Test for Interpreters of Level 1
Speeches for Consecutive Interpreting
Transcripts for the Recorded Speeches
Part I
Interpret the following passages from English into Chinese. Start interpreting at the signal and stop at the signal. You may take notes while you are listening. You will hear each passage only once. Now let’s begin.
Passage 1 下面你将听到的是一段对联合国前秘书长安南的评论。
Whatever disadvantages Ban Ki-moon, the new Secretary-General, brings with
him, he at least lacks the baggage that burdened Kofi Annan heading out of the door.
Mr Annan took the top job at the UN a decade ago, already battered from his years in
charge of UN peacekeeping, after the organization (and everybody else) failed to stop
the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. He leaves weighed down by a miserable relationship
with the world’s most powerful country.
Mr. Annan’s record, inevitably, is a mixed one. Enjoying few powers of his own,
the Secretary-General has influence only when strong states cooperate. Last week he
used a talk in Missouri to scold America for not working better with other countries.
He referred repeatedly to Harry Truman, quoting the former president as saying that
“no matter how great our strength, we must deny ourselves the license to do always as we please.”
In some areas Mr. Annan and the superpower have been of one mind. The UN can
claim significant successes in encouraging Nigeria to give up military rule and in
deploying a peacekeeping force to East Timor. On Mr. Annan’s watch, the UN also
contributed to peace efforts in Congo, Sierra Leone, Liberia and elsewhere. In 2001,
Mr. Annan and the organization picked up a Nobel peace prize. At other times Mr.
Annan’s office and the White House agreed on what should be done, but achieved
little. In Sudan, Mr. Annan wants the deployment of a powerful UN peacekeeping
force. Darfur is a case study for his principle of the “responsibility to protect”.
Although the member states endorsed his idea at a summit in late 2005, in the absence
of a standing army deployed by the Secretary-General, or of substantial military
support from member states, his idea has yet translated into anything meaningful.
But Mr. Annan experienced his greatest difficulties when in opposition to the
United States. After America and its allies failed to get Security Council endorsement
for the 2003 invasion of Iraq, hostility towards Mr. Annan grew in Washington, DC.
By September 2004 Mr. Annan was openly calling the invasion of Iraq illegal, which
in turn provoked complaints from Republicans that he was trying to influence that
year’s American presidential election. Some of Mr. Annan’s American critics called
for his removal as Secretary-General and cast around for sticks to beat him with. Late
in 2005, an American investigation into the UN’s oil-for-food program in Iraq
concluded that waste, inefficiency and corruption had cost billions of dollars and
could be blamed in part on UN staff at headquarters and in the field, though it failed
to show any evidence that Mr. Annan himself was involved.
Given such frosty relations and the ongoing debacle in Iraq, it is perhaps
remarkable that there have since been any substantial attempts at cooperation at all.
Yet the UN and America have striven to find the killers of a former Lebanese prime
minister; there is joint opposition to nuclear proliferation, for example, in Iran; and, as
mentioned, there is a shared approach to Sudan. And in a conciliatory gesture, also
last week, Mr. Annan used a speech to the UN to express sympathy with the notion
widely held in America that the organization, especially its General Assembly, is too
often mindlessly opposed to Israel. Such efforts to reach out to America, along with
the removal of John Bolton as America’s representative at the UN, may mean a
friendlier start for Mr. Ban in 2007. And that may, possibly, mean a greater chance of
getting America’s help for protecting the weak in Darfur and elsewhere.
Passage 2 下面你将听到的是一段有关食品安全的讲话。
Ten years ago, food safety was not on many people’s mind in Europe. We all expected our food to be safe, not only because it generally was safe, but also because incidences of chemical or microbiological contamination were local in nature. What a contrast with the present. Today, food safety is one of the highest priority issues for consumers, producers and governments alike, all over Europe.
What has caused this change? The occurrence of mad cow disease, of course,
which brought with it the link to the terrible and fatal disease, created a widespread
and deep-set unease about meat products. To date, the consequences of mad cow
disease are felt across Europe and beyond.
The recent occurrence of foot-and-mouth disease and other incidents let European
consumers wake up to the reality that the trade in food and farm products is truly
international. They are starting to discover the intricate network of international trade
that underlies the food industry and brings products to supermarket shelves.
Between the 1950s and 1980s, we saw tremendous improvements in the safety of
the food we eat in Europe. What we can call the “first wave” of food safety measures
came with the sterilization of milk and milk products and the introduction of rigid and
effective hygiene systems in the production chain, mainly from the dairy and the
abattoir to the supermarket. The “second wave” of food safety measures came with
the widespread introduction of the hazard control system for the production chain.
Yet, since the early 1980s, we have seen a marked increase in the reports of
food-borne diseases, resulting from chemical contamination. This situation, and
associated loss of public confidence, suggest that something has gone wrong. We need
a “third wave” of food safety measures. This third wave must focus on the direct risk
to humans. We need to begin with the epidemiology of food-borne diseases and track
them back through the food chain, all the way to the farm.
It means building up the capacity — and making effective use of expertise in
assessing risks to human health. It means building up capacity for epidemiological
tracking and mapping of food-related diseases. It means improving our data collection
efforts for both the pathogens in the food and human disease.
And it will mean that officials concerned with agricultural productivity, and
officials responsible for the health of populations, work together. Not only must they
communicate. They must collaborate closely so that they can quickly trace back each
incident of suspected food-borne disease to its source, analyze the size and geography
of the problem and suggest both short- and long-term remedial measures.
This all calls for political action. People — both as consumers and producers —
expect their government officials to work together for the common good. Not only do
they expect their politicians to make sure that government works in the primary
interests of those who consume food: they also expect politicians to take action based
on expert evidence.
This will mean a restructuring of agricultural ministries so that they move beyond
a primary focus on economic issues. They need to represent the interests of the whole
community — producers, processors and consumers. This kind of transformation
will make for a healthier base for the future of the industry.
It will also mean that ministries of health have to take interest in, and give priority
to, action to monitor and prevent food-borne illness. They would need to strengthen
their food safety resources and improve collaboration with other ministries. An
incident of suspected food poisoning should no longer just be seen by doctors as a
temporary health problem. It should be considered as a possible symptom of the
break-down in the food-safety system.
Part II
Interpret the following passages from Chinese into English. Start
interpreting at the signal and stop at the signal. You may take notes while you are
listening. You will hear each passage only once. Now let’s begin.
Passage 1 下面你将听到的是一段有关中国经济发展的讲话。
在刚刚过去的一年里，中国经济保持了发展势头，增长较快、效益较好。国
内生产总值达到 2.6 万亿美元，比去年增长 10.7%;城镇新增就业人数达 1184
万人，比去年增长了 22%;全年进出口总额 1.76 万亿美元，比上一年增长 23.8%。
回头看看，从 2003 年开始以来这四年，世界经济的年均增长率为 4.8%，通货膨
胀率年均 3.7%，发展态势良好。在这样的国际经济环境下，中国经济的增长率
连续四年保持在 10%左右，通货膨胀率为年均 2.1%。这些数据表明，中国经济
与世界经济是密切相关的。中国经济的发展离不开世界，世界经济的发展同样需
要中国。
同时，我们也清醒地知道，中国的经济和社会发展仍然面临着许多困难和问
题。我国的人均GDP现在是 2000 美元，排名在世界 100 位之后。中国的城镇乡
村还有两三千万贫困人口，诸如投资消费不协调、不同地区之间发展差距较大等
矛盾还很突出，中国的现代化建设还有很长的路要走。努力改变这种状况，是中
国当前面临的主要问题。目前，中国的工业化、城镇化进程正在加快，人民收入
水平和消费结构在不断升级。投资和消费对经济增长一直起着主要的拉动作用，
巨大的国内需求和广阔的国内市场是中国经济发展的持续动力所在。
2007 年，中国完全有可能继续保持良好的发展势头。我们的宏观调控和管
理将进一步完善。中国实行改革开放已经 30 年了。深化改革是发展生产力的强
大动力，为中国经济社会发展提供了体制保障。坚定不移地推进改革开放，将贯
穿中国现代化建设的全过程。我们对中国的未来充满信心。
Passage 2 下面你将听到的是一段建设社会主义新农村的讲话。
最近，社会各界高度关注的一个话题就是建设社会主义新农村。中央一直非
常重视农村问题。从今年起，我国全部取消农业税，中央财政支农资金达到 3400
亿元。下面，我想谈一谈关于建设社会主义新农村的三个重要考虑。
第一，建设社会主义新农村就是把农业和农村工作放在现代化建设全局的更
加突出的位置。为了实现这一目标，工业应该反哺农业，城市应该支持农村，促
进农村的小康和农业的现代化。加强农业和农村建设十分关键，这一步棋走好了，
就能够带动内需和消费，从而使中国的经济发展建立在更加坚实的基础上。
第二，建设社会主义新农村的着眼点是发展现代农业，提高农业的综合生产
能力，我们之所以提出要加强农村基础设施建设，就是为了改善农民的生产和生
活条件。
第三，建设社会主义新农村必须坚持两条基本原则，一是保障农民的民主权
利，特别是土地承包经营的自主权，要尊重农民的意愿，不搞强迫命令，二是让
农民得到实实在在的利益，要把提高农民的物质文化生活水平贯穿始终，要讲究
实效，不搞形式主义。
中国农民问题的核心是土地问题，中国的农村改革最重要的是实行了家庭承
包经营，土地所有权属于集体，但生产和经营权属于农民。在中国，必须实行最
严格的耕地保护制度，必须保护农民对土地生产经营的自主权，占用农民土地必
须给予应有的补偿。必须依法严惩那些违背法律强占乱占农民土地的人，中国通
过改革，特别是农村改革，成功地解决了 13 亿人口的吃饭问题，消除了两亿多
人口的贫困，中国的发展稳定是对世界繁荣与和平的重大贡献。
上一篇：翻译资格考试大纲（笔译及口译）
