纸张发明之前,人们将文字刻在平整的竹片或木片上。由竹片或木片制成的书很笨重，不方便阅读和携带。东汉时期(the Eastern Han Dynasty)，蔡伦利用树皮(tree bark)、麻头(hemp)、破布等来造纸，得名“蔡伦纸”。由于轻便价廉，这种纸很快得到推广并取代竹片和木片。随后，中国的造纸技术流传至世界各地。造纸术是中国的四大发明之一，是中华民族对世界文明的杰出贡献。

　　参考译文：

　　Before paper was invented, characters were carved on flat strips of bamboo or wood. Books made of bamboo or wood were heavy, and inconvenient for reading and carrying.In the Eastan Han Dynasty,Cai Lun used materials such as tree bark, hemp and rags to make paper, known as "Cai Lun Paper",Light and cheap,it soon became widespread and replaced bamboo and wood strips for writing,Later on,the technique of papermaking in China was introduced into countries around the world.As one of the Chinese Four Great Inventions,papermaking is considered to be a great contribution of the Chinese people to the world's civilization.

　　解析：

　　1.第1句中的时间状语“纸张发明之前”可译为从句Before paper was invented或介词短语Before the invention of paper。主句“人们将文字刻在……”中的主语“人们”无需强调，习惯上将其译为被动句，用“文字”作主语。在上下文的语境中，“文字”指的是“中国的汉字”，故应译为characters，而非words或letters。

　　2.第2句中修饰“书”的定语“由竹片或木片制成”可处理为定语从句which were made of...，或直接用过去分词made of...作后置定语。该句中的“竹片”和“木片”在上句已有提及，故此处可简化译作bamboo及wood。

　　3.第3句中的“得名‘蔡伦纸’”，是对蔡伦所造的纸的补充说明，可用过去分词短语译为named“Cai Lun Paper” 或 known as “Cai Lun Paper”;也可译为 which引导的非限制定语从句 which was named “Cai Lun Paper”。

　　4.第4句中的“由于轻便价廉”可直译为because it was light and cheap，但不如用形容词短语light and cheap作状语来说明主语的情况来得简洁。

　　5.最后一句中，把后半句“是中华民族……”处理成主句，“造纸术是中国的四大发明之一”处理为状语，译作as one of Chinese Four Great Inventions，突出主句的意义，使句子层次分明。

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