原文

[1] 人们接收外部的信息，靠的是注意力；而注意力是有质量的——这决定了对所接收信息的处理、储存及提取的质量。

[2] 同样的信息，对于不同的人，所吸引的注意力是不同的。为什么有时会过目不忘，有时则又视若罔闻？有的细节会记忆深刻，有的部分却又全无印象？人接收的事物，都是经过注意力筛选的；注意力的质量，离不开注意力的选择与分配。

译文

[1] Information is received into our sensory system by attention and its quality determines how well it will be processed, stored and retrieved afterward.

[2] The same information may attract different forms and levels of attention from different people. We may all have experienced times when information has been photographically retained, or ignored. It may be vividly imbedded in detail, or discarded as we turn a blind eye. All information we receive in fact is filtered by our attention, and the way to select and distribute attention determines its quality.

解析

好的英译文，是在全面理解原文的基础上，摆脱中文的束缚，转变思维，从而力图以地道的英文表达方式转述出来。例如，在 [2]中，对“为什么有时会过目不忘，有时则又视若罔闻？有的细节会记忆深刻，有的部分却又全无印象？”若以问句形式译出，不免突兀，故将其加工为叙述句，并在前面加上We may all have experienced times when... 以使语势更加连贯。同时，对“同样的信息，对于不同的人，所吸引的注意力是不同的”的译文加上（may attract different）forms and levels （of attention），以使“注意力”具体化。

原文

[3] 对我们注意力产生影响的，有兴趣、经历、能力、情绪、知识结构、环境及时间等等；这些因素的综合搭配，产生了不同效果，有时相差甚远。

[4] 一个人的注意力，在一定时段内，其总量是有限的，是个“常数”；但在具体的环节上，又是可以相对集中的，是个“变数”，可“以局部优势”解决问题。所以，我们常可以见到，智力看似平平的人，可以在某些方面有着超群的表现——注意力的合理分配，不能不说是其中的一个要素。

译文

[3] Factors affecting our attention are personal interest, experience, ability, emotion, knowledge structure, environment and timing and so on, and the combination of these may lead to results which are sometimes vastly divergent.

[4] A persons attention capacity as a “constant” is limited within a certain time-span. In dealing with certain issues, however, it can be organized as a “variable”, concentrating on a targeted area by its comparative edge. Therefore, it is not surprising to observe that somebody with an average intelligence can have an outstanding performance in certain fields, supported presumably by a rational attention distribution, psychologically speaking.

解析

在[4]中，对于“所以，我们常可以见到，智力看似平平的人，可以在某些方面有着……