历年英语翻译资格考试二级笔译真题E-C TranslationCompulsory TranslationThere was, last week, a glimmer of hope in the world food crisis. Expecting a bumper harvest, Ukraine relaxed restrictions on exports. Overnight, global wheat prices fell by 10 percent.By contrast, traders in Bangkok quote rice prices around $1,000 a ton, up from $460 two months ago.Such is the volatility of today’s markets. We do not know how high food prices might go, nor how far they could fall. But one thing is certain: We have gone from an era of plenty to one of scarcity. Experts agree that food prices are not likely to return to the levels the world had grown accustomed to any time soon.Imagine the situation of those living on less than $1 a day - the “bottom billion,” the poorest of the world’s poor. Most live in Africa, and many might typically spend two-thirds of their income on food.In Liberia last week, I heard how people have stopped purchasing imported rice by the bag. Instead, they increasingly buy it by the cup, because that’s all they can afford.Traveling though West Africa, I found good reason for optimism. In Burkina Faso, I saw a government working to import drought resistant seeds and better manage scarce water supplies, helped by nations like Brazil. In Ivory Coast, we saw a women’s cooperative running a chicken farm set up with UN funds. The project generated income - and food - for villagers in ways that can easily be replicated.Elsewhere, I saw yet another women’s group slowly expanding their local agricultural production, with UN help. Soon they will replace World Food Programrice with their own home-grown produce, sufficient to cover the needs of their school feeding program.These are home-grown, grass-roots solutions for grass-roots problems - precisely the kind of solutions that Africa needs. optionalTopic 1For a decade, metallurgists studying the hulk of the Titanic have argued that the storied ocean liner went down quickly after hitting an iceberg because the ship’s builder used substandard rivets that popped their heads and let tons of icy seawater rush in. More than 1,500 people died.Now a team of scientists has moved into deeper waters, uncovering evidence in the builder’s own archives of a deadly mix of great ambitio n and use of low-quality iron that doomed the ship, which sank 96 years ago Tuesday.The scientists found that the ship’s builder, Harland and Wolff, in Belfast, struggled for years to obtain adequate supplies of rivets and riveters to build the world’s three biggest ships at once: the Titanic and two sisters, Olympic and Britannic.Each required three million rivets, and shortages peaked during Titanic’s construction.“The board was in crisis mode,” said Jennifer Hooper McCarty, a member of the team that studied the company’s archive and other evidence. “It was constant stress. Every meeting it was, ‘There’s problems with the rivets, and we need to hire more people.’ “The team collected other clues from 48 Titanic rivets, using modern tests, computer simulations, comparisons to century-old metals and careful documentation of what engineers and shipbuilders of the era considered state of the art.The scientists say the troubles began when the colossal plans forced Harland and Wolff to reach beyond its usual suppliers of rivet iron and include smaller forges, as disclosed in company and British government papers. Small forges tended to have less skill and experience.Adding to the threat, the company, in buying iron for Titanic’s rivets, ordered No. 3 bar, known as “best,” not No. 4, known as “best-best,” the scientists found. They also discovered that shipbuilders of the day typically used No. 4 iron for anchors, chains and rivets.So the liner, whose name was meant to be synonymous with opulence, in at least one instance relied on cheap materials.The scientists argue that better rivets would have probably kept the Titanic afloat long enough for rescuers to have arrived before the icy plunge, saving hundreds of lives.C-E TranslationCompulsory Translation“中国制造”模式遭遇发展瓶颈，这种模式必须要改进和提高。

一些外国人认为，“中国制造”大约就是质量低下的代名词。

不可否认，少数产品的确存在质量问题，让大多数价廉质优的产品代其受罪。

质量是产品的生命线。

随着外国市场的夸大，中国企业也意识到质量的重要性。

因此一场旨在提高质量，提供优良服务的运动正在兴起。

在传统的制造业中，中国企业通过技术创新和质量管理，为国际市场提供高质量的产品。

在新兴的信息产业，中国企业以高科技为师，增强和外国企业的交流与合作，提高产品质量。

近几年来，中国政府通过立法和社会监督保证产品质量，创造全社会重视产品问题的环境。

optionalTopic 11996年，一位摄影师在新疆喀纳斯自然保护区无意间拍到一只白熊。

自此以后的十年里，白熊藏身于深山之中，再无音讯。

直到2003年，人们才再次在该自然区又发现了白熊的踪迹。

在熊的家族里，只有北极熊是白色的。