2011年上海中级口译笔试试题及部分答案Questions 1—5The purpose of the American court system is to protect the rights of the people. According to American law， if someone is accused of a cr ime， he or she is considered innocent until the court proves that th e person is guilty. In other words， it is the responsibility of the court to prove that a person is guilty. It is not the responsibility of the person to prove that he or she is innocent.In order to arrest a person， the police have to be reasonably sure t hat a crime has been committed. The police must give the suspect the reasons why they are arresting him and tell him his rights under the law. Then the police take the suspect to the police station to “book”him. “Booking means that the name of the person and the charges aga inst him are formally listed at the police station.The next step is for the suspect to go before a judge. The judge deci des whether the suspect should be kept in jail or released. If the su spect has no previous criminal record and the judge feels that he wil l return to court rather than run away—for example， because he owns a house and has a family—he can go free. Otherwise， the suspect mus t put up bail. At this time， too， the judge will appoint a court la yer to defend the suspect if he can’t afford one.The suspect returns to court a week or two later. A lawyer from the d istrict attorney’s office presents a case against the suspect. This is called a hearing. The attorney may present evidence as well as wit nesses. The judge at the hearing then decides whether there is enough reason to hold a trial. If the judge decides that there is sufficien t evidence to call for a trial， he or she sets a date for the suspec t to appear in court to formally plead guilty or not guilty.At the trial， a jury of 12 people listens to the evidence from both attorneys and hears the testimony of the witnesses. Then the jury goe s into a private room to consider the evidence and decide whether the defendant is guilty of the crime. If the jury decides that the defen dant is innocent， he goes free. However， if he is convicted， the j udge sets a date for the defendant to appear in court again for sente ncing. At this time， the judge tells the convicted person what his p unishment will be. The judge may sentence him to prison， order him t o pay a fine， or place him on probation.The American justice system is very complex and sometimes operates sl owly. However， every step is designed to protect the rights of the p eople. These individual rights are the basis， or foundation， of the American government.1. What is the main idea of the passage？（A） The American court system requires that a suspect prove that he or she is innocent.（B） The US court system is designed to protect the rights of the pe ople.（C） Under the American court system， judge decides if a suspect is innocent or guilty.（D） The US court system is designed to help the police present a ca se against the suspect.2. What follows ‘in other words’ （para.1）？（A） An example of the previous sentence.（B） A new idea about the court system.（C） An item of evidence to call for a trial.（D） A restatement of the previous sentence.3. According to the passage，‘he can go free’ （para.3） means ___ ______.（A） the suspect is free to choose a lawyer to defend him（B） the suspect does not have to go to trial because the judge has decided he is innocent（C） the suspect will be informed by mail whether he is innocent or not（D） the suspect does not have to wait in jail or pay money until he goes to trial4. What is the purpose of having the suspect pay bail？（A） To pay for the judge and the trial.（B） To pay for a court lawyer to defend the suspect.（C） To ensure that the suspect will return to court.（D） To ensure that the suspect will appear in prison.5. According to the passage， which of the following statements is tr ue？（A） The American justice system sometimes operates slowly.（B） The police can arrest a suspect without giving any reasons.（C） It is the responsibility of the suspect to prove he is innocent.（D） The jury considers the evidence in the court room.Questions 6—10So you’ve got an invention—you and around 39，000 others each year， according to 2002 statistics！The 64，000-dollar question， if you have come up with a device which you believe to be the answer to the energy crisis or you’ve invented a lawnmower which cuts grass with a jet of water （not so daft， some one has invented one），is how to ensure you’re th e one to reap the rewards of your ingenuity. How will all you garden shed boffins out t here keep others from capitalizing on your ideas and lining their poc kets at your expense？One of the first steps to protect your interest is to patent your inv ention. That can keep it out of the grasp of the pirates for at least the next 20 years. And for this reason inventors in their droves bea t a constant trail from all over the country to the doors of an anony mous grey-fronted building just behind London’s Holborn to try and p atent their devices.The first ‘letters patent’ were granted as long ago as 1449 to a Fl emish craftsman by the name of John Utynam. The letters， written in Latin， are still on file at the office. They were granted by King He nry VI and entitled Utynam to ‘import into this country’ his knowle dge of making stained glass windows in order to install such windows at Eton College.Present-day patents procedure is a more sophisticated affair than get ting a go-ahead note from the monarch. These days the strict procedur es governing whether you get a patent for your revolutionary mouse-tr ap or solar-powered back-scratcher have been reduced to a pretty exac t science.From start to finish it will take around two and a half years and cos t £165 for the inventor to gain patent protection for his brainchild. That’s if he’s lucky. By no means all who apply to the Patent Offi ce， which is a branch of the Department of Trade， get a patent.A key man at the Patent Office is Bernard Partridge， Principal Exami ner （Administration）， who boils down to one word the vital ingredi ent any inventor needs before he can hope to overcome the many hurdle s in the complex procedure of obtaining a patent—‘ingenuity’。