A Translation Report On The Fourth Age:Smart Robots,Conscious Computers And The Future Of Humanity(Sections 6-9)

With the rapid development of world’s economy and the constant progress of science and technology,new technologies such as artificial intelligence and robots have benefited human life a lot.At the same time,the discussion on these new technologies has gradually increased.In addition to news reports from major media and heated discussions among people who are interested in emerging technologies,professional interpretations and opinions on emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and robots are more wanted by readers.The book,The Fourth Age:Smart Robots,Conscious Computers and the Future of Humanity,can meet this demand to some extent.In The Fourth Age:Smart Robots,Conscious Computers and the Future of Humanity,the author mainly introduces two topics,artificial intelligence and robots,and discusses the impact their combination has produced,through which the author guides readers to think about relevant issues rationally,so as to understand the development of science and technology in depth.The author ends the book by telling readers that the emergence of new technologies can improve the living conditions of everyone on the planet,and as long as people work together with firmness of will,they can live a better life.This paper consists of two parts.The first part is a translation of a 17,000-word English text,sections 6-9 of The Fourth Age:Smart Robots,Conscious Computers and the Future of Humanity.The author,Byron Reese,CEO of Gigaom,the world’s leading technology research company,are committed to exploring the interaction between technology and human history.The second part is the translation report,which introduces the background,purpose and significance of the project,describes the main contents and linguistic features of the source text,and summarizes the translation of terms and proper nouns and long and difficult sentences.By applying translation shift theory,the translator aims to convey the meaning of the original text accurately and conform to Chinese expression at the same time.Translation shifts theory,according Catford,is mainly divided into level shifts and category shifts,in which level shifts mainly involves the shifts between grammar and vocabulary,and category shifts includes structure-shifts,class-shifts,unit-shift and intra-system shift.Through this translation practice,the translator draws the following conclusions.According to the characteristics of informative texts,which emphasize the transmission of information,the translator doesn’t foist his opinions,so that the translation can better embody the objectivity and accuracy of the source text.At the same time,translators are expected to read a large number of documents and parallel texts in relevant fields,so that the translated text conforms to the expressive habits of the target language.In addition,the translator analyses the application of the translation shift theory at grammar,vocabulary and sentence levels.The translator hopes that this translation practice will help Chinese readers better understand emerging technologies,especially artificial intelligence and robots.