A new number was discovered by a team of German mathematicians in January of this year. The previously unknown integer lies in the relatively unexplored region between the numbers 88,000,002,999 and 88,000,003,000. This unexpected integer has been provisionally named “S,” for “Surprise,” until the mathematical community has determined its exact location and value.
The existence of undiscovered whole numbers in the space between known integers has long been recognized as a possibility, according to theoretical mathematician and team leader Angela Zifferling at the Institute for Polynomial Advance in Töttingen, Germany.
Crunching Numbers
It is largely because we are only used to counting up to a thousand or so in our everyday lives that we fail to notice the presence of so-called “inter-integral” numbers and other strange phenomena that lie in the incredibly distant regions of the number line.
As Zifferling explains: “It’s as if you only made observations from here to the moon, and concluded that there isn’t anything much in outer space. We really have no idea what may exist in the remoter regions of the number line, because the simple fact is that the area beyond around one hundred billion is still almost completely unexplored.”
If confirmed, the existence of number S would make calculations involving numbers in its region much more difficult, as it will probably be found to be exerting a kind of pressure on the whole numbers on either side of it in order to fit in. Mathematicians refer to this pressure as “integral crowding,” and say that it may increasingly be a problem as we move farther and farther from zero.
mathematician n. 数学家
integer n. [数] 整数;整体;完整的事物
theoretical adj. 理论的;理论上的;假设的;推理的
【被动语态的处理】
科技用于中被动语态运用的极其广泛，恰好与汉语中少用被动语态的惯用法相反。为了使汉语译文符合汉语的表达方式，根据译文的上下文，一般采用三种译法。 1) 译作汉语主动语态;
例如： It should be reflected in the early design phase giving an opportunity to predict new possibilities.
译为：它应体现为在初期设计阶段有预测新的可能性的机会。 就避免了出现类似“它应被反映在”这种在汉语中别扭的说法。
1) 译作汉语被动语态;
这时，汉语译文中运用“被”、“由”、“受”、“为”、“给”、“予以”、“是…的”等虚词。
例如，The end-gas knock is determined mainly by the temperature of unburned mixture
译为：终端气体爆震主要是由未燃混合气的温度决定的。
比起“终端气体爆震主要是被未燃混合气的温度所决定的。”更为精准，简练，不易引起歧义。
2) 在句型“It is(has been) + past participle + that…”中的被动语态，汉语译 文中的主动语态动词前增译“人们”、“有人”、“大家”等主语;或不增译这些主语，译作汉语主动语态。
例如：It is known that liquids can turn into gases under certain conditions.
译为：大家知道在一定条件下，液体能转变为气体。
比“正如被知道的那样，液体能转变为气体。”更为自然，易于接受。
综上所述，翻译两部曲中的第二步是“成品”的关键所在。既要有跳出原文束缚的能力，又不能一蹦三丈远——完全脱离原文内容实质、凭空创造;也就是说，还得有将译文“靠”回原文的本领。翻译之路如此漫漫，还需我们不断“上下而求索”。
感谢童鞋们的积极参与，大家的翻译都很棒。赞一个!....有方法的借鉴，努力的练习，及时的总结，相信大家一定能很快进步!
