MML Computer-Assisted Translation

1984 - George Orwell

Silke Mentchen

[Winston Smith's] flat was seven flights up. On each landing, opposite the lift shaft, the poster with the enormous face gazed from the wall. It was one of those pictures which was so contrived that the eyes follow you about when you move. BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU [1], the caption beneath it ran.

Inside the flat a fruity voice was reading out a list of figures [2] which had something to do with the production of pig-iron [3]. The voice came from an oblong metal plaque like a dulled mirror which formed part of the surface of the right-hand wall. Winston turned a switch and the voice sank [4] somewhat, though the words were still distinguishable [5]. The instrument (the telescreen, it was called) could be dimmed [6], but there was no way of shutting it off completely. [.] The telescreen received and transmitted simultaneously. Any [7] sound that Winston made, above the level of a very low whisper, would [8] be picked up by it; moreover, so long as he remained within the field of vision which the metal plaque commanded, he could be seen as well as [9] heard. There was of course no way of knowing whether you were being watched at any given moment [10].