08年春季上海外语口译考试高级口译笔译真题

08年春季上海外语口译考试高级口译笔译真题

SECTION 1: LISTENING TEST (30 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 ONL Y ONCE.

Today, we'll talk about what other effects watching TV might produce on children.

Children should be _______ (1) a lot of television, many experts and parents agree, but there is at least one circumstance when it might be beneficial: _______ (2). A recent study conducted by Italian researchers found that children _______ (3) immediately preceding and during blood tests experienced less pain than children whose mothers _______ (4) during the procedure, or children whose mothers were present but _______ (5).

The research, led by Carlo Brown, MD, at the University of Siena, is published in the Archives of Disease in Childhood, _______ (6) the study. None received any type of anesthesia; the children and their mothers _______ (7).

Both the group whose mothers attempted to distract them from the blood tests and those whose mothers simply observed reported _______ (8) than the group who watched cartoons. For that group, the levels of pain were less and the children were better able to _______ (9).

One of the possible explanations is that children might have _______ (10) during the procedures, exacerbating their perception of pain. "The higher pain level reported by children during _______ (11) shows the difficulty mothers have in interacting positively _______ (12) in their children's life," the authors write.

However, they stressed that _______ (13) still provided benefits, noting that the children would _______ (14) during the procedures. "Indeed, children state that having their parent present _______ (15) when in pain," say the authors.

Another possibility offered for consideration is the notion that the _______ (16) might release pain-quelling endorphins. Endorphins, _______ (17) produced by the pituitary gland, resemble opiates in their ability to produce analgesia and a sense of well-being. In other words, they might _______ (18).

In any case, the study results suggest that health workers should _______ (19) to watch television during painful procedures _______ (20).

Part B: Listening Comprehension

Directions: In this part of the test there will be some short talks and conversations. After each one, you will be asked some questions. The talks, conversations and questions will be spoken ONL Y ONCE. Now listen carefully and choose the right answer to each question you have heard and write the letter of the answer you have chosen in the corresponding space in your ANSWER BOOKLET.

Questions 1 to 5 are based on the following conversation.

1.(A) A change in French eating habits.

(B) A boom in long-hour meals in France.

(C) The origin of hamburgers.

(D) The home of the sit-down mid-day meal.

2.(A) A variation in food supply.

(B) A change in the workforce.

(C) A rise in food prices.

(D) A fall in white-collarization.

3.(A) Bakeries now offer a limited range of albeit excellent products.

(B) There are about four kinds of bread, breakfast and dessert pastries.

(C) Bakeries sell sandwiches mainly in the working-class areas.

(D) France is currently witnessing a boom in sandwich business.

4.(A) Men usually like to eat more hamburgers than women do in France.

(B) Men, more likely to be working behind a jackhammer, need to eat so much.

(C) Women make up almost half the labor force in France now.

(D) Women have to pick up the children late from the day-care center.

5.(A) Because the bakeries have adapted the idea of fast food and made it French products.

(B) Because the bakeries have offered something that's very close to what is called fast food.

(C) Because the hamburgers have ham and butter in them.

(D) Because the hamburgers do not cost so much as those offered by McDonald. Questions 6 to 10 are based on the following news.

6.(A) Three.

(B) Four.

(C) Eleven.

(D) Eighteen

7.(A) To intensify Tokyo's role in peacekeeping missions abroad.

(B) To stop the country's air force transport mission in Iraq.

(C) To override the lower house's decision.

(D) To approve the Democratic Party's bill to continue the mission.

8.(A) Worsening water scarcity.

(B) Increasing risks of diseases.

(C) Triggering mass displacement.

(D) Reducing the population in Asia.

9.(A) To resume peace talks which have been halted for a long time.

(B) To forge and sign a peace treaty pledged by both sides.

(C) To dispel his skepticism over chances for a deal before he leaves office.

(D) To open a 44-nation conference over the Middle East issue.

10.(A) 60%.

(B) 26%.

(C) 21%.

(D) 20%.

Questions 11 to 15 are based on the following interview.

11.(A) What to do to control crime.

(B) What role a lawyer plays in a court case.

(C) How to tell a hardened criminal from a first-time offender.

(D) How to convict a criminal and put him in prison.

12.(A) Deterrence.

(B) Quick conviction.

(C) The social structure.

(D) The economy.

13.(A) Education programs are not so effective as required.

(B) Drug treatment programs are insufficiently funded.

(C) Some rehabilitation programs inside prisons have been stopped.

(D) More people are convicted than prison space can accommodate.

14.(A) These programs are mainly intended for the kingpins of drug deals to get rehabilitated.

(B) These programs are currently carried out in most states in the country.

(C) These programs aim to develop a culture inside the prisons.

(D) These programs have psychological and educational components.

15.(A) Because gangs start in prisons and make prison a repressive experience.

(B) Because criminals tend to be repeat offenders.

(C) Because there is no stigma attached to most criminals.

(D) Because society doesn't look at released prisoners with disdain.

Questions 16 to 20 are based on the following talk.

16.(A) How to interact with colleagues and clients face to face.

(B) How to make effective telephone conversations.

(C) What skills are needed to get and hold down a job.

(D) What makes for an excellent ability to express yourself.

17.(A) Managerial.

(B) Technological.

(C) Financial.

(D) Social.

18.(A) Basic to advanced knowledge of computer application.

(B) Ability to calculate all transactions, profits and costs.

(C) Creativity in making presentations to clients.

(D) Proficiency in at least one foreign language.

19.(A) To create your own databases on the computer.

(B) To enhance your social skills by holding parties with your friends.

(C) To use the computer in free time and become familiar with its operation.

(D) To store as many telephone numbers and addresses as you can.

20.(A) Graduating students.

(B) Trainee managers.

(C) Professional secretaries.

(D) Low-level administrative staff.

SECTION 2: READING TEST

Directions: In this section you will read several passages. Each one is followed by several questions about it. 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.

Question 1-5

Life expectancy in the richest countries of the world now exceeds the poorest by more than 30 years, figures show. The gap is widening across the world, with Western countries and the growing economies of Latin America and the Far East advancing more rapidly than Africa and the countries of the former Soviet Union. Average life expectancy in Britain and similar countries of the OECD was 78.8 in 2000-05, an increase of more than seven years since 1970-75 and almost 30 years over the past century. In sub-Saharan Africa, life expectancy has increased by just four months since 1970, to 46.1 years. Narrowing this "health gap" will involve going beyond the immediate causes of disease-poverty, poor sanitation and infection-to tackle the "causes of the causes" -the social hierarchies in which people live, says the report published by the Global Commission on the Social Determinants of Health established by the WHO in 2005.

Professor Sir Michael Marmot, chairman of the commission, who first coined the term "status syndrome", said social status was the key to tackling health inequalities worldwide. In the 1980s, in a series of ground-breaking studies among Whitehall civil servants, Professor Marmot showed that the risk of death among those on the lower rungs of the career ladder was four times higher than those at the top, and that the difference was linked with the degree of control the inpiduals had over their lives.

He said yesterday that the same rule applied in poorer countries. If people increased their status and gained more

control over their lives they improved their health because they were less vulnerable to the economic and environmental threats. "When people think about those in poor countries they tend to think about poverty, lack of housing, sanitation and exposure to infectious disease. But there is another issue, the social gradient in health which I called status syndrome. It is not just those at the bottom of the hierarchy who have worse health; it is all the way along the scale. Those second from the bottom have worse health than those above them but better health than those below."

The interim report of the commission, in the online edition of The Lancet, says the effects of status syndrome extend from the bottom to the top of the hierarchy, with Swedish adults holding a PhD having a lower death rate than those with a master's degree. The study says: "The gradient is a worldwide occurrence, seen in low-income, middle-income and high-income countries. It means we are all implicated."

The result is that even within rich countries such as Britain there are striking inequalities in life expectancy. The poorest men in Glasgow have a life expectancy of 54, lower than the average in India. The answer, the report says, is empowerment, of inpiduals, communities and whole countries. "Technical and medical solutions such as medical care are without doubt necessary. But they are insufficient." Professor Marmot said: "We talk about three kinds of empowerment. If people don't have the material necessities, they cannot be empowered. The second kind is psycho-social empowerment: more control over their lives. The third is political empowerment: having a voice."

The commission's final report, to be published soon, will identify the ill effects of low status and make recommendations for how they can be tackled. In Britain a century ago, infant mortality among the rich was about 100 per 1,000 live births compared with 250 per 1,000 among the poor. Infant mortality is still twice as high among the poor in Britain, but the rates have come down dramatically to 7 per 1,000 among the poor and 3.5 among the rich. Professor Marmot said: "We have made dramatic progress, but this is not about abolishing the rankings, but by identifying the ill effects of hierarchies we can make huge improvement."

1. Which of the following CANNOT be found from the passage?

(A) Life expectancy in Latin America and the Far East is increasing faster than Africa.

(B) In Africa, life expectancy had only increased by four years since 1970 to 46.1 years.

(C) There is a gap of more than 30 years in life expectancy between the richest countries and the poorest countries.

(D) Within rich countries there are also great inequalities in life expectancy between the rich and the poor.

2. According to the passage, the term "status syndrome" _______,

(A) was first accepted by the World Health Organisation in 2005

(B) was proposed by Professor Marmot to describe social changes

(C) is used to expose the major causes of health inequalities

(D) is used to show the correlation between sanitation and infection

3.According to the passage, the effects of status syndrome _______.

(A) can only be found from those living at the bottom of the society

(B) usually are greater among those from the lower classes

(C) are the same on people from each ladder of the social hierarchy

(D) extend universally from the bottom to the top of the social hierarchy

4.Professor Marmot proposed that "empowerment" should ________.

(A) mainly include technical and medical advancement

(B) be equal to access to material necessities

(C) be material, psycho-social and political

(D) be the final answer to the social problem of "health gap"

5.What can be concluded from the passage?

(A) Health inequality is closely related to social hierarchies.

(B) The "causes of the causes" of health gap lie in the differences between rich and poor countries.

(C) Social ranking should be ultimately abolished.

(D) The rich countries should give more assistance to poor countries to fill the health gap.

Questions 6-10

In Idaho's Snake River Valley, where potato farmers depend on electric pumps to water their crops, the state's largest power company hopes to stand tradition on its head and profit by selling farmers less, not more, electricity. To do that, Idaho Power is vastly expanding its energy-efficiency programs for 395,000 residential customers, small businesses, and farmers. Usually the more customers save, the less utilities make. But under an innovative deal with state regulators in March, Idaho Power gets paid for its plants and equipment and boosts profits by winning incentive payments for reducing electric demand.

It's an idea that appears to be catching on as legislatures fret about global warming and utilities scramble to meet rising demand without the increasing harassment and cost of building new power plants. Idaho is among 13 states whose regulators have either adopted or proposed measures in the past year to decouple utility profit from electricity production. Decoupling is advancing even faster for natural-gas utilities, with 25 states either adopting or proposing decoupling plans in recent years. "This wave toward 'decoupling' is clearly gathering momentum," says Martin Kushler of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy in Washington. "More states seem to be calling every week to find out about this."

Although California pioneered the idea 25 years ago-and strengthened incentives and penalties last month-interest is picking up again because of global warming, experts say. The main idea is that by rearranging the incentive structure, regulators can give utilities clear incentives to push energy efficiency and conservation without hurting their bottom lines. Under the new rules in California, for example, electric utilities could make as much as $150 million extra if they can persuade Californians to save some $2 billion worth of power, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council.

"This is a vital step in the global-warming fight," says Audrey Chang, an NRDC researcher. "It represents, we hope, a historic shift toward decoupling that is going to help bend the energy demand curve downwards." Beside Idaho, states that this year adopted decoupling for some or all of its electric power industry include New York, Connecticut, and Vermont. At least nine other states have seen major decoupling proposals this year.

Idaho Power is happy that its key fixed costs-plants and equipment-are now separated from variable costs of electricity sales such as fuel. Regulators annually readjust those fixed rates-up or down-a maximum of 3 percent to ensure that the company gets no more or less than it has been regulated to receive. But customers should benefit, too, as utility efficiency programs cut energy use and energy bills-something the company is trying hard to do so it can win a bonus if it meets or exceeds energy-cutting goals. "Before there was almost a disincentive to go hard at efficiency because we weren't recovering our fixed costs," says Mike Youngblood, an analyst for Idaho Power. "Now the anticipation is that we will recover our fixed cost, no more or less. And our customers will see their bill go down if they invest in energy efficiency."

One key reason utilities are often willing to decouple or even leading proponents of the proposals is because the costs of building a power plant has risen dramatically. A 500-megawatt coal-fired plant that cost $1 billion just a few years ago might cost $1.5 billion today, industry experts say. Add to that growing uncertainty about future costs. Global-warming legislation could put a price of $30 per ton on carbon-dioxide emissions from power plants. That could make coal, the cheapest power today, more costly. Another factor is the rising community opposition to coal-fired power plant construction.

In North Carolina, where regulators recently refused a Duke Energy Corp. proposal to build a power plant, the company has instead put forward a controversial decoupling proposal. The plan would pay the company to meet efficiency standards, although consumer advocates and even environmental groups question whether it's a good deal for ratepayers. In fact, some consumer advocates have major reservations about decoupling overall. "Unfortunately, we're seeing utilities trying to use decoupling as a blank check," says Charles Acquard, executive

director of the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates in Silver Spring, Md. "We're not absolutely opposed to decoupling. It's how you do it that's critical."

6.What is the main idea of the passage?

(A) Electric utilities lose more profits from reducing electric demand.

(B) Electric utilities gain more profits from increasing electric demand.

(C) The more electricity customers save, the less profits utilities make.

(D) The more electricity customers save, the more incentive payments utilities get.

7.Which of the following gives the best definition of the expression

"to stand tradition on its head" (para. 1)?

(A) To criticize tradition.

(B) To go against tradition.

(C) To carry forward tradition.

(D) To integrate tradition.

8.In the passage, the measures of decoupling used in utility efficiency programs refer to the practice of ________.

(A) separating the utility profits from power production

(B) combining fixed costs with variable costs

(C) strengthening both incentives and penalties

(D) rearranging the incentive structure

9.According to the passage, when Idaho Power is building plants and purchasing equipment, such fixed costs _______.

(A) will no longer be treated as the costs of electricity sales

(B) will partially be covered by state regulators

(C) are still to be recovered by the companies

(D) are paid from customers' electricity bills

10.All of the following are the reasons why electric utilities welcome decoupling EXCEPT ______.

(A) the rapidly rising cost of building power plants

(B) the uncertainty about future costs

(C) the community opposition to the building of coal-fired power plants

(D) the reservations consumer advocates have about energy-saving measures

Questions 11-15

Historically, TV's interest in "green" issues has been limited to the green that spend: and makes the world go round. (That, and Martians.) As for environmentalism, TV is where people watch SUV ads on energy-sucking giant screens that are as thirsty as a Bavarian at Oktoberfest.

But with the greening of politics and pop culture-from Al Gore to Leo DiCaprio to Homer and Marge in The Simpsons Movie-TV is jumping on the biodiesel-fueled band-wagon. In November, NBC (plus Bravo, Sci Fi and other sister channels) will run a week of green-themed episodes, from news to sitcoms. CBS has added a "Going Green" segment to The Early Show. And Fox says it will work climate change into the next season of 24. ("Dammit, Chloe, there's no time! The polar ice cap's going to melt in 15 minutes!")

On HGTV's Living with Ed, actor Ed Begley Jr. offers tips for eco-living from his solar-powered house in Studio City, Calif.-see him energy-audit Cheryl Tiegs!-while Sundance airs its documentary block "The Green." MTV will set The Real World: Hollywood in a "green" house. Next year Discovery launches 24-hour eco-lifestyle channel Planet Green, a plan validated this spring when the eco-minded documentary Planet Earth became a huge hit for Discovery. "Green is part of [Discovery's] heritage," says Planet Green president Eileen O'Neill. "But as pop culture was starting to recognize it, we realized we could do a better job positioning ourselves."

Clearly this is not all pure altruism. Those popular, energy-stingy compact fluorescent bulbs? NBC's owner, General Electric, has managed to sell one or two. "When you have them being a market leader and saying this

makes good business sense, people listen to that on [the TV] side," says Lauren Zalaznick, Bravo Media president, who is heading NBC's effort. And green pitches resonate with young and well-heeled viewers (the type who buy Priuses and $2-a-lb. organic apples), two groups the networks are fond of. NBC is confident enough in its green week's appeal to schedule it in sweeps.

It's an unlikely marriage of motives. Ad-supported TV is a consumption medium: it persuades you to want and buy stuff. Traditional home shows about renovating and decorating are catnip for retailers like Lowe's and Home Depot. Of course, there are green alternatives to common purchases: renewable wood, Energy Star appliances, hybrid cars. But sometimes the greener choice is simply not to buy so much junk-not the friendliest sell to advertisers.

The bigger hurdle, though, may be creative. How the NBC shows will work in the messages is still up in the air. (Will the Deal or No Deal babes wear hemp miniskirts? Will the Bionic Woman get wired for solar?) Interviewed after the 24 announcement, executive producer Howard Gordon hedged a bit on Fox's green promises: "It'll probably be more in the props. We might see somebody drive a hybrid."

Will it work? Green is a natural fit on cable lifestyle shows or news programs-though enlisting a news pision to do advocacy has its own issues. But commanding a sitcom like The Office to work in an earnest environmental theme sounds like the kind of high-handed p.r. directive that might be satirized on, well, The Office. Even Begley-formerly of St. Elsewhere-notes that the movie Chinatown worked because it kept the subplot about the water supply in Los Angeles well in the background: "It's a story about getting away with murder, and the water story is woven in."

Of course, in an era of rampant product placement, there are worse things than persuading viewers to buy a less wasteful light bulb by hanging one over Jack Bauer as he tortures a terrorist. The greatest challenge-for viewers as well as programmers-is not letting entertainment become a substitute for action; making and watching right-minded shows isn't enough in itself. The 2007 Emmy Awards, for a start, aims to be carbon neutral: solar power, biodiesel generators, hybrids for the stars, bikes for production assistants-though the Academy cancelled Fox's idea to change the red carpet, no kidding, to green. The most potent message may be seeing Hollywood walk the walk, in a town in which people prefer to drive.

11.Which of the following does not serve as the example to support the statement "TV is jumping on the biodiesel-fueled bandwagon" (para. 2)?

(A) MTV: The Real World: Hollywoodwill be set in a "green" house.

(B) NBC: The program of the Deal or No Deal will be continued.

(C) NBC: A week of green-themed episodes is being planned.

(D) CBS: A "Going Green" program has been added to The Early Show.

12.By stating that "Clearly this is not all pure altruism." (para. 4), the author is _______.

(A) highly appreciative

(B) somewhat critical

(C) ironic and negative

(D) subjective and passionate

13.Why does the author mention in paragraph 4 the two groups the networks are fond of?

(A) They are the main target of the consumption medium.

(B) They are the advocates of green movement.

(C) They are most representative of today's audience.

(D) They are young adults and senior citizens.

14.Which of the following best explains the sentence "It's an unlikely marriage of motives." (para. 5)?

(A) Ad-supported TV has consistent motives.

(B) The main target of ad-supported TV is to persuade viewers to buy more.

(C) It's impossible for TV to readjust its opposing motives.

(D) It's quite difficult for TV to integrate its motives.

15.It can be concluded from the passage that "product placement" (para. 8) is a kind of _______.

(A) commodity exhibition

(B) display of products

(C) indirect advertising

(D) direct promotion strategy

Questions 16-20

Military victories, trade, missionary zeal, racial arrogance and a genius for bureaucracy all played well-documented roles in making the British Empire the largest the world has known. Rather less well understood was the importance of the moustache. A monumental new history, The Decline and Fall of the British Empire by Piers Brendon, promises to restore this neglected narrative to its rightful place in the national story.

Dr Brendon, a Fellow of Churchill College, Cambridge University, argues that colonial moustaches had a clear practical purpose: to demonstrate virility and intimidate the Empire's subject peoples. The waxing and waning of the British moustache precisely mirrored the fortunes of the Empire-blooming beneath the noses of the East India Company's officers, finding full expression in Lord Kitchener's bushy appendage and fading out with the Suez crisis in Anthony Eden's apologetic wisps.

This analysis of the "growth of the stiff upper lip" is an essential strand of Dr Brendon's epic 650-page political, cultural, economic and social history of the Empire, which is published on October 18. "It is a running gag in a serious book, but it does give one a point of reference," he said yesterday. In the 18th and early 19th century, sophisticated Britons wore wigs but spurned facial hair. The exception was the King, George III, whose unshaven appearance was mocked as a sign of his madness. However, by the 1830s the "moustache movement" was in the ascendancy. British officers, copying the impressive moustaches that they encountered on French and Spanish soldiers during the Napoleonic Wars, started the craze, but the real impetus came form India.

Just as British troops in Afghanistan today are encouraged to grow beards to ease their dealings with local tribesmen, so the attitudes of Indian troops under the command of East India Company officers in the first half of the 19th century altered the appearance of the British soldier. "For the Indian sepoy the moustache was a symbol of virility. They laughed at the unshaven British officers," Dr Brendon said. In 1854 moustaches were made compulsory for the company's Bombay regiment. The fashion took Britain by storm as civilians imitated their heroes.

Dr Brendon writes: "During and after the Crimean War, barbers advertised different patterns in their windows such as the 'Raglan' and the Cardigan'." Moustaches were clipped, trimmed and waxed "until they curved like sabres and bristled like bayonets". After 1918 moustaches became thinner and humbler as the Empire began to gasp for breath, even as it continued to expand territorially. It had been fatally wounded, Dr Brendon suggests, by the very belief in the freedom that it had preached. After the victory over Germany and Japan in 1945, independence movements across the red-painted sections of the world map, and Britain's own urgent domestic priorities, meant that the Empire was doomed.

The moustache too was in terminal decline. "It had become a joke thanks to Charlie Chaplin and Groucho Marx. It had become an international symbol of 'villainy' thanks to Hitler's toothbrush, writes Dr Brendon. In Britain it was also synonymous with the "Colonel Blimps" clinging to an outmoded idea of colonial greatness.

In Eden's faint moustache Britain's diminished international status found a fitting symbol. It all but disappeared on TV and, moments before his broadcast on the eve of the fateful occupation of the Suez Canal in 1956, his wife had to blacken the bristles with mascara. His successor, Harold Macmillan, was the last British Prime Minister to furnish his upper lip. Harold Wilson, the self-styled man of the people, had been clean shaven since the 1940s, Dr Brendon notes. "He obviously believed that the white hot technological revolution was not to be operated with a moustache."

16.It can be concluded from the passage that the British moustache _______.

(A) has been well documented in the history of the British Empire

(B) has long been considered significant in the formation and expansion of the British Empire

(C) has often been ridiculed in the colonial history of the United Kingdom

(D) has long been ignored and considered insignificant in the making of the British Empire

17.The word "virility" in the sentence "that colonial moustaches had a clear practical purpose: to demonstrate virility and intimidate the Empire's subject peoples" (para. 2) can best be interpreted as _______.

(A) bravery

(B) masculinity

(C) maturity

(D) puberty

18.According to the passage, the Crimean War which witnessed the development of different patterns of the British moustache was fought ________.

(A) in the early 19th century

(B) in the 18th century

(C) in the middle of the 19th century

(D) in the late 18th century

19.It can be inferred from the passage that from the 1950s to the 1960s, the three statesmen held the post of British Prime Minister by the order of _______.

(A) Harold Wilson, Anthony Eden and Harold Macmillan

(B) Anthony Eden, Harold Wilson and Harold Macmillan

(C) Anthony Eden, Harold Macmillan and Harold Wilson

(D) Harold Macmillan, Anthony Eden and Harold Wilson

20.Which of the following CANNOT be true according to the passage?

(A) Dr Brendon points out that colonial moustaches are the deciding factor which led to the downfall of the British Empire.

(B) Dr Brendon has made it clear that the history of colonial moustaches reflects from one angle the decline of the British Empire.

(C) Dr Brendon has tried to restore the role of colonial moustaches in the history of the British Empire.

(D) Dr Brendon has made a detailed study of the rise and decline of the British moustache in the past centuries. SECTION 3: TRANSLATION TEST (30 minutes)

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

What today's global market economy teaches many of us who are involved in political life is that even when they are inconvenient, the laws of economics, like the laws of physics, cannot be repealed for the convenience of governments. The economic principles for national success are as difficult to implement as they are easy to state. There is a paradox in all our countries. Just as a new global economy creates more to look forward to than ever before, it also brings more uncertainty and more change to worry about than ever before. That is why the challenge of crafting economy policy in your country as in mine is one of balance. A balance between moving toward necessary objectives and maintaining stability. A balance between responding to global realities and upholding domestic traditions. And a balance between the virtues of competition as the best known motivator and driver of success, and the importance of cohesion and cooperation as sources of strength for our societies. These balances will have to be struck and calibrated every year in every country in this new global economy. If one looks at the success over the long term of the economy in any developed country, more than any scientific innovation, what has been important is a potent social innovation. This is what one might call the intangible infrastructure of a modern market economy.

Part A: Note-taking And Gap-filling

Directions: In this part of the test you will hear a short talk You will hear the talk ONL Y ONCE. While listening to the talk, you may take notes on the important points so that you can have enough information to complete a gap, filling task on a separate ANSWER BOOKLET. You will not get your ANSWER BOOKLET until after you have listened to the talk.

According to traditional Cherokee beliefs, we are part of _______ (1). We don't _______ (2) with it and we're not trying to _______ (3) it. We are a part of the Great Life. And within the Great Life, there are three great Laws of Nature, which tell us how we have to live in _______ (4) with everything else. The First Law of Nature is that you don't take any life without real _______ (5). So we shouldn't _______ (6) needlessly. We believe everything is alive, including animals, plants and _______ (7). And so to us, taking the life of a plant is just as grave a _______ (8) as taking the life of an animal. The Second Law is that everything we do should _______ (9) the Great Life. And everything we do _______ (10) the Great Life, and everything that _______ (11) within the Great Life affects us. So it's very important that what we do will not _______ (12) other parts of the Great Life. The Third Law basically is that we don't _______ (13) where we live. And where we live is not our _______ (14), small community. It's this _______ (15). We don't pour chemical _______ (16) down the drain because they all wind up in the water. It might seem a little difficult to live by those three laws in this _______ (17) society. But there are still a lot of things that we can do to bring these laws into our lives, such as _______ (18), using the _______ (19) as little as possible, and _______ (20) gardening.

Part B: Listening and Translation

I. Sentence Translation

Directions: In this part of the test, you will hear 5 English sentences. You will hear the sentences ONL Y 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 will hear 2 English passages. You will hear the passages ONL Y 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 5: READING TEST

Directions: Read the following passages and then answer IN COMPLETE SENTENCES the questions which follow each passage. Use only information from the passage you have just read and write your answer in the corresponding space in your ANSWER BOOKLET.

Questions 1-3

According to legend, King Canute of Denmark facetiously tried to stop the rising tide by simply raising his hand and commanding the waters to roll back. The tide, of course, kept rising. Yet policymakers throughout history have followed Canute's lead. From Hillary Clinton and John Edwards to Mitt Romney and Arnold

Schwarzenegger, politicians across the spectrum have tried or vowed to solve America's health-care woes by enacting an inpidual mandate-a law requiring every adult to purchase health insurance. Despite its bipartisan support, the inpidual mandate is bad policy, a vain attempt to command a better result while doing nothing to achieve it.

Inpidual mandate supporters typically justify the policy by citing the problem of uncompensated care. When uninsured patients receive health services but don't pay for them, the rest of us end up footing the bill one way or another. So advocates of insurance mandates contend, plausibly enough, that we should make the free riders pay. But how big is the free-rider problem, really? According to an Urban Institute study released in 2003, uncompensated care for the uninsured constitutes less than 3% of all health expenditures. Even if the inpidual mandate works exactly as planned, that's the effective upper boundary on the mandate's impact.

Of course, it will not work exactly as planned. As anyone who has ever driven above 55 mph knows, mandating something is not the same as making it happen. Some people will not comply: 47 states require drivers to buy liability auto insurance, yet the median percentage of uninsured drivers in those states is 12%. Granted, that number might be even higher without the mandates. The point, however, is that any amount of noncompliance reduces the efficacy of the mandate.

None of this means the uninsured are not a problem. Yet the true issue isn't that they cost the rest of us too much. It's that they simply get less care than most people (one reason uncompensated care is such a small fraction of health-care spending). And if the real concern is making health insurance and health care available to those in need, we should focus on reducing health-care prices and insurance premiums. The inpidual mandate is, at best, a distraction from that goal.

Some proposals couple mandates with subsidies for the purchase of private insurance. As far as policies to encourage more private coverage go, you could do worse. But as long as the public has to subsidize the formerly uninsured, the problem with free riders has not been solved. We're just paying for them in a different way.

To enact any mandate, legislators and bureaucrats must specify a minimum benefits

package that an insurance policy must cover. Yet this package can't be defined in an apolitical way. Each medical specialty, from tumor treatment to acupuncture, will push for its services to be included. Ditto other interest groups. In government, bloat is the rule, not the exception.

Even now, every state has a list of benefits that any health-insurance policy must cover-from contraception to psychotherapy to hair transplants. All states together have created nearly 1,900 mandated benefits. Of course, more generous benefits make insurance more expensive. A 2007 study estimates existing mandates boost premiums by more than 20%.

If interest groups have found it worthwhile to lobby 50 state legislatures for laws affecting only voluntarily purchased insurance policies, they will surely redouble their efforts to affect the contents of a federally mandated insurance plan. Consequently, even more people will find themselves unable to afford insurance. Others will buy insurance, but only via public subsidies. Isn't that just what the doctor didn't order?

A better approach to health reform would focus on removing mandates that drive up insurance premiums. States ought to repeal some or all of their mandated benefit laws, allowing firms to offer lower-priced catastrophic care policies to their customers. The federal government could assist by guaranteeing customers the right to buy insurance offered in any state, not just their own, enabling patients to patronize companies in states with fewer costly mandates. Indeed, removing mandates would do far more to expand health-care coverage than adding new mandates ever could.

1.What is the inpidual mandate mentioned at the beginning of the passage? Why does the author say that "the inpidual mandate is bad policy" (para. 1)?

2.What does the author mean by saying" mandating something is not the same as making it happen" (para. 4)

3.What is the author's proposal about health insurance reform? What is his reason?

Questions 4-6

On Feb. 17, 2009, it could snow all across America. Not outside, but in living rooms, on TV sets. That's the date when broadcasters will switch to digital transmission, rendering millions of standard analog TVs useless. Consumers can avoid this whiteout, but only if they're prepared. And there's the challenge: How to inform the roughly 20 million households relying exclusively on analog sets that pull in their reception for free, through rabbit ears or a rooftop antenna. Analog TVs that receive cable or satellite will not be affected.

Consumers who own these sets don't necessarily need to know why the federal government is mandating the change (to free up the airwaves for other purposes, such as wireless and public safety communications-though added benefits are better pictures and more channels). But they do need consistent and unbiased information on what to do and they need to be able to act on it. With fewer than 18 months to go, though, 56 percent of viewers with analog sets have never even heard of the switch. The General Accountability Office, the government watchdog, is concerned that with two government agencies involved, "no one is in charge."

The Federal Communications Commission is worried, too. "If we don't do a better job of planning, we'll have one of the biggest outrages Congress has ever seen," FCC commissioner Jonathan Adelstein told US senators last month. The options for consumers are fairly straightforward. Starting with the least expensive one, they are: a) buying a converter box using government coupons b) subscribing to cable or satellite TV services, which will make the transition on their end, or c) buying a digital TV. But sharing this information is anything but simple. Because it has only $5 million to get the message out, the government is turning to the private sector for help with public-service announcements and educating consumers in stores.

This partnership makes sense, if done right. Certainly, the broadcasting industry wants viewers to keep on watching. However, there's a danger in their self-interest. Naturally, retailers also want-people to buy new digital televisions instead of opting for low-cost converters, and cable and satellite providers want new subscribers. And industry may not have enough of a financial incentive to reach out to certain analog viewing groups, such as the poor or elderly (seniors make up 40 percent of analog households).

Other serious issues remain. One is whether the converter boxes will be uniformly available in stores. Beginning in January, households should be able to apply to the Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration for up to two $40 coupons to offset the costs of converter boxes expected to be priced from $50 to $70. But some retailers may not stock the boxes if they don't have much demand for them.

And what about recycling analog televisions, of which there are an estimated 70 million? More than anything, what's needed is oversight and coordination of the conversion. Congress should designate one of the two government agencies involved in this project to take the lead, or empower an independent group to oversee the transition.

4.What is the major topic of this passage? Give a list of the serious issues related to the topic.

5.Why does the author say that "But sharing this information is anything but simple." (para. 3)

6.Explain the statement "However, there's a danger in their self-interest." (para. 4)

Questions 7-10

What a triumph. Bank shares are rising, the FTSE 100 index is back where it was a week ago, and the queues have evaporated. Not many people are putting new deposits in Northern Rock, but a few are taking a punt on its shares. Order is restored. Actually, that 8% rise in Northern Rock's share price is very embarrassing for the authorities. It reflects the fact the bank is worth more because its deposits are guaranteed by the Treasury. That looks like a straightforward bail-out for Northern Rock's shareholders, exactly the outcome the Bank of England has warned would store up trouble for the future.

The Bank is right, of course. If all deposits at all banks were to be guaranteed-which seems to be the implication of the chancellor's statement-the state is potentially accepting an enormous liability. Worse, an odd incentive is created: managements who are insulated from a run on their bank might be inclined to take wilder risks with the cash. The chancellor and the Bank also know that, which is why Monday's emergency sticking plaster will be replaced by something more permanent and more sensible once the storm passes.

) The US model seems to be the one the Bank has in mind. Over there, 100% guarantees are given on sums up to $100,000 (?50,000) and deposits are returned within days of a bank's failure. There is little need to fill in forms, which seemed to be another worry for those queueing at Northern Rock's branches. The US-style system seems infinitely fairer on customers, who can't reasonably be expected to assess the merits of various banks' business models before deciding where to place their savings. It should also prevent bank runs that last for days and provoke panic at more solid outfits.

But what about the incentive to managements to bet such guaranteed deposits in wacky ways? That is where reform becomes complicated. If deposits, up to a certain sum, are to be guaranteed by the state, then the state needs to be compensated for taking on that risk. How about a higher rate of tax on banks' profits, or some other form of annual charge based on a bank's capital ratios? Banking bosses and their investors would scream at the idea, but it's perfectly logical. In fact, as part of the deal, the state should probably also demand tighter regulation of banks' activities. That means rethinking the role of the Financial Services Authority, which has responsibility for banking supervision. Until now, the FSA's "light touch" approach has been applauded around the world, especially on Wall Street, where bankers look enviously at a British system based on the sensible application of principles rather than hard-and-fast rules.

But Northern Rock is not a terrific advert for the FSA's style of doing things. It is unfair to say the regulator was asleep-it has warned as much as anybody of the risks posed by the complexity of modern financial markets. But it is fair to say that banks and financial institutions are less inclined to listen to a watchdog that prefers to bark rather than bite. Overkill would be even worse, but the balance may have to be addressed.

Over in the US, they have a different way of dealing with the global credit crunch which caused so many problems for Northern Rock. They cut interest rates at the first sign of trouble. True to form, the US Federal Reserve cut rates by 0.5% last night. The stock market loved it. But snap reactions are often wrong. The Dow Jones Industrial Average soared at news of the cut. It was reminiscent of January 2001 when a cut of the same size-designed to ease the effects of the deflating dotcom bubble-provoked a one-day, 299-point rise in the Dow. Over the next eight weeks, however, the Dow fell by 1,600 points. Why? Simply the realization that the Fed's fears of a recession were well-founded.

Could we see a similar storyline this time? Quite possibly. The danger in a 0.5% cut is that Ben Bernanke, the Fed chairman, does serious damage to the value of the US dollar, which is already at an all-time low against the euro. The US is struggling to attract investment from overseas to fund its current account deficit; Bernanke has just made the task harder. He is also sending a direct signal that the risk of recession in the US is real. The idea that an aggressive cut is good news may not last long, and indeed the Fed's statement spoke about promoting economic growth over time. The phrasing was hardly bullish.

7.Why does the author mention the bank of Northern Rock at the beginning of the passage?

8.What does the author mean by saying that bankers on Wall Street "look enviously at a British system based on the sensible application of principles rather than hard-and fast rules" (para. 4)?

9.Paraphrase the underlined part in the sentence "But it is fair to say that banks and financial institutions are less inclined to listen to a watchdog that prefers to bark rather than bite", (para. 5)?

10.Explain the sentence "The idea that an aggressive cut is good news may not last long', (para. 7)?

SECTION 6: TRANSLATION TEST

Directions: Translate the following passage into English and write your version in the corresponding space in your 青浦地区江河纵横,海上贸易自古繁盛。建于唐代作为舟船航行之航标的泖塔，是朱家角日趋繁荣的见证。自上海建县后，朱家角即因利乘便，蔚然兴盛，一跃成为商贾云集、烟火千家的贸易集镇。朱家角之繁华日胜一日，历史文化含蕴也日渐浓厚。

明末清初，朱家角已成为棉布交易中心。后来米业兴起，遂有了“衣被天下，粮油江南”之美誉。伴随着经济的步步繁荣，文化也渐趋多姿多彩。朱家角历来水木清华，文儒辈出。如今，历史已逝，泖塔犹存，随着时代的变迁，朱家角逐渐发展成为雄踞一方的经济、文化中心。

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