林 巍
【原文】
学生比例
[1] 对于学校来说，在国际学生和英国学生之间形成合适的人数比例关系，已经成为了一个棘手的问题。
[2] 学校依赖富有的外国家长支付平均高达27600英镑的寄宿学费，这笔日渐上涨的费用已经超出了不少英国中产阶级的承受能力。
[3] 但是那些有钱家庭的外国学生，仍然源源不断地涌入，在相当程度上，支撑了英国经济的增长，特别是在当前英国脱欧的困境下，更是如此。
【点评】
就标题“学生比例”而言，有人译成Student Ratio，让人以为是“师生比例”，因ratio 本义为the relative magnitudes of two quantities (usually expressed as a quotient)；有的用了The Proportion of Students，似欠明确，因该文指的是“国际学生和英国学生之间的比例关系”，故可译为 Proportion of International and Domestic Students。
[1] 中，“棘手的问题”，可以是a thorny / vexed issue、hot potato、tough nut、 daunting / knotty problem、challenge 等；在语序上，既可放在后面 … has become a vexed issue for the schools，也可提前 It has become a thorny issue for any school…, 以表强调。
“合适的人数比例关系”，有的用appropriate scale, 但scale 是指the size or extent of something especially when compared with something else 即主要指的是事物的规模、范围、程度等，而这里指的是人；有的译成a balance between the amount of international students and British students，应知amount is usually used to talk about things that are uncountable nouns, 即通常与不可数名词连用，如 a large amount of time/money/information 等，而此处的人数是可数的，故应用number, 如 a number of people/books/dogs等。
同时，该句可用名词作主语，如 the right mixture of international and British pupils；或用动宾结构，如to properly proportion the number of international and British students等。
故此，该句不妨译为：It has become a thorny issue for any school to properly proportion the number of international and British students.
[2] 中，“寄宿学费”有的用了revenues， 但该词本义是the money that a government receives from taxes or that an organization, etc. receives from its business， 即主要指政府的财政收入、税收或企业的收益等；“超出……承受能力”一般都译成 beyond financial capacity，但其中的分析起来，其中的这种“能力”是一种ability to be afforded，因而是affordability, 如This is a departure from the actual affordability of consumers, the consequences of violating the rules （这就是背离了消费者的实际承受能力, 违反规则的后果）；the state's struggle over affordability represents, in extreme form, a national trend（该州人不堪高房价重负以其极端形式体现了全国的趋势）等，而“超出......能力”可以用beyond / exceed ability of … ; “平均高达27600英镑的寄宿学费”可直接译成the £27,600 a year average boarding fees，亦可放在括号里表述，如the rising average boarding fees (as high as £27,600 per year)。根据英文形合的特点，固然可以将两句译成一句，如Creating the right mixture of international and British pupils has become a vexed issue for the schools, who rely on wealthy foreigners to pay the £27,600 a year average boarding fees which are rising beyond the reach of UK middle classes. 但为清晰起见，不妨译为两句。故此，该句不妨译为：Schools nowadays rely on the rising average boarding fees (as high as £27,600 per year) paid by the wealthy foreign parents, which exceed the affordability of British middle-class families.
对于[3]，“源源不断地涌入”可以是the continuous influx of foreign students、are still pouring in、…is rising constantly等，似乎都是可以接受的，要看前后语句的搭配；“困境”，大都用了dilemma、predicament、plight、trouble、crisis 等，分析起来，dilemma 指进退两难的情形，需在相等或相抵触的情况下作出抉择； predicament指一种不知该怎么办的疑难处境；plight 指糟糕或不幸的处境； trouble 指令人烦恼、痛苦、危险、匮乏的状态；crisis 指危机、危难时刻；就此语境而言，前三个比较恰当，最后一个似乎有些“过”了。综合而言，此句不妨译为：But foreign students from wealthy families are still pouring in, supporting, to a considerable extent, Britain's economic growth, especially in the current predicament of Brexit.
总之，看似相同的词语在译文中亦有细微差别，需悉心辨析。
【参考译文】
Proportion of International and Domestic Students
[1] It has become a thorny issue for any school to properly proportion the number of international and British students.
[2] Schools nowadays rely on the rising average boarding fees (as high as £27,600 per year) paid by the wealthy foreign parents, which exceed the affordability of British middle-class families.
[3] But foreign students from wealthy families are still pouring in, supporting, to a considerable extent, Britain's economic growth, especially in the current predicament of Brexit.