TRANSLATION ASSIGNMENT SPRING 2019/2020

1. Traduce el siguiente texto (70%):

Could Catalonia make a success of independence?

Catalonia’s drive for independence plunged Spain into its biggest political crisis for 40 years.
The region had its autonomy suspended for almost seven months by Madrid after a failed bid
to break away in 2017. In a referendum on 1 October 2017, declared illegal by Spain’s
Constitutional Court, about 90% of Catalan voters backed independence. The ruling
separatists in the Catalan parliament then declared independence on 27 October. Angered by
that, Madrid imposed direct rule by invoking Article 155 of the constitution, dissolving
parliament and calling a snap regional election on 21 December 2017, which nationalist
parties won. Carles Puigdemont, the former Catalan president, fled but is wanted in Spain
accused of rebellion, as are four who fled with him. In October 2019, Spain’s Supreme Court
sentenced nine Catalan politicians and activists to jail terms of between 9 and 13 years for
that independence bid.
The question many ask is whether Catalonia would be able to stand on its own two feet if it
were to secede. To the casual observer, Catalonia looks like it has already many of the
trappings of a state: flags, a parliament, its own police force, its own broadcast regulator, and
even boasts a series of foreign “missions” – mini embassies that promote trade and
investment in Catalonia around the world. Moreover, Catalonia delivers some public services
already – schools and healthcare, for example. However, there would be much more to set up
in the event of independence, though: border control, customs, proper international relations,
a central bank, or air traffic control, among many other legislative mechanisms.
The independence movement, meanwhile, has lost momentum since the referendum. While
Puigdemont and others favour maintaining the pressure on Madrid by following a unilateral
path towards independence, Junqueras’s party, the Catalan Republican Left, is pushing for a
less confrontational and more practical approach.
Any answers to the Catalan question are likely to remain as elusive as ever. Nobody has ever
declared independence from a member of the Eurozone, then asked to rejoin as a new
country. If Catalonia became a new EU member state, it may well take time to become a
member of the Eurozone – and Spain and its allies could block that. In practice, we just don’t
know what would happen.
[Texto adaptado de www.bbc.co.uk]
2. Traduce las siguientes oraciones de inglés a español (30%)

1. I wish I could afford to go on holiday this summer once the term is over.

2. The Chinese Government thinks that the virus is under control at this stage.

3. If the weather had been better this weekend, we would have camped by the seaside.

4. Children turn into monsters through their addiction to technology whether it is

television, computer games, or Pokemon

5. Take some spare change in case you need to buy the children a drink during the
interval.

6. Her relatives come from Brazil so her mother tongue is Portuguese.

7. A new robot has been invented and, according to credible sources, it can translate any
language in real time.

8. Don’t drive if you’re going to drink tonight. Be responsible.

9. Each one of us should begin to use natural resources more sensibly.

10. After attending the seminar, I’ll meet some of my classmates in the library for a
coffee.