2013年3月中级口译真题：阅读部分汇编（含解析）第二部分阅读SECTION 2: STUDY SKILLS (50 MINUTES)Direction:In this section, you will read several passages. Each one is followed by several questions about it. You are to choose ONE best answer, (A), (B), (C) or (D), to each question. Answer all the questions following each passage on the basis of what is stated or implied in that passage and write the letter of the answer you have chosen in the corresponding space in your ANSWER BOOKLET.Questions 1~5（2013年春季中级口译阅读第一篇解析）The largest animal that ever lived on land or in water still exists. Not even the giant dinosaurs were as large as some whales. One sulphur-bottom whale caught in the Antarctic was 110 feet long, and weighed between 90 and 100 tons.注:最高级和数字是阅读时关注的重点.Whales can grow to such enormous size because their bodies are supported by the water. An animal that lives on land can only grow to a size that his legs can support, while a bird's size is limited by its wing size. A whale has none of these difficulties.Millions of years ago, whales lived on land and walked on four legs. Today, whales still have small bones that are the remains of their hind legs, but these bones can only be seen on the inside of the whale. No one knows why whales left the land to live in the water. however, scientists can surmise that when the whales changed their environment, their bodies underwent a change -- taking on a more fish-like appearance. This new form. offered less resistance to the water,enabling the whales to swim faster.Despite their fish-like form, whales are not fish. A whale will drown, just as a man will, if it stays under water too long. When a whale is under water, it closes its nostrils tightly and holds its breath. The air in its lungs becomes very hot and full of water vapour. When the whale rises to the surface and exhales, its hot breath produces a column of water vapor that rises high in the air. A man produces the same effect when he exhales warm air on a cold morning.注:转折关系是阅读时需重点关注的逻辑关系,阅读重点应该在despite后面所引导的信息.Whales are classified as mammals because they bear their young, rather than laying eggs,, and because the mother whales give the babies milk. Like other mammals, whales have warm blood.Their blood stays at the same temperature, even when they move from hot to cold water. They keep warm in cold water because they have a thick layer of fat just under their skins. This fat is called blubber, and it is thicker on whales that spend their lives in cold water. Almost all land mammals, except man, have hair on their bodies to keep them warm, but whales, which have very few hairs, are kept warm by their fat.注:因果关系,转折关系并存的句子作为考点的可能性很大，需重点关注及阅读.Whales do not bear young more often than every two years. The births are usually single births, but there have been instances of whale twins Mother whales show a great deal of affection for their! young. If the baby whale is killed, the mother will stay close to it for a long time. The young grow very rapidly during their first three or four years. And, although no one is certain how long a whale lives, the normal life span is probably less than 100 years.Questions 6~10（2013年春季中口阅读第二篇解析）第二篇文章选自The New York Times.原文题目是Near Cambodia's Temple Ruins, a Devotion to Learning。

这是一篇社会生活类的小新闻，难度不大。

Millions of tourists come here every year to visit the ancient ruins of Angkor Wat, an influx that has helped transform what once resembled a small, laid-back village into a thriving and cosmopolitan town with thumping nightlife and more than 10,000 hotel rooms. But the explosion of the tourism industry here has also done something less predictable. Siem Reap, which had no universities a decade ago, is now Cambodia‟s second-largest hub for higher education, after the capital, Phnom Penh.全文首段呈现Angkor Wat过去和现在的强对比。

第二句以but开头，引出核心话题,即伴随旅游业的发展，随之相关的教育业也发展起来。

The sons and daughters of impoverished rice farmers flock here to work as tour guides, receptionists, bartenders and waitresses. When their shifts are over, they study finance, English and accounting.“I never imagined that I could go to university,” said Hem Sophoan, a 31-year-old tour guide who is now studying for his se cond master‟s degree. “There‟s been so much change and opportunities for young people.”The establishment of five private universities here is helping to transform the work force in this part of Cambodia, one of Asia‟s poorest countries.第二段指出当地孩子是怎样半工半读的。