3.1 Grammatical Features of Newspaper English
3.1.1 Flexiable usages of tense
[1] Hillary Clinton suffers collapse
US senator and former first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton has collapsed during a public appearance in Buffalo, New York state.
译文: 希拉里·克林顿胃部不适当众晕倒
美国前第一夫人,现任参议员希拉里·罗德汉·克林顿在纽约州西部城市布法罗出席公开活动时突然晕倒.
[2] Stars rock Bangkok for tsunami relief
World entertainment giant, MTV Asia, will hold a star-studded concert today (Thursday) to raise money for the tsunami relief effort.
译文: 众星云集曼谷,为印度洋海啸赈灾
世界娱乐界巨头——亚洲音乐电视,将在今晚(星期四)举行一场众星云集的音乐会,以筹集资金为海啸赈灾出力.
例[1]中所叙述的新闻事实是过去发生的,但不管是标题还是新闻内容中,并未使用过去时态,新闻记者的目的显然是给读者一种动态的新鲜感和现实感.例[2]新闻标题使用了一般现在时表示将要发生的事情.标题使用一般现在时预示将来的事实,其目的是想缩小两者的时间差,使读者觉得在第一时间内获得了新闻消息.
[3] Their only worry in Group C was Turkey, who they have played just once in their history unfriendly in 1956.
(China Daily, December 4, 2001)
[4] UNITED NATIONS, New York —— President George Bush wants the former attorney general, Dick Thornburgh to take a new top post at the United Nations, overseeing the organization's budget and administration, UN and US officials say.
Secretary-General Butros Ghali asked Mr. Bush to find an American to fill this job when he attended the summit meeting of the Security Council here last month and the President then offered the job to Mr. Thornburgh, the official said.
…
The new post, undersecretary-general for administration and management, involves overall responsibility for budget and personal matters and is one of eight deputy positions created by Mr. Butros Ghali in a restructuring of the Secretariat announced on Friday, the officials said.
(The International Herald Tribune, Feb. 12, 1992)
例[3]句中的新闻事实是说在C组中他们惟一担心的是土耳其足球队,用过去时态was表明他们两个球队过去只交锋过一次,而之后的从句又用了现在完成时have played,而没有根据语法规则用过去完成时had played,其目的就是想突出与现实的关联.在例[4]这一则新闻消息中,既有按传统语法规则呼应之处,如第二段中的"asked","attended","offered","said"等,也有从实际出发灵活运用的地方,如最后一段中的"involves","is","said".英语新闻中时态不一致,特别是间接引语中用直接引语的动词形式增强了引语的真实感和现实性,缩短了新闻事件与读者的时间和空间距离.

下一页