翻译考试历年中级口译真题(7)_第9页

Questions 21~25
      I got used, too, to my employer's violent changes of front. There was one morning when Siegfried came down to breakfast, rubbing a hand wearily over red- rimmed eyes.

      “Out at 2 a. m. ,” he groaned, buttering his toast listlessly, “And I don't like to have to say this, James, but it's all your fault.”

      “My fault?” I said, startled.

      “Yes lad, your fault.The farmer has a sick cow for several days and at 2 o'clock this morning he finally decided to call the vet. When I pointed out it could have waited a few hours more he said Mr. Herriot told him never to hesitate to ring—he'd come out any hour of the day or night.”

      He tapped the top of  his egg as though the effort was almost too much for him. “Well, it's all very well being conscientious and all that, but if a thing has waited several days it can wait till  morning. You're spoiling these chaps, James, and  I'm  getting the backwash  of it. I'm sick and tired of being dragged out of bed for trifles.”

      “I'm truly sorry,  Siegfried. I honestly had no wish to do that to you. Maybe it s just  my inexperience. If I didn't go out, I  d be worried the animal might die. If I left it till morning and it died, how would I feel?”

      “That s all right,” snapped Siegfried. “There's nothing like a dead animal to bring them to their senses. They'll call us out a bit earlier next time.”

      I absorbed this bit of advice and tried to act on it. A week later, Siegfried said he wanted a work with me.

      “James, I know you won't  mind my  saying this, but  old  Sumner  was complaining to me today. He says he rang you the other night and you refused to come out to his cow. He's a good client, you know, and a very nice fellow, but he was quite shirty about it. We don t want to lose a chap like that.”

      “But it was just a chronic mastitis,” I said' A bit of thickening in the milk, that's all. He d been dosing it himself for nearly a week with some quack remedy. The cow was eating all right, so I thought it would be quite safe to leave it till next day.”

      Siegfried put a hand on my shoulder and an excessively patient look spread over his face. I steeled myself. I didn't mind his impartience, I was used to it and could stand it. But the patience was hard to take.

      “James,”he said  in a gentle voice,“there is one fundamental rule in our job which transcends all others, and I'll tell you what it is. YOU MUST ATTEND. That is it and it ought to be written on your on your soul in letters of  fire.”

21. Siegfried was not at his best on one morning because _____________.
   (A) his breakfast was not to his liking
   (B) he had been called out during the night
   (C) he had been woken up early for breakfast
   (D) the farmer hadn't tried to cure the cow himself
22. According to the passage, who was the young vet?
   (A) James.                     (B) Siegfried.
   (C) Sumner                    (D) Mr. Herrioson
23. James thought it was all right to leave Summer's cow till next day because _____________.
   (A) that was what Siegfried had advised
   (B) Sumner had said there was no urgency
   (C) He knew he could do nothing to save the animal
   (D) Sumner never paid his bills on time
24. “You must attend ” (last paragraph) in the context of the passage means “_________”.
   (A) You must follow your conscience
   (B) You must use your powers of discretion
   (C) You must go out whenever you are called
   (D) You must pay close attention at all times
25. The impression James gives of Siegfried is that of ____________.
   (A) a fairly easy- going generous employer
   (B) someone rather pompous and unpredictable
   (C) a conscientious but senile old man
   (D) an insufferable, tyrannical boss