2010年5月翻譯資格考試二級筆譯真題

第一部分 英譯漢 試題一

In the European Union, carrots must be firm but not woody, cucumbers must not be too curved and celery has to be free of any type of cavity. This was the law, one that banned overly curved, extra-knobbly or oddly shaped produce from supermarket shelves.

But in a victory for opponents of European regulation, 100 pages of legislation determining the size, shape and texture of fruit and vegetables have been torn up. On Wednesday, EU officials agreed to axe rules laying down standards for 26 products, from peas to plums.

In doing so, the authorities hope they have killed off regulations routinely used by critics - most notably in the British media - to ridicule the meddling tendencies of the EU.

After years of news stories about the permitted angle or curvature of fruit and vegetables,the decision Wednesday also coincided with the rising price of commodities. With the cost of the weekly supermarket visit on the rise, it has become increasingly hard to defend the act of throwing away food just because it looks strange.

Beginning in July next year, when the changes go into force, standards on the 26 products will disappear altogether. Shoppers will the be able to chose their produce whatever its appearance.

Under a compromise reached with national governments, many of which opposed the changes, standards will remain for 10 types of fruit and vegetables, including apples, citrus fruit,peaches, pears, strawberries and tomatoes.

But those in this category that do not meet European norms will still be allowed onto the market, providing they are marked as being substandard or intended for cooking or processing.

"This marks a new dawn for the curvy cucumber and the knobbly carrot," said Mariann Fischer Boel, European commissioner for agriculture, who argued that regulations were better left to market operators.

"In these days of high food prices and general economic difficulties," Fischer Boel added, "consumers should be able to choose from the widest range of products possible. It makes no sense to throw perfectly good products away, just because they are the 'wrong' shape."

That sentiment was not shared by 16 of the EU's 27 nations - including Greece, France,the Czech Republic, Spain, Italy and Poland - which tried to block the changes at a meeting of the Agricultural Management Committee.

Several worried that the abolition of standards would lead to the creation of national ones, said one official speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the discussions.

Copa-Cogeca, which represents European agricultural trade unions and cooperatives, also criticized the changes. "We fear that the absence of EU standards will lead member states to establish national standards and that private standards will proliferate," said its secretary general, Pekka Pesonen.

But the decision to scale back on standards will be welcomed by euro-skeptics who have long pilloried the EU executive's interest in intrusive regulation.

One such controversy revolved around the correct degree of bend in bananas - a type of fruit not covered by the Wednesday ruling.

In fact, there is no practical regulation on the issue. Commission Regulation (EC) 2257/94 says that bananas must be "free from malformation or abnormal curvature," though Class 1 bananas can have "slight defects of shape" and Class 2 bananas can have full "defects of shape."

By contrast, the curvature of cucumbers has been a preoccupation of European officials. Commission Regulation (EEC) No 1677/88 states that Class I and "Extra class" cucumbers are allowed a bend of 10 millimeters per 10 centimeters of length. Class II cucumbers can bend twice as much.

It also says cucumbers must be fresh in appearance, firm, clean and practically free of any visible foreign matter or pests, free of bitter taste and of any foreign smell.

Such restrictions will disappear next year, and about 100 pages of rules and regulations will go as well, a move welcomed by Neil Parish, chairman of the European Parliament's agriculture committee.

"Food is food, no matter what it looks like," Parish said. "To stop stores selling perfectly decent food during a food crisis is morally unjustifiable. Credit should be given to the EU agriculture commissioner for pushing through these proposals. Consumers care about the taste and quality of food, not how it looks."

參考譯文：

胡蘿卜必須硬挺水靈，黃瓜不能太彎，芹菜不能有任何孔洞，這是歐盟之前一度實行的硬性規(guī)定。按照該規(guī)定，如果蔬果彎度過大、疙疙瘩瘩或者奇形怪狀，將禁止在超市上架銷售。

不過，有關蔬果尺寸、形狀和口感的長達 100 頁的法律規(guī)定將予以廢除，對于一向 反對該項法律的人士來說這是一大勝利。周三，歐盟官員通過決議，將取消對豌豆、李 子等 26 種蔬果設定的強制標準。

此前，批評人士特別是英國媒體經(jīng)常拿這些規(guī)定開涮，指責歐盟有過度干預之嫌。 通過修改這部法律，歐盟希望不再授人口實。

多年來，有關蔬果彎度標準的報道經(jīng)常見諸媒體報端。在歐盟周三通過上述決議之 際，商品價格也在節(jié)節(jié)攀升。民眾用于超市購物的生活成本不斷增加，此時再僅以外形 不達標為由禁止相關蔬果上架銷售就更加站不住腳了。

修訂后的法律于明年七月開始正式生效，屆時有關 26 種產(chǎn)品的強制標準將被徹底廢 除，同類產(chǎn)品不論外觀如何將同時上架，供消費者隨意挑選。

歐盟許多成員國反對修改這部法律。按照歐盟委員會與各成員國政府達成的折衷方 案，對包括蘋果、柑橘類水果、桃、梨、草莓和西紅柿在內(nèi)的 10 種蔬果的強制標準將予以保留。

不過，這 10 類蔬果中即使相關產(chǎn)品不達標也可上市銷售，但必須注明是不達標產(chǎn)品或者烹調(diào)、加工專用產(chǎn)品。

歐盟委員會農(nóng)業(yè)問題專員瑪麗安·菲舍爾·伯爾認為,最好由市場運營商自行做出相關 規(guī)定。她說，“法律修訂對于彎黃瓜和有節(jié)胡蘿卜而言是新黎明的到來/法律修訂后意味著 彎黃瓜和有節(jié)胡蘿卜今后也可以上市銷售了。”

“當前食品價格居高不下，經(jīng)濟大環(huán)境也不景氣，”菲舍爾 ·伯爾補充說，“應該給消 費者提供盡可能多的選擇。有些產(chǎn)品本身品質(zhì)沒什么問題，如果僅僅因為外形不達標就 白白扔掉的話，實在說不過去。”

歐盟 27 個成員國中有 16 個對這種說法持有異議。希臘、法國、捷克、西班牙、意 大利和波蘭等國家曾在農(nóng)業(yè)管理委員會的一次會議上試圖阻止歐盟修改這項法律。

一位因問題敏感而要求不具名的歐盟官員說，有幾個國家擔心，一旦取消了歐盟強 制標準，各國可能會紛紛推出本國標準。

代表歐洲農(nóng)業(yè)工會和合作社的游說團體柯巴—柯杰卡(Copa-Cogeca)也反對修改這 項法律。該團體秘書長佩卡﹒貝松寧說，“我們擔心，如果取消了歐盟統(tǒng)一強制標準， 各 成員國將紛紛設定國家標準，私立標準也將會激增。”

不過，取消強制標準的決議受到了歐元懷疑論者的歡迎。他們對于歐盟委員會干預 性的規(guī)定一向頗有微詞。

其中一項爭議是香蕉彎度標準問題。在周三通過的決議中并沒有涉及香蕉。

事實上，關于這一問題根本就沒有具體規(guī)定。《歐盟委員會規(guī)定》中第 2254/94 條規(guī) 定，香蕉產(chǎn)品“不得畸形或彎度異常”，不過，該規(guī)定還指出，一級香蕉可以有“輕度外形 瑕疵”，二級香蕉則不限“外形瑕疵”。

相比之下，歐盟官員一直關注的是黃瓜彎度標準問題。歐盟委員會規(guī)定》中第 1677/88 條規(guī)定，一級和“特級”黃瓜的彎度標準為每 10 厘米長彎度不得超過 10 毫米，二級黃瓜不 得超過 20 毫米。

該條款還規(guī)定，黃瓜必須外表新鮮、硬挺、干凈，不得有任何明顯異物或蟲害痕跡， 無苦味、異味。

明年所有這些硬性標準都將壽終正寢，屆時長達百頁的相關規(guī)定也將予以廢除。歐 洲議會農(nóng)業(yè)委員會主席尼爾﹒帕里什對此表示贊同。

“不管外觀如何，食品終究是„食?品”，帕里什說，“糧食危機期間禁止品質(zhì)沒有任何 問題的產(chǎn)品上市銷售情理不容。歐盟農(nóng)業(yè)委員會最終通過了修改相關法律的決議，值得 稱贊。消費者真正關心的是食品的味道和品質(zhì)，而不是外觀。”

英譯漢試題二

Ask mothers why babies are constantly picking things up from the floor or ground and putting them in their mouths, and chances are they'll say that it's instinctive - that that's

how babies explore the world. But why the mouth, when sight, hearing, touch and even scent are far better at identifying things?

Since all instinctive behaviors have an evolutionary advantage or they would not have been retained for millions of years, chances are that this one too has helped us survive as a species. And, indeed, accumulating evidence strongly suggests that eating dirt is good for you.

In studies of what is called the hygiene hypothesis, researchers are concluding that organisms like the millions of bacteria, viruses and especially worms that enter the body along with "dirt" spur the development of a healthy immune system. Several continuing studies suggest that worms may help to redirect an immune system that has gone awry and resulted in autoimmune disorders, allergies and asthma.

One leading researcher, Dr. Joel Weinstock, the director of gastroenterology and hepatology at Tufts Medical Center in Boston, said in an interview that the immune system at birth "is like an unprogrammed computer. It needs instruction."

He said that public health measures like cleaning up contaminated water and food have saved the lives of countless children, but they "also eliminated exposure to many organisms that are probably good for us."

"Children raised in an ultra-clean environment," he added, "are not being exposed to organisms that help them develop appropriate immune regulatory circuits."

Studies he has conducted with Dr. David Elliott, a gastroenterologist and immunologist at the University of Iowa, indicate that intestinal worms, which have been all but eliminated in developed countries, are "likely to be the biggest player" in regulating the immune system to respond appropriately, Elliott said in an interview. He added that bacterial and viral infections seem to influence the immune system in the same way, but not as forcefully.

Most worms are harmless, especially in well-nourished people, Weinstock said. "There are very few diseases that people get from worms," he said. "Humans have adapted to the presence of most of them."

Ruebush deplores the current fetish for the hundreds of antibacterial products that convey a false sense of security and may actually foster the development of antibiotic-resistant, disease-causing bacteria. Plain soap and water are all that are needed to become clean, she noted.

參考譯文：

如果你問一些媽媽為什么嬰兒會不停地從地上或地板上撿起東西來往嘴里送，她們很可能會說是本能使然，稱嬰兒就是這樣探索世界的。但是，嬰兒的視覺、聽覺、觸覺甚至嗅覺分辨事物的能力要強得多，為什么單單選擇通過味覺進行探索呢?

所有的本能行為都有進化優(yōu)勢，否則這些本能行為不可能延續(xù)數(shù)百萬年至今。由此 說來，通過味覺探索世界很可能也是人類得以延續(xù)的途徑。越來越多的證據(jù)都有力地表 明，吃臟東西有益健康。

在名為“衛(wèi)生學假設理論”的系列研究中，研究人員逐步得出一個結(jié)論，即，隨“臟東 西”進入人體的數(shù)百萬個細菌、病毒特別是蠕蟲等有機體可以刺激免疫系統(tǒng)的健康發(fā)育。 幾項仍在進行的研究顯示，對于那些免疫系統(tǒng)出問題而出現(xiàn)自身免疫功能紊亂、過敏和 哮喘的人而言，蠕蟲可以幫助免疫系統(tǒng)修復。

波士頓塔夫茨醫(yī)學中心腸胃、肝臟病學專科主任喬爾﹒魏因斯托克博 士是主要 研究 人員，他在接受采訪時說，人出生時的免疫系統(tǒng)“就像未經(jīng)編程的電腦一樣，需要指令。”

他說，對不干凈的水或食品進行清理等諸如此類的公共衛(wèi)生措施確實拯救了無以計 數(shù)的兒童的生命，但是這些措施“也使人們無法接觸到對人體有益的多種有機體。”

“對于那些在過于潔凈的環(huán)境中長大的兒童，”他補充說，“他們接觸不到可以幫助免 疫調(diào)節(jié)系統(tǒng)發(fā)育的多種有益有機體。”

他與愛荷華大學的胃腸病學與免疫學專家戴維﹒艾略特博士共同進行了系列研究。

艾略特在接受采訪時說，他們的研究結(jié)果顯示，在發(fā)達國家?guī)缀醣煌耆麥绲幕紫x很可 能最有利于免疫系統(tǒng)調(diào)節(jié)。他補充說，細菌和病毒感染也同樣有助于調(diào)節(jié)免疫系統(tǒng)，只 不過作用沒有蛔蟲那么大。

魏因斯托克說，大部分蠕蟲對人體無害，對營養(yǎng)良好的人群更是如此。“蠕蟲致病十 分少見，”他說，“人體對大多數(shù)蠕蟲早已適應。”

當下，人們熱衷于購買抗菌產(chǎn)品，多達數(shù)百種的抗菌產(chǎn)品給人一種錯誤的安全感， 實際上這些產(chǎn)品可能會導致對抗生素具有抗藥性的致病菌的滋生，茹布什對此深感遺憾。 她說，(日常衛(wèi)生)只需肥皂和水就能清洗干凈。

第二部分(缺)