本帖最后由 !感-杠-問? 于 2012-9-18 13:09 編輯
原文如下：
When it comes to the slowing economy, Ellen Spero isn't biting her nails just yet. But the 47-year-old manicurist isn't cutting, filing or polishing as many nails as she'd like to, either. Most of her clients spend $12 to $50 weekly, but last month two longtime customers suddenly stopped showing up. Spero blames the softening economy. “I'm a good economic indicator,” she says. “I provide a service that people can do without when they're concerned about saving some dollars.” So Spero is downscaling, shopping at middle-brow Dillard's department store near her suburban Cleveland home, instead of Neiman Marcus. “I don't know if other clients are going to abandon me, too,” she says.
整段就是說經(jīng)濟(jì)增速下滑所導(dǎo)致的一個(gè)小商鋪的生意不好。文章構(gòu)思是從微觀現(xiàn)象來反應(yīng)宏觀環(huán)境（作文中可以使用這種開頭構(gòu)思）。
來看畫線句。
先把可能有障礙的詞匯解決，如下：
indicator something that can be regarded as a sign of something else [= sign]
do without phrasal verb
1 do without (something) to live or do something without a particular thing:
*I don't have any sugar so you'll have to do without.
*You can do without a carpet but you've got to have somewhere to sit.
2 can do without something used to say that something is annoying you or causing your problems:
*You can do without all that hassle.
*Those are the type of stupid remarks I can do without.
concerned worried about something
concerned about
再看原句，如下：
“I'm a good economic indicator,” she says. “I provide a service (that people can do without when they're concerned about saving some dollars).”
前半句沒有問題，“我是個(gè)好的經(jīng)濟(jì)信號(hào)”。
后半句，括號(hào)內(nèi)容是定語從句，修飾service，先行詞在定語從句中充當(dāng)without的介詞賓語。將先行詞放回到從句中，則為：people can do without the service when they're concerned about saving some dollars.
do without有兩個(gè)解釋，第一個(gè)是do without (something)，表示在缺少某物的條件下生存或做某事；第二個(gè)是can do without something，表示這個(gè)something是annoying（令人煩惱的）或causing your problems（引起問題的）。
這里粗略看似乎是第二個(gè)義項(xiàng)，形式上也很符合。但是其實(shí)應(yīng)該是第一個(gè)義項(xiàng)。原因如下：
can do without something在表示used to say that something is annoying you or causing your problems的時(shí)候，要注意這里的“your”是誰？應(yīng)該是can do的主語。
但在這句話中，annoying或者causing problems的對(duì)于修指甲的那個(gè)店家而言，而非can do的主語people（他們不修指甲也不會(huì)覺得有什么特別的annoying或者causing problems）。
因此，在這里can do without something是第一個(gè)義項(xiàng)，即“在沒有某物的情況下生活”
最后做整句翻譯，如下：
“I'm a good economic indicator,” she says. “I provide a service (that people can do without when they're concerned about saving some dollars).”
她說道：“我的小店就是最好的經(jīng)濟(jì)晴雨表。當(dāng)人們擔(dān)心經(jīng)濟(jì)下滑而選擇儲(chǔ)蓄時(shí)，很多人就不來我店里了。”
（后半句話的直譯是：當(dāng)人們擔(dān)心儲(chǔ)蓄美元時(shí)，他們就不再消費(fèi)我提供的服務(wù)而生活。（或者說，他們生活，但沒有了我提供的服務(wù)））
上述翻譯我覺得還是聽起來不太舒服，再作一修改，如下：
“I'm a good economic indicator,” she says. “I provide a service (that people can do without when they're concerned about saving some dollars).”
她說道：“我的小店就是最好的經(jīng)濟(jì)晴雨表——經(jīng)濟(jì)不景氣的時(shí)候，人們就會(huì)存更多的錢，很多人就不來我店里消費(fèi)了。”
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