全国翻译专业资格（水平）考试

2003年12月英语三级口译综合能力试题节选（一）

Part I A. Listen to the following passage and then decide whether the statements blow are true or false. After hearing a short passage, blacken the circle of “True” on the answer sheet if you think the statement is true, or blacken the circle for “False” if it is false. There are ten statements in this part of the test, with one point each. You will hear the passage only once.

My mother stayed in California for the years. Her grandfather left her to his wife, Emma, a severe woman who wore black dresses and resented and ignored my mother. Emma discouraged visitors and rarely allowed my mother to attend parties or other functions. One Halloween, when she caught my mother trick-or-treating with school friends, Emma decided to confine her to her room for an entire year, except for the hours she was in school. She forbade my mother to eat at the kitchen table or linger in the front yard. This cruel punishment went on for months until Emma’s sister came for a visit and put a stop to it. By the time my mother turned fourteen, she could mo longer bear life in her grandmother’s house. She found work as a mother’s helper, caring for two young children in return for room, board and three dollars a week. She had little time for the extracurricular athletics and drama that she loved and no money for clothes. She washed the same blouse everyday to wear with her only skirt and, in colder weather, her only sweater. But for the first time, she lived in household where the father and mother gave their children the love, attention and guidance she had never received. My mother often told me that without that sojourn with a strong family, she would not have known how to care for her own home and children.

1. Emma is my grandmother.
2. Emma seldom allowed my mother to go to parties.
3. One Halloween, Emma decided to punish my mother because she didn’t go to school.
4. My mother was confined to her room for an entire year.
5. To punish her, Emma forbade my mother to eat.
6. At the age of fourteen, my mother found work and moved out of Emma’s house.
7. My mother loved extracurricular athletics and drama.
8. I never received love, attention and guidance from my mother.
9. My mother didn’t know how to care for her own home and children.
10. My mother took care of two kids for room, board and three dollars a week.

B. Listen to the following short statements and then choose one of the answers that best fits the meaning of each statement by blackening the corresponding circle. There are the questions in this part of the test, one point for each question. You will hear both the statement and the question only once.

11. Since I have a meeting around noon, I will eat my lunch on he run.
12. He hung up on me.
13. She said she didn’t like anyone to visit her on weekends. The she went on to say that I could come to see her anytime.
14. Susan and Mary are going to London and New York respectively.
15. His friend never runs out of things to write.
16. It would be a idea to look into the company before you invest all your money.
17. I stayed at home for some much needed rest during the vacation.
18. The research paper was very brief, but still it was better than I expected.
19. Students occasionally fail this course.
20. Since he moved out of the old apartment, he has lived in a house twice as big as mine.

Part II Listen to the following passages and then choose the best answer to each question by blackening the corresponding circle. You may need to scribble a few notes in order to answer the questions satisfactorily. There are three passages in this part, each with five questions. And each question carries two points. You will hear the passages only once.

PASSAGE ONE

My daughter and I had been searching for the origins of my grandfather, Alfred Denny, for several years. We had nothing definite except that he married Minerva Ann Hamilton in Michigan in 1860.

When I was a small child, my father had given me the address of his “Aunt Maggie,” Mrs. William Rarick of Everson, Washington. She and I exchanged letters for about three years while I was still a youngster. My father died without giving any further information about his relatives.

About eighty-five years after my correspondence with Aunt Maggie, I decided to see if I could pick up the trail and find out exactly how she fit into the family puzzle. By then I was in my nineties so I knew the odds were not on my side, but I called the telephone operator for a number of anybody by the name of Rarick in the town of Everson, Washington. She told me they have a Charles Rarick and an L. Rarick. I asked her to ring Charles, but there was no answerer so I asked her to try L. Rarick.

A woman answered and I said, “Hello, this is Carleton Denny. I an trying to locate relatives of Margaret Rarick.”

The lady on the telephone took a long breath and hesitantly said, “She was my grandmother.”

I learned that Aunt Maggie was my grandfather’s half sister. The “L” stood for Luella, who still used her maiden name. I had found my family.

21. Were and when was my grandfather married?
22. When did I decide to find out about “aunt Maggie”?
23. How did I find L. Rarick?
24. When I reached L. Rarick, she was .
25. Which of the following is not true about “aunt Maggie”?

PASSABE TWO

The history of American newspapers has paralleled the history of our culture. As our society has changed, so have is newspapers.
Early colonial newspapers were designed for the elite-those who were interested in political and business information. With the advent of new technology, compulsory education and the major cultural changes brought on by Industrialization and urbanization, newspapers moved into the popular culture with the advent of the penny press.

The significant changes in our society as the United States was transformed into a truly Industrial nation between the end of the Civil War and the turn of the 20th century brought about many changes in American journalism, including the era of sensationalism, or yellow journalism.

Twentieth-century newspapers, for the most part, have attempted to blend objectivity and social responsibility. This era also has seen the development of electronic news media, interpretative reporting, investigative reporting, advocacy journalism, “mew journalism” and specialized newspapers.

Wire services play an important role in gathering news and information for the mass media. The two largest American wire services are the Associated Press and United Press International. The other dominant worldwide news sources are AFP, Reuters and Tass, headquartered in Paris, London and Moscow, respectively.

Individual biases and other problems play a role in making mass communication a complex activity. Although the various functions of the media-to inform, entertain, influence, advertise and transmit culture-are criticized, the most severely criticized is the function to inform. Reasons for this are that people (1) tend to blame the messenger for unpleasant information, (2) fail to understand the watchdog function of the media, (3) believe the myth that the mass media dwell only on bad mews and (4) bring their own biases into the information-sharing process.

26. what kind of people were early colonial newspapers designed for?
27. Which of the following did mot contribute to the popularization of newspapers?
28. When was the United States transformed into a truly Industrial country?
29. Which of the following are the two largest American wire services?
30. According to the passage, which of the following is the most severely criticized function of the mass media?

PASSAGE THREE

There is a widespread assumption that work gets harder after 40. but in most organizations work gets dramatically easier after 40.

The responsibilities may be heavier, but after 40 you should be valued for your experience, know-how and judgment, rather than for the ability to work 18 hours every day. Most of the major rewards of success tend to accumulate after the age of 40-if you do the right things before that watershed birthday.

What are the right things? First of all, do your homework; learn every thing you need to know about your business or profession before 40. Second, develop your own style. Before you’re 40, learn what you’re comfortable with, whether it’s in the way you dress or simply the small touches that set you apart. Third, put your emotional life in order, if possible. It’s a great help, when climbing toward the higher rungs of the career ladder, to be happy in life, rather than to find your self mired in emotional crises. It’s hard enough to succeed without taking on personal problems that sap your energy and divert your attention Besides, unhappiness is like a disease-it gradually eclipses interest in everything else.

Fourth, know your weaknesses. Accept the things you don’t do well, can’t stand, won’t do .

Fifth, know your strengths. You’d better decide what you’re good at, too, and recognize the things you enjoy doing and do better than anyone else. Whatever your role, knowing who you are and what you’re good at is critical for success.

31. What is the common opinion about age and work?
32. What does the speaker think about age and work?
33. What should not be valued after one is 40?
34. According to this passage, what should you do after 40?
35. What is the key to success in the speaker’s opinion?