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Information and IdeasVery hardMain idea of a translation passage

Information and Ideas practice question

Fidelity in translation once meant tracking the original word by word, even when the result read stiffly. A newer school asks what the sentence does — does it land as a joke, a threat, an aside? — and translates that. A pun that dies rendered literally may live as a different pun entirely. Such translators answer to the joke, not the dictionary, accepting changed words to keep an unchanged effect.

Which choice best states the main idea of the text?

  1. A. Some translators now treat preserving a work's tone as more important than word-for-word accuracy.Correct
  2. B. Translations that alter any of an author's words should not be called translations.
  3. C. Readers prefer translations that are as literal as possible.
  4. D. Comic novels are more difficult to write than serious ones.

Answer: A. Some translators now treat preserving a work's tone as more important than word-for-word accuracy.

The text moves from the old ideal of literal fidelity to translators who 'answer to the joke, not the dictionary' — that is, who rank tone above literal accuracy.

Why the other answers are wrong

B. Translations that alter any of an author's words should not be called translations.
This is the position the text describes translators moving away from, not its main idea.
C. Readers prefer translations that are as literal as possible.
Reader preference surveys appear nowhere in the text.
D. Comic novels are more difficult to write than serious ones.
The text is about translating comic effect, not about which novels are harder to write.

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