That/cannot be allowed (to happen)/must not happen/must not be
Our children will not forgive us lost opportunities, for thenthey will not be getting such a good education, or the best medical care, or other social services.
We are still at the very beginning/first stagesof our search for ways to organize the trade/traffic in conventional weapons, to
establish regional security arrangements/systems, to establish/set up machinery/mechanisms to prevent (the emergence/outbreak of) crisis situations. We must all adapt to new realities, to/the new face of the/a changed/different/world.
For today, it is radically and even unrecognizably/staggeringly different from what it was only a few years ago. We have left behind both the Cold War and protracted/drawn-out/lengthy armed conflicts in various regions of the world.Today we speak of a united Germany as of an elementary/basic fact of life.
But would/could all this really have been possible just a couple of/even two years ago?It would have been difficult to imagine something like this/of this sort/something similar.
The world is becoming one — in its actions, in its desire/hope/ wish to rid itself of the onerous/burdensome legacy of the past.
That legacy includes nuclear tests and nuclear arsenals. In a new situation, at a new level of awareness of mankind's sense of community/of what mankind has in common/shares, it is time to/there is a need to get rid of them/it is high time — and it is our obligation — to get rid of them.
Scientists/scholars/academics/thinkers/inall countries must help people to become aware of/what has happened/the significance of events, to understand the thrust/point/of the changes and to point out/indicate/what road we need to take to avoid losing our way in the forest/thickets of life and politics.
We all need a prognosisfor the future. For that, we need to unitethose forces which are championing/advocating/advancing peace, freedom and democracy.
Комментарии:
1) в настоящее время— "now" is much shorter than "at the present
time" if the interpreter is rushed.
2) с точки зрения— is often not literally "from the point of view of," but
rather "as regards, concerning."
3) о происходящем в самых далеких уголках земного шара —a simple
translation of происходящемis "events,"and with a fast speaker
"everywhere"will save a lot of time for "самых далеких уголках земно
го шара."
4) было бы неверным— the best solution here is "It would be wrong."
"Incorrect" should be avoided; this sounds like a schoolteacher correcting
a student.
5) острого военного противостояния, острый стресс —the interpreter
should not automatically think of "acute" for "острый,"as more often
than not this can mean "drastic," "critical," "urgent," "burning,"or a
good many other adjectives.
6) десятки тысяч ядерных боеголовок— "tens of thousands" would
sound very awkward in English, and "dozens of thousands" (since dozen
is often a translation of десятка) is even worse. The idea is that there are
lots and lots of them, and simply "many thousands" of nuclear warheads,
or just "thousands of is quite enough.
7) топчутся на месте переговоры— the negotiations are stalled, not going
anywhere, marking time, at a standstillwill all do here.
8) неоправданно— here "unwarranted"works much better than
"unjustified," which would require an explanation — unjustified for what
reason?
9) здание придет в упадок — edificeis much better than building, both
because it is stylistically more literary and because "building" could be the
gerund of the verb "to build" as well as a noun.
10) этого нельзя допустить — "this must be prevented," "this must not
happen,"would work as well as "this cannot be allowed."
11) в этом случае— the idea here is "if that happens,"(which is a
possible translation), rather than the literal and more clumsy "in that
case." Or the interpreter could just say "Then," which is much shorter
than the other variants.
12) мы стоим еще в самом начале пути— "path" as a translation for
путьshould be avoided insofar as possible, as it is hackneyed and often
does not fit the context. Here the idea is that we are at the very beginning
or first/initial stage of the search.
13) позади остались не только холодная война— here the sentence can
safely be translated in an active mood: "We have left behind." "And"must
be inserted between "Cold War" and "protracted conflicts." If the
interpreter fails to do so, he can add "etc." after "in various regions of the
world" to finish the sentence.
14) но разве все это было возможным— "really" can render the force
of разве.
15) ученые во всех странах— the word ученый often presents problems.
Since the question of destroying weapons has been discussed, "scientists"
is a valid translation. But the context here is a broad one, of understanding
the significance of events, and so "scholars," "academics,"(in particular
since this speech was given in a university setting) or "thinkers" would
also work.
16) чтобы не заблудиться в лесу жизни и политики— "forest of life" is
a possibility, but "thickets" (рощи) sounds better in English, and has
more of a connotation of a dark, impenetrable mass in which one can lose
one's way.
17) прогноз— the best choice here is "prognosis,"which is stylistically
neutral. "Forecast" suggests the weather (прогноз погоды) while
"predictions" is too vague and could equally well apply to fortune telling.
18) надо объединить— can be rendered in the active mood as "We need
to unite,"which will sound stronger — and this is the end of the speech —
than "There is a need to unite."
19) выступающие за мир, свободу и демократию —though "favor"is
often a useful translation of выступать, here it is too weak. This is the
end of the speech and needs something more ringing and much stronger.
"Champion" would set an appropriately forceful tone.