一想到中国，人们脑海中闪现的第一件事便是丝绸。中国是丝绸的发源地，今天仍在生产一些世界上最好的丝绸。在中国，探索丝绸奥妙最好的地方是苏州。正是在那里，诞生了第一批丝绣(silk embroidery)，如今苏州仍在生产中国最好的丝绸。丝绸可以用合成纤维(synthetic fibre)和人造纤维等制成，但最优质的丝绸是由桑蚕丝(mulberrysilk)制成的。桑蚕(silkworm)纯粹以桑叶喂食。苏州丝绸可以制成很多产品，最常见的是衣服和围巾，但也能做成鞋、餐巾、玩具，甚至风筝。

　　参考翻译

　　When people think of China, silk is the first thing that pops into their mind. China is the birthplace of silk, and still produces some of the finest silk in the world. In China, the best place to discover the wonder ofsilk is the city of Suzhou. It was there that some of the first silk embroideries were born, and Suzhou isstill producing the best silks in China. Silk can be produced from synthetic fibre and artificial fibre, etc., but the finest quality silk is made from mulberry silk. The silkworms are fed purely on mulberry leaves. Suzhou Silk can be made into a great many products, the most commonly being clothing and scarves, and it can be made into shoes, napkin, toys, and even kites as well.

　　翻译详解

　　1.想到:可译为think of。后半句的pops into mind也可表示“想到”，而think over则为“仔细考虑”的意思。

　　2.探索丝绸奥妙最好的地方:本句看似可以用定语从句来修饰主语，其实用动词不定式作后置定语来翻译更为简洁。

　　3.正是在那里，诞生了第一批丝绣:本句可以用it is+that的强调句式来表达，即 It was there that some of thefirst silk embroideries were born.这会给整体的翻译增加得分点。