年3月高级口译听力真题完整版（含音频）

Good afternoon, class. I want to start my lecture by telling you a story. Once there was a young woman from Mexico named Consuela, who came to New York to learn English. She got a job at a factory owned by a Chinese. One day as Consuela came to work, her Chinese boss handed her a red envelope. Consuela looked inside and saw 20 dollars. She became very upset and threw the envelope back at her boss! Her boss was shocked. Well, he had given her the red envelope and the money because it was Chinese New Year. And on the Chinese New Year, it is traditional to give money to young, single people for good luck. However, from Consuela’s point of view, he was an older man giving her money in an envelope, which meant that he was asking her for sexual favors. Naturally, she refused to take the money.

Now, what does this story show us? It shows that an action can have totally opposite meanings in different cultures. Every culture has its own rules for what is appropriate and what is not appropriate behavior. And to illustrate my point today, I’m going to give examples from four areas. First, the way people greet each other in different cultures. Second, the way they use names and titles. Third, the way people eat. And finally, the way they exchange gifts.

OK, let’s start with greeting customs—First of all, I’m sure you know that in the United States and in most western countries, greetings often involve some sort of touching, such as a handshake, a hug, or a kiss if people know each other very well. On the other hand, people from most Asian countries don’t usually feel as comfortable touching in public. Although handshakes between business people are common, many Japanese prefer a bow, while people from Thailand, normally hold their hands together in a kind of prayer position. So imagine how embarrassing it would be if an American was invited to someone’s home in Japan or Thailand and she tried to hug the host!

Now, another behavior that differs from culture to culture is the use of names. Have you noticed that Americans are quick to use people’s first names even if they have just met. For instance, visitors to the United States are always surprised to hear employees speak to their bosses using first names. In contrast, people in most other cultures are more formal and prefer to be addressed as Mr. Brown or Mr. Honda, for example. In addition, in some countries, such as Italy or Korea, people like you to include their title or position with their family names, especially if they're university graduates or owners of a business.

Now I want to look at eating customs. I'll talk about the behaviors connected with eating that vary from culture to culture. One of these is the use of utensils. You probably know that people in many Asian cultures use chopsticks but in some countries it’s customary to eat with your fingers. It’s important to be aware of different dining customs. Here is another example. In some cultures, eating everything on your plate is considered impolite. In Egypt and China, you should leave some food in your dish at the end of the meal. This is to show that your hosts were generous and gave you more than enough to eat. However, Americans generally consider a clean plate as a sign of satisfaction with the food.

Finally, what I want to mention today is gift giving, which you may think is a universal custom and there is not much variation from culture to culture. But the rules of gift giving can be very complicated. In USA, if you’re invited to someone’s home for dinner, bring wine or flowers or small item as a present. On the other hand, the Japanese give gifts quite frequently, often to thank someone, such as a teacher or a doctor. In the Japanese culture, gift giving is a very ancient tradition and it has many detailed rules. Another interesting fact about gift giving is that many cultures have strict rules about gifts you should not give. For example, never give yellow flowers to people from Iran, which means you hate them!

【评析】

本文题材对考生来说并不陌生，是老生常谈的文化差异。作者先从一个故事引入，再从四个方面（打招呼，称谓，饮食及送礼）介绍各国不同的风俗习惯。做笔记时，从这四个角度进行归类，记下关键的实词，相信正确答案就近在咫尺了。

【难词】
bow n. 鞠躬
address v. 称呼
utensil n. 餐具
universal adj. 普遍的，通用的Passage Translation E-C 1

Crime can be divided into two main categories, misdemeanors and felonies. A misdemeanor such as pick-pocketing, or something of bad nature is punishable with more than 15 days in prison but less than 1 year. Felonies are serious crimes, such as burglary, robbery, kidnapping and murder. These crimes are so serious that anyone found guilty will spend some time in prison. When a person who commits a crime is courted that person who is called a defendant or the accused go through a legal process. If the person is found guilty, then the judge decides what the punishment should be.

【参考译文】

犯罪可被分为两类：轻罪和重罪。类似扒窃，或者一些不好的行为习惯会被判处一年以内，15天以上的监禁。重罪即严重罪行，例如：盗窃、抢劫、劫持和谋杀。 这些罪行非常严重， 因此任何人被认定有重罪都将会在监狱待上一段时间。当罪犯被诉讼到法院改称“被告”或“被控告者”时，需要走法律程序。如果此人被认定有罪，则由法官判定 处以何种处罚。

【评析】

本篇文章内容为法律相关的“法言法语”。从结构上而言，依然是历年来常见的总-分结构。但对于大部分考生而言，不常接触这类题材，难度较大。尤其是一些法 律专业术语，如：misdemeanors（轻罪） 、felonies （重罪），burglary（盗窃）等。本篇听译也提醒各位考生，应尽可能扩大平时的阅读、听力背景知识领域，从新闻、法律、文化、经济等多角度进行积 累。

Passage Translation E-C 2

Culture shock is the term used to describe the experience many people have when they travel to another country. It shows what happens when an individual suddenly experiences the different culture rules of another social group. Culture shock is a complex phenomenon. But I’m going to focus on three main ideas today. First of all, we will consider the reasons why people experience culture shock. Secondly, I will describe the different stages of this experience. Finally, I’ll mention why we have spent so much time and money to study this phenomenon. You might think that culture shock affects, see, only travelers. But that is not the case; in fact cross-culture studies have immersed practical value for modern society.

【参考译文】

文化冲突，用来形容人们在他国旅行时所形成的不同感受。文化冲突显示出个人在突然经历另一社会群体的不同文化规则时所发生的一切。文化冲突是一种复杂的现 象。不过今天我将主要从三个主要方面展开讨论。第一，我们一起来考虑为什么人们会感觉到文化冲突。第二，我会讲解文化冲突的几个不同阶段。最后，我会提到 我们为什么要花费如此多的时间和金钱来研究这一现象。你或许认为文化冲突仅仅影响旅行者们。但事实并非如此，实际上跨文化研究对当代社会有巨大的现实意 义。

【评析】

文化冲突，用来形容人们在他国旅行时所形成的不同感受。文化冲突显示出个人在突然经历另一社会群体的不同文化规则时所发生的一切。文化冲突是一种复杂的现 象。不过今天我将主要从三个主要方面展开讨论。第一，我们一起来考虑为什么人们会感觉到文化冲突。第二，我会讲解文化冲突的几个不同阶段。最后，我会提到 我们为什么要花费如此多的时间和金钱来研究这一现象。你或许认为文化冲突仅仅影响旅行者们。但事实并非如此，实际上跨文化研究对当代社会有巨大的现实意 义。