1995年英语专业八级考试简.奥斯丁的小说都是三五户人家居家度日，婚恋嫁娶的小事。
因此不少中国读者不理解她何以在西方享有那么高的声誉。
但一部小说开掘得深不深，艺术和思想是否有过人之处，的确不在题材大小。
有人把奥斯丁的作品比作越咀嚼越有味道的橄榄。
这不仅因为她的语言精彩，并曾对小说艺术的发展有创造性的贡献，也因为她的轻快活泼的叙述实际上并不那么浅白，那么透明。
史密斯夫人说过，女作家常常试图修正现存的价值秩序，改变人们对“重要”和“不重要”的看法。
也许奥斯丁的小说能教我们学会转换眼光和角度，明察到“小事”的叙述所涉及的那些不小的问题。
参考译文：颜林海Jane Austin’s novels tell about such things unimportant as life, love and marriage in a few families that many Chinese readers do not understand why she has enjoyed such a high reputation in the western countries. But subject matter is indeed not the decisive factor by which we can judge whether or not a novel has its depth, or whether or not it has something superior to others in its artistic appeal and ideological content. Some people compare Austin’s works to olives: the more you chew them, the tastier you feel them. It is not only because of her wonderful language as well as her creative contribution to the development of novel writing as an art, but also because of something that her light and lively narrative hides——something implicit and opaque. Mrs Smith once said, women writers often tried to rectify the existing value orders, and to change people’s opinions on “what’s important or not”. Maybe Austin’s novels can teach us how to change our perspective and vision, really to dig those things important through the narrative of the ones unimportant.E-C原文I, by comparison, living in my overpriced city apartment, walking to work past putrid sacks of street garbage, paying usurious taxes to local and state governments I generally abhor, I am rated middle class. This causes me to wonder, do es the measurement make sense? Are we measuring only that which is easily measured--- the numbers on the money chart --- and ignoring values more central to the good life? For my sons there is of course the rural bounty of fresh-grown vegetables, line-caught fish and the shared riches of neighbours’orchards and gardens. There is the unpaid baby-sitter for whose children my daughter-in-law baby-sits in return, and neighbours who barter their skills and labour. But more than that, how do you measure serenity? Sense of self?I don’t want to idealize life in small places. There are times when the outside world intrudes brutally, as when the cost of gasoline goes up or developers cast their eyes on untouched farmland. There are cruelties, there is intolerance, there are all the many vices and meannesses in small places that exist in large cities. Furthermore, it is harder to ignore them when they cannot be banished psychologically to another part of town or excused as the whims of alien groups --- when they have to be acknowledged as “part of us.”Nor do I want to belittle the opportunities for small decencies in cities --- the eruptions of one-stranger-to-another caring that always surprise and delight. But these are, sadly, more exceptions than rules and are often overwhelmed by the awful corruptions and dangers that surround us.比较而言，我住在在收费不菲的城市公寓里，步行去工作还得经过恶臭的街头圾袋，向我一向讨厌的地方政府和州政府缴纳高利贷式税收，竟然还被认定为中产阶级。
这让我感到怀疑，这种衡量标准是否意义？难道我们就仅仅衡量那些容易衡量的东西——经济图标上数字——而忽视了对幸福生活更为重要的价值观吗？当然，对我的几个儿子来说，富饶的农村有新鲜的蔬菜，有钓上来的鱼儿，还可以分享邻居果园菜园丰收的果实。
还有义务照看孩子的邻居，作为回报我的儿媳也照看他们的孩子，而邻里之间相互交换技能和劳动。
但更为重要的是，你如何来衡量那里的宁静安详？如何衡量自我(感)呢？我无意美化小地方的生活。
有时外面世界的侵扰冷酷无情，比如汽油价格上涨，开发商盯着尚未开发的农田；那里充斥着凶残，充满着偏狭，大城市拥有的种种卑劣行径，小地方也都一应俱全。
非但如此，一旦人们在心里无法将这些丑陋现象视为小地方才独有的，或将其解释为异乡人为所欲为的借口，而只能承认是“我们的一部分”时，人们也就更难忽视它们了。
我也不想贬低城市中一有机会就让人难为情的习俗——陌生人之间津津乐道的荤段子，这些段子总是让人吃惊，也博人一笑。
然而，可悲的是，这些丑陋的现象太多了，不受规则约束，而且比这些现象有过之而无不及的是我们四周那些可怕的腐败和危险。
1996年英语专业八级考试--翻译部分参考译文C-E原文：近读报纸，对国内名片和请柬的议论颇多，于是想起客居巴黎时经常见到的法国人手中的名片和请柬，随笔记下来，似乎不无借鉴之处。
在巴黎，名目繁多的酒会，冷餐会是广交朋友的好机会。
在这种场合陌生人相识，如果是亚洲人，他们往往开口之前先毕恭毕敬地用双手把自己的名片呈递给对方，这好像是不可缺少的礼节。
然而，法国人一般却都不大主动递送名片，双方见面寒暄几句，甚至海阔天空地聊一番也就各自走开，只有当双方谈话投机，希望继续交往时，才会主动掏出名片。
二话不说先递名片反倒显得有些勉强。
英语思维方式下的改写：最近，当我读报纸时，我发现报纸上对国内名片和请柬的议论颇多，于是这让我想起我客居巴黎时，我经常见到的法国人对待手中的名片和请柬的态度，我随笔把它记下来，这似乎不无借鉴之处。
在巴黎，有名目繁多的酒会，冷餐会，这为是广交朋友提供了好机会。
在这种场合陌生人相识。
他们如果是亚洲人，他们往往开口之前，（他们）先毕恭毕敬地（他们）用（他们的）双手把自己的名片呈递给对方，这好像是不可缺少的礼节。
然而，法国人一般却都不大主动递送（他们的）名片，双方见面寒暄几句，（他们）甚至海阔天空地聊一番（他们）也就各自走开。
只有当双方谈话投机，而且希望继续交往时，（他们）才会主动掏出（他们的）名片。
（他们）二话不说先递（他们的）名片反倒显得有些勉强。
Recently，when I read newspapers, I found calling and invitation cards at home became a hotly debated topic on the newspaper. This topic reminds me of what I have known about the Frenchmen’s attitude toward their calling cards when I lived in Paris. Now I jot it down，which seems to be used for reference.In Paris, there are many cocktail parties and buffet receptions of different kinds, offering great opportunities for making friends. On such occasions, strangers get to know each other. If they are from Asia, they will respectfully present their calling cards to each other with two hands before any conversation starts. This seems to be the indispensable courtesy on their part. The Frenchmen, however, are not ready to offer their calling cards. They just will greet each other, and even have a small-talk, and then leave each other. Only when both sides find they are agreeable to each other, and hope to have further contact will they exchange their cards. It would be embarrassing for them to do so before they speak to each other.E-C原文：It should have been easy. They were battle-tested veterans with long ties to Reagan and even longer ties to the Republican party, men who understood presidential politics as well as any in the country. The backdrop of the campaign was hospitable, with lots of good news to work with: America was at peace, and the nation’s economy, a key factor in any election, was rebounding vigorously after recession. Furthermore, the campaign itself was lavishly financed, with plenty of money for a top-flight staff, travel, and television commercials. And, most important, their candidate was Ronald Reagan, a president of tremendous personal popularity and dazzling communication skills. Reagan has succeed more than any president since John F. Kennedy in projecting a broad vision of America –a nation of renewed military strength, individual initiative, and smaller federal government. 事情应该不会太难。