2019年英语四级翻译模拟：长城

　　中国人为什么要修长城、在秦始皇时代，每20个人中，就有一个人参与修建过长城。中国人经历了无数次毁灭性的战争，他们深知，保护生灵的城墙总比掩埋尸体的壕沟(trench)好。修建长城有说不尽的艰辛，甚至不少人还因此付出了生命。但与惨烈的战争相比，人们更愿意选择前者。长城在中国历史上发挥的作用是巨大的。在冷兵器时代，长城在军事防御上起到了不容置疑的作用，尤其在防御北方民族所谓的“马背上的进攻”方面，效果是明显的。

　　【参考译文】

　　Why did the Chinese build the Great Wall? During the reign of the first Emperor of Qin, one out of every 20 people tool part in the project. Suffering from the devastating damage of wars, Chinese people realized that building a wall to protect lives was better than burying the dead in trenches. Building walls was extremely hard labor, sometimes even at the cost of life itself. Compared with bloody wars, however, people would rather choose the former. The Great Wall played a significant role in history. It certainly served the purpose of military defense in the age of cool steel, especially in preventing attacks from northern peoples on horseback.

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