2010年9月上外中级口译真题答案及解析
来源：网络 作者：迈思特英语
Spot Dictation部分
Now the location of your college. Some colleges are in the centre of huge cities, some in the suburb. And some are surrounded by fields and woods. Where your college is located will be important to your extra-curricular life. The advantage of an urban college is that there are many exciting things to do off campus. Compared to a rural campus, there are more movies, plays, churches, restaurants, discos, museums and music. There is probably good public transportation. You are near airports, trains and several highways, making weekend or vacation trips to other places much easier. All of these mean that off campus excitement is easy to reach and doesn't require a lot of planning. This can be an important part of a college education and of your growth. But this easily available entertainment can also tempt you away from your books. The disadvantages of an urban college can be expense and a lack of peace and quiet. Off campus living in the city is almost always more expensive. Even if you live at school, you will still eat and shop off campus often, probably, more than you would at a rural campus. Many of those wonderful, cultural events cost money and are hard to pass up. If you are moving to the city from the country, be prepared for unexpected expenses. and advantage of a rural college is the relax and often beautiful setting. Rural colleges may have much more peaceful and cleaner air. And campus activities will probably be more important in your extra-curricular life. This doesn’t mean that nothing happens on campus in small towns. Things do. But they are more likely to be connected with school. Rural colleges are often near good spots for outdoor activities, mountains, lakes and beaches. If you have any interest in outdoor activities, this is a good place to learn more. The disadvantages of the rural college can be isolation, boredom and the difficulty of adjusting to a more relaxed life if you come from a big city, life at a small rural college can become very in groan.
Statement部分
1 Why bother to call Jack and tell him about our plan? You will see him at lunch.
2 Since you said you totally agreed with Tom’s views, you ought to have stood up for him in the argument at the meeting yesterday afternoon.
3 At the rate of its being used, the copier is not going to make it thought the rest of the year, though it is supposes to be good for 5 years.
4 The latest inflation figure was issued today: The current inflation rate is 3.5 %. That’s 1% up on last year.
5 There is a great deal of concern today about the problem of scientific illiteracy and shortcomings in the teachings of science. More funds are needed in this respect.
6 It’s smart to dress warm while it’s cold outside. But colds are caused by viruses and not cold weather. Washing your hands is a good way to avoid catching many viruses.
7 It’s a very nurturing environment. The general manager has encouraged me to push my abilities and grow. And I am honored the company keeps renewing my contract.
8 In team sports such as volleyball, team work is much more than just hitting the ball over the net. The same is ture of business dealings in a company.
9 From champs to chumps. Just 3 years ago their products were on the business week list of the world’s most valuable brands in history. And now they are history.
10 Since you bought 85 chairs last month, naturally this time we can offer you a discount of 10% for this model at our lowest price of 45 dollars each.
解析：
本次的10个statements, 发音有点模糊，有些词和词组听不清或者听不出来是很正常的事情，我们应该把注意力放在意群上而不是具体的单词或者短语，遇到听不懂的，注意听下文，一般能听到解释或者根据上下文推理出来，像from champs to chumps, 从后文的意思就能够推断出来。
另外对数字的考察依然是本次考试的重点对象，考生应该在平时多练，加强对数字的敏感性。第三题中，一句说的是根据实际情况预测的期限，另外一个是保质期，要注意数字对应的信息。
此外，要注意判断哪些句子是信息的重点所在，以及句子的内在含义，如第一题中，我们可以判断出说话人建议听话人在午餐见到Jack时再告诉他相关的计划。对于使用虚拟语气的句子，更要特别留意，如第2题，“you ought to have stood up for him in the argument at the meeting yesterday afternoon”，由此判断，听话人在会议上并未站出来支持对话中谈到的人。
Talks and Conversations部分
P1. Q11-14
W: Jack, tell me about yourself.
M: I was born in LA. But my family is from China. My father came to the US to study. He got a PHD in computer science. And he stayed on as a professor at a college in California.
W: Is your mother from China, too?
M: No, my mom is from here. She’s Asian-American. Her folks came to the US during the 19th century. In fact, one of her great-grandfathers actually helped to build the first railroad across the United States in the 1860s. What about you?
W: Well, I’m a third-generation Mexican-American. My grandparents were born in Vera Cruz. And they immigrated to this country a long time ago. We still have a lot of relatives in Mexico.
M: Do you keep in touch with them?
W: We visit whenever we can.
M: By the way, how’s your Spanish?
W: It’s pretty good. We speak it at home most of the time. Do you speak Chinese?
M: Yeah, I’m quite fluent. And I’m now learning to write it. I think someday I might be back in China and take up my career there.
Q11 What does the man’s father do for a living?
Q12 What does the man say about his mother?
Q13 According to the woman, why can she speak very good Spanish?
Q14 What is the man doing now?
解析：这一段对话难度很低，基本没有影响理解的生词。一个华裔男生和一个墨西哥裔女生在谈论双方的家庭情况、以及对汉语、西班牙语的知识。提问点也很明显。
P2. Q15-18
Most of us use oil in some way. And it is difficult to imagine the modern world without oil. But oil is not easy to find and get out of the earth, as it is trapped deep down in the ground. We must first study the rocks carefully. When we think that the rocks in a certain place may contain oil, we will build a metal tower in the location, either on the land or on the sea. This metal tower is called a derrick. The derrick is equipped with oil-drilling machinery. The machine will cut a narrow hole down into the ground. Meanwhile, a steel pipe is pushed down to stop the sides from falling and to keep out water. At last, if we have judged correctly, the oil would rush up the pipe with great force. This is basically how an oil well is set up. Oil, as we can see, is obtained more easily than coal. For coal, very often, we must dig it from a mine and have it sent out to the ground surface. But for oil, it rushes up a pipe. If an oil well is made near the middle of the oil field, then natural gas can be obtained. In parts of the world, such gas is often sent through pipes to distant towns and cities, so that it can be used like coal gas in houses and factories.
Q15 Why is it difficult to find oil?
Q16 What is a derrick?
Q17 Why does the speaker say that oil is obtained more easily than coal?
Q18 According to the speaker, what can be obtained when an oil well is made near the middle of the oil field?
解析：今年各种时事依然散布在考卷的四处，这道题讲的是石油的开采。能源问题一直是大家关心的话题，加上不久前的原油泄漏事件，我们在一周前的答疑会上也提到，这个话题是重点。这道题改编自一篇中学阅读题，其实是改得比阅读题中出现的句子更加直接、容易理解了。这篇文章简述了石油开采的步骤、与煤矿开采相比较，最后还提到了天然气。科普类的文章最主要的困难是专业词汇，像这里的Derrick、oil-drilling machinery等等。总的来说这些词汇并不多，提问点也比较中规中矩，难度中等。
P3 Q19-22
W: Good evening, Mr. Smith. It’s nice to meet you and your boy in such nice and cozy weather. Is John going to school this year?
M: Yes. We are thinking of sending him to a private boarding school instead of the local state school.
W: Really? Well, I wouldn’t dream of sending my little boy away to some strange institution for month on end every year. It will break my heart every time.
M: I don’t think so. I would say that a boarding school education is good for children because it teaches them to have confidence in themselves. In a boarding school, they can learn to be more independent of themselves and less dependent on their parents.
W: But not every child can afford to go to a private school. My nephew only went to his local state school and he’s just been awarded a scholarship to study classics at Cambridge.
M: Anyway, the private school is more animative and open-minded in teaching children to learn. You will get the value of your money, and this is worthwhile.
W: Still, I don’t know what I’ll do with my little boy next year. I don’t want him to go to that big new school. The children of all the common people in the area go there.
M: Well, they are closing all the other schools. If you don’t like the new state school, you’ll just have to pay to send him to a private school, won’t you?
Q19 According to the man, what is good about a private boarding school?
Q20 Why does the woman mention her nephew in the conversation?
Q21 Which of the following can be concluded from the conversation?
Q22 What is the woman worried about?
解析：对话形式讨论是否要送孩子去私立寄宿制学校(private boarding school)上学。男性说话人认为之所以要选择私立寄宿制学校，是因为：一，它能让孩子对自己充分自信;二，让孩子学会独立;三，私立学习在教育方式上更加活泼和开放。女性说话人认为私立学校不是每个孩子都能读得起的，并举出自己侄子的例子，证明：不去私立学校，也一样会有好的成绩。但是她自己还是拿不定主意到底送自己的孩子去哪种学校上学。她不想让孩子去那所新的公立学校，因为当地所有普通家庭的孩子都会去这所学校。文章难度并不大，大家注意区分观点即可。
P4 Q23-26
Earthquakes are violent, destructive and unpredictable. The overall history of earthquakes leads to one general rule. The more time that has passed since an earthquake, the bigger the chance one will strike. Scientists therefore use information about past earthquakes to guess probabilities about future earthquakes.
For example, they say that within the next 30 years, there is a 60 percent probability that an earthquake will hit somewhere in southern California. But exactly where or when is a mystery. In at least one case, an earthquake in northern china has been predicted by paying attention to clues from nature.
In china, earthquakes have been studied for nearly 4,000 years. And there are records of more than 9,000 earthquakes, going back to the year 1831BC. The official earthquake records of the state of California only go back to 1950. In their long hard look earthquakes, the Chinese have observed many things. Before an earthquake, animals start to act strangely. The ground changed in shape, and earth’s magnetic fields get stronger in the earthquake area. The water in wild bubbles up, and then returns to its normal level. Also, a series of small earthquakes can mean that a big quake is on its way. The Chinese use these clues in 1974 to make the first successful prediction of an earthquake. The United States geological survey, on the other hand, has never predicted a major earthquake.
Q23 What is the general rule about the occurrence of an earthquake?
Q24 According to the speaker, which area is likely to be hit by an earthquake within the next 30 years?
Q25 How long have the Chinese studied earthquakes?
Q26 Which of the following is not a clue that is used by the Chinese to predict an earthquake?
解析：本文关于地震，大家在考前可能也预测到会考到此类话题。本文主要关注地震监测和预报的问题，并将中国和美国在这一问题上的情况作对比。第一、二段论述地震是很难预测的，并在第二段结尾处指出中国曾有一次通过对各种自然现象的观察，成功预测到了一次地震。第三段比较了中美的地震预测情况，并具体论述哪些线索可以为预测地震提供信息。本文难度较前几篇较高，但是题目难度正常。
P5 Q27-30
Man: How did you like the fireworks last night?
Woman: I really didn’t enjoy them too much. There was such a big crowd that we couldn’t get very close.
Man: I thought you were going early.
Woman: We did. But even though we got there on 7 o’clock, the park was already jammed. It was so crowed that we had a hard time finding a place even to stand.
Man: That’s too bad because the fireworks were really spectacular.
Woman: What did you do? How did you manage to get a good view?
Man: We went early. We decided to have a picnic dinner in the park, so we’d be sure to get there early enough to find a good spot.
Woman: I guess that’s what I should do next Fourth of July.
Man: We found a place on top of some rocks where nobody could get in front of us.
Woman: Wasn’t it pretty hot? The temperature was up in the 80s yesterday.
Man: It was nice and cool where we were because there were a lot of trees right behind us. So we had some shade to sit in.
Woman: What did you do about going home? I’ve never been pushed and shoved so much in my whole life.
Man: Well, they rent extra buses until midnight, so we didn’t have any problem.
Woman: I think you were lucky.
Man: It wasn’t luck. It was good planning. You have to come with us next year.
Woman: I don’t know whether I want to try it again next year. Even though I like fireworks, I don’t like big crowds.
Man: Well, next year is still a long time away and next weekend we are going to the beach, a whole bunch of us. Would you like to come with us?
Woman: Yes, thank you, I would. And maybe I can find how you go about planning things.
Q27. According to the woman, why couldn’t she enjoy the fireworks?
Q28. What did the man do to ensure a good view of the fireworks?
Sentence Translation
1. We know that language use is the life-long process, so is the foreign language learning. There is no shortcut in learning a foreign language.
众所周知，语言的使用是终身的，外语学习也是如此。 学习外语是没有捷径可走的。
关键词：life-long process, shortcut
关于学习的句子，比较贴近学生生活，生词不多，难度不大。
2. I’m afraid we’ll have to change our appointment for Friday morning. Something unexpected came up and I’m sorry for the inconvenience this might cause you.
出于意外， 我们恐怕要更改周五早上的预约。对此给您造成不便，我表示十分抱歉。
关键词：appointment，unexpected，inconvenience
这是商务类语句，多见于商务邮件。注意要把握好翻译时语气的表达，要比较谦礼貌和郑重。
3. After some discussions, we have reached a compromise on the key point, and we’ll come down to details of the contract at our next meeting tomorrow afternoon.
经过几番讨论后， 我们在关键问题上作出让步并达成一致，合同的具体细节将于明天下午的会议上讨论。
关键词：reached a compromise，key point ，come down to details
这篇也是商务文书及邮件中上常见的句子。注意一些词组的准确翻译及语气的表达。
4. A famous educationalist once said: Nobody is completely ignorant. Nobody knows everything. All of us lack knowledge of something. That is why we continue to learn.
一位著名的教育家曾说过：“无人无知，无人全知。我们所有人都缺乏某方面的知识。因此我们要不断学习。”
关键词：ignorant，lack，continue to learn
这是引用了一个教育家的话，难度不大，生词少。关键是翻译得要符合“雅”这个标准。如果前面几句译为“没有一个人是完全无知的。没有一个人知道一切。”则显得句子很一般，没有美感和韵律感。
5. Today, I am pleased to announce that our government will dramatically expand the number of our students who study in China to 50,000 in the next 10 years.
今天，我很高兴地宣布，在未来的10年内，我们政府将大幅度增加赴中留学生至5万人。
关键词：announce，dramatically，50,000，10 years
这种句子一般出现在新闻发布或者大型会议上，要求把握好一般主持人所使用的语气。其次数字还是要加强关注。句式上，这是一个长句，先用了宾语从句，后用定语从句。加建议大家平时要注重长句翻译方面的训练。
Passage Translation
Passage 1
Man is closed connected to the environment. Our environment provides us with fresh air to breathe, clean water to drink and various vegetables to eat. However, our environment is faced
with many dangers. It is seriously polluted with chemical wastes from factories and garbages from the city. Trees are being cut down, large areas of forests are being destroy, and various animals are being hunted and killed. As a result, many kinds of plants and animals are disppearing from the earth.
人与环境紧密相连。我们的环境提供了新鲜的空气、干净的水和各种蔬菜，让我们呼吸、饮用。但我们的环境却正在面临许多危险。它被工厂的化学废物、城市里的垃圾所污染。树木被砍伐、大片的森林被破坏、多种动物遭到猎杀。由此，地球上许多种类的植物和动物，正在走向灭绝。
解析:
这一段难度较低，注意一下逻辑词，如However, as a result,在笔记中迅速地使用符号记录下来。出现了两次、占全文字数三分之一的并列平行结构也是文中的一大重点。理解上不会造成障碍，关键是信息记录完整。
Passage 2
In 1979, trade between the United States and China stood at roughly 5 billion dollars. Today, it tops over 400 billion dollars each year. The commerce affects our people's life in so many ways. America imports from China many of the computer parts we use, the clothes we wear and we export to China machinery that helps power your industry. This trade could create even more jobs on both sides of the Pacific, while allowing our people to enjoy a better quality of life.
1979年，美中贸易保持在50亿美元上下。而今，每年贸易总额则已超过了4000亿美元。这一贸易往来在很多方面影响了两国人民的生活。我们电脑上的许多零件、我们穿的衣服，都是美国从中国进口而来的，而我们也向中国出口可以让贵国工业更加强大的机械设备。两国贸易为太平洋两岸提供了大量的就业机会，让我们的人民能够享受更加美好的生活。
解析:
这一段截取自奥巴马的讲话。注意两个billion意思的转换，使用美语的意思来翻译。要翻译出来，这是一个美国人在讲话，“我国”指的是美国，而中国则是“贵国”，是“美中贸易”而不是“中美贸易”。
Q29. How did the man explain the success for their park trip?
Q30. What did the man do at the end of conversation?
解析：本文主要讲述男女双方在观赏烟花中完全不同的经历。女士因为没有做好事先的计划，结果去观赏时人群拥挤，观赏过程不甚愉快。而男士则做好周全的安排，观赏烟花过程顺利且愉快。
这篇对话内容不难，关键是要抓住男女双方各自不同经历的不同原因。
