1、2003年 12月笔译二级综合能力真题试卷及答案与解析 0 To Err Is Human by Lewis Thomas Everyone must have had at least one personal experience with a computer error by this time. Bank balances are suddenly reported to have jumped from $379 into the millions, appeals for charitable contributions are mailed over and over to p
2、eople with crazy sounding names at your address, department stores send the wrong bills, utility companies write that theyre turning everything off, that sort of thing. If you manage to get in touch with someone and complain, you then get instantaneously typed, guilty letters from the same computer,
3、 saying, “Our computer was in error, and an adjustment is being made in your account.“ These are supposed to be the sheerest, blindest accidents. Mistakes are not believed to be the normal behavior of a good machine. If things go wrong, it must be a personal, human error, the result of fingering, ta
4、mpering a button getting stuck, someone hitting the wrong key. The computer, at its normal best, is infallible. I wonder whether this can be true. After all, the whole point of computers is that they represent an extension of the human brain, vastly improved upon but nonetheless human, superhuman ma
5、ybe. A good computer can think clearly and quickly enough to beat you at chess, and some of them have even been programmed to write obscure verse. They can do anything we can do, and more besides. It is not yet known whether a computer has its own consciousness, and it would be hard to find out abou
6、t this. When you walk into one of those great halls now built for the huge machines, and standing listening, it is easy to imagine that the faint, distant noises are the sound of thinking, and the turning of the spools gives them the look of wild creatures rolling their eyes in the effort to concent
7、rate, choking with information. But real thinking, and dreaming, are other matters. On the other hand, the evidence of something like an unconscious, equivalent to ours, are all around, in every mail. As extensions of the human brain, they have been constructed the same property of error, spontaneou
8、s, uncontrolled, and rich in possibilities. 1 The title of the writing “To Err Is Human“ implies that_. （ A） making mistakes is confined only to human beings. （ B） every human being cannot avoid making mistakes. （ C） all human beings are always making mistakes. （ D） every human being is born to make
9、 bad mistakes. 2 The first paragraph implies that_. （ A） computer errors are so obvious that one can hardly prevent them from happening. （ B） a computer is so capable of making errors that none of them is avoidable. （ C） computers make such errors as miscalculation and inaccurate reporting. （ D） com
10、puters cant think so their errors are natural and unavoidable. 3 The author uses his hypothesis that “computers represent an extension of the human brain“ in order to indicate that_. （ A） human beings are not infallible, nor are computers. （ B） computers are bound to make as many errors as human bei
11、ngs. （ C） errors made by computers can be avoided the same as human mistakes can be avoided. （ D） computers are made by human beings and so are their errors. 4 The rhetoric the author employed in writing the third paragraph, especially the sentence “A good computer can think clearly and quickly enou
12、gh to beat you at chess.“ is usually referred to in writing as_. （ A） climax. （ B） personification. （ C） hyperbole. （ D） onomatopoeia. 5 The author compared the faint and distant sound of the computer to the sound of thinking and regarded it as the product of_. （ A） dreaming and thinking. （ B） some
13、property of errors. （ C） consciousness. （ D） possibilities. 5 The Frugal Gourmet Cooks American by Jeff Smith Our real American foods have come from our soil and have been used by many groups those who already lived here and those who have come here to live. The Native Americans already had develope
14、d an interesting cuisine using the abundant foods that were so prevalent. The influence that the English had upon our national eating habits is easy to see. They were a tough lot, those English, and they ate in a tough manner. They wiped theft mouths on the tablecloth, if there happened to be one, a
15、nd they ate until you would expect them to burst. European travelers to this country in those days were most often shocked by American eating habits, which included too much fat and too much salt and too much liquor. Not much has changed! And, the Revolutionists refused to use the fork since it mark
16、ed them as Europeans. The fork was not absolutely common on the American dinner table until about the time of the Civil War, the 1860s. Those English were a tough lot. Other immigrant groups added their own touches to the preparation of our New World food products. The groups that came still have a
17、special sense of self-identity through their ancestral heritage, but they see themselves as Americans. This special self-identity through your ancestors who came from other lands was supposed to disappear in this country. The term melting pot was first used in reference to America in the late 1700s,
18、 so this belief that we would all become the same has been with us for a long time. Thank goodness it has never worked. The various immigrant groups continue to add flavor to the pot, all right, but you can pick out the individual flavors easily. The largest ancestry group in America is the English.
19、 There are more people in America who claim to have come from English blood than there are in England. But is their food English? Thanks be to God, it is not! It is American. The second largest group is the Germans, then the Irish, the Afro-Americans, the French, the Italians, the Scottish, and the
20、Polish. The Mexican and American Indian groups are all smaller than any of the above, though they were the original cooks in this country. 6 Which of the following statements is nearly identical in meaning with the sentence “they ate until you would expect them to burst“ in the second paragraph? （ A
21、） You bet they would never stop to eat till they are full. （ B） What you can expect is that they would not stop eating unless there was no more food. （ C） The only thing you would expect is that they wouldnt stop eating till they had had enough of the food. （ D） the only thing is that they wouldnt s
22、top eating till they felt sick. 7 Which of the following statements is Not true? （ A） English people had bad table manners. （ B） American food was exclusively unique in its flavors and varieties. （ C） American diet contained a lot of fat, salt and liquor. （ D） Europeans were not at all accustomed to
23、 the American way of eating. 8 The authors attitude towards American food is that_. （ A） American food is better than foods from other countries. （ B） American food is superior to European food. （ C） European food had helped enrich the flavors and varieties of American food. （ D） people from other c
24、ountries could still identify from the American foods the foods that were unique to their countries. 9 Immigrant groups, when they got settled down in the United States, still have had their own sense of self-identity because_. （ A） their foods are easily identified among all the foods Americans eat
25、. （ B） their foods stand out in sharp contrast to foods of other countries. （ C） they know pretty well what elements of American food are of their own countries origin. （ D） they know pretty well how their foods contribute to American cuisine. 10 Which of the following statements is true? （ A） Peopl
26、e from other cultures or nations start to lose their self-identity once they get settled down in America. （ B） The “melting pot“ is supposed to melt all the foods but in reality it doesnt. （ C） The special sense of self-identity of people from other countries cant be main- mined once they become Ame
27、ricans. （ D） The “melting pot“ finds it capable of melting all the food traditions into the American tradition. 2003年 12月笔译二级综合能力真题试卷答案与解析 1 【正确答案】 B 【试题解析】 答案出自文章中第二段的第三句 If things go wrong, it must be a personal, human error.，人类犯错总是不可避免的。 2 【正确答案】 A 【试题解析】 第一句 Everyone must have had at least one p
28、ersonal experience with a computer error by this time。是这段的主题句，下面详述了电脑操作中出现的错随处可见，因此，电脑错误是防不胜防的。 3 【正确答案】 A 【试题解析】 根据末段的最后一句话 As extensions of the human brain, they have been constructed the same property of error, spontaneous, uncontrolled, and rich in possibilities (电脑作为人脑的衍生物具有人类犯错、自觉的、自由的和丰富的潜力等特
29、点。 )所以，人和电脑犯错都是不可避免的。 4 【正确答案】 B 【试题解析】 原句的主语是电脑，但作者用了人类才有的行为 think， beat说明其修辞是拟人手法。 climax层递， personification拟人： hyperbole夸张；onomatopoeia拟声。 5 【正确答案】 C 【试题解析】 答案出自第四段第二、四句 .it is easy to imagine that the faint, distant noises are the sound of thinking. On the other hand, the evidence of something l
30、ike an unconscious, equivalent to ours, are all around.。 6 【正确答案】 D 【试题解析】 burst满到要胀破的程度。 A是吃到饱就行； B是吃完食物； C是吃得足够多； D是吃到感觉恶心吐出来。 7 【正确答案】 B 【试题解析】 根据第二段第二句 they ate in a tough manner可以得知 A项正确。由第四句 European travelers to this country in those days were most often shocked by American eating habits, whi
31、ch included too much fat and too much salt and too much liquor可以判断出 C、 D两项正确。 8 【正确答案】 D 【试题解析】 答案出自第三段最后一句 The various immigrant groups continue to add flavor to the pot, all right, but you can pick out the individual flavors easily (移民为美国的食品加进厂很多风味，但是，大家很容易品出来自其他国家的独特风味。 ) 9 【正确答案】 C 【试题解析】 参看第二段第四、五句 European travelers to this country in those days were. too much liquor. Not much has changed! 10 【正确答案】 B 【试题解析】 答案出自第三段的倒数第三句 The term melting pot was.flavors easily。
