上海市英语中级口译资格证书第一阶段考试

SECTION 1： LISTENING TEST （40 minutes）

Part A: Spot Dictation

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.

       It is common knowledge that computers can also produce something stupid, as some       (1) put it, GIGO, or ’garbage in, garbage out’. This means that if inaccurate information is      

         (2) a computer, the machine will produce the wrong information              (3).

       The reason for this is that computers cannot think                 (4). For example, imagine that a computer is given the information that                (5) has hour legs and that a dog has four legs. The machine might well             (6) when producing a list of suggested living-room and dining-room furniture.

       But today, groups of           (7) in the United States, Japan and Europe           (8) a new type of computer. These new models will be incapable of making such            (9).

       Instead of being programmed with lots of unrelated            (10), the new computers will contain knowledge of subjects that are           (11). The machines will then        

    (12) items of information, and will be able to reject conclusions that do not         (13).

       These new computers will already know that dogs are animals that             (14), bark, wag their tails and chase other animals. By            (15) with features of living-room and dining-room furniture, the computer will conclude that a dog is an            (16).

       Even a present-day computer could             (17) if given enough information and enough time. But it has to consider                  (18) one at a time before selecting the best. This means that it would                  (19) for even the most powerful computer to reach a               (20).

Part B: Listening Comprehension

Ⅰ. 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) Michelle wanted to work in London.

(B) Michelle quitted his job in London.

(C) Michelle asked for a vacation in London.

(D) Michelle transferred his money to the London branch.

2.    (A) Doctor Carter avoids the company of others whenever possible.

       (B) Doctor Carter is too busy to have a cup of coffee.

       (C) Doctor Carter is a quite sociable person.

       (D) Doctor Carter is a lonely man, according to his colleagues.

3.    (A) Tom checked his embarrassment.

       (B) Tom bounced the ball against the telephone box.

       (C) Tom felt embarrassed when he was asked to have a physical check.

       (D) Tom was embarrassed when his check was returned as worthless.

4.    (A) We couldn’t have opened five supermarkets there.

       (B) To think that we have opened only five supermarkets there.

       (C) We thought that you wanted to open five supermarkets there.

       (D) We didn’t think that five supermarkets there were quite enough.

5.    (A) Mrs. Green had to rush to the airport to meet the CEO from Chicago.

       (B) Mrs. Green refused to attend the opening ceremony in Chicago last Tuesday.

       (C) Mrs. Green was scheduled to see someone from Chicago last Tuesday.

       (D) Mrs. Green didn’t accept the CEO’s invitation to work in Chicago at last.

6.    (A) I’ve never been a cooperative person.                  (B) I’m very ready to cooperate now.

       (C) I’ll be a corporate executive.                                   (D) I never want to be an operator.

7.    (A) The general manager asked them to account for the lying of important documents.

       (B) The general manager refused to read those accounting papers.

       (C) The documents are so important that they should be kept in safer places.

       (D) It is important that the accountant lock his office before leaving for home.

8.    (A) Every year, the city authorities propose to improve the road conditions on the highway.

       (B) There have been arguments about the proposed highway extension for a long time.

       (C) The environmental protection groups are quite satisfied with the proposed highway

extension.

       (D) Both the administration and the environmentalists are against the building of a new

highway.

9.    (A) Good management seldom gets better work from employees.

       (B) Good management can make average employees work better.

       (C) Average employees can do excellent work under any circumstances.

       (D) Average employees cannot do excellent work, despite good management.

10.   (A) No more visitors can be allowed in the exhibition hall.

       (B) The exhibition hall can hold slightly over 250 visitors.

       (C) Five hundred visitors wanted to see the Auto Show.

       (D) More than one thousand visitors saw the Auto Show.

Ⅱ. 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 answer choice 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) She is out of job.                                         (B) She feels very tired.

       (C) She has a broken                                          (D) She has a cold.

12.   (A) Traveling around the country                         (B) Training hard for a competition

       (C) Working on a research project                      (D) Writhing research paper on boxing

13.   (A) Stay in bed and get some sleep

(B) Return the books and post the letters

(C) Have a glass of water before going outside.

(D) Write a letter of complaint about the air-conditioner

14.   (A) Because she has to write a report.

       (B) Because she has just returned from abroad.

       (C) Because she wants something to read.

       (D) Because she needs to find a new job.

Questions 15~18

15.   (A)US census officials                                    (B) Government employees

(C) People who live in the city                (D) Lawyers who work for the Church

16.   (A) London and Westminster                      (B) London and Birmingham

       (C) London and St Asaph                        (D) London and St Paul’s

17.   (A) It has a cathedral.                                   (B) It has a population of 4000.

       (C) It has a large population.                            (D) It has a city hall.

18.   (A) Britain                                                 (B) USA

       (C) India                                                  (D) Japan

Questions 19~22

19.   (A) She’s got married.                                (B) She’s graduated from high school.

       (C) She’s spent her holiday                         (D) She’s moved to West Virginia.

20.   (A) She would have stayed in her hometown for the rest of her life.

       (B) She would have made a grave mistake in her life career.

       (C) She would have happy to come to the city to look for a job.

       (D) She would become a secretary to someone in her village.

21.   (A) She had left the place in which she was born.

       (B) She has not been given much job opportunity in the city.

       (C) She has so far no promotion or transfer.

       (D) She cannot avoid making mistakes in her routine work.

22.   (A) Her boyfriend.                                                        (B) Her colleague.

       (C) Her assistant.                                                  (D) Her former schoolmate.

Questions 23~26

23.   (A) Keeping warm and dry                             (B) Drinking a lot of liquid

       (C) Living close to the hospital                 (D) Kissing the nose of an animal

24.     (A) Men who live in windy areas

(B) Women who volunteered to stay outside

(C) Travelers who take showers

(D) People who are under stress

25.   (A) Because cold viruses can endure adverse climates.

       (B) Because winters are wet and cold.

       (C) Because people tend to stay more time indoors.

       (D) Because the disease may be caused by contaminated foods.

26.   (A) Men are more likely to suffer from colds.

       (B) No effective medicine has been found to cure colds.

       (C) In the winter, people should try to stay outdoors.

       (D) One could avoid catching colds by taking a hot bath every day.

Questions 27~30

27.   (A) None                                                         (B) Thirteen

       (C) Fourteen                                                         (D) Fifteen

28.   (A) The housewife                                         (B) The elder sisters

       (C) The servants                                            (D) The nannies

29.     (A) They had to bring up their families.

(B) They had no choice in selecting a spouse.

       (C) They had to work hard to support their families.

(D)They had no chance to receive higher education.

30.   (A) A woman was financially dependent on her future husband.

       (B) A man had to ask a girl’s father for permission to marry her.

       (C) A woman should be ready to give up her job for the marriage.

(D) A man should arrange a marriage ceremony in his father’s house.

Part C: Listening and Translation

Ⅰ. Sentence Translation

Directions: In this part of the test, you will hear 5 English sentences. 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)                                                                                     

Ⅱ. Passage Translation

Directions: In this part of the test, you hear 2 passages. 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 (50 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

In some rural agricultural societies, the collection of available fuel such as firewood, dung cake, and agricultural waste can take 200 to 300 person-days per year. As well as being time consuming, the typical patterns of collection lead to deforestation, soil erosion, and ecological imbalances. In the future, experts predict that even if food supplies are adequate for rural populations, fuel supplies for domestic use may not be.

In the light of such considerations, a team in India has developed a solar oven for home use. The oven is cheaply constructed, easily operated, and extremely energy efficient. The device consists of an inner and outer metal box, a top cover, and two panes of plain glass. The inner box is painted black to absorb maximum solar radiation. The space between the two boxes is filled with an insulating material, such as rice husks, which are easily available and which, because of their high silicon content, neither attract insects nor rot easily. Other easily available materials for insulation are ground nutshells or coconut shells. An adjustable mirror mounted on one side of the oven box reflects the sunlight into the interior, boosting the temperatures by 15-30 degrees Celsius. This is most useful during the winter when the sun is lower. Inside the oven, a temperature between 80 and 120 degrees Celsius above ambient temperature can be maintained. This is sufficient to cook food gradually but surely. Trials have shown that all typical food dishes can be prepared in this solar device without loss of taste or nutrition.

1.This passage is mainly about          .

(A)   deforestation in the rural agricultural societies

(B)   use of rice husks as an insulation material

(C)   design and use of a solar oven

(D)  maintenance of temperature in a solar oven

2. All of the following are mentioned as sources of energy of rural agricultural societies EXCEPT          .

(A) firewood                                                  (B) dung cake

(C) solar power                                              (D) agricultural waste

3.The word “domestic”(paragraph 1) is closest in meaning to          .

(A) industrial                                                  (B) agricultural

(C) natural                                               (D) household

4. According to the passage, the use of an adjustable mirror increases the oven temperature by          .

(A) 80-120 degrees Celsius                             (B) at least 80 degrees Celsius

(C) up to 30 degrees Celsius                             (D) up to 15 degrees Celsius

5.According to the passage, the adjustable mirror is most useful          .

(A) at midday                                                  (B) when it is cold

(C) When firewood is lacking                         (D) in improving taste and nutrition

Questions 6~10

       There must be few questions on which responsible opinion is so utterly divided as on that of how much sleep we ought to have. There are some who think we can leave body to regulate these matters for itself.  “The answer is easy,” says Dr.. A. Burton. “With the right amount of sleep you should wake up fresh and alert five minutes before the alarm rings.” If he is right many people must be under sleeping, including myself. But we must remember that some people have a grater inertia than others. This is not meant rudely. They switch on slowly, and they are reluctant to switch off. They are alert at bedtime and sleepy when it is time to get up, and this many have nothing to do with how fatigued their bodies are, or how much sleep they must take to lose their fatigue.

       Other people feel sure that the present trend is towards too little sleep. To quote one medical opinion, “Thousands of people drift through life suffering from the effects of too little sleep; the reason is not that can’t sleep. Like advancing colonists, we do seem to be grasping ever more of the land of sleep for our waking needs, pushing the boundary back and reaching, apparently, for a point in our evolution where we will sleep no more. This in itself, of course, need not be a bad thing. What could be disastrous, however, is that we should press to quickly towards this goal, sacrificing sleep only to gain more time in which to jeopardize our civilization by actions and decisions made weak by fatigue.”

       Then, to complete the picture, there are those who believe that more people are persuaded to sleep too much. Dr H. Roberts, writing in Every Man in, asserts: “It may safely be stated that, just as the majority eat too much, so the majority sleep too much.” One can see the point of this also. It would be a pity to retard our development by holding back those people who are gifted enough to work and play well less than the average amount of sleep, if indeed it does them no harm. If one of the trends of evolutions is that more of the life span is to be spent in gainful waking activity, then surely these people are in the van of this advance.

6.The author seems to indicate that          .

(A)   there are many controversial issues like the right amount of sleep

(B)   among many issues the right amount of sleep is the least controversial

(C)   the right amount of sleep is topic of much controversy among doctors

(D)  people are now moving towards solving many controversial issues concerning sleep

7.According to the author, sleeping habits          .

(A)   are related to the amount of sleep

(B)   are inherited from the parents

(C)   vary from person to person

(D)  would not change in one’s lifetime

8.The world “jeopardize” (paragraph 2) is closest in meaning to          .

(A) endeavor                                           (B) endanger

(C) endorse                                           (D) endow

9. In the last paragraph the author points out that          .

(A)   sleeping less is good for human health

(B)   people ought to be persuaded to sleep less than before

(C)   it is incorrect to say that people too little

(D)  those who can sleep less should be encouraged

10. We learn from the passage that the author          .

(A)   revises someone else’s opinion

(B)   explains an opinion of his own

(C)   favors one of the three opinions

(D)  comments on three different opinions

Questions 11~15

       She looked in the pockets of the black leather jacket he had reluctantly worn the night before. Three of his suits, a pair of blue twill work pants, an old gray sweater with a hood and pockets lay thrown across the bed. The jacket leather was sleazy and damply clinging to her hands. She had bought it for him, as well as the three suits: one light blue with side vents, one gold with green specks, and one reddish that had a silver imitation-silk vest. The pockets of the jacket came softly outward from the lining like skinny milk toast rats. Empty. Slowly she sank down on the bed and began to knead, with blunt anxious fingers, all the pockets in all the clothes piled around her. First the blue suit, then the gold with green, then the reddish one that he said he didn’t like most of all, but which he would sometimes wear if she agreed to stay home, or if she promised not to touch anywhere at all while he was getting dressed.

       She was a big awkward woman, with big bones and hard rubbery flesh. Her short arms ended in ham hands, and her neck was a squat roll of fat that protruded behind her head as a big bump. Her skin was rough and puffy, with plump mole like freckles down her cheeks. Her eyes glowered from under the mountain of her brow and were circled with expensive mauve shadow. They were nervous and quick when she was flustered and darted about at nothing in particular while she was dressing hair or talking to people.

    Her troubles started noticeably when she fell in love with a studiously quiet schoolteacher, Mr. Jerome Franklin Washington III, who was ten years younger than her. She told herself that she shouldn’t want him, he was so little and cute and young, but when she took into account that he was a schoolteacher, well, she just couldn’t seem to get any rest until, as she put it, “I were Mr. And Mrs. Jerome Franklin Washington the third, and that’s the truth!”

11. The word “sleazy” (paragraph 1) is closest in meaning to        .

       (A) lacking moisture                                     (B) lacking persistence

       (C) lacking substance                                         (D) lacking confidence

12.   Jerome’s taste in clothing is probably        .

       (A) worse than the woman’s                                   (B) very loud and flashy

       (C) different from the woman’s                      (D) on agreement with the woman’s

13.   Apparently Jerome will occasionally wear the reddish suit if        .

       (A) She is very good to him                                   (B) she will leave him alone

       (C) she buys him more clothes                         (D) she gets a better education

14.   According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true about the woman?

(A)   She is married to a school teacher.

(B)   Her eyes move around a lot at times.

(C)   She is ten years older than Jerome.

(D)  She has found what she is looking for.

15.   According to the passage, which of the following can be concluded form the passage about this couple?

(A)   They will live happily ever after.

(B)   Their marriage is not harmonious.

(C)   The couple will adopt children.

(D)  They will become schoolteachers.

Questions 16~20

       An anthropologist recorded the expenses for ceremonies he attended in a village in Thailand. The following chart provides information on the baths (Thai currency) spent for a wedding.

Finances for a Single Wedding in Thailand
Item                                                                                     Amount

Expenses                                                                                                        

Rice                                                                                     3 sacks 1,860

Pigs                                                                                    2 head 3,500

Vegetables and Condiments                                                     1,440

Invitations                                                                            150

Wedding Gown Rental                                                             650

Flowers                                                                                (300)

Rental Equipment                                                                    1,800

Pictures (groom paid)                                                               (500)

Room Decoration                                                                    3,000

Liquor                                                                                 2,400

Musicians (groom paid)                                                           (500)

Gifts to Mother-in-law                                                                200

Cigarettes                                                                            360

Other Gifts                                                                          520

Shoes                                                                                  150

Gold Bracelet                                                                       1,270

Miscellaneous

Total                                                                                   17,800

Bride Price                                                                           30,000

From Groom’s Party                                                               5,000

From Other Guests                                                            8,000

Other Gifts                                                                          750

Calculated Net                                                                       -3,050

Stated Net                                                                            -4,000

16.The word “anthropologist” (line 1) means someone who        .

(A) studies the nature of man                             (B) arranges wedding ceremonies

(C) keeps account for newly weds                 (D) records local events

17.According to the information on the chart, the family hosting the ceremony        .

(A) was rich                                                  (B) ended up with a deficit

(C) made a profit on gifts                                    (D) relied totally on borrowed money

18.From this chart, one could learn about        .

(A) the Thai kinship structure                             (B) retail price for cigarettes

(C) the nature and procedures of ritual        (D) the importance of hospitality to the Thai

19.The information on the chart best supports the idea that           .

(A)   increased expenditure results in increased earning in a village in Thailand

(B)   the economy has been stable for almost fifty years years in a village in Thailand

(C)   people spend more money on pork than on other items at a Thai wedding

(D)  gifts to mother-in-law are the most important for the groom at a Thai wedding

20.In what major way is a Thai wedding different from an average Chinese wedding?

       (A) the provision of food                                          (B) the giving of gifts

       (C) the payment of a bride price                                  (D) the provision of entertainment
Questions 21~25

       Computer people talk a lot about the need for other people to become “computer-literate”, in other words, to learn to understand computers and what makes them tick. Not all experts agree, however, that this is a good idea.

      One pioneer, in particular, who disagrees is David Tebbutt, the founder of Computertown UK. Although many people see this as a successful attempt to bring people closer to the computer, David does not see it that way. He says that Computertown UK was formed for just the opposite reason, to bring computers to the people and make them “people-literate”.

       David first got the idea when he visited one of America’s best-known computer “guru” figure, Bob Albrecht, in the small university town of  Palo Alto in Northern California. Albrecht has started a project called Computertown USA in the local library, and the local children used to call round every Wednesday to borrow some time on the computers there, instead of borrowing library books. Albrecht was always on hand to answer any questions and to help the children discover about computers in their own way.

       Over here, in Britain, Computertowns have taken off in a big way, and there are now about 40 scattered over the country. David Tebbutt thinks they are most successful when tied to a computer club. He insists there is a vast and important difference between the two, although they complement each other. The clubs cater for the enthusiasts, with some computer knowledge already, who get together and eventually form an expert computer group. This frightens away non-experts, who are happier going to Computertowns where there are computers available for them to experiment on, with experts available to encourage them and answer any questions; they are not told what to do, they find out.

       David Tebbutt finds it in teresting to see the two different approaches working side by side. The computer experts have to learn not to tell people about computers, but have to be able to explain the answers to the questions that people really want to know. In some Computertowns there are question sessions, rather like radio phone-ins, where the experts listen to a lot of questions and then try to work out some structure to answer them. People are not having to learn

Computer jargons, but the experts are having to translate computer mysteries into easily understood terms; the computers are becoming “people-literate”.

21.   According to David Tebbutt, the purpose of Computertown UK is        .

(A)   to train people to understand how computers work

(B)   to make more computers available to people

(C)   to enable more people to fix computers themselves

(D)  to help people find out more about computers

22.   We learn from the passage that Computertown USA is located in       .

       (A) the university town                                          (B) the project center

       (C) the local library                                       (D) the elementary school

23.   The phrase “take off”(paragraph 4) means        .

       (A) transfer to another vessel                                   (B) cause to lose weight

       (C) begin to develop markedly                      (D) cause to leave the ground

24.   According to the passage, which of the following statements is NOT true?

(A)   Computertowns in the UK have become popular.

(B)   Computertowns and clubs cater for different people.

(C)   Computertowns are more successful than clubs.

(D)  Computertowns and clubs complement each other.

Questions 26~30

       Natural selection is the way nature chooses which organisms survive. Chance mutations occur in response to chemicals of certain energy in the electromagnetic spectrum. If the mutant is better adapted to the environment, it thrives. If not, it dies out or becomes rare.

       Humans have used artificial selection to reproduce plants and animals with desirable characteristics. Many of these domesticated plants and animals can no longer survive in the wild. Their survival depends on the maintenance of an artificial environment and the desires of people.

       People select certain desired traits such as color, beauty, or scent (as in roses). Other traits which are bred artificially include uniqueness (as in the neck plumage of the prized Jacobin pigeon), size (as in miniature horses), meat quality or milk yield (as in cattle), or resistance to disease (as in fungus-resistant tomatoes). The traits usually selected for convenience, pleasure, or financial gain of individuals. In this way, humans act as agents of evolution through artificial selection.

       Individual specimens with the desired traits are crossbred. The hybrid offspring are then inbred to preserve and fix the desirable characteristics and eliminate unfavorable characteristics

From the stock.

       A pure breed is formed when there is not any mixture of other genes over many generations. The American Kennel Club recognizes 121 breeds of purebred dogs. When ancestors of a pure breed are known and registered by a breed club, the dog is said to have a pedigree.

26.   Some people argue that it would do more harm than good for plants and animals to develop through artificial selection. Which statement best supports this argument?

(A)   Roses no longer smell like roses.

(B)   Purebred dogs are disappearing.

(C)   Humans are harmful agents of plant and animal evolution.

(D)  Many domesticated plants and animals can no longer survive in the wild.

27.   The author cites the dog as an example of artificial selection because of all the following statements EXCEPT that           .

(A)   Dogs are domestic animals

(B)   The dog is one of nature’s survivors

(C)   Breeders register dogs to obtain a pedigree

(D)  Humans have been the primary agents in dog evolution

28.   Which of the following is NOT mentioned as the result of artificial selection by humanity?

(A)   Many new kinds of plants and animals are produced.

(B)   Financial gain is increased considerably by producing better plants and animals.

(C)   Humans are able to control plant and animal reproduction for humans’ pleasure.

(D)  It is necessary for humans to maintain the artificial environments.

29.   Breeding the hybrid offspring to fix desirable traits is called          .

       (A) naturally selecting                                            (B) inbreeding

       (C) pedigree breeding                                            (D) pure-breeding

30.   A farmer imported several fine long wool Tomney sheep from Australia to breed with his Debouittet sheep in hopes of increasing the value of the flock’s wool. This is an example of     .

       (A) pure-breeding                                                   (B) crossbreeding

       (C) reproducing                                                    (D) cloning

SECTION 3: TRANSLATION TEST (1) (30 minutes)

Directions: Translate the following passage into Chinese and write your version in the corresponding space in your ANSWER BOOKLET.

       Both language and culture are learned by children without special organized programs of instruction, but motivation to learn is very high since language is the most effective means for a child to obtain what he or she wants. If the learning of a new language begins before lower adolescence, one is likely to be able to speak such a language with complete naturalness, but if learned after upper adolescence some hangover of a mother-tongue feature is very likely to persist. But not only do languages exhibit such learning patterns, but so do cultural traits, for example, shaking hands, kissing, and embracing.

       Although many persons assume that languages exist in dictionaries and grammars, in fact they only exist in people’s heads. But this is equally true of cultural traits, which indicate clearly a they only exist in people’s heads. But this is equally true of cultural traits, which indicate clearly a person’s value system when crucial decisions need to be made before there is any time to think about alternatives, for example, diving into a flooding stream to rescue a drowning child.

SECTION 4: TRANSLATION TEST (2) (30 minutes) 

Directions: Translate the following passage into English and write and write your version in the corresponding space in your ANSWER BOOKLET.

       中国政府在宣布实行和平统一的方针时，是基于一个前提，即当时的台湾当局坚持世界上只有一个中国、台湾是中国的一部分。同时中国政府考虑到美国政府承认了世界上只有一个中国、台湾是中国的一部分、中华人民共和国政府是中国的唯一合法政府。

中国政府在实行和平统一方针的同时始终表明，以何种方式解决台湾问题是中国的内政，并无义务承诺放弃使用武力。