Question

Using a dictionary and the methods described at the beginning of the “Advanced Reading Skills” lesson, provide a “translation” of Eliot’s paragraph. In a peculiar sense he will be aware also that [the poet] must inevitably be judged by the standards of the past. I say judged, not amputated, by them; not judged to be as good as, or worse or better than, the dead; and certainly not judged by the canons of dead critics. It is a judgment, a comparison, in which two things are measured by each other. To conform merely would be for the new work not really to conform at all; it would not be new, and would therefore not be a work of art. And we do not quite say that the new is more valuable because it fits in; but its fitting in is a test of its value–a test, it is true, which can only be slowly and cautiously applied, for we are none of us infallible judges of conformity. We say: it appears to conform, and is perhaps individual, or it appears individual, and may conform; but we are hardly likely to find that it is one and not the other.

Answer 1

I guess this also depends on what the "Advanced Reading Skills" lessons talks about, but don't think of it as "really hard"! Work on one word, one phrase, one sentence, and you'll start making progress. =) 

In general, when translating, the first thing you'll have to do is to understand the paragraph, but you're right, this isn't that easy a paragraph to translate. You could use an English dictionary, or a bilingual dictionary (http://www.nciku.comis good for English-Chinese) to help you. While you're doing this, try to pick out important words and translate them first, and see if you could understand what each sentence means. 

Sometimes, words may have multiple meanings or be used as metaphors - for example, "amputated" means "having been cut off", but in your 2nd sentence, it means that the poet should not be condemned and criticised to the point where he is treated as having no value. 

Finally, after you've translated the text, don't forget to read it to check if it makes sense in the language you're using - and if it makes for smooth reading!