參考譯文

　　Wu Zetian, the only female emperor in Chinese history, declared herself emperor in 690, the Tang Dynasty. Although she was very cruel, her rule over the country proved to be quite successful. It is talents that she appointed officials, regardless of their family status. She greatly improved agriculture by rewarding the officials who actively developed agriculture and punishing those imposing heavy tax on peasants. Chinese Buddhism also peaked during her reign. Song Qingling regarded her as an outstanding female politician in the feudal period.

　　翻譯詳解

　　1.第1句中的“中國(guó)歷史上唯一的一位女皇帝”可按原文結(jié)構(gòu)譯成the only female emperor in Chinese history，用逗號(hào)隔開(kāi)，作“武則天”的同位語(yǔ)。“于唐朝690年”作時(shí)間狀語(yǔ)，置于句末。按照英文表達(dá)習(xí)慣，小 的時(shí)間放在大的時(shí)間點(diǎn)之前，故表達(dá)為in 690, the Tang Dynasty。

　　2.第3句中的“她任人唯賢”可套用表強(qiáng)調(diào)的句型it is... that來(lái)表達(dá)，譯作It is talents that she...。“完全不考慮其家庭地位”可譯為并列結(jié)構(gòu)and didn't consider their family status at ail，但這樣處理稍顯生硬， 可用作狀語(yǔ)的介詞短語(yǔ)來(lái)表達(dá)，譯為 without considering their family status 或 regardless of their familystatus。

　　3.翻譯第4句“通過(guò)獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)……，懲罰……，武則天極大地促進(jìn)了農(nóng)業(yè)的發(fā)展”時(shí)，先譯出主干(She greatlyimproved agriculture)，“促進(jìn)......的發(fā)展”是中文固定表達(dá)，英譯時(shí)省譯“發(fā)展”(development)，直接譯為improved...即可。“通過(guò)獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)……，懲罰……”表方式，故將其處理成方式狀語(yǔ)，用介詞短語(yǔ)by rewardingthe officials... and punishing those...來(lái)表達(dá)。定語(yǔ)“積極發(fā)展農(nóng)業(yè)的”較長(zhǎng)，可將其處理為定語(yǔ)從句actively developed agriculture，或用分詞短語(yǔ) actively developing agriculture 來(lái)表達(dá)。

　　4.第6句中的“......發(fā)展到了頂峰”可用動(dòng)詞peak來(lái)表達(dá)，也可譯為get to the peak/highest point等。時(shí)間狀語(yǔ)“在她統(tǒng)治期間”表達(dá)為during her reign，置于句末。