1、上海市高级口译第一阶段笔试分类模拟高级阅读(二)及答案解析(总分：100.00，做题时间：90 分钟)一、SECTION 1 READING TE(总题数：4，分数：50.00)When Harvey Ball took a black felt-tip pen to a piece of yellow paper in 1963, he never could have realized that he was drafting the face that would launch 50 million buttons and an eventual war over copyright.
2、Mr. Ball, a commercial artist, was simply filling a request from Joy Young of the Worcester Mutual Insurance Company to create an image for their “smile campaign“ to coach employees to be more congenial in their customer relations. It seems there was a hunger for a bright grinthe original order of 1
3、00 smiley-face buttons were snatched up and an order for 10,000 more was placed at once. The Worcester Historical Museum takes this founding moment seriously. “Just as you“d want to know the biography of General Washington, we realized we didn“t know the comprehensive history of the Smiley Face,“ sa
4、ys Bill Wallace, the executive director of the historical museum where the exhibit “SmileyAn American Icon“ opens to the public Oct. 6 in Worcester, Mass. Worcester, often referred to by neighboring Bostonians as “that manufacturing town off Route 90,“ lays claim to several other famous commercial f
5、irsts, the monkey wrench and shredded wheat among them. Smiley Face is a particularly warm spot in the city“s history. Through a careful historical analysis, Mr. Wallace says that while the Smiley Face birthplace is undisputed, it took several phases of distribution before the distinctive rounded-ti
6、pped smile with one eye slightly larger than the other proliferated in the mainstream. As the original buttons spread like drifting pollen with no copyright attached, a bank in Seattle next realized its commercial potential. Under the guidance of advertising executive David Stern, the University Fed
7、eral Savings the other bends its knee in obeisance to inherited privilege and an undemocratic social and political system. In Mr. Brown“s view of the world, as I thought ! understood it, an oath of allegiance from children to the Queen ought to be anathema, grotesque, off the scale, not even worth c
8、onsidering. 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; he thinks the themes are important; h
9、e 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. First, to give him due credit, the report
10、from the former Attorney-General Lord Goldsmith contains much more than the oath of allegiance. That is but “a possibility that“s raised“. The oath forms a tiny part of a detailed report about what British citizenship means, what it ought to mean and how to strengthen it. It is a serious debate that
11、 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
12、 problem over what a motto, or an oath of allegiance, should contain. Britain is a set of laws and ancient institutionsmonarchy, Parliament, statutes, arguably today EU law as well. An oath of allegiance naturally tends toward these. It wasn“t supposed to be like this. In its younger and bolder days
13、, new Labour used to argue that the traditional version of Britain is outdated. When Labour leaders began debating Britishness in the 1990s, they argued that the institutions in which a sense of Britain is now vested, or should be vested, are those such as the NHS or even the BBC, allied with values
14、 of civic participation, all embodying notions of fairness, equality and modernity absent in the traditional institutions. Gordon Brown himself wrote at length about Britishness in The Times in January 2000: “The strong British sense of fair play and duty, together embodied in the ideal of a vibrant
15、 civic society, is best expressed today in a uniquely British institutionthe institution that for the British people best reflects their Britishnessour National Health Service.“ An oath of allegiance to the NHS? Ah, those were the days. They really thought they could do it; change the very notion of
16、 what it meant to be British. Today, ten years on, they hesitatingly propose an oath of allegiance to the Queen. Could there be a more perfeet illustration of the vanquished hopes and aspirations of new Labour? Look on my works ye Mighty, and despair. Ah, but I see there is to be a national day as w
17、ell, “introduced to coincide with the Olympics and Diamond Jubileewhich would provide an annual focus for our national narrative“. A narrative, a national day, glorifying the monarchy and sport? Yuck. I think I might settle for a national motto after all.（分数：12.50）(1).Which of the following does NOT
18、 support the motto “No motto please, we“re British“?（分数：2.50）A.It is more or less paradoxical and satirical.B.It has been accepted by the whole nation.C.It shows a refusal of the definition of Britishness.D.It displays the nature of British values.(2).The word “tweaks“ in the expression “encapsulati
19、ng a view of Britain in which the State tweaks the odds and the tax credit system to iron out inherited inequalities“ (para. 2) can best be paraphrased by _.（分数：2.50）A.changesB.indicatesC.imitatesD.exemplifies(3).According to the author, the central problem of the oath of allegiance or a national mo
20、tto towards Britishness is _.（分数：2.50）A.the allegiance toward the ancient British institutionsB.how to implement the National Health ServiceC.how to define BritishnessD.the British sense of fair play and duty(4).In writing the essay, the author demonstrates an attitude of _ towards the issue of Brit
21、ishness.（分数：2.50）A.indifferenceB.enthusiasmC.patriotismD.irony(5).When the author writes the rhetorical question “An oath of allegiance to the NHS?“ (para. 7), she is trying to express that _.（分数：2.50）A.even the Labour Party today will not accept this as an oath of allegianceB.the definition of Brit
22、ishness could finally be settledC.such an oath of allegiance should be accompanied by a national dayD.such an oath of allegiance would be accepted when NHS was first implementedWhen the British artist Paul Day unveiled his nine-metre-high bronze statue of two lovers locked in an embrace at London“s
23、brand new St. Pancreas International Station last year it was lambasted as “kitsch“, “overblown“ and “truly horrific“. Now, a brief glimpse of a new frieze to wrap around a plinth for The Meeting Place statue has been revealed, depicting “dream-like“ scenes inspired by the railways. Passengers arriv
24、ing from the continent will be greeted with a series of images including a Tube train driven by a skeleton as a bearded drunk sways precariously close to the passing train. Another shows the attempted suicide of a jilted lover under a train reflected in the sunglasses of a fellow passenger. Another
25、section reveals a woman in short skirt with her legs wrapped round her lover while they wait for the next train. Other less controversial parts of the terracotta draft frieze depicts soldiers leaving on troop trains for the First World War and the evacuation of London“s underground network after the
26、 terror attacks of 7 July, 2005. Until the unveiling of The Meeting Place last year, Day, who lives in France, was best known for the Battle of Britain memorial on Embankment. His new frieze looks set to be a return to the sort of crammed bronze montages that has made him so well known. Day said he
27、wanted the new plinth to act as the yin to the larger statue“s yang. “For me this sculpture has always been about how our dreams collide with the real world,“ he said. “The couple kissing represent an ideal, a perfect dream reality that ultimately we cannot obtain. The same is true of the railways.
28、They were a dream come true, an incredible feat of engineering but they also brought with them mechanized warfare, Blitzkrieg and death.“ Day is still working on the final bronze frieze which will be wrapped around the bottom of the plinth in June next year but he says he wants the 50 million passen
29、gers that pass through St. Pancras every year to be able to get up close and personal with the final product. “The statue is like a signpost to be seen and understood from far away,“ he said. “Its size is measured in terms of the station itself. The frieze, on the other hand, is intended to capture
30、the gaze of passers-by and lead them on a short journey of reflections about travel and change that echoes their presence in St. Pancras, adding a very different experience to The Meeting Place sculpture.“ Brushing aside some of the criticism leveled at his work that has compared it to cartoons or c
31、omic strips, Day said he believed his work would stand the test of time. “All the crap that was hurled at the sculpture was just that, crap,“ he said. “The reaction from the critics was so strangely hostile but I believe time will tell whether people, not the art press, will value the piece.“ “When
32、people criticise my reliefs for looking like comic strips they have got the wrong end of the stick. Throughout the. ages, man has been telling stories through a series of pictures, whether it s stained glass windows, sculptures or photojournalism. My friezes are part of that tradition. “ Stephen Jor
33、dan, from London and Continental Railways, which commissioned the piece, said. “The Meeting Place seeks to challenge and has been well received by visitors who love to photograph it. In addition, it performs an important role within the station, being visible from pretty much anywhere on the upper l
34、evel of St. Pancras International and doing exactly what was planned, making the perfect meeting place for friends.“（分数：12.50）(1).Which of the following is NOT true about The Meeting Place sculpture?（分数：2.50）A.It has been completed with the rebuilding of the St. Pancras International Station.B.It is
35、 located at London“s new St. Pancras International Station.C.It has been designed by the British artist Paul Day.D.It is a nine-metre-high bronze statue of two lovers locked in an embrace.(2).The word “lambasted“ from the sentence “it was lambasted as “kitsch“, “overblown“, and “truly horrific“ (par
36、a. 1) can be paraphrased as _.（分数：2.50）A.applaudedB.evaluatedC.criticizedD.slandered(3).When Paul Day says “but they (the railways) also brought with then mechanized warfare, Blizkrieg and death“ (para. 5), he means that _.（分数：2.50）A.without railways, there would be no mechanized warfare, Blitzkrieg
37、 and deathB.railways led to mechanized warfare, Blitzkrieg and deathC.the building of railways came in the wake of warfare, Blitzkrieg and deathD.the building of railways shows that technology also has horrible destructive power(4).When Paul Day says that “they (the critics) have got the wrong end o
38、f the stick“ (para. 8), he was telling us that _.（分数：2.50）A.they should not be so hostile to his creationB.they are wrong to compare his creation to cartoons or comic stripsC.they do not get the essence of his friezesD.they should know more about the tradition of human story telling(5).According to
39、Paul Day, The Meeting Place sculpture is intended _.（分数：2.50）A.to display the controversial world of the past centuryB.to demonstrate how the yin and the yang accommodate each otherC.to picture the life of London people during those war yearsD.to show how human dreams come into conflict with the rea
40、l worldAt the tail end of the 19th century, Friedrich Nietzsche suggested that natural historywhich he saw as a war against fear and superstitionought to be narrated “in such a way that everyone who hears it is irresistibly inspired to strive after spiritual and bodily health and vigour“, and he gru
41、mbled that artists had yet to discover the right language to do this. “None the less,“ Nietzsche admitted, “the English have taken admirable steps in the direction of that ideal . the reason is that they natural history books are written by their most distinguished scholarswhole, complete and fulfil
42、ling natures.“ The English language tradition of nature writing and narrating natural history is gloriously rich, and although it may not make any bold claims to improving health and wellbeing, it does a good jobfor readers and the subjects of the writing. Where the insights of field naturalists mee
43、t the legacy of poets such as Clare, Wordsworth, Hughes and Heaney, there emerges a language as vivid as any cultural achievement. That this language is still alive and kicking and read every day in a newspaper is astounding. So to hold a century“s worth of country diaries is, for an interloper like
44、 me, both an inspiring and humbling experience. But is this the best way of representing nature, or is it a cultural default? Will the next century of writers want to shake loose from this tradition? What happens next? Over the years, nature writers and country diarists have developed an increasingl
45、y sophisticated ecological literacy of the world around them through the naming of things and an understanding of the relationships between them. They find ways of linking simple observations to bigger issues by remaining in the present, the particular. For writers of my generation, a nostalgia for
46、lost wildlife and habitats and the business of bearing witness to a war of attrition in the countryside colours what we“re about. The anxieties of future generations may not be the same. Articulating the “wild“ as a qualitative character of nature and context for the more quantitative notion of biod
47、iversity will, I believe, become a more dynamic cultural project. The re-wilding of lands and seas, coupled with a re-wilding of experience and language, offers fertile ground for writers. A response to the anxieties springing from climate change, and a general fear of nature answering our continued
48、 environmental injustices with violence, will need a reassessment of our feelings for the nature we likecultural landscapes, continuity, native speciesas well as the nature we don“t likerising seas, droughts, “invasive“ species. Whether future writers take their sensibilities for a walk and, like a
49、pack of wayward dogs unleashed, let them loose in hills and woods to sniff out some fugitive truth hiding in the undergrowth, or choose to honestly recount the this-is-where-I-am, this-is-what-I-see approach, they will be hitched to the values implicit in the language they use. They should challenge these. Perhaps they will see our natural history as a contributor to the commodification of nature and the obsessive managerialism of our times. Perhaps they will see our romanticism as a blanket thrown over the traumatised victim of the count
