The emergence of the European Union has been one of the defining events of the twentieth century. It has changed the political, economic, and social landscapes of Western European, changed the balance of power in the world by helping Europe reassert themselves on the world stage, and helped to bring the longest uninterrupted spell of peace in Europe recorded history. Until the beginning of the twentieth century, Europe was a continent of competing powers that repeatedly fought with each other on their own soil and took their mutual hostilities to other continents in their competition to build colonial empires. The tragic costs of nationalism were finally confirmed by two world wars, fought largely on Europe and leaving the Europe powers devastated and drained. If Europe had not learned of the barbarism and futility of war in the trenches of northern France and Belgium in 1914~1918, the horrors of the period 1939～1945 finally brought home the need to cooperate and to build the kind of society that would eliminate the seeds of conflict.
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解析：[参考译文] 欧盟的出现是20世纪起决定性作用的大事之一，欧洲重申其在世界舞台上的地位和作用，改变了西欧的政治、经济和社会全貌，改变了世界各地的力量均势，有助于带来欧洲有记载的历史上最为漫长的、持久的和平。直到20世纪初，欧洲仍是列强纷争，他们不仅在自己国土上与人再三争斗，而且在他们展开的建立殖民帝国的竞争中，将相互敌视带到其他各洲。主要发生在欧洲领土的两次世界大战使欧洲列强饱受战争的蹂躏和耗竭，最终证实了民族主义的悲惨代价。欧洲如果不能从1914～1918年发生在法国北部和比利时战壕中的一切认识到战争的野蛮和无益，那么，1939～1945年令人惊骇的恐怖战争清楚地说明我们最终需要合作，需要一个根除冲突种子的社会。 (1)The emergence of the European Union has been one of the defining events of the twentieth century. 此句中短语the emergence of the European Union为介词结构后置作定语，翻译时可处理为“的”字结构； emergence一词意为“出现；兴起，崛起”。例如： The emergence of small Japanese cars in the 1970s greatly challenged the US and European manufacturers. 20世纪70年代日本小汽车的崛起向美国和欧洲汽车制造商提出了巨大的挑战。 the European Union为专有名词，指“欧盟”。 (2)It has changed the political, economic, and social landscapes of Western European, changed the balance of power in the world by helping Europe reassert themselves on the world stage, and helped to bring the longest uninterrupted spell of peace in Europe recorded history. 此句中landscapes为多义词，有“风景；山水画；地形；前景；全貌；场景”等意思。句中的landscapes应为“全貌”之意，又如： look across the literary landscape of English综观英国文学的全貌 a far-reaching change in the political landscape国家政治场景上的深远变化 (3)the balance of power in the world为介词短语后置作定语，译时需要调整语序，应处理为汉语的“的”字结构，可译为：“世界各国的力量均势”。 名词balance意为“均衡”，又如： keep balance保持平衡 break balance打破平衡 (4)reassert themselves on the world stage中介词短语on the world stage在句中作状语，翻译时需按汉语习惯调整语序，译为：“在世界舞台上重申自己”。 短语reassert oneself意为“重申自己的权威，再断言”。 (5)the longest uninterrupted spell of peace可译为：“最为漫长的、持久的和平”。uninterrupted意为“未经打断的”，文中处理时可灵活采用“反说正译法”处理，译为“持久的”。 文中的spell作名词用，有“一段时间，一阵子”之意。 (6)recorded history译为“记载的历史”。其中recorded为过去分词作定语，修饰名词history。 (7)Until the beginning of the twentieth century, Europe was a continent of competing powers that repeatedly fought with each other on their own soil and took their mutual hostilities to other continents in their competition to build colonial empires. 此句的主要架构为：Until…，Europe was a continent of…that…and… continent后由of引导的介词结构作后置定语，其中又嵌套一个由that引导的定语从句，不定式短语to build colonial empires作名词competition的后置定语。本句句子结构较为复杂，翻译时可略作变通，以合乎汉语表述习惯，否则译文读起来有晦涩、别扭之感。 短语competing powers中的competing为现在分词作定语修饰语。 本句可译为：“直到20世纪初，欧洲仍是列强纷争，他们不仅在自己国土上与人争斗，而且在他们展开的建立殖民帝国的竞争中，将相互敌视带到其他各洲。” (8)The tragic costs of nationalism were finally confirmed by two world wars, fought largely on Europe and leaving the Europe powers devastated and drained. 此句可采取倒译与合译两种方法，以便对原文结构作较大调整：句首的The tragic costs of nationalism were finally confirmed为结论性话语，按汉语表述习惯，一般出现在句末会更自然。 fought largely on Europe为过去分词结构作定语，补充修饰前面的名词短语two world wars，翻译时可处理为“的”字结构，将定语前移，以合乎汉语习惯。 leaving the Europe powers devastated and drained为现在分词短语作结果状语，翻译时可灵活地同前面的fought largely on Europe合并处置，译为主谓结构，以求得译文表述的流畅。 本句可译为：“主要发生在欧洲领土的两次世界大战使欧洲列强饱受战争的蹂躏和耗竭，最终证实了民族主义的悲惨代价。” (9)If Europe had not learned of the barbarism and futility of war in the trenches of northern France and Belgium in 1914～1918, the horrors of the period 1939～1945 finally brought home the need to cooperate and to build the kind of society that would eliminate the seeds of conflict. 此句主要架构为：If…the horrors of…finally brought home the need to cooperate and to build the kind of society that… 短语learned of意为：“学到；认识到；领悟到”。 futility of war可译为：“战争的无益”，翻译时可采取词类转换法，将名词futility译为形容词，转译为：“战争是无益的”。 bring home to向……以强调形式清楚地显示或证实；向……活生生地揭示；使……痛感，又如： The point is brought home in yesterday’s detailed statistics. 昨天公布的详尽统计资料清楚地表明了这一点。 Her illness brought home to him how much he depended on her. 她一病倒才使他深切体会到自己对她依赖程度有多大。 eliminate the seeds of conflict根除冲突的种子 本句可译为：“欧洲如果未能从1914～1918年发生在法国北部和比利时战壕中的一切认识到战争的野蛮和无益，那么，1939～1945年令人惊骇的恐怖战争清楚地说明我们最终需要合作，需要一个根除冲突种子的社会。”