一、原文：
 
①It has long been known that a taxi firm called AAAA cars has a big advantage over Zodiac cars when customers thumb through their phone directories. ②Less well known is the advantage that Adam Abbott has in life over Zoë Zysman. ③English names are fairly evenly spread between the halves of the alphabet. ④Yet a suspiciously large number of top people have surnames beginning with letters between A and K.
话题：字母顺序带来的歧视（不公）
 二、步骤
1. 分意群（根据标志词分意群：标点前、连词前、介词前、动词前）
2. 定属性（根据意群的相对位置定属性：连接词后是“从句”、）
3. 调语序（根据属性调整意群的语序：定语提前或名词反复说两遍、状语提前）
4. 理翻译（根据调整后的语序调整翻译：结合语境和单词感觉，调整措辞和翻译）
 三、演练
1. 分意群：
It has long been known //that a taxi firm /called AAAA cars /has a big advantage /over Zodiac cars //when customers /thumb through their phone directories.
它早被人们知道/一家出租车公司/叫作AAAA cars/有一个很大的优势/比Zodiac cars//当顾客/翻阅他们的电话簿。
 
2. 定属性：
①It + 谓语动词（或系表）+ that，that引导的主语从句后置，用it代替主语，为形式主语It has long been known that ......
正常主谓宾语序应该为 That...... has long been known，由于主语太长，所以通常后置
②名词+过去分词-ed，过去分词作后置定语，修饰前面的名词
called AAAA cars：被“称作AAAA cars的”
当一个句子中出现两个动词（没有并列连词），必然只有一个是作谓语，has、be等一定是作谓语动词；-ed形式的动词，可以是过去时（此时是谓语动词），也可能是过去分词（此时作定语）。区分过去时和过去分词的方法就是看该动词前面名词的关系，如果是被动关系，如被称作“AAAA cars”的出租车公司，为被动关系，即为过去分词作定语。
③主句+when状语从句，when从句翻译在主句前：“当......时”when customers thumb through their phone directories
 
 
3. 调语序：
①名词+过去分词，过去分词作后置定语a taxi firm called AAAA cars
翻译成“名为AAAA的出租车公司”
②has a big advantage over Zodiac cars
over在这里表示比较的意思，翻译在前面：“比Zodiac出租公司更有优势”
 
4. 理翻译：
难点：cars；over；AAAA及Zodiac；big；thumb through
l cars在这里可以不用翻译
l over在这里表比较的意思，或者优于
l big advantage中big不翻译成“大”，翻译为“更有优势”就行
l AAAA及Zodiac这样的英文大写字母专有名词，在翻译时可以直接照抄，直接翻译成AAAA及Zodiac
l thumb拇指，thumb through表示翻寻、翻阅的意思
 四、理解
It has long been known that a taxi firm called AAAA cars has a big advantage over Zodiac cars when customers thumb through their phone directories.
全句翻译：长久以来人们都知道，当顾客翻寻电话号码簿的时候，名为AAAA的出租公司就比名为Zodiac的公司更有优势。