2004年3月中級(jí)口譯筆試試卷分析(聽力篇)zt
鄭峻華
從整體上看04年3月試卷的聽力部分,應(yīng)該說出的比較“中規(guī)中矩”,沒有什么出乎意料之處。為幫助昂立廣大中譯學(xué)子順利過關(guān),我在這里將聽力部分簡要點(diǎn)評(píng)一下。聽力題目及錄音資料可以在昂立網(wǎng)站的BBS及下載中心獲得。
PART A: SPOT DICTATION
這次的spot dictation的話題又是關(guān)于肢體語言(sign language)以及非語言交流(non-verbal communication)。熟悉中高口譯筆試的同學(xué)都會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)這類話題出現(xiàn)頻率很高,也許這是因?yàn)槌鲱}者大多是高校英語教師,其中不少有著社會(huì)語言學(xué)(sociolinguistics)或者語用學(xué)(pragmatics)的學(xué)術(shù)背景吧!這類話題,再加上環(huán)保、外語學(xué)習(xí)以及廣告知識(shí),大概可算是中高口聽力的“四大主題”。
只要是關(guān)于sign language以及non-verbal communication的文章,這些詞或詞組都是少不了的:send, message, consciously, unconsciously, subconsciously, gesture, signal, misunderstanding(s), communicate, meaning(s)等。有興趣的同學(xué)可以參看一下02年9月的高口聽力題,看看兩題是否有“異曲同工”之妙?
在所有要我們寫的詞當(dāng)中,第二個(gè)空中出現(xiàn)的“visual”以及第十五個(gè)空中出現(xiàn)的“deliberate”可能部分同學(xué)會(huì)感到困難。而其他的詞就比較常規(guī)了。
Spot dictation做題過程中主要依賴于放錄音時(shí)匆匆寫下來的單詞不完整拼寫,這里涉及到聽抄等基本功的訓(xùn)練,而且這一項(xiàng)的分值還挺高,加強(qiáng)訓(xùn)練,應(yīng)當(dāng)是一個(gè)抓分的好機(jī)會(huì)。
PART B: LISTENING COMPREHENSION
1. STATEMENTS
這一部分應(yīng)該是聽力最簡單的部分,不過再自信的同學(xué)也難免會(huì)錯(cuò)那么一兩題。這里的關(guān)鍵在于,出題者是看著錄音文本(script)設(shè)計(jì)題目的,他們往往在同形異義詞(homograph)或者諧音詞(phonogram)上做文章??忌徊恍⌒倪€真容易中招。
Question No. 1的重心實(shí)際上在第一部分:It’s not like Doris to be late for the weekly board meeting. It’s not like sb. to do sth. 我們可視為一個(gè)結(jié)構(gòu)“做出…事來不像某某某所為”,知道這個(gè)結(jié)構(gòu),本題自然引刃而解。
Question No. 2比較簡單,它又一次證明,在出現(xiàn)therefore, however, but, thus的句子中,這四個(gè)詞后面所跟部分比較重要。
Question No. 3等于在考GNP究竟何意,原文中出現(xiàn)gross national product,而正確選項(xiàng)中出現(xiàn)GNP。至于原文中dropped by almost a half對應(yīng)答案中was reduced by nearly 50%對考生們來說應(yīng)該很直觀了。
Question No. 4有一定的難度,大部分考生聽到sales quota, an extra bonus, has been in red這三個(gè)主要信息時(shí),都無法及時(shí)正確反應(yīng)出它們的含義,可能不少同學(xué)就放棄了,隨便勾一個(gè)了事。不過即使你不了解這三個(gè)說法的含義,你至少應(yīng)該聽到原句中由“Even if”和“there is no way”組成的主要結(jié)構(gòu),而從語氣上,A 是最相符的。sales quota是“銷售指標(biāo)”,an extra bonus“一筆額外的獎(jiǎng)金”,has been in red“入不敷出;負(fù)債經(jīng)營”。
Question No. 5與第二題一樣,這次證明thus之后的部分帶著比較重要的停息。
Question No. 6再一次告訴我們,一聽到“but”就一定要高度戒備。本句最后一部分“she has to attend to it in person”出題者馬上利用“person”與“prison”發(fā)音相近而設(shè)計(jì)出B這個(gè)干擾項(xiàng)。
Question No. 7的難點(diǎn)在于“take her time”你是否理解?我記得著名的英語教學(xué)片《走遍美國》(Family Album U.S.A.)中有一集是火車上查票的情節(jié),一位老太太找了半天還沒找到她的票,查票員很客氣地說“take your time”(別著急),這里當(dāng)然對應(yīng)D當(dāng)中的not to rush。一般來說中譯如果考到一些俚語類的用法,都不會(huì)過于冷僻。
Question No. 8關(guān)鍵在于“too long to give up”所表達(dá)出說話者于心不甘,還要堅(jiān)持的心情。對應(yīng)B。
Question No. 9句子較長,我在這里把它完整地寫下“When we produce more and better good and services that are supposed to raise our living standards, we may destroy our natural resources and damage our living environment.”句子雖長倒也不算難,答案對應(yīng)A。但如何說明B:“More and better goods and services can raise our living standards.”不是一個(gè)正確選項(xiàng)呢?道理在于說話者用一個(gè)復(fù)雜的長句表達(dá)思想時(shí),他說話的重心或者主要意圖往往是通過主句而非從句體現(xiàn),B說明的信息包含在原句的從句中。
Question No. 10中的關(guān)鍵在于I guess I should,由此對應(yīng)選項(xiàng)B。
2. TALKS AND CONVERSATIONS
第一個(gè)task,非常直觀明顯,就不多說了。
第二個(gè)task,這段講話介紹的是英國劍橋(Cambridge)大學(xué)和牛津(Oxford)大學(xué),主要講到了它們獨(dú)特的學(xué)院體制(college system)。在聽的過程中,聽者不難得出印象,這兩所大學(xué)的學(xué)生都直接與college接觸,college在這兩所大學(xué)中的獨(dú)特位置成為Cambridge與Oxford的unique feature。我們可以注意原文當(dāng)中的這一段話:“At Oxford and Cambridge, the university is like a loose federation of faculties, colleges, and other academic and research institutions.”在對college的介紹中,提到了fellow,這里可理解為“院士”。原文中有“Most tutors give one or two lectures a week, and those lectures may be attended by students from any college of the university”,這里對應(yīng)17題的選擇B,而這個(gè)情況與我們所熟悉的中國大學(xué)不同,值得注意。
第三個(gè)task也比較直觀,只是可能有些同學(xué)不熟悉tube與subway,underground及metro都表示地鐵,同時(shí)如果你對希斯羅機(jī)場Heathrow Airport有所了解,你就不難在第21題選擇A。
第四個(gè)task講到著名的美國總統(tǒng)F. D. Roosevelt以及他的夫人Eleanor Roosevelt。如果你對羅斯??偨y(tǒng)的生平有所了解,那你應(yīng)該知道他在39歲時(shí)染上小兒麻痹證(polio),在原文中你會(huì)遇到一個(gè)詞paraplegia(截癱;下身麻痹),相信沒有多少人認(rèn)識(shí)這個(gè)詞。但只要你對他有所了解,在對Question No. 25: Why was President Roosevelt unable to enjoy sports such as golf or tennis?作出選擇時(shí),十分容易選擇B。另外關(guān)于Roosevelt夫婦的介紹中,Eleanor Roosevelt也是一個(gè)重點(diǎn),她是一位著名的婦女權(quán)利和民權(quán)活動(dòng)家。原文前半部分中有“For example, at her weekly press conferences, she invited only female reporters, knowing newspapers all over the country would be forced to hire their first female reporter in order to have access to the first lady. As a result, an entire generation of female journalists got their start”,這一段針對Question 24,選擇為C。當(dāng)然,如果你對Eleanor Roosevelt的生平有所了解,選擇就更容易了。有趣的是,04年3月高級(jí)口譯考試聽力部分Questions 11 to 15,同樣也是關(guān)于Roosevelt夫婦。
第五個(gè)task中,原文的對話里談到的是mortgage,而Question 28當(dāng)中對應(yīng)的是選項(xiàng)A中的“debts”,而那位男士在對話的最后通過大量的概率分析得出結(jié)論,對應(yīng)Question 30的選項(xiàng)C。
PART C: LISTENING AND TRANSLATION:
聽譯在中級(jí)口譯中占30分,也是一個(gè)大項(xiàng),而且如果發(fā)揮得好,是一個(gè)“掙分”的項(xiàng)目。同學(xué)們對這一部分的試題總是有些擔(dān)心,大家主要反映在聽的過程中無法同時(shí)兼顧理解和記筆記(note-taking),往往在聽的過程中似乎明白了原文,但在做翻譯的時(shí)候卻想不起原文的細(xì)節(jié)。這個(gè)問題在聽譯的PASSAGES部分更為突出。
在聽力教學(xué)的過程中,我們的老師會(huì)給大家介紹note-taking的一些方法。但熟練掌握是以大量的練習(xí)為基礎(chǔ)的。只有在聽與考試同等難度的句子或段落時(shí),感覺比較輕松,才有可能有余力做好note-taking的工作。這一項(xiàng)在高級(jí)口譯考試中同樣存在,而且中級(jí)和高級(jí)的難度相差并不大,做好了這一練習(xí),也為以后在高級(jí)口譯考試中的順利過關(guān)打下良好基礎(chǔ)。在這里,我把聽譯的原文奉獻(xiàn)給大家。大家在做練習(xí)的過程中,記住一點(diǎn):“不求細(xì)節(jié)面面俱到,但求總體把握,自圓其說”。
sentences:
1. There has been another railway crash outside Glasgow, 4 people were killed and at least 10 people were injured.
2. Today, trade unions are very common throughout the United States. The goal of the unions has been to promote better rights and welfare of the employees.
3. On the whole, I’ve found television commercials extremely annoying. They have nothing to do with the TV programs you’re watching and they can only interrupt and destroy your concentrations.
4. We must work harder to overcome our differences. We must treat all our people with fairness and dignity regardless of their race, religion, gender or educational background.
5. According to a professor at Harvard University, he can tell by examining a 9-month-old baby whether that baby is likely to succeed in school simply by observing how that child approaches very simple tasks like playing with blocks.
Passages:
1. Since the Second World War, a number of completely new towns have been built. Most of these new towns are on the edge of country villages or small market towns. They have been carefully planned with traffic-free shopping centers. Each town is self-contained with its own hospitals, churches, schools, colleges and industries. The purpose of the new towns is to attract people and industry away from the crowded cities and to set up whole new communities
2. I believe the biggest challenge facing us today is how to improve the environmental situation. This is a very important point both for China and for the United States. When a country grows economically, you use more energy and it leads to strains on the environment, especially air pollution which can really affect people’s health. So, one of China’s big challenges and a continuing challenge for America is to grow the economy but to clean up the environment at the same time.
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