1997年英译汉原文:
Opera is expensive: that much is inevitable. But expensive things are inevitably the province(范围) of the rich unless we abdicate(退位、放弃) society’s power of choice. We can choose to make opera and other expensive forms of culture, accessible(易接近的，可达到的) to those who cannot individually pay for it. The question is: why should we? No body denies the imperatives(必要的)of food, shelter, defense, health and education. But even in a prehistoric cave, man-kind stretched out a hand of not just to eat, drink or fight, but also to draw. The impulse(冲动) towards culture, the desire to express and explore the world through imagination and representation(表述、陈述)is fundamental. In Europe, this desire has found fulfillment(完成、成就) in the masterpieces of our music, art, literature and theatre. These masterpieces are the touchstones(标准、试金石) for all our efforts; they are the touchstones for the possibilities to which human thought and imagination may aspire(立志、追求目标、渴望); they carry the most profound (深厚的、深刻的)messages that can be sent from one human to another.
1997年汉译英原文：
来美国求学的中国学生与其他亚裔学生一样，大多非常刻苦勤奋，周末也往往会抽出一天甚至两天的时间去实验室加班，因而比起美国学生来，成果出得较多。我的导师是亚裔人，嗜烟好酒，脾气暴躁。但他十分欣赏亚裔学生勤奋与扎实的基础知识，也特别了解亚裔学生的心理。因此，在他实验室所招的学生中，除有一名来自德国外，其余5位均是亚裔学生。他干脆在实验室的门上贴一醒目招牌：“本室助研必须每周工作7天，早10时至晚12时，工作时间必须全力以赴。”这位导师的严格及苛刻是全校有名的，在我所呆的3年半中，共有14位学生被招进他的实验室，最后博士毕业的只剩下5人。1990年夏天，我不顾别人劝阻，硬着头皮接受了导师的资助，从此开始了艰难的求学旅程。
参考译文（1997年英译汉）
欣赏歌剧是一种奢侈：你必须为此支付昂贵的票价。然而，享用昂贵的东西并不完全是富人的特权，除非我们放弃社会选择的权利。我们有权利使歌剧和其他昂贵的文化形式面向大众，面向那些个人没有支付能力的人。然而，问题是我们为什么要这么做。没有人会否认食物、居所、防护、健康与教育是不可或缺的。但是，即使在史前的穴居时代，人们伸出手来，也不仅仅是为了吃喝，为了搏杀，而且还有一个目的，那就是动手作画。人们对文化的冲动，即人们希望通过想象和再现来表现并探索这个世界的愿望，才是最根本的。在欧洲，人们通过音乐、美术、文学和戏剧等方面的不朽作品的创作，实现了这一愿望。这些杰作是衡量人类努力程度的试金石，是检验人类思维和想象潜能的标准，它们有着最深厚的寓意，并在人们彼此之间传播。
参考译文（1997年汉译英）
Like students from other Asian countries and regions, most Chinese students who come to pursue their further education in the United States work on their studies most diligently and assiduously. Even on weekends, they would frequently spend one day, or even two days, to work overtime in their laboratories. Therefore, compared with their American counterparts, they are more academically fruitful. My supervisor is of Asian origin. He is addicted to alcohols and cigarettes, with a sharp/irritable temper. Nevertheless, he highly appreciates the industry and the solid foundational knowledge of Asian students and has a particularly keen insight into what Asian students have on their mind. Hence, of all the students recruited into his laboratory, except for one German, the other five were all from Asia. He even put an eye-catching notice on the door of his lab, which read, “All the research assistants of this laboratory are required to work 7 days a week, from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Nothing but work during the working hours.” This supervisor is reputed on the entire campus for his severity and harshness. During the three and a half years that I stayed there, 14 students were recruited into his laboratory and only 5 of them stayed until they graduated with their Ph.D. degrees. In the summer of 1990, ignoring the dissuasions from others, I accepted my supervisor’s sponsorship and embarked on my difficult journey of academic pursuit.