2006 年 9 月翻译资格中级英语口译笔试真题及答案
SECTION 1: LISTENING TEST
Directions: In this part of the test, you will hear a passage and read the same passage
with blanks in it. Fill in each of the blanks with the word or words you have heard
on the tape. Write your answer in the corresponding space in your ANSWER BOOKLET.
Remember you will hear the passage ONLY ONCE.
British people are far more sophisticated about beverages than they were 50 years
ago. Witness the Starbucks revolution and you’ll know where ___________ (1) goes.
However, spurred on by recent studies suggesting that it can cut the risk of
___________ (2) and retard the aging process, tea is enjoying a ___________ (3).
Although tea is available in more places than ever, it remains to be _____________
(4) of a typical British family.
If you are invited to an English home, _____________ (5) in the morning you get a
cup of tea. It is either brought in by a heartily _____________ (6) or an almost
malevolently silent maid. When you are _____________ (7) in your sweetest morning
sleep you must not say: ‘Go away, you _____________ (8).’ On the contrary, you
have to declare with your best five o’clock smile: ‘Thank you very much. I
_____________ (9) a cup of tea, especially in the morning.’ If they leave you alone
with the liquid you may pour it _____________ (10)!
Then you have ___________ (11); then you have tea at 11 o’clock in the morning;
_____________ (12); then you have tea for tea; then after supper; and again at eleven
o’clock _____________ (13).
You must not refuse any additional cups of tea under the _____________ (14): if it
is hot; if it is cold; if you are _____________ (15); if you are nervous; if you
are watching TV; _____________ (16); if you have just returned home; if you feel
like it; if you do not feel like it; if you have had no tea ______________ (17);
if you have just had a cup.
You definitely must not ______________ (18). I sleep at five o’clock in the morning;
I have coffee for breakfast; I drink innumerable _____________ (19) during the day;
I have the _____________ (20) even at tea-time!
Part B: Listening Comprehension
1. Statements
Directions: In this part of the test, you will hear several short statements. These
statements will be spoken ONLY ONCE, and you will not find them written on the paper;
so you must listen carefully. When you hear a statement, read the answer choices
and decide which one is closest in meaning to the statement you have heard. Then
write the letter of the answer you have chosen in the corresponding space in your
ANSWER BOOKLET.
1. (A) The program on Channel Eight reminds me of TV commercials.
(B) The product advertised in the TV commercial cannot help cure my illness.
(C) I don’t watch TV that much, because of the omnipresent advertisements.
(D) I have to sit on the sofa, because I am too sick to stand in front of the
television.
2. (A) The plane arrived at 7:30.
(B) The plane arrived at 8:00.
(C) The plane arrived at 9:00.
(D) The plane arrived at 10:00.
3. (A) I’ll ask someone else to read and check this agreement for errors.
(B) I’ll think more about the agreement before making a decision.
(C) It’s obvious that I’ll discuss the agreement with my assistant first.
(D) It’s out of question that I should get into any agreement with you.
4. (A) The better members decided to cancel the meeting.
(B) Less than half of the committee was away on business trips.
(C) It’d be better if no one had attended this morning’s committee meeting..
(D) The meeting was cancelled because of low attendance.
5. (A) Supermarkets in the inner city and the suburbs are usually owned by the same
company.
(B) Products in grocery stores are more expensive than those in supermarkets.
(C) There is a price difference for the same product even in shops run by the same
company.
(D) People prefer to shop in supermarkets, which are mostly located in the suburbs,
with free parking space.
6. (A) Many Americans cannot afford higher education because of the soaring college
tuition fees and expenses.
(B) Sending their children to college is no longer a bigger challenge for millions
of Americans.
(C) The American government has set the goal that it will eventually stop funding
higher education institutions.
(D) Nowadays, American parents have to pay more to send their children to college.
7. (A) For many university graduates, the jobs they take will not be related to their
academic achievements.
(B) Because of economic recession, the number of university students majoring in
liberal arts is declining.
(C) University students who are interested in liberal arts will have more job
opportunities upon graduation.
(D) With high unemployment rate, many university students will have to opt for
transferring to other majors.
8. (A) Good business negotiators will never repeat what other people have already
restated.
(B) Restating by good business negotiators is not an effective way to check the
information.
(C) Good business negotiators are sometimes curious about other people’s
restatements.
(D) Restating what others have said is a good strategy for confirming understanding.
9. (A) We cannot reach an agreement, let alone a spoken promise.
(B) We’d better draft and then sign a written agreement.
(C) We generally keep our promises in business transactions.
(D) We hope you understand why we are unable to keep our promises.
10. (A) I don’t think you have more to say on that topic.
(B) I think we’d better talk about that in detail sometime later.
(C) I am truly appreciative if you can elaborate on that topic after lunch.
(D) I am busy right now, so we might as well discuss it over lunch today.
2. Talks and Conversations
Directions: In this part of the test, you will hear several short talks and
conversations After each of these, you will hear a few questions. Listen carefully
because you will hear the talk or conversation and questions ONLY ONCE. When you
hear a question, read the four choices and choose the best answer to that question.
Then write the letter of the answer you have chosen in the corresponding space in
your ANSWER BOOKLET.
Questions 11—14
11. (A) Two (B) Three (C) Four (D) Five
12. (A) A profit-making private school.
(B) A non-profit-making independent school.
(C) A state school that is funded by non-governmental sources.
(D) A secondary school that is open to the majority of British students.
13. (A) Many children are no longer placed in schools according to their academic
abilities.
(B) Many children can afford to study in private schools, as they become part of
the state system.
(C) Children from wealthy families no longer choose to go and study in public schools.
(D) Cleverer children will be sent to the best private schools in the country for
a better development.
14. (A) Clever and less bright children will mix well with each other.
(B) School authorities will receive more funds from the government.
(C) Most students will do well in their entrance examination for the higher
education.
(D) Every child will have an equal opportunity to go on to higher education.
Questions 15—18
15. (A) One that is unabridged with detailed definitions.
(B) One that contains fewer words and emphasizes on special words.
(C) One that contains a broad range of words in common usage.
(D) One that spans several volumes and has extensive word histories
16. (A) The New Oxford Picture Dictionary
(B) The American Heritage Dictionary
(C) The Dictionary of Legal Terms
(D) The Drinking Water Dictionary
17. (A) It lists abbreviations, proper nouns, and tables of measures.
(B) It is an unabridged edition providing as many as 500,000 entries.
(C) It was randomly compiled and contains as many foreign words as possible.
(D) It provides detailed information of famous people and places.
18. (A) A school dictionary. (B) A college dictionary.
(C) A general dictionary. (D) A specialized dictionary.
Questions 19—22
19. (A) He’s bought his wife a present. (B) He’s missed an important phone call.
(C) He’s dismissed his new secretary. (D) He’s popped out shopping.
20. (A) Talking about the latest fashion.
(B) Offering special reductions.
(C) Giving bigger discounts to female customers.
(D) Pressing on the customer to make a decision.
21. (A) Upside down and inside out. (B) Inside out and back to front.
(C) With its sleeves as trouser legs. (D) With its pattern upside down.
22. (A) A V-necked pullover with short sleeves.
(B) A high-necked pullover with long sleeves.
(C) A white pullover with a pattern.
(D) A blue pullover with a high neck.
Questions 23—26
23. (A) That of a creator. (B) That of a re-creator.
(C) That of a receiver. (D) That of a performer.
24. (A) Because we need to concentrate for our quiet thought.
(B) Because we want to give full attention to the driving.
(C) Because we try to avoid being caught by the patrolling police.
(D) Because we intend to be as casual as possible in the driving.
25. (A) In the elevator. (B) In the car.
(C) In the bathroom. (D) In the church.
26. (A) By perceptive and analytical listening.
(B) By taking a sonic bath.
(C) By attending classical concerts.
(D) By listening to an emotional piece of music.
Questions 27—30
27. (A) His grandfather’s house. (B) His parents’ remarks.
(C) A magazine. (D) A coursebook.
28. (A) Enjoying visiting zoos. (B) Driving a car.
(C) Making money. (D) Taking kids to a museum.
29. (A) It died a few years ago. (B) It killed several tourists.
(C) It is only a legend. (D) It is a living dinosaur.
30. (A) No one has provided an accurate description of the animal.
(B) No dead bodies of the animal have ever been found.
(C) There are only 500 species living in Loch Ness.
(D) The lake is not deep enough for such a huge animal.
Part C: Listening and Translation
1. Sentence Translation
Directions: In this part of the test, you will hear 5 sentences in English. You will
hear the sentences ONLY ONCE. After you have heard each sentence, translate it into
Chinese and write your version in the corresponding space in your ANSWER BOOKLET.
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
2. Passage Translation
Directions: In this part of the test, you will hear 2 passages in English. You will
hear the passages ONLY ONCE. After you have heard each passage, translate it into
Chinese and write your version in the corresponding space in your ANSWER BOOKLET.
You may take notes while you are listening.
(1)
(2)
SECTION 2: STUDY SKILLS (45 minutes)
Directions: In this section, you will read several passages. Each passage is followed
by several questions based on its content. You are to choose ONE best answer, (A),
(B), (C) or (D), to each question. Answer all the questions following each passage
on the basis of what is stated or implied in that passage and write the letter of
the answer you have chosen in the corresponding space in your ANSWER BOOKLET.
Questions 1—5
The purpose of the American court system is to protect the rights of the people.
According to American law, if someone is accused of a crime, he or she is considered
innocent until the court proves that the person is guilty. In other words, it is
the responsibility of the court to prove that a person is guilty. It is not the
responsibility of the person to prove that he or she is innocent.
In order to arrest a person, the police have to be reasonably sure that a crime has
been committed. The police must give the suspect the reasons why they are arresting
him and tell him his rights under the law. Then the police take the suspect to the
police station to “book” him. “Booking means that the name of the person and the
charges against him are formally listed at the police station.
The next step is for the suspect to go before a judge. The judge decides whether
the suspect should be kept in jail or released. If the suspect has no previous
criminal record and the judge feels that he will return to court rather than run
away—for example, because he owns a house and has a family—he can go free. Otherwise,
the suspect must put up bail. At this time, too, the judge will appoint a court layer
to defend the suspect if he can’t afford one.
The suspect returns to court a week or two later. A lawyer from the district
attorney’s office presents a case against the suspect. This is called a hearing.
The attorney may present evidence as well as witnesses. The judge at the hearing
then decides whether there is enough reason to hold a trial. If the judge decides
that there is sufficient evidence to call for a trial, he or she sets a date for
the suspect to appear in court to formally plead guilty or not guilty.
At the trial, a jury of 12 people listens to the evidence from both attorneys and
hears the testimony of the witnesses. Then the jury goes into a private room to
consider the evidence and decide whether the defendant is guilty of the crime. If
the jury decides that the defendant is innocent, he goes free. However, if he is
convicted, the judge sets a date for the defendant to appear in court again for
sentencing. At this time, the judge tells the convicted person what his punishment
will be. The judge may sentence him to prison, order him to pay a fine, or place
him on probation.
The American justice system is very complex and sometimes operates slowly. However,
every step is designed to protect the rights of the people. These individual rights
are the basis, or foundation, of the American government.
1. What is the main idea of the passage?
(A) The American court system requires that a suspect prove that he or she is
innocent.
(B) The US court system is designed to protect the rights of the people.
(C) Under the American court system, judge decides if a suspect is innocent or guilty.
(D) The US court system is designed to help the police present a case against the
suspect.
2. What follows ‘in other words’ (para.1)?
(A) An example of the previous sentence.
(B) A new idea about the court system.
(C) An item of evidence to call for a trial.
(D) A restatement of the previous sentence.
3. According to the passage, ‘he can go free’ (para.3) means _________.
(A) the suspect is free to choose a lawyer to defend him
(B) the suspect does not have to go to trial because the judge has decided he is
innocent
(C) the suspect will be informed by mail whether he is innocent or not
(D) the suspect does not have to wait in jail or pay money until he goes to trial
4. What is the purpose of having the suspect pay bail?
(A) To pay for the judge and the trial.
(B) To pay for a court lawyer to defend the suspect.
(C) To ensure that the suspect will return to court.
(D) To ensure that the suspect will appear in prison.
5. According to the passage, which of the following statements is true?
(A) The American justice system sometimes operates slowly.
(B) The police can arrest a suspect without giving any reasons.
(C) It is the responsibility of the suspect to prove he is innocent.
(D) The jury considers the evidence in the court room.
Questions 6—10
So you’ve got an invention—you and around 39,000 others each year, according to
2002 statistics!
The 64,000-dollar question, if you have come up with a device which you believe to
be the answer to the energy crisis or you’ve invented a lawnmower which cuts grass
with a jet of water (not so daft, someone has invented one), is how to ensure you’re
the one to reap the rewards of your ingenuity. How will all you garden shed boffins
out there keep others from capitalizing on your ideas and lining their pockets at
your expense?
One of the first steps to protect your interest is to patent your invention. That
can keep it out of the grasp of the pirates for at least the next 20 years. And for
this reason inventors in their droves beat a constant trail from all over the country
to the doors of an anonymous grey-fronted building just behind London’s Holborn
to try and patent their devices.
The building houses the Patent Office. It’s an ant heap of corridors, offices and
filing rooms—a sorting house and storage depot for one of the world’s biggest and
most varied collections of technical data. Some ten million patents—English and
foreign—are listed there.
File after file, catalogue after catalogue detail the brain-children of inventors
down the centuries, from a 1600’s machine gun designed to fire square bullets at
infidels and round ones at Christians, to present-day laser, nuclear and computer
technology.
The first ‘letters patent’ were granted as long ago as 1449 to a Flemish craftsman
by the name of John Utynam. The letters, written in Latin, are still on file at the
office. They were granted by King Henry VI and entitled Utynam to ‘import into this
country’ his knowledge of making stained glass windows in order to install such
windows at Eton College.
Present-day patents procedure is a more sophisticated affair than getting a go-ahead
note from the monarch. These days the strict procedures governing whether you get
a patent for your revolutionary mouse-trap or solar-powered back-scratcher have been
reduced to a pretty exact science.
From start to finish it will take around two and a half years and cost £165 for the
inventor to gain patent protection for his brainchild. That’s if he’s lucky. By
no means all who apply to the Patent Office, which is a branch of the Department
of Trade, get a patent.
A key man at the Patent Office is Bernard Partridge, Principal Examiner
(Administration), who boils down to one word the vital ingredient any inventor needs
before he can hope to overcome the many hurdles in the complex procedure of obtaining
a patent—‘ingenuity’.
6. People take out a patent because they want to __________.
(A) keep their ideas from being stolen
(B) reap the rewards of somebody else’s ingenuity
(C) visit the patent office building
(D) come up with more new devices
7. The phrase ‘the brain-children of inventors’ (para.5) means _________.
(A) the children with high intelligence
(B) the inventions that people come up with
(C) a device that a child believes to be the answer to the energy crisis
(D) a lawnmower that an individual has invented to cut grass
8. What have the 1600’s machine gun and the present-day laser in common?
(A) Both were approved by the monarch.
(B) Both were granted by King Henry VI.
(C) Both were rejected by the Department of Trade.
(D) Both were patented.
9. Why is John Utynam still remembered?
(A) He is the first person to get a patent for his revolutionary mouse-trap.
(B) He is the first person to be granted an official patent.
(C) He is the first person to be an officer in the Patent Office.
(D) He is the first person to have invented a lawnmower.
10. According to the passage, how would you describe the complex procedure of
obtaining a patent for an invention?
(A) It is rather expensive.
(B) It is an impossible task.
(C) It is extremely difficult.
(D) It is very tricky.
Questions 11—15
All living cells on earth require moisture for their metabolism. Cereal grains when
brought in from the field, although they may appear to be dry, may contain 20 per
cent of moisture or more. If they are stored in a bin thus, there is sufficient
moisture in them to support several varieties of insects. These insects will,
therefore, live and breed and, as they grow and eat the grain, it provides them with
biological energy for their life processes. This energy will, just as in man, become
manifest as heat. Since the bulk of the grain acts as an insulator, the temperature
surrounding the colony of insects will rise so that, not only is part of the grain
spoiled by the direct attack of the insects but more may be damaged by the heat.
Sometimes, the temperature may even rise to the point where the stored grain catches
fire. For safe storage, grain must be dried until its moisture content is 13 per
cent or less.
Traditional arts of food preservation took advantage of this principle in a number
of ways. The plant seeds, wheat, rye, rice, barley millet, maize, are themselves
structures evolved by nature to provide stored food. The starch of their endosperm
is used for the nourishment of the embryo during the time it over-winters (if it
is a plant of the Temperate Zone) and until its new leaves have grown and their
chlorophyll can trap energy from the sunlight to nourish the new-grown plant. The
separation by threshing and winnowing is, therefore, to some degree part of a
technique of food preservation.
The direct drying of other foods has also been used. Fish has been dried in many
parts of the world besides Africa. Slices of dried meat are prepared by numerous
races. Biltong, a form of dried meat, was a customary food for travelers. The drying
of meat or fish, either in the sun or over a fire, quite apart from the degree to