北京外国语大学2008年硕士研究生英汉同声传译专业试卷(复语班)

一、将下列段落译为汉语(25分)

Nevertheless, instead of expanding north, the Japanese moved south. By 1937, the conflict had spread to all of eastern China and the war had begun in earnest. Anti-Japanese feeling was exacerbated by the attack by the Japanese on Chinese soldiers and civilians at the Marco Polo Bridge, next to which was a vital railway line, in July 1937. Because of its strategic importance (it was only ten miles west of Beijing), Japanese troops in northern China had been conducting manoeuvres in the area. However, on 7 July 1937, after a Japanese night manoeuvre during which the Chinese had fired some shells, a Japanese soldier went missing. In retaliation, the Japanese attacked and war commenced. This may rightly be designated the first battle of the Second World War.

By the end of July, Japanese soldiers had not only seized the bridge but taken control of the entire Tientsin–Peking region. The speed with which Japanese troops conquered parts of China was astounding. By 1938, Canton had ‘fallen’ and, despite notable military victories, including one in the town of Taierzhuang in southern Shantung, where 30,000 Japanese soldiers were killed by Nationalist Chinese troops, the Chinese were at a distinct disadvantage. The Japanese military was vastly superior. As late as 1940, China had only 150 military aircraft compared with the Japanese total of over 1,000. By the end of 1939, the whole of the north-eastern quarter of China was under Japanese occupation. Still, the Chinese did not surrender, forcing Japan to move still further inland, lengthening supply routes and stretching manpower to absolute limits. What followed was a war of attrition. (268 words)

二、将下列短文译为汉语(50分)

Thailand: An Exceptional Case?

A few years ago a graduate student named Kanchana came to my office to see if I would be willing to supervise a paper she wanted to write on legal protections for cultural artifacts taken from Thailand, her native country. After an interesting discussion about possible approaches to her paper, I asked Kanchana a question that, in retrospect, would probably be grounds for a lawsuit under today’s standards of political correctness—I asked whether she was an ethnic Chinese.

Kanchana’s reply: “But the Thai are Chinese.” She then instantly retreated: “Well—part Chinese. I have Chinese blood. Everyone in Thailand does. Well … almost everyone does.”

Thailand is a fascinating case. On the one hand, it shares with the other Southeast Asian countries the phenomenon of a wildly disproportionately wealthy, market-dominant Chinese minority. The Chinese in Thailand today, although just i o percent of the population, control virtually all of the country’s largest banks and conglomerates. All of Thailand’s billionaires are ethnic Chinese. On the other hand, as Kanchana’s comments suggest, unlike elsewhere in Southeast Asia, the Chinese have assimilated quite successfully into Thailand, and there is relatively little anti-Chinese animus. In Thailand today, many Thai Chinese speak only Thai and consider themselves as Thai as their indigenous counterparts. Intermarriage rates between the Chinese and the indigenous majority (many of whom, at least in Bangkok, have some Chinese ancestry already) are much higher than elsewhere in Southeast Asia. Perhaps most strikingly, the country’s top political leaders, including a recent prime minister, are often of Chinese descent, although they usually have Thai- sounding surnames and speak little or no Chinese.

Although interethnic socializing and intermarriage may seem perfectly normal to Westerners, it bears emphasizing how markedly Thailand differs in this regard from her Southeast Asian neighbors. In Indonesia and Malaysia, for example, rates of intermarriage between the Chinese and the indigenous majority are close to zero. The Chinese in these countries remain a conspicuously insular minority, living, working, and socializing entirely separately from the indigenous majorities.

Many have speculated about the reasons for the starkly different rates of intermarriage and assimilation. According to one professor of law from Singapore, the main reason is the “pork factor.” “Indonesians and Malaysians are mostly Muslims,” he explains, “and they don’t eat pork. The Chinese love pork; they eat it all the time. And for Chinese, eating is a huge part of their lives. Thus, social interactions are impossible.” This professor was being facetious, but he is clearly right that religion has played an important role: Thailand is not Muslim but largely Buddhist, a cultural affinity that has made assimilation much easier for the Thai Chinese, many of whom adhere to a syncretic combination of Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism.(455字)

三、将下列段落译为英语(25分)

胡锦涛在主持学习时发表了讲话。他指出，金融是现代经济的核心。随着经济全球化深入发展，随着我国经济持续快速发展和工业化、城镇化、市场化、国际化进程加快，金融日益广泛地影响着我国经济社会生活的各个方面，金融也与人民群众切身利益息息相关。在金融对经济社会发展的作用越来越重要、国内外金融市场联系和相互影响越来越密切的形势下，做好金融工作，保障金融安全，是推动经济社会又好又快发展的基本条件，是维护经济安全、促进社会和谐的重要保障，越来越成为关系全局的重大问题。 (227字)

四、将下列短文译为英语(50分)

在近日新华社的另一篇报道中，记者在黄河流域一些省区采访时就发现一个奇怪的现象：污染企业“扎堆”的地方，环保部门衣食无忧;而在污染企业被大量关停的地方，环保人员却连工资都发不出来，以至于“治污越好环保部门越穷”。究其原因在于，这些地方的环保部门，或是财政预算“黑户”，或是财政拨款严重不足，主要靠“自收自支”维持生存。那么，为何会出现“财政不养环保”呢?报道引用有关专业人士的说法认为：“关键是在一些领导眼中，环保和发展是对立的，花钱搞环保不如投资上项目，有的领导甚至提出‘宁可呛死，不能饿死’的观点。”

因而，某些环保部门为污染企业说话，某些环保局长更像是污染企业的代言人，这绝不能简单看成是“个别部门职能错位”的结果，更不能以“个别执法人员素质低下”为由搪塞了事，相反，应当引起我们的高度警惕和深刻反思———其背后所揭示出的是一些地方环保执法的尴尬困局。

无疑，只有正视这样的执法困局，只有努力想办法化解这样的执法困局，我们的环保工作才有可能获得良好的执法环境，我们才有可能真正走出“先污染、后治理”或者“边治理、边污染”的怪圈。(461字)