上海市英语中级口译资格证书第一阶段考试试题(五)

　　
　　Questions 21~25
　　
　　Computer people talk a lot about the need for other people to
　　
　　become “computer-literate”, in other words, to learn to understand
　　
　　computers and what makes them tick. Not all experts agree, however,
　　
　　that this is a good idea.
　　
　　One pioneer, in particular, who disagrees is David Tebbutt,
　　
　　the founder of Computertown UK. Although many people see this as a
　　
　　successful attempt to bring people closer to the computer, David
　　
　　does not see it that way. He says that Computertown UK was formed
　　
　　for just the opposite reason, to bring computers to the people and
　　
　　make them “people-literate”.
　　
　　David first got the idea when he visited one of America’s
　　
　　best-known computer “guru” figure, Bob Albrecht, in the small
　　
　　university town of  Palo Alto in Northern California. Albrecht has
　　
　　started a project called Computertown USA in the local library, and
　　
　　the local children used to call round every Wednesday to borrow some
　　
　　time on the computers there, instead of borrowing library books.
　　
　　Albrecht was always on hand to answer any questions and to help the
　　
　　children discover about computers in their own way.
　　
　　Over here, in Britain, Computertowns have taken off in a big
　　
　　way, and there are now about 40 scattered over the country. David
　　
　　Tebbutt thinks they are most successful when tied to a computer
　　
　　club. He insists there is a vast and important difference between
　　
　　the two, although they complement each other. The clubs cater for
　　
　　the enthusiasts, with some computer knowledge already, who get
　　
　　together and eventually form an expert computer group. This
　　
　　frightens away non-experts, who are happier going to Computertowns
　　
　　where there are computers available for them to experiment on, with
　　
　　experts available to encourage them and answer any questions; they
　　
　　are not told what to do, they find out.
　　
　　David Tebbutt finds it in teresting to see the two different
　　
　　approaches working side by side. The computer experts have to learn
　　
　　not to tell people about computers, but have to be able to explain
　　
　　the answers to the questions that people really want to know. In
　　
　　some Computertowns there are question sessions, rather like radio
　　
　　phone-ins, where the experts listen to a lot of questions and then
　　
　　try to work out some structure to answer them. People are not having
　　
　　to learn
　　
　　Computer jargons, but the experts are having to translate computer
　　
　　mysteries into easily understood terms; the computers are becoming
　　
　　“people-literate”.
　　
　　21.   According to David Tebbutt, the purpose of Computertown UK is 
　　
　　.
　　
　　(A)   to train people to understand how computers work
　　
　　(B)   to make more computers available to people
　　
　　(C)   to enable more people to fix computers themselves
　　
　　(D)  to help people find out more about computers
　　
　　22.   We learn from the passage that Computertown USA is located in 
　　
　　.
　　
　　(A) the university town                                      
　　
　　(B) the project center
　　
　　(C) the local library                                      
　　
　　(D) the elementary school
　　
　　23.   The phrase “take off”(paragraph 4) means        .
　　
　　(A) transfer to another vessel                               
　　
　　(B) cause to lose weight
　　
　　(C) begin to develop markedly                      (D) cause
　　
　　to leave the ground
　　
　　24.   According to the passage, which of the following statements is
　　
　　NOT true?
　　
　　(A)   Computertowns in the UK have become popular.
　　
　　(B)   Computertowns and clubs cater for different people.
　　
　　(C)   Computertowns are more successful than clubs.
　　
　　(D)  Computertowns and clubs complement each other.
　　
　　Questions 26~30
　　
　　Natural selection is the way nature chooses which organisms
　　
　　survive. Chance mutations occur in response to chemicals of certain
　　
　　energy in the electromagnetic spectrum. If the mutant is better
　　
　　adapted to the environment, it thrives. If not, it dies out or
　　
　　becomes rare.
　　
　　Humans have used artificial selection to reproduce plants and
　　
　　animals with desirable characteristics. Many of these domesticated
　　
　　plants and animals can no longer survive in the wild. Their survival
　　
　　depends on the maintenance of an artificial environment and the
　　
　　desires of people.
　　
　　People select certain desired traits such as color, beauty,
　　
　　or scent (as in roses). Other traits which are bred artificially
　　
　　include uniqueness (as in the neck plumage of the prized Jacobin
　　
　　pigeon), size (as in miniature horses), meat quality or milk yield
　　
　　(as in cattle), or resistance to disease (as in fungus-resistant
　　
　　tomatoes). The traits usually selected for convenience, pleasure, or
　　
　　financial gain of individuals. In this way, humans act as agents of
　　
　　evolution through artificial selection.
　　
　　Individual specimens with the desired traits are crossbred.
　　
　　The hybrid offspring are then inbred to preserve and fix the
　　
　　desirable characteristics and eliminate unfavorable characteristics
　　
　　From the stock.
　　
　　A pure breed is formed when there is not any mixture of other
　　
　　genes over many generations. The American Kennel Club recognizes 121
　　
　　breeds of purebred dogs. When ancestors of a pure breed are known
　　
　　and registered by a breed club, the dog is said to have a pedigree.
　　
　　26.   Some people argue that it would do more harm than good for
　　
　　plants and animals to develop through artificial selection. Which
　　
　　statement best supports this argument?
　　
　　(A)   Roses no longer smell like roses.
　　
　　(B)   Purebred dogs are disappearing.
　　
　　(C)   Humans are harmful agents of plant and animal evolution.
　　
　　(D)  Many domesticated plants and animals can no longer survive in
　　
　　the wild.
　　
　　27.   The author cites the dog as an example of artificial selection
　　
　　because of all the following statements EXCEPT that           .
　　
　　(A)   Dogs are domestic animals
　　
　　(B)   The dog is one of nature’s survivors
　　
　　(C)   Breeders register dogs to obtain a pedigree
　　
　　(D)  Humans have been the primary agents in dog evolution
　　
　　28.   Which of the following is NOT mentioned as the result of
　　
　　artificial selection by humanity?
　　
　　(A)   Many new kinds of plants and animals are produced.
　　
　　(B)   Financial gain is increased considerably by producing better
　　
　　plants and animals.
　　
　　(C)   Humans are able to control plant and animal reproduction for
　　
　　humans’ pleasure.
　　
　　(D)  It is necessary for humans to maintain the artificial
　　
　　environments.
　　
　　29.   Breeding the hybrid offspring to fix desirable traits is
　　
　　called          .
　　
　　(A) naturally selecting                                      
　　
　　(B) inbreeding
　　
　　(C) pedigree breeding                                        
　　
　　(D) pure-breeding
　　
　　30.   A farmer imported several fine long wool Tomney sheep from
　　
　　Australia to breed with his Debouittet sheep in hopes of increasing
　　
　　the value of the flock’s wool. This is an example of     .
　　
　　(A) pure-breeding                                            
　　
　　(B) crossbreeding
　　
　　(C) reproducing                                              
　　
　　(D) cloning
　　
　　SECTION 3: TRANSLATION TEST (1) (30 minutes)
　　
　　Directions: Translate the following passage into Chinese and write
　　
　　your version in the corresponding space in your ANSWER BOOKLET.
　　
　　Both language and culture are learned by children without
　　
　　special organized programs of instruction, but motivation to learn
　　
　　is very high since language is the most effective means for a child
　　
　　to obtain what he or she wants. If the learning of a new language
　　
　　begins before lower adolescence, one is likely to be able to speak
　　
　　such a language with complete naturalness, but if learned after
　　
　　upper adolescence some hangover of a mother-tongue feature is very
　　
　　likely to persist. But not only do languages exhibit such learning
　　
　　patterns, but so do cultural traits, for example, shaking hands,
　　
　　kissing, and embracing.
　　
　　Although many persons assume that languages exist in
　　
　　dictionaries and grammars, in fact they only exist in people’s
　　
　　heads. But this is equally true of cultural traits, which indicate
　　
　　clearly a they only exist in people’s heads. But this is equally
　　
　　true of cultural traits, which indicate clearly a person’s value
　　
　　system when crucial decisions need to be made before there is any
　　
　　time to think about alternatives, for example, diving into a
　　
　　flooding stream to rescue a drowning child.
　　
　　SECTION 4: TRANSLATION TEST (2) (30 minutes) 
　　
　　Directions: Translate the following passage into English and write
　　
　　and write your version in the corresponding space in your ANSWER
　　
　　BOOKLET.
　　
　　

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