口译中的数字练习

数字的口译

任何话题的口译都可能遇到各种复杂的数字。而数字的口译又必须准确无误。对初任口译的人来说，数字的口译往往是一大难点。造成汉英数字互译困难的原因有几个方面：一个原因是汉语和英语的数字表达方式和四位以上数字的数位分段法不同。汉语数位的个、十、百、千、万、十万、百万、千万、亿、十亿等都是用10的倍数来表达的。汉语四位以上的数字每四位为一段；而英语则每三位为一段。试比较汉英数字段位的不同。

汉语数字分段法：

从以上对比中可以看出，英语数词中没有与汉语“万”、“十万”、“千万”、“亿”等相对应的词，这就给汉英数字互译带来很大不便。汉译英时遇到以上数字时，译员必须很快推算出与其相对应的英语数位和表达方式：

英译汉时则要做相反的推算和转换。这样，译员在进行语言转换的同时，要不停地进行数位的推导和换算，脑子活动异常紧张，稍不注意便会出错。

造成汉英数字互译困难的另一个原因是英语有可数和不可数名词之分，在表示与可数和不可数名词相关的不定数字或倍数时，汉英两种语言的表达方式不同。例如：下列几组不定数字的汉语表达方式基本上是一样的，而英语则不同。

很多人（书）many people（books）

很多水（啤酒）much water（beer）

很多人（水） a lot of people (water)

大量的参考书 a large number of reference books

大量有用的信息 a large quantity of useful information

大批的产品（食物）large quantities of products (food)

你要多少（面包）就拿多少。Take as much（bread）as you want.

你要多少（桔子）就拿多少。Take as many (oranges) as you want.

该工厂生产的小轿车（化肥）是上一年的两倍。

The factory produced twice as many cars (as much chemical fertilizer) as that in the precious year.

由此可见，数字的口译的确比较复杂、困难，但还是有一定的规律可循。译员可根据具体情况采取以下做法：

1．三位以内数字的口译

三位以内数字的汉英互译在语言表达上基本一致，各数字都有相应的词，无须推算，只要按英语和汉语的习惯读出数字就行了。请做下列数字互译练习。

用英语朗读下列数字

15—fifteen

20—twenty

35—thirty-five

63—sixty-three

101—one hundred and one

207—two hundred and seven

370—three hundred and seventy

414—four hundred and fourteen

839—eight hundred and thirty-nine

948—nine hundred and forty-eight

2．四位以上数字的口译

四位以上数字的口译较为复杂，因为英汉数字分段方法和表达方式的不同，在译出之前需要进行一番换算。另外，数字互译时，译员要学会记录和分段，这样翻译起来就容易多了。例如，英译汉时，听到英语数字时，特别是较为复杂的数字和系列数字时，立即用阿拉伯数字记录下来，记录的同时按英语数位分段法，从后往前每三位数为一段，用一个逗号分开。这样就会在“thousand”，“million”，“billion”等各数位后分别有一逗号。因为英语数字的分段法正好和阿拉伯数字的分节法相一致，都是三位一段。分段后的数字以逗号为参照，按英汉数字换算规律，第一个逗号前一位译成“千”，前两位译成“万”，前三位译成“十万”；第二个逗号前一位译成“百万”，前两位译成“千万”，前三位译成“亿”；第三个逗号前一位译成“十亿”，这样，依此类推，容易多了。汉译英时，也是把听到的数字用阿拉伯数字记录下来，从后往前，每三位用一逗号分开，然后用英语读出每位数就行了。读时，把握好第一个逗号前的数字读“x thousand”，第二个逗号前读“x million”，第三个逗号前读“x billion”等规律。每个段位的其它数字按10进规律，依次读为“ten thousand”、“hundred thousand”、“ten million”、“hundred million”……

数字记录可采用各种简便符号或标点。如35,000可记录成“35,—”，用“—”表示“000”，或者只用“35，”表示逗号后有三个“0”。3,000,000可记录成“3,—,—”或者“3，，”。

用英语朗读下列数字：

1,369——one thousand three hundred and sixty-nine

2,010——two thousand and ten

4,705——four thousand seven hundred and five

6,003——six thousand and three

15,600——fifteen thousand six hundred

75,426,391——seventy five million, four hundred and twenty-six thousand, three hundred and ninety-one

564,000,000——five hundred and sixty-four million

1,250,000,000——one billion two hundred and fifty million

3．模糊数字的口译

口译中经常遇到一些模糊数字，如“几个”、“十几个”、“几十个”、“成百上千个”等等。模糊数字的口译虽也有一定的规律，但主要靠平时熟记，用时才能熟练自如，准确无误。注意以下模糊数字的口译

几个——some; a few; several; a number of

两、三个——two or three

五、六个——five or six

十几个——more than ten; over a dozen; less/no more than twenty

三十来个——about/ around thirty

几十个——dozens of

几十年——decades

十几岁——in one's teens

四十出头——a little/a bit over forty

五十岁左右——more or less fifty (years old); about fifty (years old)

近八十岁了——nearly/almost eighty (years old)

九十好几了——well over ninety (years old)

五点左右——around five o’clock

三天左右——three days or so

大约150米处——somewhere about 150 meters

好几百——hundreds of

成千上万，千千万万——thousands of

几十万——hundreds of thousands of

几百万——millions of

亿万——hundreds of millions of

4、百分数、小数、分数的口译

8%——eight percent

15%——fifteen percent

42%——forty-two percent

4.35%——four point three five percent

0.5%——point five percent

4.032——four point naught three two

71.006——seventy-one point naught naught six

1/2——one half; a half

1/3——one third

1/4——a quarter

3/5——three-fifths

7/8——seven-eighths

1/10——one-tenth

1/100——one-hundredth；one percent

1/1000——one-thousandth

14/1000——fourteen-thousandths

1/10000——one-ten thousandths

2-1/2——two and a half

4-2/3——four and two-thirds

5. 增/减倍数的口译

英汉倍数的表达有相似之处，也有不同。英汉互译时要特别注意不同的英语句型和表达方法所表示的倍数概念与汉语不同。英语用times 表示倍数。无论在何种句型中都表示乘的关系，即包括基数在内的倍数。请注意以下表示倍数的英语句型及其含义：

A is N times larger（longer，heavier…）than B.

A is larger（longer，heavier…）than

B by N times.

A is N times as large（long，heavy…）as B.

这三句英语的含义都是“A的大小(长度、重量……)是B的N倍”，或者“A比B大（长、重……）N-1倍”。

根据以上规律，请看下面英语句子的汉译：

(1) The earth is 49 times the size of the moon.

地球的大小是月球的49倍。(或地球比月球大48倍)

(2) Since mid-century, the global economy has nearly quintupled, while the population has doubled, demand for grain has nearly tripled, and the burning of fossil fuels has increased nearly fourfold.

自本世纪中叶以来，全球经济增长了将近四倍，人口翻了一番。结果，粮食的需求增加了近两倍，石油燃料增加了近三倍。

(3) Within 30 years there will be twice as many urban people as countryside people in the world.

30年内，全世界的城市居民将是农村人口的两倍。

(4) Although London covers less than 400,000 acres, it needs nearly 50 million acre-----125 times its area-----to provide it with food, timber, and other resources, and to absorb its pollution.

虽然伦敦占地不到40万英亩，却需要近5000万英亩的土地——125倍于它本身的面积——来供给它食品，原木和其他资源，并吸收它产生的污染物。

汉语倍数的表示法归纳起来有两类：第一类表示是(原数的)几倍，几倍于(原数)或增加到(原数的)几倍。第二类表示(比原数)大几倍或(比原数)增加了几倍；这两类说法含义不同。第一类表示包括基数在内的倍数，与英语倍数表示法的含义相同。第二类表示净增倍数。因此，汉语倍数的英译首先要区分不同含义，选用恰当的句型，灵活准确地表达。如果用能N times/表示英语的包括基数在内的倍数，那么汉语的第二类表示“增加了几倍”的英译就要用(N+1) times 来表示。例如：

去年这个公司手机的销量增长了近一倍（为原来的两倍）。

The sales volume of portable phones of this company increased nearly twice last year.

The sales volume of portable phones of this company nearly doubled last year.

汉语增加倍数的说法很多，英译时，首先要仔细区分是包括基数在内的增加倍数还是净增倍数，然后决定用N times 还是（N+1）times 来表达。例如：

(1) 过去20年中，中国的国内生产总值增长了近五倍。

In the past 20 years, China’s gross domestic product increased nearly six times.

(2) 1978年至1997年，中国人均生产总值增长了3.4倍。

China’s per capita GDP went up by 4.4 times between 1978 and 1997.

(3) 中国城镇居民人均居住面积由1978年的3.6平方米提高到1997年的8.8平方米，增加1.4倍。

The per capita living space for urban residents in China expanded from 3.6 square meters in 1978 to 8.8 square meters in 1997, a rise of 2.4 times.

(4) 1949年至1998年, 中国的粮食总产量由1.1亿吨增加到5.1亿吨, 增长3.5倍, 年平均增长3.1%, 是人口增长率的2.5倍。

China's total grain output increased from 110 million tons in 1949 to 510 million tons in 1998, or an increase of over 4.5 times, with an average annual growth rate of 3.1 percent, 2.5 times that of the population growth.

(5) 1997年, 全国高等学校在校生总数为608万人, 其中研究生18万人, 分别是1979年的2.2倍和9.6倍。

In 1997，6.08 million students were studying in colleges and universities, including 180,000 postgraduates, 2.2 times and 9.6 times the figures of 1979 respectively.

由于汉语很少用“减少了若干倍”的说法，而多用“减少了百分之几”或“减少了几成”的说法，因此，减少多用百分数和分数表示。例如：

(1) 由于水灾，去年的收成减少了三成。

Owing to flood, the crop last year was declined by 30 percent.

(2) 该公司的员工裁减了近三分之一，开支减少了四分之一。

The personnel of the company have been reduced nearly by one-third and the expenses by one-fourth.

(3) 1998年，政府机构改革目标实现。国务院下设部门从40个减少到29个，人员减少了近一半。

In 1998，the targets of restructuring governmental institutions were met. Departments under the State Council were reduced from 40 to 29 and personnel were cut nearly by half.

6.增/减百分比的口译

“增/减了百分之几”英语和汉语的含义一致，都表示净增或净减百分数。英汉增/减百分数的表示法有以下几种：

1) 增/减了……%

increase/rise/grow…%

decrease/drop/fall/sink …%

或者

increase/rise/grow/go up by …%

decrease/drop/fall/go down by …%

例如：

Between 1986 and 1987, Nike's sales dropped 18 percent and profits sank by more than 40 percent as a result of competition with Reebok.

与“锐步”鞋业竞争的结果，从1986到1987年，耐克（鞋）的销售额下降了18%，利润下降了40%多。

(1)By putting out more than one new shoe style everyday on average, in 1995 and 1996, Nike's sales and profits grew 71 percent and 80 percent respectively；meanwhile, Nike's closest rival Reebok grew just nine percent in the same period.

靠平均每天推出一个以上新（鞋）款式，1995到1996，耐克的销售额和利润分别上涨了71%和80%。而同期最接近耐克的竞争对手锐步只上涨了9%。

(3) Procter & Gamble just raised prices on its paper products by as much as 8%.

(美国) 普罗科特—甘布尔公司刚刚把他们的纸制品价格提高了8%。

(4) Spending on non-durables-----everything from soap flakes to razors to tennis shoes-----rose 30% last year.

去年非耐用品，从皂片、剃须刀到网球鞋的消费上升了30%。

(5) In the fiscal year of 2000, ending on March 30, export slumped 11.3 percent in Taiwan, 10 percent in Thailand, 9.9 percent in South Korea and 2.4 percent in Hong Kong. However, the Chinese mainland posted a respectable 7.5 percent rate in the first quarter.

在3月30日刚刚结束的2000财政年度，台湾的出口猛跌了11.3%，泰国10%、南韩9.9%、香港2.4%。然而，中国大陆却公布了第一季度7.5%的可观增长。

(6) In America, the number of people engaged in farming as their principle of occupation fell to 961,560 in 1997, down 8.7 percent from 1992, while the number between (the age of) 25 to 34 fell 28 percent.

在美国以农业为主要职业的人数1997下降到961，560人，比1992下降了8.7%，而年龄在25到34岁的人数下降了28%。

2) 与……相比，增/减了……%

increase/rise/grow /go up by …% (as) compared with /as against / as opposed to / over…

decrease/drop/fall/go down by …% (as) compared with /as against / as opposed to /over…

例如:

(1) 1999年，普通高校招生规模比上年扩大了47.4%。

University and college enrollment in 1999 increased by 47.4 percent over the previous year.

(2) 同1997年相比，1998年工业排污减少了11.6%；家庭排污增加了2.6%。

Compared with 1997, the discharge of industrial wastewater dropped by 11.6 percent, while that of domestic sewage rose by 2.6 percent in 1998.

(3) 因受亚洲金融危机的冲击，1998年中国进出口总额比上年下降0.4%，其中进口总额下降1.5%；出口总额增长0.5%。

As a result of Asian financial crises, China’s total volume of import and export in 1998 dropped by 0.4 percent over the previous year, of which the volume of import went down by 1.5 percent, and the value of export went up by 0.5 percent.

3) 增/减率

be …% increase/ rise /growth…

be …% decrease/drop /decline…

an increase / a rise / a growth rate of …%

a decrease / drop / decline of …%

be …% up /down …

be up / down…%

例如：

1999年，中国外贸出口达1949亿美元，比上年增长6.1%。

China’s total exports reached US$194.9 billion in 1999, a rise of 6.1 percent over the previous year.

1998年，中国全年海外游客入境人数6348万人次，比上年增长10.2%, 国际旅游收入达126亿美元, 增长4.4%。

In 1998, China received 63.48 million tourists from overseas, up by 10.2 percent. Income of foreign exchange from tourism reached 12.6 million US dollars, up 4.4 percent.

4) 增/减具体数字的英译也可用“by” +具体数字来表示

例如：

我国水土流失面积每年以10,000平方公里的速度在扩大。目前，水土流失面积已达367万平方公里,占总土地面积将近38%。

The area of soil erosion in China has been increasing by 10,000 square km. annually to 3.67 million square km. at present, accounting for nearly 38 percent of the total land area.

由于低温多雨的影响, 我国夏粮减产1460万吨。

China's output of summer grain declined by 14.6 million tons due to low temperature and rainy days during the growing period.

汉语增/减百分数的英译还有一些其它表示法，但不管用什么方法，英语的增/减百分数都是净增/减数。

实践是训练数字互译的根本途径。口译教学要集中一段时间专门进行数字口译训练。译员只有经过大量反复的数字口译实践才能掌握英汉数字互译的不同特点和规律，达到数字互译脱口而出，快速、准确的程度。

1. 视译下列汉语数表：

2000 年世界前10名国家的有关经济指数

国家排名国内生产总值国家排名人均国内生产总值

（单位：百万美元）（美元）1．美国7，433，517 1. 卢森堡45，360

2．日本5，149，185 2. 瑞士44，350

3．德国2，364，632 3. 日本40，940

4．法国1，533，619 4. 百慕大34，670

5．英国1，152，136 5. 挪威34，510

6．意大利1，140，484 6. 丹麦32，100

7．中国906，079 7. 新加坡30，550

8．巴西709，591 8. 德国28，870

9．加拿大569，899 9. 澳大利亚28，110

10．西班牙563，249 10. 美国28，020

旅游业前10名

（单位：百万美元）

1．美国61，137 6. 澳大利亚14，618 2．法国27，527 7. 德国12，810 3．意大利27，451 8. 香港9，604 4．西班牙25，701 9. 瑞士9，364 5．英国19，133 10. 中国8，733

每1000人拥有计算机数

1．新加坡409.2 6. 丹麦359.5 2．美国406.9 7. 瑞典350.4 3．瑞士395.1 8. 芬兰311.3 4．澳大利亚361.5 9. 荷兰281.9 5．挪威360.7 10. 加拿大270.7

2. 视译下列英语短文（英译汉）：

World Population

With its two giants, China and India, Asia is the home of the majority of the world’s 6 billion human inhabitants，and Africa the second most popular continent. The UN population fund said in its 1998 report on population growth, Asia counts 3.5 billion people. Its most populous countries are China, with 1.2 billion plus another 6.3 million in Hong Kong and India with 975.8 million, followed far behind by Indonesia with 125.9 million and Bangladesh with 124 million.

India, which has continued to hold the record for a higher birth rate than China, is expected to grow in the year 2025 to 1.3 billion residents.

The projected population for all of Asia in the year 2025 is 4.7 billion.

In Africa, the UN Population Fund reported counted 778.5 million residents, with 1.4 billion anticipated in 2025.

Nigeria is Africa’s most populous country with 121.8 million residents. Egypt is next with 65.7 million, followed by Ethiopia with 62.1 million, the Democratic Republic of Congo with 49.2 million, and South Africa with 44.3 million.

Nigeria, the DRC and Ethiopia are expected to double their population in one generation by the year 2025.

The European continent counts 729.4 million residents, with Russia still the most populous country at 147.2 million, though its population growth is declining. Germany is next with 82.4 million.

Europe, according to the UN report is the sole continent whose population is expected to decline, dropping to 701.1 million residents in the year 2025.

North America, with the United States and its 273.8 million residents counts 304.1 million people, though the number is expected to rise to 369 million in 2025.

3．视译下列汉语短文（汉译英）：2000年第五次全国人口普查主要数据

一、总人口

全国总人口为12,9533万人。其中：

祖国大陆31个省、自治区、直辖市（不包括福建省的金门、马祖等岛屿，下同）和现役军人的人口共12,6583万人。

香港特别行政区人口为678万人。

澳门特别行政区人口为44万人。

台湾省和福建省的金门、马祖等岛屿人口为2228万人。

二、人口增长

祖国大陆31个省、自治区、直辖市和现役军人的人口，同第四次全国人口普查1990年7月1日0时的11,3368万人相比，十年零四个月共增加了13215万人，增长11.66%。平均每年增加1279万人，年平均增长率为1.07%。

三、家庭户人口

祖国大陆31个省、自治区、直辖市共有家庭户3,4837万户，家庭人口为11,9839万人，平均每个家庭户的人口为3.44人，比1990年第四次全国人口普查的3.96人减少了0.52人。

四、总人口性别构成

祖国大陆31个省、自治区、直辖市和现役军人的人口中，男性为6,5355万人，占总人口的51.63%；女性为6,1228万人，占总人口的48. 37% 。性别比（以女性为100，男性对女性的比例）为106︰74。

五、年龄构成

祖国大陆31个省、自治区、直辖市和现役军人的人口中，０-14 岁的人口为28979万人。占总人口的22.89%；15-64 岁的人口为88793 万人，占总人口的70.15%；65岁及以上的人口为8811万人，占总人口的6.96%。同1990年第四次全国人口普查相比，０-14岁人口的比重下降了4.80个百分点，６５岁及以上人口的比重上升了１.39个百分点。

六、民族构成

祖国大陆31个省、自治区、直辖市和现役军人的人口中，汉族人口为11,5940万人，占总人口的91.59%；少数民族人口为1064万人，占总人口的8.41%。同1990年第四次全国人口普查相比，汉族人口增加了1,1692万人，增长了11.22%；各少数民族人口增加了1523万人，增长了16.70%。

七、各种受教育程度人口

祖国大陆31个省、自治区、直辖市和现役军人的人口中，接受大学（指大专以上）教育的4571万人；接受高中（含中专）教育的1,4109万人；接受初中教育的4,2989万人；接受小学教育的4,5191万人（以上各种受教育程度的人包括各类学校的毕业生、肄业生和在校生）。

同1990年第四次全国人口普查比，每10万人中拥有各种受教育程度的人数有如下变化：具有大学程度的由1422人上升为3611 人；具有高中程度的由8039 人上升为1,1146人；具有初中程度的由2,3344 人上升为3,3961人；具有小学程度的3,7057人下降为3,5701

人。

祖国大陆31个省、自治区、直辖市和现役军人的人口中，文盲人口（15 岁及15岁以上不识字或识字很少的人）为8507 万人，同1990年第四次全国人口普查相比，文盲率由15.88%下降为6.72% ，下降了9.16个百分点。

八、城乡人口

祖国大陆31个省、自治区、直辖市的人口中，居住在城镇的人口45594万人，占总人口的36.09% ；居住在乡村的人口80739 万人，占总人口的63.91%。同1990 年第四次全国人口普查相比，城镇人口占总人口的比重上升了9.86个百分点。

练习参考答案

练习3-2

英译汉

由于有中国和印度这两个人口大国，亚洲已成为世界60亿人中大多数人的家园，而非洲则是世界第二人口大陆。联合国人口基金组织1998人口增长的报告说，亚洲有35亿人口。人口最多的是中国，有12亿，再加上香港的630万。印度有97580万人口。其次是印度尼西亚，有12590万。再次是孟加拉国，有12400万人口。

印度的人口增长率持续超过中国。预计到2025年，印度的人口将达到13亿。

到2025年，亚洲的人口将达到47亿。

根据联合国人口基金组织的报告，非洲有77850万居民。预计到2025年，非洲的人口将达到14亿。

尼日利亚是非洲人口最多的国家，有12180万居民，其后依次是：埃及，6570万；埃塞俄比亚，6210万；刚果民主共和国，4920万；南非, 4430万。

预计到2025年, 也就是一代人以后，尼日利亚，刚果民主共和国和埃塞俄比亚的人口都将翻一番。

欧洲大陆有72940万人口，其中俄罗斯有14720万人，虽然俄国的人口增长率在下降，但目前仍是欧洲人口最多的国家。其次是德国，有824 0万人。

根据联合国的报道，欧洲是唯一人口负增长的洲。到2025年，欧洲的人口将下降到71000万。

北美洲有30410万人口，其中美国占27380万。预计到2025年，北美洲的人口将达到36900万。

汉译英

Figures of the 2000 Population Census

The National Bureau of Statistics releases the result of the 2000 population census:

I. T otal Population

China has a population of 1,295.33 million. Of which:

The total population of the 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities (excluding Jinmen and Mazu islands of Fujian Province hereafter) and of servicemen of the mainland of China was 1,265.83 million.

The population of Hong Kong SAR was 6.78 million.

The population of Macao SAR was 440,000.

The population of Taiwan Province and of Jinmen, Mazu and a few other islands of Fujian Province was 22.28 million.

II. Population Growth.

Compared with the population of 1,133.68 million from the 1990 population census (with zero hour of July 1, 1990 as the reference time), the total population of the 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities and the servicemen of the mainland of China increased by 132.15 million persons, or 11.66 percent over the past 10 years and 4 months. The average annual

growth was 12.79 million persons, or a growth rate of 1.07 percent.

III. Population of Family Households.

In the 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities of the mainland of China, there were 348.37 million family households with a population of 1,198.39 million persons. The average size of a family household was 3.44 persons, or 0.52 persons less as compared with the 3.96 persons of the 1990 population census.

Ⅳ. Sex Composition.

Of the people enumerated in the 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities and servicemen of the mainland of China, 653.55 million persons or 51.63 percent were males; 612.28 million or 48.37 % females. The sex ratio (female=100) was 106---74.

Ⅴ. Age Composition.

Of the people enumerated in the 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities and servicemen of the mainland of China, 289.79 million persons were in the age group of 0--14, accounting for 22.89 percent of the total population; 887.93 million persons in the age group of 15--64, accounting for 70.15 percent and 88.11 million persons in the age group of 65 and over, accounting for 6.96 percent. As compared with the results of the 1990 population census, the share of people in the age group of 0--14 was down by 4.80 percentage points, and that for people aged 65 and over was up by 1.39 percentage points.

Ⅵ. Composition of Ethnic Groups.

Of the people enumerated in the 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities and servicemen of the mainland of China, 1,159.40 million persons or 91.59 percent were of Han ethnic group, and 106.43 million ethnic persons or 8.41 percent were of various minority ethnic groups. Compared with the 1990 population census, the population of Han people increased by 116.92 million persons, or 11.22 percent, while the population of various minority ethnic groups increased by 15.23 million persons, or 16.70 percent.

Ⅶ. Composition of Educational Attainment.

Of the 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities and servicemen of the mainland of China, 45.71 million persons had finished university education (referring to junior college and above); 141.09 million persons had received senior secondary education (including secondary technical school education); 429.89 million persons had received junior secondary education and 451.91 million persons had primary education (the educated persons included graduated and students in schools).

Compared with the 1990 population census, the following changes have taken place in the number of people with various educational attainments per every 100,000 people: number of people with university education increased to 3,611 from 1,422; number of people with senior secondary education increased to 11,146 from 8,039; number of people with junior secondary education increased from 23,344 to 33,961; and number of people with primary education decreased from 37,057 to 35,701.

Of the people enumerated in the 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities and

servicemen of the mainland of China, 85.07 million persons were illiterate (i.e. people over 15 years of age who cannot read or can read very little). Compared with the 15.88 percent of illiterate people in the 1990 population census, the proportion has dropped to 6.72 percent, or down by 9.16 percentage points.

Ⅷ. Urban and Rural Population.

In the 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities of the mainland of China, there were 455.94 million urban residents, accounting for 36.09 percent of the total population; and that of rural residents stood at 807.39 million, accounting for 63.91 percent. Compared with the 1990 population census, the proportion of urban residents rose by 9.86 percentage points.