2005
年
11
月英语二级《笔译实务》试题
Section 1: English-Chinese Translation
(英译汉)
Part A Compulsory Translation
(必译题)
Hans Christian Andersen was Denmark's most famous native son. Yet even after his fairy tales won
him fame and fortune, he feared he would be forgotten. He need not have worried. This weekend,
Denmark
began
eight
months
of
celebrations
to
coincide
with
the
bicentenary
of
his
birth,
and
Denmark is eager that the world take note as it sets out to define the pigeon-holed writer in its own
way.
The festivities began in Copenhagen on Saturday, Andersen's actual birthday, with a lively show of
music,
dance,
lights
and
comedy
inspired
by
his
fairy
tales
before
a
crowd
of
40,000
people
--
including Queen Margrethe II and her family -- at the Parken National Stadium. The opening, called
Once Upon a Time, will be followed by a slew of concerts, musicals, ballets, exhibitions, parades
and education programs costing over US$40 million.
So more than in recent memory, Danes -- and, they hope, foreigners -- will be reliving the humor,
pain
and
lessons
to
be
found
in
evergreen
stories
like
The
Little
Mermaid,
The
Emperor's
New
Clothes, The Ugly Duckling, The Little Match-Seller, The Steadfast Tin Soldier, The Shadow, The
Princess and the Pea and others of Andersen's 150 or so fairy tales.
In organizing this extravaganza, of course, Denmark is also celebrating itself. After all, Andersen is
still this country's most famous native son. Trumpeting his name and achievements not only draws
attention to Denmark's contribution to world
culture, but could
also woo more foreign tourists to
visit his birthplace in the town of Odense and to be photographed beside the famous bronze statue
of the Little Mermaid in Copenhagen's harbor.
And Denmark has even more in mind. Local guardians of the Andersen legacy evidently feel his
stories have lost ground in recent years to the likes of J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings and J.K.
Rowling’s Harry Potter. Andersen's fairy tales may remain central to the Danish identity, serving as
homespun guides to the vagaries of human behavior, but what about the rest of the world?
"What we really need is a rebirth of Andersen," noted Lars Seeberg, secretary general of the Hans
Christian Andersen 2005 Foundation. "Two centuries after his birth, he still fails to be universally
acknowledged as the world-class author he no doubt was.
Part B Optional Translation
(二选一题)
Topic 1
(选题一)
Independent Information and Analysis from the USA
The Gap Between Rich and Poor Widened in U.S. Capital Washington D.C. ranks first among the
40 cities with the widest gap between the poor and the rich, according to a recent report released by
the D.C. Fiscal
Policy
Institute on July 22nd.
The top
20 percent
of households
in
D.C.
have an
average
yearly
income
of
$186,830,
31
times
that
of
the
bottom
20
percent,
which
earns
only
$6,126
per
year.
The
income
gap
is
also
big
in
Atlanta
and
Miami,
but
the
difference
is
not
as
pronounced.
The
report
also
indicates
that
the
widening
gap
occurred
mainly
during
the
1990s.
Over
the
last
decade, the average income of the top 20 percent of households has grown 36 percent, while the
average income of the bottom 20 percent has only risen 3 percent.
"I believe the concentration of the middle- to high-income families in the D.C. area will continue,
therefore, the income gap between rich and poor will be hard to bridge," David Garrison told the
Washington Observer. Garrison is a senior researcher with the Brookings Institution, specializing in
the study of the social and economic policies in the greater Washington D.C. area.
The report attributed the persistent income gap in Washington to the area's special job opportunities,