明朝统治中国276年，被人们描绘成人类历史上治理有序、社会稳定的最伟大的时代之一。这一时期，手工业的发展促进了市场经济和城市化。大量商品，包括酒和丝绸，都在市场销售。同时，还进口许多外国商品，如时钟和烟草。北京、南京、扬州、苏州这样的大商业中心相继形成。也是在明代，由郑和率领的船队曾到印度洋进行了七次大规模探险航行。还值得一提的是，中国文学的四大经典名著中有三部写于明朝。
The Ming Dynasty, which reigned China for 276 years, is described as one of the greatest epochs with orderly governance and social stability in human history. During this period, the development of handicraft industry promoted the development of market economy and urbanization. Large scale of commodities, including wine and silk, were sold in the market. Meanwhile, many foreign goods such as clocks and tobacco were imported. Business centers like Beijing, Nanjing, Yangzhou, Suzhou were taking shape in succession. It was also in Ming Dynasty that Zheng He led the seven large-scale expeditions to the Indian Ocean. Particularly worth mentioning is that three of the four great classics in Chinese literature are written during the Ming Dynasty.
原文第一句话中的两个分句看似是并列关系，很多同学也会选择用并列词and来连接。实际上，这是一个典型的中式“背景+评价”结构的句子。因此二者有主次关系，且评价是重点。因此，译文将“统治中国276年”处理成了定语，这样一来也避免了时态的错乱。这里的“治理有序”“社会稳定”在原文中是主谓短语，但译成英文处理成了“偏正短语”，这也就是我们之前所讲的主谓和偏正之间的转化。
原文中第三、四、五句话都是总分/分总结构，在译成英文的时候可以按照顺序译，比如原文是先总后分，译文也可以遵照先总后分，当然也可以译为先分后总。像这个例子，连续出现三个总分/分总结构，选用词语时也不能单一，重复，否则译文会十分呆板。
翻译这个例子时还需要注意时态的问题，评价性的句子和客观事实用一般现在时，如“被人们描绘成……”“中国文学的四大经典名著中有三部写于明朝”，而有时间标记“明朝”的句子则要处理成过去式。
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