北京大学于1898年成立，原名为京师大学堂(the Imperial University of Peking)。该大学的成立标志着中国近代史上高等教育的开始。在中国近代史上，它是进步思想的中心，对中国新文化运动、五四运动及其他重要事件的发生颇有影响。今天，国内不少高校排行榜将北京大学放入国内顶尖大学之列。该校重视教学和科学研究。为提高本科生教育和研究生教育质量、保持其领先研究机构的地位，学校已做出很大努力。此外，学校尤以其校园环境及优美的中国传统建筑而闻名。

参考答案：

Originally known as the Imperial University of Peking,Peking University was established in 1898.The establishment of the University marked the beginning of higher education in China's modern history.In modern history of China,it was a center for progressive thought and was influential in the birth of China's New Culture Movement,the May Fourth Movement and many other significant events.Today, Peking University was placed by many domestic university rankings amongst the top universities in China.The university lays emphasis on both teaching,and scientific research.It has made great efforts to improve the undergraduate and graduate education,and maintain its role as a leading research institution.In addition,the University is especially renowned for its campus environment and the beauty of its traditional Chinese architecture.

解题思路：

1.表示某事物的成立，需用被动语态；“原名京师大学堂”即最初的名字，可译为and its original name was...；也可与前面句子共用主语Peking University，译为was originallyknown as...，但这两种处理方法都不如将其处理为过去分词短语originally known as...来得简洁地道。
2.注意第二句中“中国近代史”的译法，“近代史”通常译为modern history。“现代史”则译为contemporaryhistory。“标志着…的开始”可以套用mark the beginning of...句型表达。注意，不要一看到“标志”就翻译为symbolize，该词一般指“某事物的象征意义”，用于此不合适。
3.第三句中的“对…的发生颇有影响”的中心词是“有影响”(was influential)，“对…的发生”表明产生影响的方面，用介词in。“发生”在此处强调的是状态，而不是动作，因此用in the birth of表达。

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