核心问题
Judge for yourself. Jefferson refused to accept other people's opinions without careful thought. "Neither believe nor reject anything," he wrote to his nephew, "because any other person has rejected or believed it. Heaven has given you a mind for judging truth and error. Use it." [原译]……杰裴逊没有认真考虑，就拒绝了别人的意见……(河北机电学院学报93年第四期)
请问上面的译文是否正确？
词典解答
确定状语归属常常是一个困难的问题。它有时也是翻译的一个陷阱。就孤立的句子而论，状语 without careful thought 既可以修饰谓语动词 refused，也可以修饰动词不定式 to accept。这就是说，句子本身是有歧义的。但是，在上面的上下文中，这个句子是没有歧义的，状语 without careful thought 只能是修饰动词不定式 accept 的。
[试译]……杰裴逊绝不未经认真思考就接受别人的观点……