I. ReadingComprehension (35%)

A nation divided
Whatto do about the ever widening gulf between rich and poor?

MortimerB. Zuckerman

We are becomingtwo nations. The prosperous are rapidly getting more prosperous and the poor areslowly getting poorer. George W. Bush did well to rebuke his party when HouseRepublicans maneuvered to balance the budget by proposing to delay the earnedincome tax credit for the working poor—paying it in monthly installments ratherthan an annual lump sum. “I don’t think they ought to balance the budget onthe backs of the poor,” Bush said. Instead, it is time for aspiring leadersto ponder how the two nations might more closely become one.

The Americaneconomy is growing dramatically. But this prosperity is being distributed veryunevenly. The America that is doing well is doing very well indeed. But mostbenefits have gone to those who work in industries where the main product isinformation. The losers have been the producers of tangible goods and personalservices—even teachers and health care providers. The high-tech informationeconomy has been growing at approximately 10 times the rate of the olderindustrial economy. It has enjoyed substantial job growth, the highestproductivity gains (about 30 percent a year), and bigger profits. It cantherefore afford bigger wage gains (about four times that of the older economy).And this wage gap is likely to widen for years to come.

The rich getricher. The concentration of wealth is even moredramatic. New York University economist Edward Wolff points out that the top 20percent of Americans account for more than 100 percent of the total growth inwealth from 1983 to 1997 while the bottom 80 percent lost 7 percent. Anotherstudy found that the top 1percent saw their after-tax income jump 115 percentin the past 22 years. The top fifth have seen an after-tax increase of 43percent during the same period while the bottom fifth of all Americans—includingmany working mothers—have seen their after-tax incomes fall 9 percent. Theresult is that 4 out of 5 households — some 217 million people — willtake home a thinner slice of the economic pie than they did 22 years ago.

There are thosewho point out that these income figures do not fully reflect the improvement inthe standard of living and say that attention should be paid to what Americansown, what they buy, and how they live, a fair point. Two economists, W.Michael Cox and Richard Alm, have revealed that each person in the averagehousehold today has 814 square feet of living space compared with 478 squarefeet in 1970; that 62 percent of all households own two or more vehiclescompared with 29 percent back then; that the number of gas ranges has increasedsixfold, air travel four times, and the median household wealth—i.e., thefamily right in the middle—has jumped dramatically. Even given suchimprovements in life quality, our public policy must not exacerbate thedisproportionate concentrations of wealth.

Fortunately, Americansare pragmatists. They know that what you earn depends on what you learn,especially in a digital economy; so 83 percent of our children now completefour years of high school, compared with 55 percent in 1970.This is good news.But vast numbers of people feel marginalized in an information-based economy .For too many, work no longer provides the kinds of wages and promotions thatallow them to achieve economic success or security. Wage increases do notsubstantially increase their real income, so they have to work longer hours,get a higher-paying shift, or find another job. These are the people who areparticularly concerned about the benefits they stand to gain from Medicare andSocial Security. If they do manage to put together a successful strategy tosurvive, they should not be hit with sudden shocks—like the denial of thelump-sum tax credit.

Bush may havediscomfited his Republican colleagues, but his words served to remind that theyare out of touch with the realities of life for so many Americans. He latersoftened his criticism, but it is time, nevertheless, for a more generous leadershipfrom the House Republicans. They should not berate Bush. Indeed, they maywell find themselves in his dept should his appeal to the center of Americanpolitics provide them the coattails they will need when voters head to thepolls in just over a year .

1. Explain the underlined part in English,bringing out the implied meaning, if there is any: (22%)

(1) I don’tthink...of the poor.(3%)

(2) The resultis...22 years ago.(3%)

(3) a fair point(2%)

(4) our publicpolicy...wealth(3%)

(5) vastnumbers...economy(3%)

(6) Theseare...Social Security.(3%)

(7) They maywell find...over a year.(3%)

【答案】

(1) I don’t think that, by making use of the poor, i.e. by delayingthe earned income tax credit, they can make the amount of money that they spendequal to the amount of money available.

(2) Consequently, compared with 22 years ago, four fifths of families,which are about 217 million people, will earn less money now.

(3) That’s a reasonable point.

(4) The situation of sharp division between the rich and the poor isalready quite unpleasant. The policy made by the government must not make thissituation worse.

(5) Many people feel that they have been cast aside unfairly andbecome unimportant and powerless in the economy that information is of foremostvalue.

(6) It is these people who are in genuine need and .pay specialattention to the advantages that are to enjoy from such welfare as Medicare andSocial Security.

(7) Bush’s favorable policy for the poor may equip the Republicanswith the support from middle and low classes and thus help them with thesuccess in the House election in about over a year. If this is the case, theyowe their success to Bush’s policy.

2. Answer he following questions briefly and tothe point(13%)

(1) What does itmean by the title “A Nation Divided”?(3%)

(2) What is themain reason for the widening gap of income, according to the writer?(5%)

(3) How does thewriter propose to solve the problem?(5%)

【答案】

(1) It means that, as people in the U.S. are divided into two groups,the rich and the poor, U.S.A. is divided into two parts.

(2) The main reason is the development of high-tech informationeconomy, which enjoys rapid growth rate, high productivity and big profit. Thus,workers in this field can earn more wages. Gap of income will continue to widenas information industry is still growing rapidly.

(3) His proposal is as follows: firstly, to acquire more knowledgeand improve personal qualification so as to be well prepared for the digitaleconomy, for “what you earn depends on what you learn.” Secondly, governmentshould not do anything to hinder the middle and low class’s efforts to improvetheir life quality, but rather shoulder its responsibility to help the poor inthe form of welfare such as Medicare and Social Security.

II. Translate thefollowing into Chinese.(25%)

1. I can’t thank you enough.(2%)

【答案】 真是感激不尽。

2. He suggested to me that more was to begained than lost by full disclosure. I could not have agreed more.(2%)

【答案】 他建议我将此事完全公开，这样做更有好处。我很同意他的说法。

3. They could hardly have been more wrong.(2%)

【答案】 他们错得不能再错了。

4. The conspirators had ganged together,their confidence growing with their number.(2%)

【答案】 同谋者们聚集在了一起。随着人数的增加，他们的信心也在不断膨胀。

5. Greed of money is not one of his faults.(2%)

【答案】 他并不贪财。

6. The convention bought time; it could notbring settlement.(2%)

【答案】 这次会议只会耽误时间而不会有任何结果。

7. The treaty was approved by the Senate,with only one vote to spare.(2%)

【答案】 参议院以只有一张反对票的结果通过了这一条约。

8. We agree to disagree without beingdisagreeable.(2%)

【答案】 我们都认为和气议事。

9. His past is no more immune to scrutinythan anyone else’s. (2%)

【答案】 像其他人一样，他的过去也遭到了详细审查。

10. He knew that I knew that he guessedthat I had guessed “Mister Williams” was Bill Stephenson.(2%)

【答案】 对于我知道他已猜到我认为威廉姆先生就是比尔·斯蒂芬森这一点，他是充分了解的。

11. The novels of Terror, set in some vague but picturesque foreigncountry and in some vague but picturesque historic period, told of hauntedcastles and sinister monks and mysterious crimes and high-born villains intenton the ruin of high-born beautiful maidens.(5%)

【答案】 恐怖小说以某一不确定但独具风格的外域领土及历史阶段为背景，所讲述的是关于鬼魂出没的城堡，险恶的僧人，神秘的罪恶，以及出身上流社会的恶棍想方设法使高贵且美丽动人的少女堕落的故事。

III. Translate thefollowing passage into English.(40%)

秋风里的巴黎

一下飞机，已经感觉到了巴黎的秋末了，刮起了略寒的风，空气中水分很足，润润的。冷风突然叫我兴奋起来：我终于来到心向往之的世界最美的城市——巴黎。我轻轻地唤醒自己：“巴黎就在眼前”。

说到法国人，人们马上就会联想到他们的浪漫、幻想，联想到拿破仑，联想到伏尔泰，当然，也会想到《巴黎圣母院》中的美丽少女和善良的打钟人……

第二天，随“欧洲非常之旅”车队到凯旋门拍外景，一路上看到了熟悉的艾菲尔铁塔、卢浮宫、圣母院大教堂、还有很多叫不出名的古典建筑、博物馆和纪念馆。巴黎的著名景观很集中，有点像北京的天安门广场，站在一个地方向四周一看，全都是名胜古迹。

拍摄车队开车绕巴黎最著名的协和广场一圈，四周到处是著名景点。协和广场与凯旋门遥遥相对，两者以繁盛的香榭丽舍大道连接，广场一带的建筑物很古雅，衬托着这里的喷泉和铜像，充满欧洲的艺术色彩。矗立于广场中心的纪念碑，是1831年埃及“赠送”给法国的纪念碑。此座古迹有三千三百多年历史。从这里前往香榭丽舍大道，熙来攘往的车辆及远处的凯旋门，让人感受到蕴藏在这个繁闹大都市中的那一种难以形象的艺术魅力。面向凯旋门朝左前方眺望，还可以看到巴黎铁塔。

我们来到与铁塔同为法国巴黎象征的凯旋门。这是当年拿破仑为纪念法军战胜奥俄联军而建造的。凯旋门高45米，门顶是一个眺望台，可以看到香榭丽舍大道和12条以凯旋门为中心，向四面八方伸展的放射形大道的全景。门内则有一把永恒之火，是纪念1914年至1918年第一次世界大战为国捐躯的军人而点燃。

【参考译文】

Paris in the Wind of Autumn

On getting offthe plane, with the fairly cold wind and watery air, I had felt the late autumnin Paris. The cold wind made me excited: I had come to the most beautiful cityin the world that I had been dreaming about—Paris. Gently I called to myself, “Parisis before your eyes.”

Talking aboutFrenchmen, people will think instantly of their romantic and imaginativenature, Napoleon and Voltaire. Of course, people will also recall the beautifulmaiden and kind-hearted bell-ringer in The Hunchback of Notre-Dame...

The next day,following the motorcade of “Special Trip to Europe”, I came to the Arch ofTriumph for outdoor scene shooting. On the way I saw the familiar Eiffel Tower,the Louvre, Notre-Dame de Paris and many classic buildings, museums andmemorials whose names I could not tell. Like the Tian’an men Square in Beijing,the well-known scenic spots in Paris are centralized. If you stood at a certainplace, looking around, all that you could catch are scenic spots and historicsites.

The motorcadefor shooting drove around the most prestigious Place de la Concorde in Paris,which was surrounded by famous sights. The Place de la Concorde stood oppositethe Arch of Triumph and the two were linked by the prosperous Champs-ElyseesAvenue. The buildings around the square were classic and delicate, which setoff the fountains and bronze statues and colored everything with Europeanartistic flavor. The memorial in the center of the square, which was “presented”by Egypt in 1831, had a history of over 3300 years. If you are heading for theChamps-Elysees Avenue from here, the endless stream of vehicles and the farawayArch of Triumph will let you sense some unimaginable artistic charm concealedin the thriving and noisy metropolis. Facing the Arch of Triumph and lookingahead on the left, you could also see the Eiffel Tower.

We came to theArch of Triumph, which like Eiffel Tower, was also the symbol of Paris. It wasbuilt by Napoleon to commemorate the triumph of French army over the alliedarmies of Austria and Russia. The 45-meter high Arch of Triumph had a watchtowerat its top, from which you could have a glimpse of the Champs-Elysees Avenueand the twelve outreaching avenues stretching towards all directions from theircenter, the Eiffel Tower. Beneath the Arch of Triumph there was the eternalflame that was lighted to memorize those soldiers who sacrificed for thecountry during the First World War from 1914-1918. HvH4e3BBsOAqPtVbV7SHxyNfQ4k560BTvA5vUnwBSZstvT+2knk0KasCD2uzp8MZ