translation of sentences French-English 8/11 (1)

Dear teachers,

Would you please tell me what's wrong with my translation?

1) Les femmes britanniques ont obtenu le droit de vote en 1928. Quant aux femmes françaises, il leur a fallu attendre encore presque vingt ans pour jouir de ce privilège, jusque-là réservé aux hommes.

(The ?) British women got the right to vote in 1928. As for (the ?) French women they had to wait nearly twenty years to enjoy this privilege, until then reserved for men.
2) Beaucoup de gens vivent dans un environnement déprimant.
Many people live in a depressing environment.

3) Soixante personnes ont été blessés dans les émeutes de Moss Side à Manchester.
Sixty people were wounded in the Moss Side riots in Manchester.

4) Normalement, les policiers ne portent pas d'arme à feu.
Normally / Usually (?), the police / policemen (?) do not carry weapons / firearms.

5) Les gens sont-ils satisfaits du governement?
Are people satisfied with the governement?

6) La police a arrêté un de ses amis.
The police arrested / has arrested (?) one of his friends.

7) Les policiers patrouillent souvent dans les parages.
The police often partol the neighbourhood / in the area.

8) Il a vécu en Angleterre pendant vingt ans, puis il s'est installé sur la Côte d'Azur quand il a pris sa retraite.
He lived in London for twenty years and then settled on the French Riviera when he retired.

9) J'aurais aimé que tu m'aides à réparer cette armoire, car je n'y arrive pas tout seul. C'est un meuble de famille auquel je tiens beaucoup.
I wish you would help me repair / mend / fix this wardrobe, because I can't manage on my own / I cannot do it myself. This piece of furniture is a family heirloom I am very attached to.

10) Il faut que je téléphone à ma mère. Elle est partie en vacances depuis quelques semaines, et je ne sais pas quand elle reviendra. Je dois aller la chercher à l'aéroport à son retour.
I must call my mother. She's been on holiday for a few weeks, and I don't know when she will be back. I have to pick her up at the airport on her return.

All the best,

Hela

Hi Hela,

My French, I'm sorry to say, is not good enough to verify the precision of the translations (though I was happy that I was able to understand the general meaning in all of them), so I'm going to comment only on the naturalness of the English.

4) Normally or Usually (either is okay), the police - use this, because it's gender-neutral do not carry firearms. Weapons is very broad - the "night stick" that many police carry is still a weapon of sorts.

6) You can use either arrested or have arrested. Police takes the plural verb though, so it's have arrested, not has arrested.

9) Now I'm going to look igorant, but is it closer to say "I would really like it if you would help me..."? There's no difference in repair / mend / fix in this context. You can use "can't manage" but say "can't manage it" or use the other version you suggest.

10) Again, I may be quite wrong, but is it "She left on her holiday/vacation a few weeks ago" rather than "She's been on holiday..."?

I agree with you.

Parisian women have a wonderful sense of style.

The women of Paris have a wonderful sense of style.

I would omit the articles in the voting sentence.