四六级

　　自隋朝起,封建政府开始从科举考试(imperial examination)合格的应试者中选拔官员。参加科举考试的人有两种:一种由学馆选送的学生构成,叫做生徒 (shengtu);另一种叫做乡贡(xianggong),由县试合格者构成。唐朝的科举考试一般由礼部(Ministry of Rites)主持。考生考取后,再经吏部(Ministry ofPersonnel)复试,根据成绩授予相应的官职。科举制度一直被多朝沿用,直到中国最后一个封建王朝—清朝。然而,明清时期,科举制度演变成严格、呆板的制度,阻碍了中国考试制度的现代化和科学化发展。

　　Since the Sui Dynasty,the feudal government started to select officials from the qualifiedcandidates in the imperial examinations.There were two kinds of people taking theimperial examination.One was comprised of students chosen by academies,who werecalled shengtu;the other kind,called xianggong,was made up of those who had passedthe examinations held by counties.The imperial examination in the Tang Dynasty wasusually held by the Ministry of Rites.Those who passed the examination would be re-examined by the Ministry of Personnel and be conferred with relevant official positionsaccording to their examination results.The imperial examination system was usedthroughout many dynasties until China's last imperial dynasty,the Qing Dynasty.However,during the Ming and Qing Dynasties,the imperial examination system became a strict andrigid institution which stopped China from adopting modern and scientific methods.

　　2.学馆:即古代的学校,此处的“学校”可以推荐当官,可见译为school不合适, 能够推荐当官的应该是高等,故译为academy。

　　3.由…构成:可用词组be comprised of来表达,还可以用词组consist of,be made up of。

　　4.生徒:中国古代特有名词,英语中没有对应的词,故可用汉语拼音译为shengtu。后面的“乡贡”也同理,译为xianggong。

　　5.县试:即由县里组织的考试,故可译为examinations held by counties。

　　6.复试:可以用re-examine表达。

　　7.呆板的:可译为rigid。

　　8.阻碍了中国考试制度的现代化和科学化发展:可理解为“阻碍了中国采用现代化和科学的方法”,故可译为定语从句which stopped China from adopting modern and scientific methods。