2012年9月上外中口笔试真题及解析
来源：网络 作者：迈思特英语
Spot Dictation:
We all have problems and barriers that block our progress, or prevent us from moving into new areas. Our problems might include the fear of speaking in front of a group, anxiety about math problems, or the reluctance to sound silly trying to speak a foreign language. It's natural to have problems and barriers, but sometimes they limit our experience so much, we get bored with life. When that happens, consider the following three ways of dealing with the problem or barrier.
One way is to pretend it doesn't exist. Avoid it, deny it, and lie about it. It's like turning your head the other way, putting on a fake grin, and saying, "See, there's really no problem at all. Everything is fine."
In addition to looking foolish, this approach leaves the barrier intact, and we keep bumping into it. So, a second approach is to fight the barrier, to struggle against it. This usually makes the barrier grow. It increases the barrier's magnitude. A person who is obsessed with weight might constantly worry about being fat. He might struggle with it every day, trying diet after diet. And the more he struggles, the bigger the problem gets.
The third alternative is to love the barrier. Accept it. Totally experience it. Tell the truth about it. Describe it in detail.
Applying this process is easier if you remember two ideas. First, loving a problem is not necessarily the same as enjoying it. Love in this sense means total and unconditional acceptance. Second, unconditional acceptance is not the same as unconditional surrender. Accepting a problem is different than giving up or escaping from it. Rather, this process involves escaping into the problem, diving into it headfirst, and getting to know it in detail.
Often the most effective solutions come, when we face a problem squarely, with eyes wide open, then we can move through the problem, instead of around it. When you are willing to love your problems, you drain them of much of their energy.
【评析】
本文选自Dave Ellis 的著作Becoming a Master Student其中的一个章节：Love your problems and experience your barriers，本文主要介绍了解决问题的三种办法，第一种是直接无视它，就当不存在;第二种是正视它，挑战它，第三种则是爱上困难，充分体验。然后又 给出两个观点，教你更容易地应用这些办法。
总体而言，难度不大，文章选材方面还是比较中规中矩的，关于问题和困难的相关话题也是考生比较熟悉的部分。词汇方面也没有什么难词偏僻词，考生应该不会感到太难。
Statements
Question1:
Obviously Kell has been unhappy with her present job. She works as a nurse but she would drop a teacher at a primary or secondary school.
Question2:
We don't have enough information for our financial plan, but it's due tomorrow. I'm afraid we'll just have to make do with what we have got.
Question3:
There is more pressure than ever in the competitive job market to stand out from the crowd. Continuing your education is one way to get that extra edge.
Question4:
Our production supervisor warned John to punch in on time, dress appropriately for the job and stop taking extra breaks.
Question5:
The ability to work effectively with people from other countries is especially important if you plan a career in MMC management where international experience is an essential prerequisite.
Question6:
Now it is common to find fast food restaurants everywhere. These restaurants serve people who are too rushed to find time to eat a proper meal.
Question7:
Makinen hit what appeared to be oil on the road,and his car slammedinto a concrete barrier, tearing the right rear wheel almost completely off his Mitsubishi Lancer.
Question8:
One of the greatest public health successes has been the massive decline in smoking rates, which are now translating into reduced deaths from cancer and heart disease.
Question9:
In modern society, private houses are not just places for people to live in. Rich people have long-viewed real-estate as a suitable vehicle for their earnings.
Question10:
You need to draw a vertical line two inches from the left edge of your note-taking page. With this line, you still have six inches of space on the right to write down you notes.
【评析】
1. 此题描述对现在工作的不满和宁愿做的工作。重点在but后面。
2. 此题描述利用现在资源做经济计划的事。考生应注意due(到期)以及make do with(勉强应对)便可知题意
3. 此题描述如何应对就业压力大的一种方法。难点在extra edge (额外的奖励或优势)。
4. 此题描述主管对John的要求。找准三个并列动词就易于理解。
5. 此题描述什么情况下同外国人有效地工作很必要。题中有个从句，where，修饰MMC。
6. 此题描述快餐店服务的人群。重点在第二句，fast restaurant 应为熟知单词，根据意思也能理解题意。
7. 此题描述Makinen 撞车的原因和结果。难点是单词，concrete barrier (水泥栏杆)，rear wheel(后轮)。
8. 此题描述公众健康取得的一大成就。难点是要了解一些普通疾病的说法以及death rate(死亡率)，decline(下降)。
9. 此题描述私人住宅不仅是用来居住的现状。real-estate(不动产)，vehicle (工具，媒介)。
10. 此题描述划线的问题。掌握单词vertical (垂直的)，考生还应注意具体数字。
Sentence Translation:
1. Courses for adults students may be vocational or recreational, that is, they may be related to a person’s job or taken purely for interest and pleasure.
参考译文：针对成年学生的课程可能是职业性的或者是娱乐性的，即课程可能与一个人的工作相关或者纯粹的是出于兴趣娱 乐而上课。
【解析】
本句话难度不大，如果考生一时没有反映出vocational和recreational的意思，也不必慌张，因为之后就是对这两个单词的解释，如果记下来，完全可以倒推出这两个单词的意思。
关键词：
vocational：adj. 职业的，行业的
recreational：adj. 娱乐的，消遣的
2. To overcome their fear of unknown attackers on the cities’ streets, many Americans now take instruction in Sun Swordof Oriental Self Defense such as karate and martial arts, commonly known as Gongfu or Wushu.
参考译文：为了克服对城市街道上陌生的攻击者的恐惧，很多美国人采取《太阳之剑》中的东方自卫术，诸如空手道和技击，它们 通常又被成为功夫或者武术。
【解析】
本句话稍有难度，sword, karate等词需要考生平时的积累，但是通过attackers，Gongfu，Wushu这样的词语，考生应该能判断出句子的大意。
instruction：n. 指令，教导
sword：n. 剑
karate：n. 空手道
martial arts：武术，技击
3. Drinking tea has been a long tradition of a typical British family. Recent studies suggest that tea can cut the risk of cancer and heart disease and retard the aging process.
参考译文：喝茶一直以来都是典型英国家庭的传统。近期的研究显示，茶能够降低罹患癌症和心脏病的风险，还能延缓衰老。
【解析】
本句带有科普性质，但是内容并不陌生，也没有太多的难词、生词，唯一的难点可能是retard，解释为“减慢，延迟”。
关键词：
retard：v. 延迟，减慢
aging process：衰老
4. I’ve been looking into the question of having the goods sent by air. It’s quick. The goods are less liable to damage than by sea and there’s less risk of hold-ups.
参考译文：我一直在研究空运货物的问题。它很快，而且相比海运，空运的货物不宜损坏，延误的风险也较小。
【解析】
本句稍有难度，诸如be liable to...和hold-up可能对不少考生有点陌生。
关键词：
be less liable to：不易……
hold-up：n. 停顿，耽误
5. If you lost two percent of your body weight in water, your brain power and performance level may start to weaken. Another four to seven percent may leave youfeeling dizzy.
参考译文：如果你身体中的水份减少2%，你的头脑开始迟钝，表现力开始下降。如果再减少4-7%，你会感到眩晕。
【解析】
这句话难度适中，但是考生要注意听的同时，快速反应所提及的数字，好在这句话中的数字比较简单。另外诸如dizzy这样的词也需要平时的积累。
关键词：
weaken：v. 减少，衰弱
dizzy：adj. 眩晕的
Talks and Conversations 1
W: Ah, Bill, have you got a minute?
M: Yes, but can you make it fast? I’m pretty busy.
W: OK. Ah, I’m sorry about this, Bill. I know you’re busy but I’ve got to go somewhere this afternoon. Can I take the afternoon off?
M: Oh, come on, Helen!
W: But it’s really important. I mean it is really something urgent.
M: Look, I’m sorry Helen but I can’t. I’ve got two people off sick.
W: Well, how about a couple...
M: Look, we’ve got to finish this report today. The boss has been waiting in the office.
W: I know that, Bill. How about just an hour?
M: Yes, all right. I suppose so. But next time I want a bit more warning.
Questions:
11. Why did Helen want to talk to Bill?
12. What is the relationship between the man and the woman?
13. At last, how long was Helen permitted to take her leave?
14. What did Bill want Helen to do next time?
【解析】
本篇属于情景对话，首先应当抓住关键词组take off(请假)，接下来就很好理解了。对话中女士因为下午紧急要去某地向男士请假，但是男士一开始因为手上的报告必须要在今日之内完成交给老板而没有准假。之后女士告知实在佷重要，能否请一个小时的假，男士最终答应了。
关键词：
take off：请假
urgent：adj. 紧急的
warning：adj. 警告的;引以为戒的
Talks and Conversations 2
Hi, welcome, today I am going to talk about how children learn social behaviors. Especially how they learn lessons from the family, which is the most basic unit of our social structure. There is a lot of discussion these days about how families are changing and whether non-traditional families have a good or bad effect on children. But it is important to remember that the type of family a child comes from is not nearly as important as the kind of love and support that exist in a home. There are three ways by which children acquire their behavior through rewards, punishments and finally modeling. In today’s lecture, let‘s first discuss rewards. A reward can be defined as a positive reinforcement for good behavior. An example of a reward is when a parent says, “If you eat your vegetables, you can have ice cream for dessert”. Or a parent might say, “Finish your homework first, then you can watch TV.” Most parents use rewards unconsciously because they want their children to behave well. For example, a parent might give a gift to a child, because the child behaved well. Or parents may give a child money for doing what the parents asked.
Questions:
15. What is discussed in the lecture?
16. According to the talk , what is more important for children to learn good social behaviors?
17. There are three ways by which children acquire their behavior. Which one is discussed in detail in the talk?
18. Which of the following is not a positive reinforcement for good behavior?
【评析】
本篇文章内容难度适中。虽然其中穿插长句子。但是问题答案都是文章中可以直接听出来的。举例说明能帮助大家很好的理解内容。因此在听的时候，要有上下文的概念，前面如有长句没听懂，注意后面的例子说明。全文的意思就一目了然了。
本篇话题是“孩子如何学习社会行为”。主要集中的讲的是家庭这个社会单元对孩子行为的影响。并且提到孩子学习社会行为的三种方式：奖励、惩罚、模范。本课中主要讲的是“奖励”这种方式。
关键词：
Social behavior 社会行为，社交行为
Social structure 社会结构
Talks and Conversations 3
John: Good morning, Betty. Do you know what the assignment is for our term paper in history?
Betty: Sure John. But weren’t you in class on Monday? That’s when it was given out.
John: No, I missed that class. Was there a handout?
Betty: No, the instructor just wrote the assignment on the board.
John: Could I copy the assignment from your notes?
Betty: You could if I had copied it all down, but I just wrote down the part that I wanted.
John: Oh no...
Betty: You see, there were four choices of topics for the term paper, but when I saw them, I knew which one I wanted, so I didn’t copy the others down.
John: Can you remember any of the others?
Betty: Let’s see... There was one about World War I, something about it, but I don’t remember what. And there was one called the idea of progress in the 19th century.
John: And what was the last one?
Betty: I can’t remember. My mind is a complete blank. Maybe you could ask someone else.
John: Yes, I will. Anyway, those are certainly broad topics.
Betty: Yes, but you can focus on a special area within them. Which one would you take?
John: Of course, I don’t know what the last one is, but of these three, I think I’d take the idea of progress.
Betty: That’s very abstract.
John: Yes, but it is one of my interests and I’ve read a lot on the subject. I’ve never written a term paper on it though.
Betty: Me neither. I haven’t even read about it. Are you going to class on Wednesday?
John: Yes.
Betty: Maybe he’ll write it on the board again.
John: I hope so. Good luck with your paper.
Betty: Same to you.
Questions:
19. How many topics did the teacher give for the term paper?
20. How was the assignment given out by the instructor?
21. Why can’t John copy the assignment from Betty’s notes?
22. Why does John choose to write on the idea of progress in the 19th century?
【评析】
本段听力讲述的是男同学周一没有去上课，来询问女同学老师给出的期末论文题目是什么。恰巧老师给出的是4个话题以供挑选，女同学没有记下所有的话题，只是凭记忆讲述了两个话题给男同学听。男同学在已知的话题中倾向于写“the idea of progress in the 19th century”，因为他喜欢这方面知识，而且之前也有阅读。问题都是常见细节题，涉及所给话题数目、话题告知方式等，难度不大，只要认真听不难得出答案。
Talks and Conversations 4
Welcome to my lecture on interpreting. Interpreting is a relatively new area of research. It is all too often subsumed under the heading of translation. For example, many translators associations include interpreters. Many books on translation include a section on interpreting. Many translators do some interpreting work and vice versa. Of course, there is an overlap between the two areas that are so alike and yet so different. All of this means that interpreting is still in the process of establishing itself as a discipline in its own right.
My aim in this lecture is to provide an overview of interpreting to anyone interested in interpreting in general, or indeed in becoming an interpreter. For years, I have been collecting information about international and regional organizations in this field. I was quite surprised about some of the results of the questionnaire.
Firstly, with the exceptions of the European Union and the United nations, the actual number of interpreters employed by many organizations is quite small.
Secondly, I have not found any support for the common notion that interpreters do not have a lifelong career that they work solidly for five years or so, earning quite a lot of money, and then disappear into the sunset. On the contrary, they continue to work as interpreters until retirement age, and in some cases, beyond it.
Thirdly, English is the international language of business, and it’s used in boardrooms and business meetings throughout the world. English is also the international language of science. In the 1960s and 1970s of the last century when foreign languages were not like widely taught, many international conferences needed interpreters. Nowadays, most educated people learn foreign languages. And as a result, the need for interpreters at this type of meeting has diminished.
Questions:
23. Who are most likely to be interested in the lecture?
24. Which of the following is not true about interpreting?
25. What is the common notion about interpreters?
26. What accounts for the smaller number of conference interpreters today?
【评析】
本文节选自美国作家费伦的The Interpreter's Resource(口译员的资源)，属于“外教社翻译硕士专业系列教材”口译实践指南丛书。内容上，先是讲口译与翻译的一些区别，然后说明是要对口译做概述，最后提出在调查研究中发现的一些比较奇怪的现象，包括：①公司录用口译者很少;②并没有任何证据表明口译者 的工作是吃青春饭的;③现在社会对商务和科学方面的口译者的需求正在减少。文章介绍的都是口译翻译相关的词汇，这些词本身并没有太大的难度，属于考生比较熟悉的词汇范围之内。
Talks and Conversations 5
W: David Macdonald is best known for his work with watercolor painting. His work has been included in over 36 exhibitions. He is also renowned as an art teacher with work in a summer watercolor painting intensive program for high school students. David, how did you start making art?
M: Initially, it was a way to create some private space. As the third in a family of nine children, I always shared a bedroom with at least three of my brothers. I would help my parents unpack the groceries and unfold the paper bags that I could use inside as drawing paper. Through hours of drawing, I was able to create my own little world. I was introduced to watercolor painting during my second year in college. And ever since then, I’ve been fascinated by it.
W: What is the source of your ideas?
M: Anything can become a conscious or unconscious inspiration. I can get lost in the country or in the city streets or in the supermarket. Even the shapes and colors of the vegetables give me all sorts of ideas. On a more scholarly level, I was influenced by Chinese and Japanese painters during college.
W: Is there any advice you would like to give to our students?
M: An artist has to believe in him or herself. The dedication, courage and energy my students bring to classroom are more important than anything I can offer. If you want to stand above the crowd, your passion for your art must be manifest through a willingness to work harder than anyone else. The students who succeed see their art as a way of life and not simply as a way of earning a living. My job as a teacher is to help my students realize their potential and bring eloquence to their unique voice.
Questions:
27. What is the topic of the interview?
28. How did the man start to learn watercolor painting?
29. Why did the man talk about the vegetables in the supermarket?
30. Which of the following is not true about the successful art students?
【评析】
此篇是对水彩画家David Macdonald的一篇采访。涉及到David如何开始学画画，他什么时候开始画油画，怎么样获得灵感以及对学生们的建议。一个采访问题，相应的回答，中等难度，没有生僻词，采访对话也较易于理解。
掌握单词：
watercolor painting 水彩画;
grocery n. 食品杂货;
inspiration n. 灵感;
conscious adj. 有意识的;
unconscious adj. 无意识的;
dedication n. 奉献，献身;
potential n. 潜力;
eloquence n. 雄辩，口才;
Passage Translation E-C:
【原文】
For years, many Asian-Americans have been convinced that it's harder for them to gain admission to the nation's top colleges. Studies show that Asian-Americans meet these colleges' admissions standards far out of proportion to their 6 percent representation in the U.S. population, and that they often need test scores hundreds of points higher than applicants from other ethnic groups to have an equal chance of admission. Critics say these numbers, along with the fact that some top colleges with race-blind admissions have double the Asian percentage of Ivy League schools, prove the existence of discrimination.
The way it works, the critics believe, is that Asian-Americans are evaluated not as individuals, but against the thousands of other ultra-achieving Asians who are stereotyped as boring academic robots.
Of course, not all Asian-Americans fit this stereotype. They are not always obedient hard workers who get top marks. Their economic status, ancestral countries and customs vary. But compared with American society in general, Asian-Americans have developed a much stronger emphasis on intense academic preparation as a path to a handful of the very best schools.
【参考译文】
多年来，许多美籍亚裔深信在美国要想被顶尖级名校录取，他们需要付出更加艰辛的努力。研究表明，美籍亚裔中达到这些大学的入学要求的人数的比例与他们所占 美国总人口的百分之六的比例不相称，并且要想获得均等的入学机会，他们往往要考出比其他国家学生高出几百分的成绩。事实表明一些名牌大学在实行无种族歧视 的招生政策之后，使常春藤联盟亚裔学生的招生比例翻了一番。评论家指出这些数据恰巧反映出歧视依然存在。
评论家们认为，这种方式之所以行得通，是因为美籍亚裔学生并非作为个体被评估，而是被参照了许多做法极端的亚洲人而评估的，这些人为达到目的，刻板陈腐，像学术机器。
当然，并非每个亚裔学生都是这种类型的。有些人并非寒窗苦读，名列前茅。他们的家庭条件，血统，风俗习惯都不尽相同。但是总体来说，与一般的美国学生相比，亚裔学生更重视紧张的学业准备，这也是他们挤进那些顶尖名校的必经之路。
【评析】
这篇文章略有难度。整段由三个长句组成。因此翻译时要理清思路，弄清句子前后的逻辑关系。然后再下笔。
主要是第二个句子，数据进行比较。一方是亚裔美籍能达到这些名校入学标准所占比例，另一方是亚裔美籍人 占美国总人口的比例6%，弄清这个关系，这句就不难翻译了。”far out of”指的是“与…(很)不成比例，与…(很)不相称”。
第二个句子后半句，比较的是亚裔美籍人入这些名校的分数要比其他国家的人入这些学校要高出很多分，比较的是“不同民族不同分数”这样一个概念。“higher than”关键词
最后一句话，要注意找准句子主干，即“Critics say these numbers prove the existence of discrimination.”
