 Mp3\10_40.mp3 Mp3\10_40.mp3

64.  The graph below shows the number of people at a London underground station from 6 to 22 o’clock. Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

65. Number of people

66.  The line graph illustrates the data about people at a London subway station from 6 am. to 10 p.m.  As we can see from the line graph, the number of people using this station fluctuates over these 16 hours. More specifically, at first at 6 am. the number of people at the station stands at only 100.Then, the number shoots up over the next two hours, peaking at 400 at 8 am. After that, the number declines rapidly for two hours, bottoming out at 180 at 10 am. The period between 10 o’clock and 12 o’clock experiences a slight growth in the number of people in the station, with the number reaching 280 at midday. Numbers in the following two hours level off at just under 300 people. From this point onwards, the number plunges to only 100 from 2 pm to 4 pm the next two hours experiences a sharp rise again, with 6 pm arriving at 380 people. After 6 pm, the number falls again, reaching the lowest point of 130 at 8 pm. The period from 8 pm to 10 pm sees a slight rise, but finally the number of people declines again from 180 to 135 at 10 pm.