翻译硕士英语

《翻译硕士英语》样题

I. Vocabulary and grammar (30

’

)

Multiple choice

Directions: Beneath each sentence there are four words or phrases marked A, B, C and D. Choose

the answer that best completes the sentence. Mark your answers on your answer sheet.

1. Thousands o

f people turned out into the streets to

_________ against the local authorities’

decision to build a highway across the field.

A. contradict

B. reform

C. counter

D. protest

2. The majority of nurses are women, but in the higher ranks of the medical profession women

are in a _________.

A. minority

B. scarcity

C. rarity

D. minimum

3. Professor Johnson’s retirement ________ from next January.

A. carries into effect

B. takes effect

C. has effect

D. puts into effect

4. The president explained that the purpose of taxation was to ________ government spending.

A. finance

B. expand

C. enlarge

D. budget

5. The heat in summer is no less _________ here in this mountain region.

A. concentrated

B. extensive

C. intense

D. intensive

6. Taking photographs is strictly ________ here, as it may damage the precious cave paintings.

A. forbidden

B. rejected

C. excluded

D. denied

7. Mr. Brown’s condition looks very serious and

it is doubtful if he will _________.

A. pull back

B. pull up

C. pull through

D. pull out

8.

Since

the

early

nineties,

the

trend

in

most

businesses

has

been

toward

on-demand,

always-

available

products

and

services

that

suit

the

customer’

s

_________

rather

than

the

company’s.

A. benefit

B. availability

C. suitability

D. convenience

9. The priest made the ________ of the cross when he entered the church.

A. mark

B. signal

C. sign

D. gesture

10. This spacious room is ________ furnished with just a few articles in it.

A. lightly

B. sparsely

C. hardly

D. rarely

11. If you explained the situation to your solicitor, he ________ able to advise you much better

than I can.

A. would be

B. will have been

C. was

D. were

12. With some men dressing down and some other men flaunting their looks, it is really hard to

tell they are gay or _________.

A. straight

B. homosexual

C. beautiful

D. sad

13. His remarks were ________ annoy everybody at the meeting.

A. so as to

B. such as to

C. such to

D. as much as to

14. James has just arrived, but I didn’t know he _________ until yesterday.

A. will come

B. was coming

C. had been coming

D. came

15. _________ conscious of my moral obligations as a citizen.

A. I was and always will be

B. I have to be and always will be

C. I had been and always will be

D. I have been and always will be

16.

Because

fuel

supplies

are

finite

and

many

people

are

wasteful,

we

will

have

to

install

_________ solar heating device in our home.

A. some type of

B. some types of a

C. some type of a

D. some types of

17. I went there in 1984, and that was the only occasion when I ________ the journey in exactly

two days.

A. must take

B. must have made

C. was able to make

D. could make

18. I know he failed his last test, but really he’s _________ stu

pid.

A. something but

B. anything but

C. nothing but

D. not but

19. Do you know Tim’s brother? He is _________ than Tim.

A. much more sportsman

B. more of a sportsman

C. more of sportsman

D. more a sportsman

2

0. That was not the first time he ________ us. I think it’s high time we ________ strong actions

against him.

A. betrayed…

take

B. had betrayed…

took

C. has betrayed…

took

D. has betrayed…

take

II. Reading comprehension (40

’

)

Section 1 Multiple choice

(20

’

)

Directions: In this section there are reading passages followed by multiple-choice questions. Read

the passages and then mark your answers on your answer sheet.

Passage A

The Welsh language has always been the ultimate marker of Welsh identity, but a generation ago

it looked as if Welsh would go the way of Manx, once widely spoken on the Isle of Man but now

extinct. Government financing and central planning, however, have helped reverse the decline of

Welsh.

Road

signs

and

official

public

documents

are

written

in

both

Welsh

and

English,

and

schoolchildren are required to learn both languages. Welsh is now one of the most successful of

Europe’s

regional

languages,

spoken

by

more

than

a

half

-million

of

the

coun

try’s

three

million

people.

The revival of the language, particularly among young people, is part of a resurgence of national

identity

sweeping

through

this

small,

proud

nation.

Last

month

Wales

marked

the

second

anniversary of the opening of the National Assembly, the first parliament to be convened here

since 1404. The idea behind devolution was to restore the balance within the union of nations

making up the United Kingdom. With most of the people and wealth, England has always had

bragging rights. The partial transfer of legislative powers from Westminster, implemented by Tony

Blair,

was

designed

to

give

the

other

members

of

the

club

—

Scotland,

Northern

Ireland,

and

Wales

—

a bigger say and to counter centrifugal forces that seemed to threaten the very idea of

the union.

The Welsh showed little enthusiasm for devolution. Whereas the Scots voted overwhelmingly for

a

parliament,

the

vote

for

a

Welsh

assembly

scraped

through

by

less

than

one

percent

on

a

turnout

of

less

than

25

percent.

Its

powers

were

proportionately

limited.

The

Assembly

can

decide

how

money

from

Westminster

or

the

European

Union

is

spent.

It

cannot,

unlike

its

counterpart in Edinburgh, enact laws. But now that it is here, the Welsh are growing to like their

Assembly. Many people would like it to have more powers. Its importance as figurehead will grow

with

the

opening

in

2003,

of

a

new

debating

chamber,

one

of

many

new

buildings

that

are

transforming Cardiff from a decaying seaport into a Baltimore-style waterfront city. Meanwhile a

grant of nearly two million dollars from the European Union will tackle poverty. Wales is one of

the poorest regions in Western Europe

—

only Spain, Portugal, and Greece have a lower standard

of living.

Newspapers and magazines are filled with stories about great Welsh men and women, boosting

self- esteem. To familiar faces such as Dylan Thomas and Richard Burton have been added new

icons such as Catherine Zeta-Jones, the movie star, and Bryn Terfel, the opera singer. Indigenous

foods like salt marsh lamb are in vogue. And Wales now boasts a national airline, Awyr Cymru.

Cymru, which means “land of compatriots”

, is the Welsh name for Wales. The red dragon, the

nation’s symbol since the time of King Arthur, is everywhere—

on T-shirts, rugby jerseys and even

cell phone covers.

“Until very recent times most Welsh people had this feeling of being second

-

class citizens,” said

Dyfan Jones, an 18-year-old student. It was a warm summer night, and I was sitting on the grass

with a group of young people in Llanelli, an industrial town in the south, outside the rock music

venue of the National Eisteddfod, Wales’s annual cultural festival. The disused factory in front of

us echoed to the sounds of new Welsh bands.

“There

was

almost

a

genetic

tendency

for

lack

of

confidence,”

Dyfan

co

ntinued.

Equally

comfortable in his Welshness as in his membership in the English- speaking, global youth culture

and the new federal Europe, Dyfan, like the rest of his generation, is growing up with a sense of

possibility

unimaginable

ten

years

ago.

“We

used

to

think.

We

can’t

do

anything,

we’re

only

Welsh.

Now I think that’s changing.”

1. According to the passage, devolution was mainly meant to

A. maintain the present status among the nations.

B. reduce legislative powers of England.

C. create a better state of equality among the nations.

D. grant more say to all the nations in the union.

2. The word “centrifugal” in the second paragraph means

A. separatist.

B. conventional.

C. feudal.

D. political

3. Wales is different from Scotland in all the following aspects EXCEPT

A. people’s desire for devolution.

B. locals’ turnout for the voting.

C. powers of the legislative body.

D. status of the national language.

4.

Which

of

the

following

is

NOT

cited

as

an

example

of

the

resurgence

of

Welsh

national

identity?

A. Welsh has witnessed a revival as a national language.

B. Poverty-relief funds have come from the European Union.

C. A Welsh national airline is currently in operation.

D. The national symbol has become a familiar sight.

5. According to Dyfan Jones what has changed is

A. people’s mentality.

B. pop culture.

C. town’s appearance.

D. possibilities for the people.

Passage B

The

miserable

fate

of

Enron’s

employees

will

be

a

landmark

in

business

history,

one

of

those

awful

events

that

everyone

agrees

must

never

be

allowed

to

happen

again.

This

urge

is

understandable

and

noble:

thousands

have

lost

virtually

all

their

retirement

savings

with

the

demise of Enron stock. But making sure it never happens again may not be possible, because the