1、考研英语（翻译）-试卷 59 及答案解析(总分：60.00，做题时间：90 分钟)一、Reading Comprehensio(总题数：6，分数：60.00)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）_【F1】 It is the worlds fourth-most-important food crop,
2、after maize, wheat and rice, which provides more calories, more quickly, using less land and in a wider range of climates than any other plant. It is, of course, the potato. The United Nations has declared 2008 the International Year of the Potato. It hopes that greater awareness of the merits of po
3、tatoes will contribute to the achievement of its Millennium Development Goals, by helping to alleviate poverty, improve food security and promote economic development. It is always the international year of this or month of that.【F2】 But the potatos unusual history means it is well worth celebrating
4、 by readers of The Economist because the potato is intertwined with economic development, trade liberalisation and globalisation. Unlikely though it seems, the potato promoted economic development by underpinning the industrial revolution in England in the 19th century. It provided a cheap source of
5、 calories and was easy to cultivate, so it liberated workers from the land. Potatoes became popular in the north of England, as people there specialised in livestock farming and domestic industry, while farmers in the south(where the soil was more suitable)concentrated on wheat production.【F3】 By a
6、happy accident, this concentrated industrial activity in the regions where coal was readily available, and a potato-driven population boom provided ample workers for the new factories. Friedrich Engels even declared that the potato was the equal of iron for its “historically revolutionary role“. The
7、 potato promoted free trade by contributing to the abolition of Britains Corn Lawsthe cause which prompted the founding of The Economist in 1843. The Corn Laws restricted imports of grain into the United Kingdom in order to protect domestic wheat producers.【F4】 Landowners supported the laws, since c
8、heap imported grain would reduce their income, but industrialists opposed them because imports would drive down the cost of food, allowing people to spend more on manufactured goods. Ultimately it was not the eloquence of the arguments against the Corn Laws that led to their abolitionand more s the
9、pity. It was the tragedy of the Irish potato famine of 1845, in which 1 million Irish perished when the potato crop on which they subsisted succumbed to blight.【F5】 The need to import grain to relieve the situation in Ireland forced the government, which was dominated by landowners who backed the Co
10、rn Laws, to reverse its position. This paved the way for liberalisation in other areas, and free trade became British policy. As the Duke of Wellington complained at the time, “rotten potatoes have done it all.“（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
11、】（分数：2.00）_For the past 10, 000 years humans have influenced the plants they use at first unknowingly, later by design. Todays crops have been created by a process of selection and classical breeding. More specific improvements in breeding will be possible in future. Science has cracked the genetic
12、information code. Green gene technology is an effective tool in crop breeding, enabling us to develop new crops even more rapidly and specifically.【F1】 We can make them more efficient, optimizing their contents and valuable substances to suit the wishes and requirements of customers and the processi
13、ng industry. Their metabolism can be individually modified, making them produce starch, protein and fats with special properties. Through gene transfer plants can be made more resistant to viruses, bacteria, harmful fungi and insect pests. 【F2】 Genetically modified plants can be cultivated to posses
14、s improved stress behavior, with the result that they absorb water better in dry locations and can make more efficient use of soil nutrients. We can also optimize weed control. To do so, we make crops tolerant to environmentally sound and easily degradable herbicides. This is not as simple as it sou
15、nds. But we have been successful: Innovator has been on the Canadian market since 1995. This is the first oilseed rape variety to contain the glufosinate tolerance gene, facilitating the use of AgrEvo s broad-spectrum herbicide liberty. We are committed to green gene technology, with which we aim to
16、 make crop breeding even more efficient and environmentally friendly.【F3】 Before being brought on to the market these genetically modified plants are researched and tested for years until the questions posed regarding their safety have been answered. 【F4】 This is a great opportunity for us to realiz
17、e our vision: the use of faster methods to breed varieties which will continue to provide us with sufficient food and raw materials in future. Our fossil reserves will soon be exhausted. Experts estimate that we only have e-nough oil for another 43 years and natural gas for less than 60. 【F5】 This m
18、eans we must rethink and act accordingly, using new crop varieties to step up the move to reusable sources of raw materials and energy. In other words, green gene technology is the key technology for sustainable agriculture.（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：
19、2.00）_(5).【F5】（分数：2.00）_【F1】 A leaked study examining genetically-modified corn reveals that the lab-made alternative to organic crops contains a startling level of toxic chemicals. 【F2】 An anti-GMO website has posted the results of an education-based consulting companys comparison of corn types, an
20、d the results reveal that genetically modified foods may be more hazardous than once thought. The study, the 2012 Corn Comparison Report by Profit Pro, was published recently on the website for Moms Across America March to Label GMOs, a group that says they wish to “raise awareness and support Moms
21、with solutions to eat GMO Free as we demand GMO labeling locally and nationally simultaneously.“ They are plotting nationwide protests scheduled for later this year. The report, writes the websites Zen Honeycutt, was provided by a representative for De Dell Seed Company, an Ontario-based farm thats
22、touted as being Canadian only non-GMO corn seed company. “The claims that There is no difference between GMO corn and NON Gmo corn are false,“ says Honeycutt, who adds she was “floored“ after reading the study. According to the analysis, GMO corn tested by Profit Pro contains a number of elements ab
23、sent from traditional corn, including chlorides, formaldehyde and glyphosate.【F3】 While those elements dont appear naturally in corn, they were present in GMO samples to the tune of 60 ppm, 200 ppm and 13 ppm, respectively. Honecutt says that the United States Environmental Protection Agency(FDA)man
24、dates that the level of glyphosate in American drinking water not exceed 0.7 ppm and adds that organ damage in some animals has been linked to glyphosate exposure exceeding 0.1 ppm. “Glyphosate is a strong organic phosphate chelator that immobilizes positively charged minerals such as manganese, cob
25、alt, iron, zinc and copper.“【F4】 Dr. Don Huber attested during a separate GMO study recently released, adding that those elements “are essential for normal physiological functions in soils, plants and animals“. “Glyphosate draws out the vital nutrients of living things and GMO corn is covered with i
26、t.“ adds Honeycutt, who notes that the nutritional benefits rampant in natural corn are almost entirely removed from lab-made seeds:【F5】 in the samples used during the study, non-GMO corn is alleged to have 437-times the amount of calcium in genetically modified versions, and 56-and 7-times the leve
27、l of magnesium and manganese, respectively.（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 old adage of the title has a parallel in the scientific world “all research leads to biomedical advances“. The fact that research in one discipline contr
28、ibutes to another is well understood by the scientific community. It is not, however, so clear to the public or to public policy-makers.【F1】 Because public support for funding of biomedical research is strong, the scientific community could build a more effective case for public support of all scien
29、ce by articulating how research in other disciplines benefits biological medicine. The time is ripe to improve public appreciation of science. A recent National Science Foundation survey suggested that Americans continue to support research expenditures. In addition, public opinion polls indicate th
30、at scientists and science leaders enjoy enviably high public esteems.【F2】 Instead of lamenting; the lack of public understanding of science, we can work to enhance public appreciation of scientific research by showing how investigations are in many areas close-knit and contribute to biomedical advan
31、ces. A crucial task is to convey to the public, in easily understood terms, the specific benefits and the overall good that result from research in all areas of science. 【F3】 Take, for example, agricultural research. On the surface, it may appear to have made few significant contributions to biomedi
32、cal advances, except those directly related to human nutrition. This view is incorrect, however. In the case of nutrition, the connections between agricultural and biomedical research are best exemplified by the vitamin discoveries.【F4】 At the turn of the century, when the concept of vitamins had no
33、t yet surfaced and nutrition as a scientific discipline did not exist, it was in a department of agricultural chemistry that the first true demonstration of vitamins was made. Single-grain feeding experiments documented the roles of vitamins A and B. The essential role of some minerals(iron and copp
34、er)was shown later, and these discoveries provided the basis of modern human nutrition research. 【F5】 Despite such direct links, however, it is the latest discoveries that have been made in agricultural research that reveal its true importance to biomedicine. Life-saving antibiotics such as streptom
35、ycin were discovered in soil microorganisms. The first embryo transplant was made in a dairy cow, and related research led to advances in the understanding of human reproduction.（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）_考研英语（翻译）-试卷 59 答案解析(总分
36、：60.00，做题时间：90 分钟)一、Reading Comprehensio(总题数：6，分数：60.00)1.Section II Reading Comprehension（分数：10.00）_解析：2.Part CDirections: Read the following text carefully and then translate the underlined segments into Chinese.（分数：10.00）_解析：【F1】 It is the worlds fourth-most-important food crop, after maize, whea
37、t and rice, which provides more calories, more quickly, using less land and in a wider range of climates than any other plant. It is, of course, the potato. The United Nations has declared 2008 the International Year of the Potato. It hopes that greater awareness of the merits of potatoes will contr
38、ibute to the achievement of its Millennium Development Goals, by helping to alleviate poverty, improve food security and promote economic development. It is always the international year of this or month of that.【F2】 But the potatos unusual history means it is well worth celebrating by readers of Th
39、e Economist because the potato is intertwined with economic development, trade liberalisation and globalisation. Unlikely though it seems, the potato promoted economic development by underpinning the industrial revolution in England in the 19th century. It provided a cheap source of calories and was
40、 easy to cultivate, so it liberated workers from the land. Potatoes became popular in the north of England, as people there specialised in livestock farming and domestic industry, while farmers in the south(where the soil was more suitable)concentrated on wheat production.【F3】 By a happy accident, t
41、his concentrated industrial activity in the regions where coal was readily available, and a potato-driven population boom provided ample workers for the new factories. Friedrich Engels even declared that the potato was the equal of iron for its “historically revolutionary role“. The potato promoted
42、free trade by contributing to the abolition of Britains Corn Lawsthe cause which prompted the founding of The Economist in 1843. The Corn Laws restricted imports of grain into the United Kingdom in order to protect domestic wheat producers.【F4】 Landowners supported the laws, since cheap imported grain would reduce their income, but industrialists opposed them because imports would drive down the cost of food, allowing people to spend more on manufactured goods. Ultimately it was not the eloquence of the arguments against the Corn Laws that
