2005.09上海市英语中级口译资格证书第一阶段考试
SECTION 1: LISTENING TEST(45 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.
If you find you spend more than you make, there are only two things to do: decrease your spending or _______________(1). It’s often easiest to decrease expenditures, because your expenses tend to be more _______________(2). There are as many ways to _______________(3) as there are people looking to save it. For example, you may pool your resources with friends, or _______________(4) only during sales, or even live more simply.
But _______________(5) that saving money should not necessarily be an end in itself. Don’t _______________(6) of ways to save a dime, and don’t get upset about situations where _______________(7) to spend money. The goal is to bring your budget into balance, not to become a tightwad who keeps _______________(8) of every penny and feels that spending money is a _______________(9). It is important to remember that budgets may be _______________(10) not only by decreasing expenditures, but also by increasing income. _______________(11) to increase income is to get a _______________(12) if you don’t already have one.
Many students work during college. Although working adds to the _______________(13) you will face, it does not mean that your grades will necessarily suffer. In fact, many students who work _______________(14) than those who don’t work, because those with jobs need to be _______________(15). Considering part-time work is often a better _______________(16) for dealing with budget shortfalls, than taking out a loan. Because student loans are _______________(17), it’s easy to use them as a crutch. Loans can be of help _______________(18) or if you couldn’t afford to attend a college without them. If you do _______________(19), remind yourself: one day soon you’ll have to _______________(20), with interest.
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) I know many business people at the Beachside Hotel.
(B) The Beachside is the only favorite hotel for many business people.
(C) Many business people like to hold conferences in the Beachside Hotel.
(D) Many business people provide the best conference facilities for the Beachside.
2. (A) Only 25 to 30 college graduates will be short-listed for the interview.
(B) The applicants will be asked to do a qualification test.
(C) No one but 25 to 30-year-old college graduates can apply for the job.
(D) The department needs 25 to 30 college graduates to finish the evaluation.
3. (A) Seldom are new scientific theories rejected quickly.
(B) New scientific theories are often slow to be accepted.
(C) Scientists rarely publish their theories immediately.
(D) Quick benefits are expected from this new scientific theory.
4. (A) We are content with our cooperation.
(B) We plan to strengthen our cooperation.
(C) The project was not approved by the two sides.
(D) The project was not completed on time.
5. (A) All the committee members except the chairman were against the proposal.
(B) Nobody wanted to put forward a proposal to open a second branch downtown.
(C) The chairman was the only one who was against the new proposal.
(D) After negotiations, the committee decided to open a new branch downtown.
6. (A) We offer a five to ten percent discount unless you require immediate delivery.
(B) We promise to refund the money if we cannot send our products in time.
(C) If you order our products right now, we will give you certain commission in cash.
(D) Buying our products will save not only your money, but also your time.
7. (A) It was predicted that I would be the Guest of Honour at the Show.
(B) I had to wait for 20 years before I was invited to the Show.
(C) I didn’t expect that I would be the Guest of Honour at the Show.
(D) I suspected that I would be given a leading role in the movie.
8. (A) It wouldn't be wise to reopen the discussion on the project today.
(B) I think we should reconsider our investment in the project.
(C) Don't you think we could be wise by increasing our investment?
(D) Have you ever seen such a wonderful view of the woods?
9. (A) We will beat our rival in the football league match on the playground.
(B) We will have to consult the experts to learn our rival’s financial position.
(C) Our special knowledge and diligence will make up for our lack of funds.
(D) Our staff members are more experienced and diligent in raising funds.
10. (A) People using the Internet will soon be almost doubled.
(B) Population is exploding because of the Internet.
(C) Ten years ago, only rich people can afford to use the Internet.
(D) The Internet population will increase two-fold in ten years.
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 answer 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) Make a phone call. (B) Ask for her advice.
(C) Return some books. (D) Borrow her notes.
12. (A) An essay on art. (B) A book review.
(C) A survey on IT industry. (D) A science project.
13. (A) Lend him some books. (B) Give him more advice.
(C) Return the books by Wednesday.
(D) Let him use her notes.
14. (A) On Friday. (B) The next day.
(C) In the evening. (D) A few hours later.
Questions 15--18
15. (A) Real words spoken by new-borns.
(B) Talk used with children by immature people.
(C) Lucky names for animals such as cows and dogs.
(D) Childish talk used with young children.
16. (A) It assists children to develop language skills more quickly.
(B) It earns more admiration from other parents.
(C) It makes children to become more obedient and humble.
(D) It helps children better understand and communicate with adults.
17. (A) By speaking like a baby.
(B) By using real names.
(C) By being consistent.
(D) By talking in a patronizing way.
18. (A) Because they are the source of admiration from their peers.
(B) Because they can prepare children for the complexity in later life.
(C) Because they cost the parents less than the desserts and toys.
(D) Because they can help the children become more consistent in future.
Questions 19--22
19. (A) Restaurant owner and customer.
(B) Teacher and student.
(C) Husband and wife.
(D) Doctor and patient.
20. (A) Sometimes nothing at all.
(B) A sandwich and a cup of coffee.
(C) Some vitamin pills.
(D) Some mineral water.
21. (A) He’s tired of his promotion and new responsibilities.
(B) He finds it difficult to cope with so many urgent projects.
(C) He’s quite satisfied with the recent progress in his work.
(D) He thinks it to be a headache that he has to work late every night.
22. (A) Eating more food.
(B) Getting some exercise.
(C) Taking some medicine.
(D) Quitting his job.
Questions 23--26
23. (A) Writing. (B) Reading.
(C) Speaking. (D) Listening.
24. (A) Because we often take our ability to listening for granted.
(B) Because we are surrounded by all sorts of noises.
(C) Because we do not spend much time listening.
(D) Because we do not attach great importance to listening.
25. (A) 30 percent. (B) 45 percent.
(C) 50 percent. (D) 75 percent.
26. (A) The ship crew ignored repeated warnings.
(B) The passengers did not listen to the captain.
(C) The crew refused to obey the captain’s orders.
(D) The captain did not sleep well the night before the accident.
Questions 27--30
27. (A) Because he could avoid being killed by the H-bomb.
(B) Because he had a new world to fight for.
(C) Because he was able to enjoy a pollution-free life.
(D) Because he succeeded in setting up his own business.
28. (A) Moving from place to place.
(B) Enjoying life in the country.
(C) Making a little progress each day.
(D) Working and learning.
29. (A) Pollution and population explosion.
(B) Universal love and understanding between people.
(C) Advice and suggestions for their children.
(D) Responsibilities for one another regardless of race, colour or nationality.
30. (A) Because they don’t experience the same kind of problems.
(B) Because they cannot adapt themselves to the fast progress.
(C) Because they are too old to fight for a new world.
(D) Because they feel the generation gap is too great to span over.
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
One day, drought may be a thing of the past, at least in any country not too far from the sea. Vast areas of desert throughout the world may for the first time come to life and provide millions of hectares of cultivated land where now nothing grows.
By the end of this century this may not be mere speculation. Scientists are already looking into the possibility of using some of the available ice in the Arctic and Antarctic. In these regions there are vast ice-caps formed by snow that has fallen over the past 50,000 years. Layer upon layer of deep snow means that, when melted, the snow water would be pure, not salty as sea-ice would be. There is so much potential pure water here that it would need only a fraction to turn much of the desert or poorly irrigated parts of the world into rich farmland. And what useful packages would come in! It should be possible to hack off a bit of ice and transport it! Alternatively perhaps a passing iceberg could be captured. They are always breaking away from the main caps and floating around, pushed by currents, until they eventually melt and are wasted.
Many icebergs are, of course, much too small to be towed any distance, and would melt before they reached a country that needed them anywhere. It would be necessary to harness one that was manageable and that was big enough to provide a good supply when it reached us. Engineers think that an iceberg up to 11 kilometres long and 2 kilometres wide could be transported if the tug pulling it was as big as a supertanker! Even then they would cover only 32 kilometres every day. However, once the iceberg was at its destination, say at one end of Hong Kong harbour, more than 7,000 million cubic metres of water could be taken from it! That would probably be more than enough for Hong Kong even in the hottest summer! But no doubt a use could be found for it.
Apparently, scientists say, there would not be too much wastage in such a journey. The larger the iceberg, the slower it melts, even if it is towed through the tropics. This is because when the sun has a bigger area to warm up, less heat actually gets into the iceberg. The vast frozen center would be unaffected.
Even with the giant tug that would have to be available to tow an iceberg seven miles long, the voyage would take many months from the Antarctic to Hong Kong, for example, but as stronger engines are built and more is known about sea currents, the journey could get shorter and shorter and thus the wastage less and less. Airline pilots have learnt to use jet streams ten miles above the earth to increase speed and save fuel so, surely, a boat towing an iceberg could make use of fast-flowing currents and avoid warmer water.
1. The main idea of the first paragraph is that _____.
(A) much of desert has been changed into rich farmland already
(B) the problem of drought could easily be solved all over the world
(C) ice from the polar area may be used to solve the problem of drought
(D) it is possible to solve the problem of drought in many countries
2. We learn form the passage that icebergs _____.
(A) took shape as early as 50,000 years ago
(B) are eventually wasted while floating around
(C) melt more slowly in tropics than in any other areas
(D) are often too big to be of any value
3. The difficulty of using ice to solve the drought problem lies in all of the following EXCEPT _____.
(A) the proper equipment for transportation
(B) the time taken on the journey
(C) the storage of the fresh water
(D) the proper size of icebergs
4. According to the passage, which of the following statements is NOT true?
(A) The time for towing icebergs may be made shorter.
(B) It is possible to use ships to tow icebergs from the polar areas.
(C) Airline pilots may make use of jet streams to help towing an iceberg.
(D) Not too much of the iceberg would melt while being towed through the oceans.
5. The author’s attitude towards the solution to the problem of drought is _____.
(A) doubtful
(B) positive
(C) discouraging
(D) critical
Questions 6--10
Most sore throats are caused by an infection which treatment with antibiotics cannot cure. But with simple remedies the patient normally gets better in 4 or 5 days. Sore throats are common. Most of the time the soreness is worse in the morning and improves as the day progresses.
Like colds, the vast majority of sore throats are caused by viral infections. This means most sore throats will NOT respond to antibiotics. Many people have a mild sore throat at the beginning of every cold. When the nose or sinuses become infected, drainage can run down the back of the throat and irritate it, especially at night. Or, the throat itself can be infected.
With a sore throat, sometimes the tonsils or surrounding parts of the throat are inflamed. Either way, removing the tonsils to try to prevent future sore throats is not recommended for most children.
Tonsillitis, however, usually starts with a sore throat which causes pain on swallowing. With children—and some adults—there may be a fever and the patient is obviously not feeling well. It may be possible to see white spots on the back of the throat. The neck may also swell, both of which are the normal response to infection.
Sometimes a sore throat may occur with the common cold, and with influenza there may be dryness of the throat, pain on coughing and loss of voice.
TREATMENT:
Aspirin: To help relieve the pain on swallowing and (if there is one) the fever. Use aspirin tablets dissolved in water so that the patient can gargle before swallowing. Repeat the treatment every 4 hours.
Drink: Encourage the patient to drink plenty.
Food: Food should not be forced on a patient who does not want to eat.
Steam: If there is pain in the throat on coughing, breathing in steam may help.
CHILDREN:
Young children, who may not be able to gargle, should be given aspirin dissolved in water every 4 hours in the right dose for their age.
At one year: A single junior aspirin.
At five years: Half an adult aspirin.
At eight years: One whole adult aspirin.
WHEN TO SEE THE DOCTOR:
If the sore throat it still getting worse after 2 days.
If the patient complains of earache.
It the patient’s fever increases.
If the patient or parent is very worried.
6. According to the passage, it would appear that most sore throats _____.
(A) require an immediate visit to a doctor
(B) respond quickly to treatment with an antibiotic
(C) rarely turn out to be serious illnesses
(D) result in tonsillitis even when treated
7. One of the signs of tonsillitis can often be _____.
(A) difficulty in swallowing food and liquid
(B) pain in the chest when the patient coughs
(C) white spots appearing on the neck
(D) earache during the first four or five days
8. In order to treat a sore throat one should _____.
(A) prevent the patient from eating too much
(B) give the patient up to 4 aspirin tablets every hour
(C) make sure the patient takes in plenty of liquid
(D) make the patient gargle with soft drink
9. You should call the doctor in if _____.
(A) the infection spreads to another member of the family
(B) swelling occurs in the region of the ears
(C) the patient’s voice is lost after two days
(D) the patient’s condition continues to worsen
10. As used in the passage, the word “gargle” means _____.
(A) to wash one’s mouth and throat with a liquid in motion by breathing through it
(B) to eat something with a continuous and often audible action of one’s jaws
(C) to bite and work in the mouth with one’s teeth, especially to make it easier to swallow something
(D) to cause or allow something, especially food or drink, to pass down one’s sore throat
Questions 11--15
I watched as Dr Ian Stead, the archaeologist in charge of the excavation, began carefully removing the peat with a clay modelling tool. X-rays taken through the box while it was at the hospital revealed ribs, backbone, arm bones and a skull (apparently with fractures). However, the bones showed up only faintly because acid in the peat had removed minerals from them.
Using the X-rays, Stead started on what he thought might be a leg. By his side was Professor Frank Oldfield, of Liverpool University, an expert on peat who could identify vegetation from stems only a fraction of an inch long. “Similar bodies found in bogs in Denmark show signs of a violent death,” Stead said. “It is essential for us to be able to distinguish between the plant fibres in peat and clothing or a piece of rope which might have been used to hang him.”
As Stead continued his gentle probing, a brown leathery limb began to materialize amidst the peat; but not until most of it was exposed could he and Robert Connolly, a physical anthropologist at Liverpool University, decide that it was an arm. Beside it was a small piece of animal fur—perhaps the remains of clothing.
Following the forearm down into the peat, Stead found a brown shiny object and then, close by, two more. Seen under a magnifying glass, he suddenly realised they were fingernails—“beautifully manicured and without a scratch on them,” he said. “Most people at this time in the Iron Age were farmers; but with fingernails like that, this person can’t have been. He might have been a priest or an aristocrat.”
Especially delicate work was required to reveal the head. On the third day, a curly sideburn appeared and, shortly afterwards, a moustache. At first it seemed that the man had been balding but gradually he was seen to have close-cropped hair, about an inch or two long.
“This information about his hairstyle is unique. We have no other information about what Britons looked like before the Roman invasion except for three small plaques showing Celts with drooping moustaches and shaven chins.”
The crucial clue showing how the man died had already been revealed, close to his neck, but it looked just like another innocent heather root. It was not recognised until two days later, when Margaret McCord, a senior conservation officer, found the sameroot at the back of his neck and, cleaning it carefully, saw its twisted texture. “He’s been garrotted.” She declared. The ‘root’ was a length of twisted sinew, the thickness of strong string. A slip knot at the back shows how it was tightened round the neck.
“A large discoloration on the left shoulder suggests a bruise and possibly a violent struggle,” Stead said.
11. The X-rays that were taken showed Stead and Oldfield _____.
(A) a vague picture of the bones
(B) exactly what they were looking for
(C) which deposits were clay and which peat
(D) exactly how the man had died
12. The researchers suspected the man had met a violent death because _____.
(A) he was still wearing clothes
(B) similar bodies had been found elsewhere
(C) there were traces of a hanging rope in the peat
(D) he hadn’t been buried in a coffin
13. It was the forearm they uncovered which _____.
(A) required the most delicate work
(B) indicated the age of the man
(C) told them something about the man’s clothes
(D) led them to discover the fingernails
14. Why did the researchers think the man was possibly a priest?
(A) He had closely-cropped hair.
(B) His coat was fur-lined
(C) He had a drooping moustache and shaven chin.
(D) His fingernails were well looked after.
15. It was established that the man they dug out of the peat had been _____.
(A) beheaded
(B) strangled
(C) drowned
(D) stabbed in the neck
Questions 16--20
Does using a word processor affect a writer’s style? The medium usually does do something to the message after all, even if Marshall McLuhan’s claim that the medium simply is the message has been heard and largely forgotten now. The question matters. Ray Hammond, in his excellent guide The Writer and the Word Processor (Coronet ￡2.95 pp224), predicts that over half of the professional writers in Britain and the USA will be using word processors by the end of 1995. The best-known recruit is Len Deighton, from as long ago as 1968, though most users have only started since the micro-computer boom began in 1980.
Ironically word processing is in some ways psychologically more like writing in rough than typing, since it restores fluidity and provisionality to the text. The typist’s dread of having to get out the Tippex, the scissors and paste, or of redoing the whole thing if he has any substantial second thoughts, can make him consistently choose the safer option in his sentences, or let something stand which he knows to be unsatisfactory or incomplete, out of weariness. In word processing the text is loosened up whilst still retaining the advantage of looking formally finished.
This has, I think, two apparently contradictory effects. The initial writing can become excessively sloppy and careless, in the expectation that it will be corrected later. That crucial first inspiration is never easy to recapture though, and therefore, on the other hand, the writing can become over-deliberated, lacking in flow and spontaneity, since revision becomes a larger part of composition. However these are faults easier to detect in others than in oneself.
For most writers, word processing quite rapidly comes to feel like the ideal method (and can always be a second step after drafting on paper if you prefer). Most of the writers interviewed by Hammond say it has improved their style (“immensely”, says Deighton). Seeing your own words on a screen helps you to feel cool and detached about them.
Thus it is not just by freeing you from the labour of mechanical re-typing that a word processor can help you to write. One author (Terence Feely) claims it has increased his output by 400%. Possibly the feeling of having a reactive machine, which appears to do things, rather than just have things done with it, accounts for this—your slave works hard and so do you.
Are there no drawbacks? It costs a lot and takes time to learn—“expect to lose weeks of work”, says Hammond, though days might be nearer the mark. Notoriously it is possible to lose work altogether on a word processor, and this happens to everybody at least once. The awareness that what you have written no longer exists at all anywhere, is unbelievably enraging and baffling.
16. According to the first paragraph of the passage, what is the obvious change for professional writers in Britain and the USA?
(A) The style they are employing.
(B) The medium they are using.
(C) The way they are being recruited.
(D) The paper they are writing on.
17. Typing in the conventional manner, a writer may _____.
(A) choose to white more carefully
(B) make more mistakes
(C) become overcritical of his or her work
(D) have a lot of second thoughts
18. One effect of using a word processor may be that the ongoing revision of a text _____.
(A) is done with too little attention
(B) produces a sloppy effect
(C) is lacking in flow and spontaneity
(D) does not encourage one to pick up mistakes
19. It is claimed here that word processors create _____.
(A) a sense of power in the writer’s mind
(B) a reluctance in the author to express himself or herself
(C) an illusion as if you were a servant of the machine
(D) a feeling of distance between a writer and his or her work
20. As far as learning to use a word processor is concerned, the author of the passage mentions a number of drawbacks EXCEPT that _____.
(A) it takes time
(B) it is costly
(C) the user may rely too much on the machine
(D) the user may lose weeks of work
Questions 21--25
In almost all cases the soft parts of fossils are gone for ever but they were fitted around or within the hard parts. Many of them also were attached to the hard parts and usually such attachments are visible as depressed or elevated areas, ridges, or grooves, smooth or rough patches on the hard parts. The muscles most important for the activities of the animal and most evident in the appearance of the living animal are those attached to the hard parts and possible to reconstruct from their attachments. Much can be learned about a vanished brain from the inside of the skull in which it was lodged.
Restoration of the external appearance of an extinct animal has little or no scientific value. It does not even help in inferring what the activities of the living animal were, how fast it could run, what its food was, or such other conclusions as are important for the history of life. However, what most people want to know about extinct animals is what they looked like when they were alive. Scientists also would like to know. Things like fossil shells present no great problem as a rule, because the hard parts are external when the animal is alive and the outer appearance is actually preserved in the fossils.
Animals in which the skeleton is internal present great problems of restoration, and honest restorers admit that they often have to use considerable guessing. The general shape and contours of the body are fixed by the skeleton and by muscles attached to the skeleton, but surface features, which may give the animal its really characteristic look, are seldom restorable with any real probability of accuracy. The present often helps to interpret the past. An extinct animal presumably looked more or less like its living relatives, if it has any. This, however, may be quite equivocal. For example, extinct members of the horse family are usually restored to look somewhat like the most familiar living horses—domestic horses and their closest wild relatives. It is, however, possible and even probable that many extinct horses were striped like zebras. Others probably had patterns no longer present in any living members of the family. If lions and tigers were extinct they would be restored to look exactly alike. No living elephants have much hair and mammoths, which are extinct elephants, would doubtless be restored as hairless if we did not happen to know that they had thick, woolly coats. We know this only because mammoths are so recently extinct that prehistoric men drew pictures of them and that the hide and hair have actually been found in a few specimens. For older extinct animals we have no such clues.
21. According to the passage, the soft part of fossilized animals _____.
(A) can always be accurately identified
(B) have usually left some traces
(C) can usually be reconstructed
(D) have always vanished without any trace
22. The muscles of a fossilized animal can sometimes be reconstructed because _____.
(A) they were preserved with the rest of the animal
(B) they were lodged inside the animal’s skull
(C) they were hardened parts of the animal’s body
(D) they were attached to the animal’s skeleton
23. The reconstruction of a fossilized animal’s external appearance is considered necessary
in order to _____.
(A) satisfy popular curiosity
(B) answer scientific questions
(C) establish its activities
(D) determine its eating habits
24. The word “equivocal” (para. 3) means _____.
(A) equally important
(B) definable
(C) equally doubtful
(D) deliberate
25. The third paragraph of the passage deals with the difficulties of restoring the following fossilized animals EXCEPT _____.
(A) those which had complex internal structures
(B) those which had no external hard parts
(C) those which had fur-covered bodies
(D) those which had no living relatives
Questions 26--30
There is a basic hypothesis that the majority of serious motoring offences are derived from accidents, and there is nothing in the offender’s personality or background that predisposes him to break the law. If an accident is a chance event that happens so quickly and suddenly that it is beyond anyone’s control to prevent it, then it is clear that this hypothesis is disproved. For only about 14 per cent of the 653 offences considered in a recent survey could possibly be called inadvertent accidents in this sense, and even this estimate is stretching credulity to its limits. In the great majority of cases the offences were largely of the offenders’ own making. In 11 per cent of the 653 cases and 21 per cent of 43 offenders who were interviewed there was evidence of selfish, and even ruthless, self-interest, but it was not possible to infer personality disturbance in more than 25 per cent of the 653 and 39 per cent of the 43 offenders. Though the inferences with regard to personality traits may be an overestimate in the interpretation of qualitative data, they could equally be an underestimate, since so very little was ever recorded about the offenders themselves. The lack of data is a consequence of the almost total lack of interest in motoring offenders as persons.It must be assumed, therefore, in the absence of evidence to the contrary that the majority of serious motoring offenders considered in the survey were normal people, who succumbed to temptation when circumstances were favourable and it was expedient to take a chance, so perhaps there is something in the normal personality that predisposes a driver to break the law. Whatever it is, its presence is much more evident in males than in females, since the analysis of the national statistics shows a predominance of males over females of between 18:1 and 22:1. The real significance of these figures is hard to assess, because the relative proportions of each sex at risk are unknown. One research worker produced a ratio of six males to one female from his sample of insurance policy holders, but this is almost certainly an underestimate since many females—probably more than males—are likely to be driving on someone else’s policy. A ration of three to one is probably nearer to the real state of affairs. Females reached noticeable proportions only among the hit-and-run drivers, and there seems to be some justification for calling this the ‘feminine’ offence. The difference between the sexes in their relative propensity to break the law on the roads is important, because it shows that motoring offenders have a characteristic in common with offenders in other fields of criminal activity, where males predominate to a marked degree. One motor insurance underwriter recently announced his intention to offer discounts on premiums where the policy holder or the ‘named driver’ was a woman.
The basic hypothesis is further disproved by the very high incidence, among the offences studied, of failing to insure against third-party risks. Yet accidents brought to light only a very small percentage of this kind of crime. Moreover, it could not possibly be said that this, the most common of the serious offences, was brought about by providence. On the contrary, it can be regarded as a typical form of economic crime, which, although sometimes committed through inadvertence, is more usually quite deliberate and calculated.
26. The word “hypothesis” (line 1) means _____.
(A) a wrong belief
(B) an unproved theory
(C) a demonstrable idea
(D) a fundamental law
27. Inadequate statistical information about the personalities of motoring offenders is largely the result of _____.
(A) the difficulty of interpreting the self-evident facts
(B) the inaccessibility of the police records
(C) scanty recorded evidence of the offenders themselves
(D) insufficient research into the recorded qualitative data
28. Women can sometimes get more favourable motoring insurance terms than men because statistically _____.
(A) they are much better at controlling a car
(B) they are smaller and more important
(C) they are less likely to commit grave offences
(D) they are more unwilling to take out policies themselves
29. It can be inferred from the passage that _____.
(A) women are unwilling to drive on someone else’s policy
(B) women are more likely to be the hit-and-run drivers
(C) men are regarded as criminals in road accidents
(D) men are more likely to be insurance underwriters
30. A “third party” (para. 3) is essentially _____.
(A) any insured woman driver
(B) the driver of an insured car
(C) a normal policy-holder
(D) any other road-user
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.
There is a growing number of economists who believe today’s brutally tough labor market is not a temporary American oddity. Falling wages, reduced benefits and rising job insecurity seem to be increasingly entrenched features of the job scene across most of Western Europe, the United States and other parts of the developed world. The number of insecure freelance positions is rising (as are working hours) while stable jobs with good benefits are being cut. Laid-off workers are much less likely to be rehired by their old companies and have to find new jobs or turn to self-employment. Those who still have jobs are working longer hours with little prospect of meaningful raises.
The new labor market is shaped by growing global competition, spurred by the rise of cheap manufacturers in China, India and Eastern Europe, and the price-chopping effect of both the Internet and giant retailers led by Wal-Mart. These forces compel Western companies to exercise a growing restraint on prices and labor cost. One thing globalization clearly does is to exert a leveling effect on wages.
SECTION 4: TRANSLATION TEST (2)(30 minutes)
Directions: Translate the following passage into English and write your version in the corresponding space in your ANSWER BOOKLET.
中国有句古话：“相知无远近，万里尚为邻”。中国与亚洲各国山水相连，
共同铸就了灿烂的亚洲文明；古老而美丽的“丝绸之路”，谱写了中欧千年往来
的美好篇章。中国与亚欧各国的互利合作正在步入一个全新的阶段。中国已成为
亚欧和世界经济发展中的积极力量，我们将坚定走和平发展的道路，致力于同亚
欧各国发展富有活力和长期稳定的全面合作关系，与亚欧各国相互支持，携手前
进，共创美好的未来。 |