1、考研英语（翻译）-试卷 13 及答案解析(总分：70.00，做题时间：90 分钟)一、Reading Comprehensio(总题数：7，分数：70.00)1.Section II Reading Comprehension（分数：10.00）_2.Part CDirections: Read the following text carefully and then translate the underlined segments into Chinese.（分数：10.00）_Much has been made of the 400th anniversary this year o
2、f Galileo pointing a telescope at the moon and jotting down what he saw. But 2009 is also the 400th anniversary of the publication by Johannes Kepler, a German mathematician and astronomer, of “Astronomia Nova“.【F1】 This was a book that contained an account of his discovery of how the planets move a
3、round the sun, correcting Copernicus“s own more famous but incorrectly formulated description of the solar system. And it established the laws for planetary motion on which Isaac Newton based his work. Four centuries ago the received wisdom was that of Aristotle, who asserted that the Earth was the
4、centre of the universe, and that it was encircled by the spheres of the moon, the sun, the planets and the stars beyond them. Copernicus had noticed inconsistencies in this theory and had placed the sun at the centre, with the Earth and the other planets travelling around the sun. 【F2】 Some six deca
5、des later when Kepler tackled the motion of Mars, he proposed a number of geometric models, checking his results against the position of the planet as recorded by his boss. Kepler repeatedly found that his model failed to predict the correct position of the planet. He altered it and, in so doing, cr
6、eated first egg-shaped “orbits“ and, finally, an ellipse(椭圆)with the sun placed at one focus.【F3】 Kepler went on to show that an elliptical orbit is sufficient to explain the movement of the other planets and to devise the laws of planetary motion that Newton built on . A.E.L. Davis this week told a
7、stronomers and historians that it was the rotation of the sun that provided Kepler with what he thought was one of the causes of the planetary motion that his laws described, although his reasoning would today be considered entirely wrong. 【F4】 In 1609 astronomy and astrology were seen as intimately
8、 related; mathematics and natural philosophy, meanwhile, were quite separate areas of endeavor, however, Kepler sought physical mechanisms to explain his mathematical result. He wanted to know how it could be that the planets orbited the sun.【F5】 Once he learned that the sun rotated, he comforted hi
9、mself with the thought that the sun“s rays must somehow sweep the planets around it while some magnetism accounted for the exact elliptical path. As today“s astronomers struggle to determine whether they can learn from the past, Kepler“s tale provides a salutary reminder that only some explanations
10、stand the test of time.（分数：10.00）(1).【F1】（分数：2.00）_(2).【F2】（分数：2.00）_(3).【F3】（分数：2.00）_(4).【F4】（分数：2.00）_(5).【F5】（分数：2.00）_The middle classes have always been the defense wall of society.【F1】 Aristotle believed they were democracy“s secret weaponthe protectors of social values, the moderators of pol
11、itical extremism, and believers in a society run by laws instead of by strongmen. They have also been the engines of economic growth, setting the stage centuries ago for the expansion of capitalism and global trade, and continuing through the ages to snap up every new gadget in sight. 【F2】 Now, with
12、 the Western middle classes sinking into debt and distress, many economists look to a new emerging-market middle class as the potential foundation for a new age of global safety and prosperity. As large developing nations became more prosperous, it was always assumed that they would become more like
13、 the suburbs of Washington or London-liberal, democratic, market-friendly bastions not only of Western-style consumerism but also of political liberty. With time and wealth, “they“ would become just like “us.“ The truth is that “they“ are not becoming just like “us.“【F3】 The global middle class is r
14、ising faster than expected, in numbers and in wealth, but converging incomes are not yielding shared values. The e-merging bourgeoisie is a patchwork of contradictions: clamorous but rarely confrontational politically, supporters of globalization yet highly nationalistic, proud of their nations“ upw
15、ard mobility yet insecure and fearful they will fall back, fiercely individualistic but reliant on government subsidies, and often socially conservative. Many of the aspiring elite seem willing to let the powers that bewhether authoritarian governments or elected onescall the shots as long as they d
16、eliver the spoils of growth. It“s also worth remembering that the new middle classes are psychologically driven by an odd mix of pride and insecurity.【F4】 Close to 30 percent of Brazil“s new middle class owes its livelihood to the informal market, where income is irregular, safety nets are nonexiste
17、nt, and opportunity for en-trepreneurship is limited. Many have borrowed their way to higher living standards, one reason perhaps that 53 percent say they live in fear of unemployment, loss of income, or even bankruptcy. They have benefited from the explosion of private schools but have seen the ove
18、rall quality of education plummet, eroding one of the classic middle-class paths to social mobility.【F5】 Indeed, some development economists argue that the poor will be a greater force for social change, but their ability to become a force for better government, greater freedoms, less corruption, an
19、d more economic liberty is much less certain. “They“ have a very long way to go before becoming “us.“（分数：10.00）(1).【F1】（分数：2.00）_(2).【F2】（分数：2.00）_(3).【F3】（分数：2.00）_(4).【F4】（分数：2.00）_(5).【F5】（分数：2.00）_Lee Kuan Yew(李光耀)embodies a uniquely Asian approach to governance that has often been at odds with
20、the Western democratic principles.【F1】 For decades, he has spoken in favor of “Asian values“, a political philosophy that might be loosely summed up as respect for authority and order, while putting the good of society above that of the individual. His criticisms have focused on the excesses of demo
21、cracy, particularly freedom of speech, and the impact they have on the search for economic growth. 【F2】 In the past, Lee has not been shy about singling out those nations in which an excess of democracy“s messiness has tempered steady economic progress and the betterment of the life chances of ordin
22、ary folk. But the strength of his argument does not rest only on other nations“ failures. For as any visitor can attest, the scale of what Lee and his colleagues have achieved by applying his principles is simply astonishing. It is an almost miraculous achievement, and one in which Lee and his colle
23、agues take justifiable pride. It is, moreover, something that has been much admired, to the point of imitation, around the region.【F3】 Asian leaders like Malaysia“s Prime Minister Mahathir and Indonesia“s President Suharto may rarely have chosen to admit it, but their “economy first“ strategy owes m
24、uch to the intelligence of this Cambridge-educated lawyer. Above all China“s leaders have for three decades come to Singapore to listen, to learn, and to admire. Yet for all Singapore“s success, there remains a feeling that it has come at a price. Lee“s methods have found plenty of critics at home a
25、nd abroad.【F4】 Ordinary Singaporeans when questioned about politics of Lee and his family, without quite knowing it, they often instinctively lower their voices and glance over their shoulders. “People are still too frightened to talk about the taboo subjects,“ wrote Catherine Lim. There are few voi
26、ces prepared to speak out in favor of wider democratic debate. 【F5】 For his part, Lee Kuan Yew acknowledges that there is a need to make Singaporeans less dependent on the government and to encourage more open debate. He insists that the ruling Party can absorb and benefit from dissenting voices. Bu
27、t he is determined that Singaporeans are not yet ready for the vociferous free market of ideas that typifies, for example, politics in the U.S. “I see the marketplace of ideas, as in the Philippines, and I see chaos,“ he says, while adding: “Gradually, we will loosen up.“（分数：10.00）(1).【F1】（分数：2.00）_
28、(2).【F2】（分数：2.00）_(3).【F3】（分数：2.00）_(4).【F4】（分数：2.00）_(5).【F5】（分数：2.00）_Like other forms of life on this planet, human beings confront a basic task: to deal satisfactorily with their conflicts and thereby secure the advantages of community and cooperation.【F1】 Unlike other forms of life, human being
29、s are endowed with a capacity to reflect on this task and to search for better solutions by conscious thought and deliberate choices. The task of overcoming conflicts and achieving community and cooperation arises because human beings are unable and unwilling to live in complete isolation.【F2】 The a
30、dvantages of cooperation and community life are so numerous and so obvious that they must have been evident to man from earliest times. By now, our ancestors have closed off the choice; for most of us the option of total isolation from a community is, realistically speaking, no longer open. 【F3】 Non
31、etheless, however strongly human beings are driven to seek the company of one another, and despite thousands of years“ practice they have never discovered a way in which they can live together without conflict. Conflict exists when one individual wishes to follow a line of action that would make it
32、difficult or impossible for someone else to pursue his own desires. Conflict seems to be an inescapable aspect of the community and consequently of human being. Why conflict seems inescapable is a question that has troubled many people: philosophers, theologians, historians, social scientists, and d
33、oubtless a great many ordinary people. James Madison held that conflict was built into the very nature of men and women. Human beings have diverse abilities, he wrote in The Federalist, and these in turn produce diverse interests.【F4】 “As long as man has irrational ideas, and he is at liberty to exe
34、rcise it,“ Madison wrote, “different opinions will be formed.“ Whatever the explanation for conflict may be, and Madison“s is but one of many, its experience is one of the prime facts of all community of life. Yet if this were the only fact, then human life would fit the description by the English p
35、olitical philosopher, Thomas Hobbes, in his Leviathan(1651). Hobbes describes mankind in a state of naturea condition without governmenthaving little in the way of agriculture, industry, trade, knowledge, arts, letters or society.【F5】 “And which is worst of all,“ he concluded in a famous sentence, t
36、o exist without government would mean “continual fear, and danger of violent death and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty and short.“（分数：10.00）(1).【F1】（分数：2.00）_(2).【F2】（分数：2.00）_(3).【F3】（分数：2.00）_(4).【F4】（分数：2.00）_(5).【F5】（分数：2.00）_Environmentalists claim the moral high ground: their interests
37、are in preserving our precious planet, protecting defenseless animals, ensuring our children have clean water to drink and air to breathe. Yet environmentalists“ policies have been a much more mixed bag in terms of their actual consequences.【F1】 Indisputably, many regulations and initiatives have re
38、duced pollution and improved air and water quality, to the benefit of everyone, but other environmental efforts have backfired, some with truly disastrous consequences. Consider what“s happened with DDT(a chemical used to kill insects that harm crops). The pesticide came into use during World War II
39、 and helped eliminate malaria. However in 1962, an environmentalist wrote that the chemical was causing cancer and destroying wildlife. In 1972, DDT was banned in the U. S. and ultimately worldwide. As a result of the ban, malaria remained a plague in many poor countries.【F2】 So during the decades i
40、n which DDT was not used, when the world bowed to undoubtedly well-intentioned environmental activists, about 50 million peopleoverwhelmingly African childrendied, mostly unnecessarily. Ethanol provides another example. For years, biofuels were heralded as the promising alternative to fossil fuels,
41、yet it turns out biofuel“s environmental impact is much more complicated. In 2008, Time magazine wrote about ethanol“s dubious environmental benefits.【F3】 The article warned that forests, wetlands, and grasslands were being sacrificed in a rush to farm crops that could be turned into gasoline, so th
42、e once environmentally favored solution to our energy problems is now recognized as a potential environmental catastrophe. It“s worth noting that, beyond biofuel“s environmental effects, using food for fuel has a significant impact on the worldwide food supply. Prominent environmentalists promise th
43、at they are confident that man is causing the Earth to warm, and they don“t want to contemplate alternative theories about how the sun might be responsible for warming, that the warming isn“t unprecedented and therefore could be naturally occurring.【F4】 They don“t want to consider the costs of policies that they want to oppose in the name of combating global warming, or just how ineffectual those policies might be. Yet the public s
