华中农业大学211翻译硕士英语考研真题及辅导用书

考研真题

1. 华中农业大学外国语学院《211翻译硕士英语》[专业硕士]历年考研真题

2. 2026年翻译硕士《211翻译硕士英语》考研真题与模拟题

考研指导书

1. 2026年翻译硕士《211翻译硕士英语》专用教材

2. 2026年翻译硕士《211翻译硕士英语》考研题库

华中农业大学外国语学院《211翻译硕士英语》[专业硕士]历年考研真题AI讲解

书籍目录

部分内容

2015年华中农业大学外国语学院211翻译硕士英语考研真题及详解

I. Vocabulary and
grammar (30′)

Section 1 Multiple
choice (20′)

Directions: Beneath
each sentence there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. Choose the answer
that best completes the sentence. Mark your answers on your answer sheet.

1．The
structure of the global economy _____ that developing nations put all their efforts into raising
cash—usually by exploring whatever virgin resources the industrial world might
desire.

A. dictates

B. regulates

C. allows

D. appeals

【答案】A

【解析】句意：全球经济结构要求发展中国家竭尽全力筹集资金，其方式通常是探索国家所渴望的原始资源。dictate命令；口述。regulate调节，规定。

2．He never felt that being disabled _____ him
of all moral responsibility to himself and his community.

A. released

B. relieved

C. removed

D. relied

【答案】B

【解析】句意：他从来没有感觉到身患残疾减轻了他对于自己及社区的道德责任。relieve sb. of减轻，缓解。

3．Hip replacement surgery is _____ joint replacement surgery in
the U.S.

A. the single
most frequent

B. the most single frequent

C. the single frequent

D. a single frequent

【答案】A

【解析】句意：髋关节置换手术是美国最常见的关节置换手术。这句话中single与最高级连用，表示强调。

4．Experimental sciences, based on the
observation of the external world, cannot aspire to completeness; the nature of
things, and the imperfection of our organs, _____.

A. are likely opposing it

B. are opposed to it and the like

C. are alike oppose it

D. are opposing it likewise

【答案】B

【解析】句意：实验科学基于对外部世界的观察，不能追求完整，因为事物的本质、人类器官的缺陷等都与之相对立。the like类似物，类似情况。be likely to
do很可能做某事。

5．I couldn’t sleep because the tap in the bathroom was _____.

A. draining

B. dropping

C. spilling

D. dripping

【答案】D

【解析】句意：浴室的水龙头一直在滴水，我睡不着。drip滴（水），滴下（液体）。drain排水；流干。spill溢出，流出。

6．Please put your empty cigarette packets and paper bags in
_____ bins provided.

A. junk

B. litter

C. scrap

D. deposit

【答案】B

【解析】句意：请把空烟盒和纸袋放到提供的垃圾桶里。选项中只有litter常用来与bin搭配，构成名词短语litter bin“垃圾箱”。junk表示“大块、零碎废物”。scrap表示“小片、废料、残余物”。

7．Once a picture is proved to be a forgery, it becomes quite _____.

A. invaluable

B. priceless

C. unworthy

D. worthless

【答案】D

【解析】句意：一旦一幅画被证明是伪造的，那么它就会一文不值。worthless意为“无价值的；不值钱的”，可作表语。invaluable和priceless都表示“无价的；非常贵重的”。unworthy只能做定语。

8．As the director can’t come to the reception, I’m representing
the company _____.

A. on his account

B. on his behalf

C. for his part

D. in his interest

【答案】B

【解析】句意：由于负责人不能来接待会，我以他的名义代表公司。on sb.’s behalf表示“以某人的名义，代表某人”。

9．Students at these schools test far below the state average in reading, and
their scores have improved only _____.

A. marginally

B. marvelously

C. martially

D. markedly

【答案】A

【解析】句意：这些学校的学生在测试中表现出的阅读能力远低于全国平均水平，他们的分数也仅仅勉强合格。marginally少量地；最低限度地。marvelously奇迹般地；不可思议地。martially勇敢地；好战地。markedly明显地；显著地。

10．Many
Fine Art graduates take _____ professional practices as artists, and this
course encourages them to
consider their role as artists in fine community by providing opportunities for
short-term placements outside the Faculty.

A. down

B. up

C. out

D. in

【答案】B

【解析】句意：许多美术毕业生开始作为艺术家从事专业实践，这个过程为他们提供了短期的校外生活，从而引导他们思考自己在社会中作为艺术家的角色。take up拿起；开始从事。take down记下；拿下。take out取出；去掉。take in吸收；领会。

11．The
fact is that motherhood makes the heaviest demands in _____ the areas of
least experience.

A. that it might be called

B. what might be called

C. which might be called

D. it might be called

【答案】B

【解析】句意：事实上，母亲身份在可能是“经验最少”的人群中提出了最繁多的要求。in是介词，后面应该接宾语，所以是宾语从句，宾语从句中又缺主语，因此引导词为what。

12．_____ sermons retained their preeminence in religious life during most of fine
twentieth century, they are gradually losing the central places as churches
devote more energy to social activities.

A. As

B. For

C. While

D. Although

【答案】D

【解析】句意：虽然在二十世纪的大部分时间里，布道在宗教生活中保持着卓越的地位，但是他们正在逐渐失去主导地位，因为教堂在社会活动中花费了很多精力。由前后两个分句的句意可知，应该填表示转折关系的词。

13．As a result, the mission of the school, along with the
culture of the classroom, _____.

A. was slowly to change

B. are slowly changed

C. is slowly changing

D. have slowly changed

【答案】C

【解析】句意：因此，学校的任务以及课堂文化在逐渐改变。along with连接前后两个主语时，谓语动词应和第一个主语保持一致。

14．There seemed little doubt that the spread of a particular
cultural trait did follow a specific regular pattern _____.

A. as a society adopted

B. which a society adopted it

C. as a society adopted it

D. when a society adopted

【答案】A

【解析】句意：一种特定文化特点的传播遵循一种社会所接受的特定的规律，这一点似乎毫无疑问。这里as引导了一个定语从句，修饰的是“a specific regular pattern”，as在这个定语从句中做宾语。

15．_____ a ticket for the match, he can now
only watch it on TV at home.

A. Obtaining not

B. Not obtaining

C. Not having obtained

D. Not obtained

【答案】C

【解析】句意：由于没有买到比赛的票，他现在只能呆在家里从电视上观看比赛。“没有买到票”这个动作发生在过去，对现在有一定的影响（呆在家里看电视），因此前半句的非谓语动词应该用现在完成时。

16．How can I ever concentrate if you _____ continually me
with silly questions?

A. have, interrupted

B. had, interrupted

C. are, interrupting

D. were, interrupted

【答案】C

【解析】句意：如果你不断地用一些无聊问题来妨碍我，我怎么能集中精力呢？从can和句意可知，这句话是指目前正在发生的事，不是虚拟语气。

17．As it turned out to be a small house party, we _____ so
formally.

A. need not have dressed up

B. must not have dressed up

C. did not need to dress up

D. must not dress up

【答案】A

【解析】句意：原来是一个小型的家庭聚会，我们原本没有必要穿得如此正式。turn out to be 意为“原来是；结果是”，表示到了那里才知道那是个小聚会，而我们已经穿着很正式的衣服去参加了，因此应该是“原本不需要做而做了”。

18．It
is not so much the language _____ the cultural background that makes the book difficult
to understand.

A. but

B. nor

C. as

D. like

【答案】C

【解析】句意：与其说是语言，倒不如说是文化背景使这本书难懂。not so much…as…与其说……不如说……。

19．He was _____ to tell the truth even to his closest friend.

A. too much
of a coward

B. too much the coward

C. a coward enough

D. enough of a coward

【答案】A

【解析】句意：他太胆小了，以至于不敢把真相告诉他最好的朋友。of加抽象名词相当于其对应的形容词。

20．Some people viewed the findings with caution, noting that a
cause-and-effect relationship between passive smoking and cancer remained _____.

A. to be shown

B. to have been shown

C. to have shown

D. being shown

【答案】A

【解析】句意：一些人十分谨慎地看待这些发现，因为他们注意到被动吸烟与癌症之间的因果关系仍有待研究。remain to be done表示有事情需要被做，动作尚未发生。

Section 2 Proofreading
&error correction (10′)

Directions: The
following passage contains TEN errors. Each indicated line contains a maximum
of ONE error. In each case, only ONE word is involved. You should proofread the
passage and correct it in the following way:

For a wrong word, underline the wrong word and write
the correct one in the blank provided at the end of the line.

For a missing word, mark the position of the missing
word with a “/\” sign and write the word you believe to be missing in the blank
provided at the end of the line.

For an unnecessary word, cross out the unnecessary
word with a slash “/” and put the word in the blank provided at the end of the
line.

Example

【答案与解析】

1．in→with

（带着某种感情应该用介词with。）

2．increasing→increasingly

（由于修饰favourite，因此应用副词形式increasingly。）

3．so→but

（前文说到“小麦价格在秋天通常很低”，后文说到“农民们等不到市场价格提高”，二者之间为转折关系。）

4．soon/ shortly

（soon与shortly意思重复，因此应去掉其中一个。）

5．just→only

（only
to do为固定搭配，意思是结果……，表示未曾料到的愉快或不愉快的结果。）

6．asked/\for

（这里的意思是生产组织“要求”政府进行更稳定的控制，因此用ask for。）

7．involving→involved

（involved意思是“有关的；卷入的”。这里的意思是“政府不想参与其中”。）

8．life→living

（living costs为固定搭配，意思是“生活费”。）

9．with/ handle→deal

（handle不可与with连用，因此可将with去掉或将handle改为deal。）

10．total→full/complete

（total有较强烈的计算意味，强调总量。）

II. Reading
comprehension (40′)

Section 1 Multiple
choice (20′)

Directions: In his
section there are two reading passage followed by multiple-choice questions. Read
the passages and then mark your answers on your answer sheet.

Passage A

Cooperative competition.
Competitive cooperation. Confused? Airline alliances have travelers scratching their heads over what s
going on in the skies. Some folks view alliances as a blessing to travelers,
offering seamless travel, reduced fares and enhanced frequent-flyer benefits.
Others see a conspiracy of big businesses, causing decreased competition,
increased fares and fewer choices. Whatever your opinion, there’s no escaping
airline alliances: the marketing hype is unrelenting, with each of the two
mega-groupings, Oneworld and Star Alliance, promoting itself as the best choice
for all travelers. And, even if you turn away from their ads, chances are they
will figure in any of your travel plans. By the end of the year, Oneworld and
Star Alliance will between them control more than 40% of the traffic in the
sky. Some pundits predict that figure will be more like 75% in 10 years.

But why, after years of often ferocious competition, have
airlines decided to band together? Let’s just say the timing is mutually
convenient. North American airlines, having exhausted all means of earning
customer loyalty at home, have been looking for ways to reach out to foreign
flyers. Asian carriers are still hurting from the region-wide economic downturn
that began two years ago-just when some of the airlines were taking delivery of
new aircraft. Alliances also allow carriers to cut costs and increase profits
by pooling manpower resources on the ground (rather than each airline
maintaining its own ground crew) and code-sharing-the practice of two partners
selling tickets and operating only one aircraft.

So alliances are terrific for airlines-but are they good
for the passenger? Absolutely, say the airlines: think of the lounges, the
joint FFP (frequent flyer programme) benefits, the round-the-world fares, and
the global service networks. Then there’s the promise of “seamless” travel: the
ability to, say, travel from Singapore to Rome to New York to Rio de Janeiro,
all on one ticket, without having to wait hours for connections or worry about
your bags. Sounds utopian? Peter Buecking, Cathay Pacific’s director of sales
and marketing, thinks that seamless travel is still evolving. “It’s fair to say
that these links are only in their infancy. The key to seamlessness rests in
infrastructure and information sharing. We’re working on this.” Henry Ma,
spokesperson for Star Alliance in Hong Kong, lists some of the other benefits
for consumers: “Global travellers have an easier time making connections and
planning their itineraries.” Ma claims alliances also assure passengers
consistent service standards.

Critics of alliances say the much-touted benefits to the
consumer are mostly pie in the sky, that alliances are all about reducing costs
for the airlines, rationalizing services and running joint marketing
programmes. Jeff Blyskal, associate editor of Consumer Reports magazine, says
the promotional ballyhoo over alliances is much ado about nothing. “I don’t see
much of a gain for consumers: alliances are just a marketing gimmick. And as
far as seamless travel goes, I’ll believe it when I see it. Most airlines can’t
even get their own connections under control, let alone coordinate with another
airline.”

Blyskal believes alliances will ultimately result in
decreased flight choices and increased costs for consumers. Instead of two
airlines competing and each operating a flight on the same route at 70%
capacity, the allied pair will share the route and run one full flight. Since
fewer seats will be available, passengers will be obliged to pay more for
tickets.

The truth about alliances and their merits probably lies
somewhere between the travel utopia presented by the players and the evil empires
portrayed by their critics. And how much they affect you depends on what kind
of traveler you are.

Those who’ve already made the elite grade in the FFP of a
major airline stand to benefit the most when it joins an alliance: then they
enjoy the FFP perks and advantages on any and all of the member carriers. For
example, if you’re a Marco Polo Club “gold” member of Cathay Pacific s Asia
Miles FFP, you will automatically be treated as a valuable customer by all
members of Oneworld, of which Cathay Pacific is a member-even if you’ve never
flown with them before.

For those who haven’t made the top grade in any FFP,
alliances might be a way of simplifying the earning of frequent flyer miles.
For example, I belong to United Airline s Mileage Plus and generally fly less
than 25, 000 miles a year. But I earn miles with every flight I take on Star
Alliance member-All Nippon Airways and Thai Airways.

If you fly less than I do, you might be smarter to stay out
of the FFP game altogether. Hunt for bargains when booking flights and you
might be able to save enough to take that extra trip anyway. The only real
benefit infrequent flyers can draw from an alliance is an inexpensive
round-the-world fare.

The bottom line: for all the marketing hype, alliances
aren’t all things to all people-but everybody can get some benefit out of them.

1．Which is the best word to describe air travelers’ reaction to
airline alliances?

A. Delight.

B. Indifference.

C. Objection.

D. Puzzlement.

2．According to the
passage, setting up airline alliances will chiefly benefit _____.

A. North American airlines and their domestic travelers

B. North American airlines and their foreign counterparts

C. Asian airlines and their foreign travelers

D. Asian airlines and their domestic travelers

3．Which of the following is NOT a perceived advantage of
alliances?

A. Baggage allowance.

B. Passenger comfort.

C. Convenience.

D. Quality.

4．One disadvantage of alliances foreseen by the
critics is that air travel may be more expensive as a result of _____.

A. less convenience

B. higher operation costs

C. less competition

D. more joint marketing

5．According to the passage, which of the following categories of travelers will gain
most from airline alliances?

A. Travelers who fly frequently economy class.

B. Travelers who fly frequently business class.

C. Travelers who fly occasionally during holidays.

D. Travelers who fly economy class once in a while.

【答案与解析】

1．D  由文章开头的“Cooperative competition. Competitive cooperation. Confused?”可知，乘客们对航空公司结盟的态度是困惑的。

2．B  由第二段可知，建立航空联盟可以“allow carriers to cut costs and increase profits”，其中的carriers指的是前文提到的北美航空公司和亚洲的航空公司。

3．A  文中第三段谈到了结盟的优点有“without having to wait hours for connections or worry about
your bags”并提出“assure passengers consistent service standards”，选项A“行李津贴”没有在文中提及。

4．C  短文第五段第二句说“Instead of two airlines competing and each operating a
flight on the same route at 70% capacity, the allied pair will share the route
and run one full flight.”由此可见，联合将最终导致票价上涨，因为联合的两个公司将共享路线，载满乘客，而不是互相竞争。

5．B  倒数第四段中提到“Those who’ve already made the elite grade in the FFP of a
major airline stand to benefit the most when it joins an alliance”，而已经达到“elite grade”的人是那些经常乘坐商务舱的人。

Passage B

Despite Denmark’s manifest virtues, Danes never
talk about how proud they are to be Danes. This would sound weird in Danish. When Danes talk to
foreigners about Denmark, they always begin by commenting on its tininess, its unimportance, the difficulty of
its language, the general small mindedness and self-indulgence of their
countrymen and the high taxes. No Dane would look you in the eye and say,
“Denmark is a great country.” You’re supposed to figure this out for yourself.

It is the land of the silk safety net, where almost half
the national budget goes toward something out life’s inequalities, and there is
plenty of money for schools, day care, retraining programs, job seminars—Danes
love seminars: three days at a study center hearing about waste management is
almost as good as a ski trip. It is a culture bombarded by English, in
advertising, pop music, the Interact, and despite all the English that Danish
absorbs—there is no Danish Academy to defend against it—old dialects persist in
Jutland that can barely be understood by Copenhageners. It is the land where,
as the saying goes, “Few have too much and fewer have too little,” and a
foreigner is struck by the sweet egalitarianism that prevails, where the
lowliest clerk gives you a level gaze, where Sir and Madame have disappeared
from common usage, even Mr. and Mrs. it’s a nation of recyclers—about 55 % of
Danish garbage gets made into something new—and no nuclear power plants. It’s a
nation of tireless planners. Trains run on time. Things operate well in
general.

Such a nation of overachievers—a brochure from the Ministry
of Business and Industry says, “Denmark is one of the world’s cleanest and most
organized countries, with virtually no pollution, crime, or poverty. Denmark is
the most corruption-free society in the Northern Hemisphere.” So, of course,
one’s heart lifts at any sighting of Danish sleaze: skinhead graffiti on
buildings (“Foreigners Out of
Denmark!”), broken beer bottles in the gutters, drunken teenagers slumped
in the park.

Nonetheless, it is an orderly land. You drive through a
Danish town, it comes to an end at a stone wall, and on the other side is a
field of barley, a nice clean line: town here, country there. It is not a
nation of jaywalkers. People stand on the curb and wait for the red light to
change, even if it’s 2 a. m. and there’s not a car in sight. However, Danes
don’t think of themselves as a waiting at-2-a, m.-for-the-green-light
people—that’s how they see Swedes and Germans. Danes see themselves as jazzy
people, improvisers, more free spirited than Swedes, but the truth is (though
one should not say it) that Danes are very much like Germans and Swedes.
Orderliness is a main selling point. Denmark has few natural resources, limited
manufacturing capability; its future in Europe will be as a broker, banker, and
distributor of goods. You send your goods by container ship to Copenhagen, and
these bright, young, English-speaking, utterly honest, highly disciplined
people will get your goods around to Scandinavia, the Baltic States, and
Russia. Airports, seaports, highways, and rail lines are ultramodern and
well-maintained.

The orderliness of the society doesn’t mean that Danish
lives arc less messy or lonely than yours or mine, and no Dane would tell you
so. You can hear plenty about bitter family feuds and the sorrows of alcoholism
and about perfectly sensible people who went off one day and killed themselves.
An orderly society cannot exempt its members from the hazards of life.

But there is a sense of entitlement and security that Danes
grow up with. Certain things are yours by virtue of citizenship, and you
shouldn’t feel bad for taking what you’ re entitled to, you’ re as good as
anyone else. The roles of the welfare system are clear to everyone, the
benefits you get if you lose your job, the steps take to get a new one; and the
orderliness of the system makes it possible for the country to weather high
unemployment and social unrest without a sense of crisis.

6．The author thinks that Danes adopt a _____ attitude towards
their country.

A. boastful

B. modest

C. deprecating

D. mysterious

7．Which of the following is NOT a Danish characteristic cited
in the passage?

A. Fondness of foreign culture.

B. Equality in society.

C. Linguistic tolerance.

D. Persistent planning.

8．The author’s reaction to the statement by the Ministry of
Business and Industry is _____.

A. disapproving

B. approving

C. noncommittal

D. doubtful

9．According to the
passage, Danish orderliness _____.

A. sets the people apart from Germans and Swedes

B. spares Danes social troubles besetting other people

C. is considered economically essential to the country

D. prevents Danes from acknowledging existing troubles

10．At the end of the
passage the author states all the following EXCEPT that _____.

A. Danes are clearly informed of their social benefits

B. Danes take for granted what is given to them

C. the open system helps to tide the country over

D. orderliness has alleviated unemployment

【答案与解析】

6．C  由第一段“When Danes talk to foreigners about Denmark, they always
begin by commenting on its tininess, its unimportance, the difficulty of its
language…”可知，丹麦人对自己的国家不满意。

7．A  从第二段中“almost half the national budget goes toward smoothing out
life’s inequalities”等可以看出，丹麦是一个平等的社会，所以B正确。从第二段“and despite all the English…by Copenhageners.”可知，丹麦人容忍英语和本地方言并存，所以C正确。从第四段讲丹麦是一个orderly land可知，丹麦是一个善于规划的，有秩序的国家，所以D正确。

8．D  工商部认为丹麦是世界上最干净，最有秩序的国家，没有污染，没有犯罪与贫穷等等，作者并没有直接地表达自己的态度，而是列举了一些与这些内容相反的社会现象，由此可知，作者是持怀疑的态度。

9．D  第4段中提到“Orderliness is a main selling point…ultramodern and
well-maintained.”所以丹麦的这种井然有序对与这样一个资源短缺，生产力受限的国家来说，对这个国家的经济至关重要。

10．D 由本段第三句“The rules of the welfare system are clear to
everyone…”，可排除选项A。由第二句中的“…you shouldn’t feel bad for taking what you’re
entitled to…”可排除选项B。由最后一句“the orderliness of the system makes it possible
for the country to weather high unemployment and social unrest without a sense
of crisis.”可排除选项C。本段并没有提到“井然有序的社会秩序有可能减轻失业问题”，故答案选D。

Section 2 Answering
questions (20′)

Directions: Read the
following passages and then answer IN COMPLETE SENTENCES the questions which
follow each passage. Use only information from the passage you have just read
and write your answer in the corresponding space in your answer sheet.

Questions 1~2

Modern women may be better educated, have better jobs and
earn more money than their grandmothers ever dream of, but in one way the life
remains the same—eight out of ten women still do the household chores.

Only 1 percent of men
say they do the washing and ironing or decide what to have for dinner. The only area where average man is more likely
to help out is with small repairs around the house.

The report Social Focus on Women and Men, by the Office for
National Statistics, found that attitudes to women working have changed
drastically over the past decade. Whereas in 1987 more than half of men and 40
per cent of women agreed with the statement, “A husband’s job is to earn the
money, a wife’s job is to look after the home and family”, that view had halved
among both sexes by 1994.

The numbers agreeing strongly with the statement, “A job is
all right but what most women really want is a home and children”, had also
halved from 15 per cent to 7 per cent of men feeling that way and 12 per cent
to 5 per cent of women.

Women’s increased participation in the world of work has
been one of the most striking features of recent decades. Nearly half of all
women aged 55 to 59 have no qualifications. But their granddaughters are
outperforming their male peers across the board, and from 1989 overtook boys at
A-levels.

Gender stereotypes persist at this level of education,
however, with more than three-fifths of English entrants being female, while a
similar proportion of maths entrants are male. A greater number of boys take
physics and chemistry whereas girls predominate in social sciences and history.

The explosion in higher education means there was a 66 per
cent increase in number of female undergraduates and a 50 per cent increase in
the number of male undergraduates between1990-91 and 1995-96.

Women are also making breakthroughs in specific areas of
employment. Women now form a slight majority among new solicitors although they
make up only one-third of all solicitors. Since 1984 the number of women in
work has risen by 20 per cent to 10.5 million.

But when it comes to pay, they still lag behind their male
peers. Women earn on average 80 per of what men do per hour. They are also far
more likely to work part-time or with temporary contracts.

Part of the reason for this is because women still take the
main role in childcare, although they are more likely to work than in the past.
The number of mothers with children under five doubled between 1973 and 1996.
And the number of women who return to work within nine to eleven months of the
birth increased dramatically. In 1974, only 24 per cent of women returned in
this period compared with 67 per cent in 1996.

The relationship between the sexes has also seen changes.
Seven in ten first marriages are now preceded by cohabitation compared with
only one in twenty first marriages in the mid-1960s. Since 1992 women in their
early thirties have been more likely to give birth than those in their early
twenties, although the fertility rate is still highest among those aged 25 to
29.

1．What are gender stereotypes? List the gender
stereotypes at the level of higher education discussed in the passage.

2．What are the major
changes concerning the status of women in Britain?

【答案与解析】

1．Men perform better in maths, chemistry and
physics, while women in English, social sciences and history.

（题目要求列举在高等教育中存在的性别刻板印象。第六段中提到多数女性选择学习英语，男性选择数学。更多的男孩学习物理和化学，而女孩则是社会科学和历史。）

2．The total number of women with a job increased
and women make breakthrough in specific areas.

（题目要求列举女性地位的主要变化。由第五段可知，女性在工作领域的参与度提高。倒数第四段提到，女性在特定就业领域也有所突破。）

Questions 3~5

Most of us tell one or
two lies a day, according to scientists who study these things. And we rarely get caught, because the lies we tell are
usually little ones “I got stuck in traffic.” “That color looks good on you.”
“I was just about to call.”

But even the smallest fib may soon be systematically
exposed, at least in the virtual world. Researchers at several universities are
developing software that can detect lies in online communications such as
instant messages e-mails and chat rooms. The ability to spot “digital
deception”, as researchers call it, has never been more crucial. Today, much of
our business and social life is conducted online, making us increasingly
vulnerable. White collar criminals, sexual predators, scammers, identity
thieves and even terrorists surf the same Web as the rest of us.

Conventional lie detectors look for physiological signs of
anxiety—a bead of sweat or a racing pulse but online systems examine only the
liar’s Wolds. “When we’re looking at language, we’re looking at the tool of the
lie,” says Jeff Hancock, an assistant professor of communication and a member
of the faculty of computing and information science at Cornell University.

Hancock, who recently received a $680,000 grant from the
National Science Foundation to study digital deception, says there is a growing
body of evidence that the language of dishonest messages is different than that
of honest ones. For example, one study led by Hancock and due to be published
this spring in Discourse Processes found that deceptive e-mail messages
contained 28 percent more words on average and used a higher percentage of
words associated with negative emotions than did truthful messages. Liars also
tend to use fewer first-person references (such as the pronoun “I”) and more
third-person references (such as “he” and “they”). This may be the liar’s
subconscious way of distancing himself from his lie.

More surprising, Hancock and his colleagues have observed
that the targets of liars also exhibit distinctive language patterns. For
instance, people who are being deceived often use shorter sentences and ask
more questions. Even though they may not be aware that they are being lied to,
people seem to exhibit subconscious suspicions.

To identity the patterns of deceit, Hancock has developed
an instant-messaging system at Cornell that asks users to rate the
deceptiveness of each message they send. The system has already collected
10,000 messages, of which about 6 percent qualify as patently deceptive.
Eventually the results will be incorporated into software that analyzes
incoming messages.

For now, the Cornell researchers are working only with the
kinds of lies told by students and faculty. It remains to be seen whether such
a system can be scaled up to handle “big” lies, such as messages sent by con
artists and terrorists.

Fortunately, the research so far suggests that people lie
less often in e-mail than face-to-face or on the phone. Perhaps this is because
people are reluctant to put their lies in writing, Hancock speculates. “An
e-mail generates multiple copies,” he says. “It will last longer than something
carved in rock.” So choose your words carefully. The internet may soon be rid
not only deceit but also of lame excuses.

3．List
one of the differences between false pretences and unfeigned messages,
according to Hancock’s study.

4．Why does Hancock
need the rating results of the message deceptiveness?

5．Why do people lie less in e-mail messages
than confronting with each other according to Hancock’s speculation?

【答案与解析】

3．According to Hancock’s study, false pretences contains
fewer first-person references and more third-person references.

（第四段中提到了三个二者的区别，与真实信息相比，虚假信息“contained 28 percent more words on average”，而且“use a higher percentage of words associated with negative
emotions”，并且“use fewer first-person references and more
third-person references”。）

4．Because he wants to identity
the patterns of deceit.

（由倒数第三段第一句可知，他这样做的原因是“to identity the patterns of deceit”）

5．Because an e-mail
last longer and people do not want to make lies in writing.

（由最后一段可知，人们在邮件中撒谎较少的原因是邮件保存的时间更长，人们不愿将谎言写下来。）

III. Writing (30′)

Read the following
two paragraphs with contradicting views, and write a passage on the issue. You
should clearly state your opinion and explain the reasons for your opinion. You
should write about 400 words.

Tablets are the ideal
system of organization in schools. They are convenient, in which much information is stored in small sizes and kept
together in one place, and cheap, as digital information is now becoming more
affordable than print. As evolution continues to rock the modern world, digital
devices will become more and more reliable. Someday, they will entirely replace
print books, and hopefully, that day will come soon.

Many may argue that tablets are much more convenient than
paper books. But not everyone shares this preference of tablets or finds them
convenient. In fact, in a study conducted by Book Industry Study Group (BISG),
it was found that 75% of college students preferred traditional textbooks in
which they can highlight the key words and write notes. Also, some may suggest
that it is cheaper to invest in tablets than textbooks. In fact, in a 2008
study of public schools in Kentucky it was estimated that the cost of textbooks
and supplies totaled around $44 million. The cost per school was around $988
for textbooks and supplies. That is roughly the cost of only two tablets. To
provide tablets to all the students in a school would be an enormous sum.
Therefore, we may conclude that while tablets have their purposes, they should
not replace the printed books used in schools.

【参考范文】

Printed books have been available
for thousands of years. They are an important media for man to pass on culture,
knowledge and history from generation to generation. In recent years, however,
with the rapid development of e-books, many people argue that traditional printed
books will be replaced by e-books. Nevertheless, I believe that printed books
should never be replaced.

The most well-known printed books act as textbooks, which are
important friends for students. Some students often complain that printed books
are heavy and hard to carry, whereas, these books are quite convenient for
students to take notes and easy to locate points and review. But for learners of
e-books, it is not convenient for us to write down our inspiration in time.
Additionally, tablets with multifunction tend to distract us from learning. Printed
books provide readers a special atmosphere of learning. Paper books can provide
a platform where students can place much more emphasis on learning.

In light of the investment, printed books are much cheaper,
compared with the high price and maintenance fees of electronic devices. High
quality electronic products are expensive, which is very likely to be a burden
to ordinary families. At the same time, the software should be continuously updated,
thus tablets set higher requirements on corresponding technology. Schools
usually face difficulties in collecting sufficient information and making
effective management, so the work is doubled. It is much more convenient to
continue to use the current printed book system. In a word, limited budget will
restrict tablets’ popularization to a large extent.

Another important problem lies in the bad influence on
health. There is no doubt that students’ poor eyesight is closely attached to
the frequent exposure to digital devices, one of which is tablet. Most students
use mobile phones and computers after school, which cause great damage to their
eyesight. If they even use digital devices in school, the bad effect will be
more severe and they. Besides, it has been wildly accepted that the radiation generated
from tablets is detrimental to physical body. The young children are not
supposed to expose to it too often. By comparison, print textbooks are more
moderate and more protective in the study.

In conclusion, it is beyond doubt that paper books are more
convenient than tablets. Traditional books have irreplaceable advantages in
pursuing the essence of learning, and they are friendlier to our health.

【解析】

题干提供了两段观点相反的材料，要求就材料中的问题陈述自己的观点并给出理由。第一段材料认为平板电脑比纸质书优点多，可以取代纸质书；第二段认为大多数大学生更喜欢纸质书，而且平板电脑的成本太高，很难在学校里普及。

范文的观点是纸质书不会被平板电脑所取代。第一段作者简要陈述了现状并提出了自己的观点。第二段提出，纸质书比电子书使用方便，更容易记笔记和翻阅。第三段提出，平板电脑的资金投入高，而且维护成本高。第四段提出，电子设备危害孩子的眼睛和身体健康。最后一段，作者对全文进行了简要总结。

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