1、2008年9月上海英語高級口譯第一階段考試SECTION 1: LISTENING TEST (30 minutes)Part A: Spot DictationDirections: 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 correspon

2、ding space in your ANSWER BOOKLET. Remember you will hear the passage ONLY ONCE.When you stop and think about your high school or college alma mater, were your experiences more positive or negative? Do your feelings of _ (1) in that school have anything to do with whether or not your school was sing

3、le-sex or coed? _ (2) to send their children to single-sex schools, because they feel both _(3) when they study in the company of students of the same sex. They _ (4).For years, only parents who could afford to send their children to private schools or who had _ (5) chose single-sex education for th

4、eir children. Single-sex schooling was _ (6) for most American families. Today, however, along with _ (7), public schools are experimenting with the idea of _(8).Girls may be the ones who benefit most from single-sex schooling. Studies have shown that _ (9) in coed classrooms because teachers someti

5、mes pay more attention to boys. Girls _ (10) toward their studies tends to disappear as they began to feel less successful. They start to _(11) outperform them in math and science. As boys _ (12), girls start to lose it. Moreover, adolescence is _(13) for girls. As they experience adolescent changes

6、 some girls become depressed, develop an addiction or suffer from _(14).In the early 1990s, some influential people said that being in single-sex classes could _ (15). Schools across the country began creating single-sex classrooms and schools but many critics claim that _ (16) may actually be detri

7、mental to a girls education, because they _ (17) of sex differences.The renewed interest in single-sex schooling _ (18) among Americans. Those who give it full endorsement believe girls need an all-female environment to take risks and find their own voices. Those who _ (19) of single-sex schooling w

8、onder whether students lack of achievement warrants returning to an educational system that divides the sexes. They believe there is no _ (20).Part B: Listening ComprehensionDirections: In this part of the test there will be some short talks and conversations. After each one, you will be asked some

9、questions. The talks, conversations and questions will be spoken ONLY 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 followin

10、g conversation.1. (A) A courier for a tour operator.(B) An agent for models.(C) An agency for models.(D) A personal assistant.2.(A) To keep the accounts.(B) To write letters and answer the telephone(C) To organize business trips and conferences.(D) To look after the models and keep them happy.3. (A)

11、 Spanish and French.(B) French and Italian.(C) Italian and English.(D) English and Spanish.4. (A) Around 15,000.(B) No less than 18,000.(C) Somewhere between 20,000 and 22,000.(D) At least 25,000.5.(A) She has a university degree in accounting and economics.(B) She is in her early twenties.(C) She i

12、s applying for the job of a conference coordinator.(D) She has adequate formal qualifications for the job.Questions 6 to 10 are based on the following interview.6.(A) 11 (B) 57(C) 106 (D) 1757. (A) The trade deficit hit an all-time high in the previous quarter.(B) The rise in gross domestic product

13、was equal to 6.8 percent in the third quarter.(C) The imbalance between imports and exports improved from July to September.(D) The rate of the British currency against the US dollar surged to a record high.8. (A) A car bomb was exploded near the Associated Press office.(B) A Spanish businessman was

14、 kidnapped by unidentified men.(C) A dealer in Volkswagen cars was arrested by Palestinian police.(D) An A.P. photographer was taken away by masked gunmen.9. (A) Dealing in lions and other big cats will be restrained.(B) Killing large predators bred in captivity will be made illegal.(C) The big game

15、 hunting will be outlawed throughout the whole country.(D) Tranquilizing animals in a controlled environment will be forbidden.10. (A) The governor mobilized the states National Guard at short notice.(B) The earthquake caused extensive damage and serious injuries.(C) The state received federal emerg

16、ency funds immediately after the quake.(D) Land and air traffic, and communications were considerably affected.Questions 11 to 15 are based on the following interview.11. (A) People want to use their sick days when theyre not acutally sick.(B) People get in trouble with their boss at their place of

17、work.(C) Employees are dedicated to their job although theyre under no pressure.(D) Employees go to work even when they are sick.12. (A) It costs more productivity for companies than actually absenteeism.(B) It can be taken as an indication that there is so much pressure to go to work.(C) The compan

18、ies have to pay sick employees a great deal to stay home.(D) There might be too many people who stay home when theyre not sick.13. (A) 22% (B) 40%(C) 56% (D) 72%14. (A) Educating their workers about the importance of staying home when sick.(B) Letting people telecommute so that they can stay at home

19、.(C) Announcing disciplinary measures against those working when sick.(D) Fostering an environment to encourage and paying sick employees to stay home.15. (A) Telephones (B) Respiratory droplets(C) Door-knobs (D) Computer keyboardsQuestions 16 to 20 are based on the following interview.16. (A) The w

20、idespread use of illegal drugs is the greatest concern of the Americans.(B) Almost all drugs are sold in the poorest neighborhoods in the country.(C) Most Americans agree that they have won a major victory in the drug war.(D) The lengthy debate over legalizing drugs has been recently resolved.17. (A

21、) $15 million.(B) $50 million.(C) $15 billion.(D) $100 times greater than the cost of producing these drugs.18. (A) Opium being made legal in mid-nineteenth-century China.(B) The end of prohibition of alcohol in American in the 1920s and 1930s.(C) Drug pushers making billions of dollars each year.(D

22、) More money needed in education and medical care.19. (A) Legalizing drugs would be considered unconstitutional.(B) Decriminalizing drugs would be a surrender in a drug war that has not really even begun.(C) The black market would not really disappear with the legalization of drugs.(D) Legalization

23、would lead to an increase in violent crime and child abuse.20. (A) Americans have not chosen legalization as a solution to the drug problem.(B) The current drug war is not working and legalization may be the only solution.(C) The black market would really disappear with the legalization of drugs.(D)

24、 Politicians who have answers to the drug problem claim the most votes.SECTION 2: READING TEST (30 miniutes)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. Answe

25、r 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 1-5Years ago, when I first started building websites for newspapers, many journalists to

26、ld me that they saw the Internet as the end of reliable journalism. Since anyone could publish whatever they wanted online, real journalism would be overwhelmed, they said. Who would need professional reporters and editors if anyone could be a reporter or an editor? I would tell them not to worry. W

27、hile my personal belief is that anyone can be a reporter or editor, I also know that quality counts. And that the viral nature of the Internet means that when people find quality, they let other people know about it. Even nontraditional media sites online will survive only if the quality of their in

28、formation is trusted. The future of online news will demand more good reporters and editors, not fewer.So I was intrigued when Newsweek recently published a story called Revenge of the Expert. It argued that expertise would be the main component of Web 3.0. The wisdom of the crowds has peaked, says

29、Jason Calacanis, founder of the Maholo people-powered search engine and a former AOL executive. Web 3.0 is taking what weve built in Web 2.0 - the wisdom of the crowds - and putting an editorial layer on it of truly talented, compensated people to make the product more trusted and refined. Well, yes

30、 and no. Sure, it is important for people to trust the information they find online. And as the Newsweek article argues, the need for people to find trusted information online is increasing, thus the need for more expertise. But the article fails to mention the most important feature of the world of

31、 digital information. Its not expertise - its choice.In many cases the sites that people come to trust are built on nontraditional models of expertise. Look at sites like D, R, or S. There, users provide the expertise on which others depend. When many users select a partic

32、ular story, that story accumulates votes of confidence, which often lead other users to choose that story. The choices of the accumulated community are seen as more trustworthy than the gatekeeper model of traditional news and information. Sometimes such sites highlight great reporting from traditio

33、nal media. But often they bring forward bits of important information that are ignored (or missed) by experts. Its sort of the open source idea of information - a million eyes looking on the Web for information is better than a few.Jay Rosen, who writes the PressThink blog, says in an e-mail that he

34、s seen this kind of story before, calling it a kind of pathetic trend reporting. I said in 2006, when starting NewAssignment.Net, that the strongest editorial combinations will be pro-am. I still think that. Why? Because for most reporters covering a big sprawling beat, its still true what Dan Gillm

35、or said: My readers know more than I do. And its still the case that tapping into that knowledge is becoming more practical because of the Internet.J.D. Lasica, a social-media strategist and former editor, also says he sees no departure from the wisdom of the crowds model. Ive seen very little evide

36、nce that the sweeping cultural shifts weve seen in the past half dozen years show any signs of retreating, Mr. Lasica says. Young people now rely on social networks . to take cues from their friends on which movies to see, books to read. And didnt Lonely Planet Guide explore this terrain for travel

37、and Zagats for dining back in the 90s?In many cases, traditional media is still the first choice of online users because the reporters and editors of these media outlets have created a level of trust for many people - but not for everyone. When you combine the idea of expertise with the idea of choi

38、ce, you discover nontraditional information sites that become some of the Internets most trusted places. Take SCOTUS, written by lawyers about cases in the Supreme Court. It has become the place to go for other lawyers, reporters, and editors to find in-depth information about important case

39、s. The Internet also allows individuals to achieve this level of trust. For instance, the S blog written by Robert Scoble. Mr. Scoble, a former Microsoft employee and tech expert, is widely seen as one of the most important people to read when you want to learn whats happening in the wo

40、rld of technology. He built his large audience on the fact that people trust his writing.To me, its the best of all possible information worlds.1. According to the passage, the expression real journalism is used to refer to _.(A) traditional newspapers and magazines(B) online news and information pr

41、ovided by the crowds(C) online news and information provided by professional reporters and editors(D) news and information from both traditional media and nontraditional media sites2.When the author is describing the viral nature of the Internet (par. 1), he uses the metaphorical expression to tell

42、the readers that _.(A) when transmitted through the Internet, anything harmful would quickly be destroyed(B) any message revealed through the Internet would survive whether it is trusted or not(C) any quality message would be quickly accepted and passed on from one another(D) only the trusted online

43、 information would survive and be accepted by the crowds3.Which of the following does NOT support the statement Its not expertiseits choice. (para. 2)(A) Expertise determines the choice by the crowds(B) The world of digital information is built on the selection of netizens(C) Nontraditional models o

44、f expertise are built on the selection of users(D) The accumulated votes of confidence lead to the establishment of expertise4.What is the major argument of the passage?(A) With the development of digital technology, anyone can be a reporter or editor.(B) Professional reporters and editors are alway

45、s the trusted gatekeeper of Traditional news and information(C) The choices of the accumulated online users should be considered more trustworthy and reliable than those of the few with expertise.(D) Expertise would be the main component of both traditional media and nontraditional information sites

46、.5.The author introduces the Newsweek article Revenge of the Expert _.(A) as a starting point for his argument and discussion(B) to show it has won the support of Jay Rosen, J.D. Lasica, Dan Gillmor and many others(C) as an example to indicate the end of real journalism(D) to prove that the failure

47、of digital information will be based more on expertiseQuestions 6-10Perhaps we could have our children pledge allegiance to a national motto. So thick and fast and inchoate tumble the ideas about Britishness from the Government that the ridiculous no longer seems impossible. For the very debate abou

48、t what it means to be a British citizen, long a particular passion of Gordon Brown, brutally illustrates the ever-decreasing circle that new Labour has become. The idea of a national motto has already attracted derision on a glorious scale - and theres nothing more British than the refusal to be def

49、ined. Times readers chose as their national motto: No motto please, were British.Undaunted, here comes the Government with another one: a review of citizenship, which suggests that schoolchildren be asked to swear an oath of allegiance to the Queen. It would be hard to think of something more profou

50、ndly undemocratic, less aligned to Mr Browns supposed belief in meritocracy and enabling all children to achieve their full potential. Today you will hear the Chancellor profess the Governments continuing commitment to the abolition of child poverty, encapsulating a view of Britain in which the Stat

51、e tweaks the odds and the tax credit system to iron out inherited inequalities.You do not need to ask how this vision of Britain can sit easily alongside a proposal to ask kids to pledge allegiance to the Queen before leaving school: it cannot. The one looks up towards an equal society, everyone rew

52、arded according to merit and not the lottery of birth; the other bends its knee in obeisance to inherited privilege and an undemocratic social and political system. In Mr Browns view of the world, as I thought I understood it, an oath of allegiance from children to the Queen ought to be anathema, gr

53、otesque, off the scale, not even worth considering.Why, then, could No 10 not dismiss it out of hand yesterday? Asked repeatedly at the morning briefing with journalists whether the Prime Minister supported the proposal, his spokesman hedged his bets. Mr Brown welcomed the publication of the report;

54、 he thinks the themes are important; he hopes it will launch a debate; he is very interested in the theme of Britishness. But no view as to the suitability of the oath. It is baffling in the extreme. Does this Prime Minister believe in nothing, then? A number of things need to be unpicked here. Firs

55、t, to give him due credit, the report from the former Attorney-General Lord Goldsmith contains much more than the oath of allegiance. That is but a possibility thats raised. The oath forms a tiny part of a detailed report about what British citizenship means, what it ought to mean and how to strengt

56、hen it.It is a serious debate that Mr Brown is keen to foster about changing the categories of British citizenship, and defining what they mean. But it is in him that the central problem resides: the Prime Minister himself is uncertain what Britishness is, while insisting we should all be wedded to the concept. No wonder there is a problem over what a motto, or an oath of allegiance, should contain. Britain is a set of laws and ancient institutions - monarchy, Parliament, statutes, arguably tod