2. 译成汉语的被动语态。

　　英语中的许多被动句可以翻译成汉语的被动句。常用“被”, “给”, “遭”, “挨”, “为……所”, “使”, “由…”, “受到”等表示。例如:

　　例1.Early fires on the earth were certainly caused by nature, not by Man.

　　地球上早期的火肯定是由大自然而不是人类引燃的。

　　例2.These signals are produced by colliding stars or nuclear reactions in outer space.

　　这些讯号是由外层空间的星球碰撞或者核反应所造成的。

　　例3.Natural light or “white” light is actually made up of many colours.

　　自然光或者“白光”实№上是由许多种颜色组成的。

　　例4.The behaviour of a fluid flowing through a pipe is affected¹ by a number of factors, including the viscosity² of the fluid and the speed at which it is pumped.

　　流体在管道中流动的情况, 受到诸如流体粘度、泵送速度等各种因素的影响。

　　例5.They may have been a source of part of the atmosphere of the terrestrial planets, and they are believed to have been the planetesimal-like building blocks for some of the outer planets and their satellites.

　　它们可能一直是地球行星的一部分大气的来源。它们还被认为是构成外部行星以及其卫星的一种类似微星的基础材料。

　　例6.Over the years, tools and technology themselves as a source of fundamental innovation have largely been ignored by historians and philosophers of science. (95年考题)

　　工具和技术本身作为根本性创新的源泉多年来在很大程度上被科学史学家和科学思想家们忽视了。

　　例7.Whether the Government should increase the financing of pure science at the expense of technology or vice³ versa (反之) often depends on the issue of which is seen as the driving force. (95年考题)

　　政府是以减少技术的经费投入来增加纯理论科学的经费投入, 还是相反, 这往往取决于把哪一方看作是驱动的力量。

　　例8.The supply of oil can be shut off unexpectedly at any time, and in any case, the oil wells will all run dry in thirty years or so at the present rate of use.

　　石油的供应可能随时会被中断；不管怎样，以目前的这种消费速度，只需30年左右，所有的油井都会枯竭。