翻译考试历年中级口译真题(12):答案及听力原文_第3页

Questions 15 to 18 are based on the following talk. 
      (Man)     As city residents, we all think that we know what the work“city”means, but do we really? Here are some interesting facts:

     In Britain, a town of any size can be called a city, if it has a cathedral. So London today includes the two cities of London and Westminster, because both parts have a cathedral. But a small place in North Wales called St Asaph has a population of fewer than 4,000 and yet because it has a cathedral it is also called a city. On the other hand, Birmingham was so large that it was specially made into a city, even though it did not have a cathedral.

     In the USA,“city”is simply a legal term, and it does not depend on the size or importance of the place. Confusingly, however, the US Census, an American government department that conducts official counts of the population, classifies any place with a population of over 2,500 as a city, no matter how far out in the countryside it is. 

     The world's most densely populated city is the area of Japan that includes Tokyo and Yokohama, which has an estimated 29,272,000 inhabitants. But, in the future, it may well be replaced by a city in China or a city in India. 

      So, what is a city? It all depends, it seems, on where you live.

Question No.15. Whom is the speaker addressing?
Question No.16. According to the talk, what cities are included in London today?
Question No.17. For what reason was Birmingham specially made into a city?
Question No.18. According to the talk, which country has the most densely populated city in the World?

Questions 19 to 22 are based on the following conversation.
(Man)         You re back!And right on schedule too. How was your holiday?
(Woman)    It was all right, I suppose.
(Man)         You don t sound as though you enjoyed it very much. Where did you go?
(Woman)    I went home. I stayed with my family.
(Man)         Where is your home?
(Woman)    It's in West Virginia. It's a quite small village in West Virginia. You know, going home really made me think how different my life would have been if I'd stayed  there.
(Man)         Why? What would you have done?             
(Woman)    Well, first of all, I probably would have married the boy I went steady with while I was in high school.
(Man)          Would it have been a mistake if you had married him?
(Woman)     It would have been different, that s all. If I had married him, I probably would have stayed thee in West Virginia for the rest of my life.
(Man)          Would that have been so bad?
(Woman)     I never would have come to the city. I never would have tried to get a job.
(Man)          But you ve come to the city and had several jobs.
(Woman)     That's true. The thing is that after all these years of working, I am still a secretary or assistant to someone. No transfer. No promotion. It's so annoying and frustrating. I didn't come all the way up to the city for that, did I?
(Man)           Do you think you'll ever go back to West Virginia to live?
(Woman)     Someday, maybe, but not until I've had more experience. I'd like to know that I could have a real career if I wanted to.
(Man)           Well, the first step in a successful career is to get some work done. Here are some letters that have to be answered right away.
(Woman)      All right, I'll take care of them. But you just wait. Someday I might be your boss!

Question No.19. What has the woman just done?
Question No.20. According to the woman, what would have become of her if she had married her boy friend?
Question No.21. Why is the woman complaining now?
Question No.22. Who is the man?

Questions 23 to 26 are based on the following talk. 
      (Woman)      Colds have always been a nuisance, and people have tried many strange ways to cure them. None however, have worked. One Roman historian even recommended kissing the nose of a hairy mouse! But even though the cold is the illness we most love to hate, we are only a little closer to finding a cure for it.

      Scientists have discovered, through thousands of different tests and experiments, that a cold is not caused by a single virus, but by many. They have proved that people under stress are more likely to catch colds, although why this happens is still unknown. Experiments also showed that women suffer more colds than men. But again, scientists are unable to explain why this is so. 

      Another experiment proved that getting cold does not cause colds. For this experiment, one group of human volunteers were showered with water and then made to stand in a windy corridor. Another group remained dry and inside a heated room. While you might expect people in the first group to catch cold more easily, they didn't.

      One other thing that we now know is that colds are spread by water vapour from breath. This would explain why colds are more common in the winter than at other times: people spend more time indoors closer to other people, and also away from fresh air. Question No.23. According to the talk, what did the Roman historian recommend doing in order to cure colds?

Question No.24. Which group of people are more likely to catch colds?
Question No.25. Why are colds more common in the winter than in other seasons?
Question No.26. Which of the following can be concluded from the talk?

Questions 27 to 30 are based on the following conversation.
(Man)          I suppose that in Britain, too, family life has changed a lot in the last century, hasn't it?
(Woman)    Oh yes, very much so. I think families used to be much larger. My great  grandmother was one of the fourteen children!Very few people nowadays care to  have such large families.
(Man)          I suppose that's why in the old days very few women took up careers outside the home. They wee too busy bringing up their families.
(Woman)     Yes, but rich families had servants to do the housework and even nannies to look after the children.
(Man)          Would you like to have lived then, Betty?
(Woman)     Not particularly!Women then weren't as free as they are today. For example, they often had to marry men they didn't like and they were financially dependent on their parents or their husbands. I think we are much better off today, don t you?
(Man)          Well, I suppose we have more freedom of choice and we re more independent, but, you know, some arranged marriages were very successful. Women seemed to be more content with their husbands. Besides, there was something rather charming about courtship in the old days.
(Woman)    Really? Such as what?
(Man)          Well, the custom of asking a girl's father for permission to marry her, for example.
(Woman)     And supposing the father didn't give his permission? NO thank you. I think family life is much pleasanter today because it is freer and more informal. At least today we are free to marry whoever we like and to take up a job, if we wish.
(Man)          That s true. But I still think that family life in the old days must have been very pleasant and secure.