在科技资料翻译中，represent是颇难对付的一个动词。这个词最为人们熟悉的一个意义是“代表”，然而，在很多场合下它却不表示此义。下面我们选用几个实例，说明这个词在具体语言环境中的意义和翻译。
1，意为be，可译作“是”。如：
The convective heat of molten magma in the upper 10 km of the continental crust represents a significant geothermal energy resource.
大陆地壳10公里深度以内熔岩中的对流热是一种重要的地热能资源。
2，意为appear as, 可译作“为”。如：
The area of the earth is about 510 million square kilometers. Of this total, approximately 360 million square kilometers, or 71 percent, are represented by the oceans and marginal seas. The remaining 29 percent, 150 million square kilometers, are represented by the continents, which protrude from the water like enormous islands.
地球的总面积约为五亿一千万平方公里。其中大约三亿六千万平方公里，即地球总面积的71%，为各大海洋和陆缘海。剩下的29%，即一亿五千万平方公里，为各大洲，宛如几个巨大的岛屿从水域中突起。
3，意为designate，可译作“成为”。如：
The rifts therefore represent divergent plate boundaries where seafloor spreading is taking place.
这样，大洋中脊就成为板块分离边界，海底扩张就发生在这里。
4，意为denote, 可译作“表示”。如：
Specific gravity is a number which represents the ratio of the weight of a mineral to the weight of a mineral to the weight of an equal volume of water.
比重为一数值，表示一种矿物的重量与等积水重之比。
5，意为show，可译作“表明”。如：
The hydrologic cycle represents the continuous movement of water from the oceans to the atmosphere, from the atmosphere to the land, and from the land back to the sea.水分循环表明水的不断流动：从海洋到大气层，从大气层到陆地，又从陆地返回到大海。
6，意为symbolize，可译作“代表”。如：
This is the top view of an oxygen-silicon tetrahedron. The four large spheres represent oxygen atoms, and the dark one represents a silicon atom.
这是一个硅氧四面体的俯视图。图中四个大的圆球代表氧原子，那个暗色的圆球则代表一个硅原子。
7，意为be the equivalent of, make up, 可译作“占”。如：
The continental shelves represent 7.5 percent of the total area of the oceans, which is equivalent to about 18 percent of the earth's total land area.
大陆架占海洋总面积的7.5%，约等于陆地总面积的18%。
8，意为involve, carry, 可译作“含有”。如：
A computer is a device that takes in a series of electrical impulses representing information, combines them, sorts then, analyses and compares the information with that stored in the computer.
计算机是一种装置，它接收一系列含有信息的电脉冲，对这些脉冲进行合并，整理，分析，并将它们与储存在机内的信息进行比较。
（责任编辑:doublejp）
