历年考研英语一阅读真题翻译(2004-2014)

第一篇：历年考研英语一阅读真题翻译(2004-2014)

2014年考研英语阅读真题 Text 1

In order to “change lives for the better” and reduce “dependency,” George Osbome,Chancellor of the Exchequer, introduced the “upfront work search” scheme.Only if the jobless arrive at the job centre with a register for online job search, and start looking for work will they be eligible for benefit-and then they should report weekly rather than fortnightly.What could be more reasonable? 为了“让生活变得更美好”以及减少“依赖”，英国财政大臣乔治•奥斯本引入了“求职预付金”计划。只有当失业者带着简历到就业中心，注册在线求职并开始找工作，才有资格获得补助金——然后他们应该每周而非每两周报告一次。有什么比这更合理呢？

More apparent reasonableness followed.There will now be a seven-day wait for the jobseeker’s allowance.“Those first few days should be spent looking for work, not looking to sign on.” he claimed.“We’re doing these things because we know they help people say off benefits and help those on benefits get into work faster” Help? Really? On first hearing, this was the socially concerned chancellor, trying to change lives for the better, complete with “reforms” to an obviously indulgent system that demands too little effort from the newly unemployed to find work, and subsides laziness.What motivated him, we were to understand, was his zeal for “fundamental fairness”-protecting the taxpayer, controlling spending and ensuring that only the most deserving claimants received their benefits.更加明显的合理性如下。现在领取求职者补贴要等待七天。“这前几天应该用来找工作，而不是办理失业登记（以获得救济金）。”他说，“我们这样做是因为我们知道，这样会帮助人们摆脱补助并让依赖补助的人尽快就业。”帮助？真的吗？乍一听，这是位关心社会的大臣，他努力改善人们的生活，包括对一个明显放纵的体系的“改革”，这个体系不要求新失业者付出多少努力去找工作，为其懒惰埋单。我们将会知道，激励他的是他对“基本的公正”的热诚——保护纳税人，控制花费以及确保只有最值得帮助的申请者才能得到补助金。

Losing a job is hurting: you don’t skip down to the job centre with a song in your heart, delighted at the prospect of doubling your income from the generous state.It is financially terrifying psychologically embarrassing and you know that support is minimal and extraordinarily hard to get.You are now not wanted;you support is minimal and extraordinarily hard to get.You are now not wanted;you are now excluded from the work environment that offers purpose and structure in your life.Worse, the crucial income to feed yourself and your family and pay the bills has disappeared.Ask anyone newly unemployed what they want and the answer is always: a job.失业是痛苦的：你不会内心歌唱并跳跃着到就业中心去，为从这个慷慨国度得到加倍收入的前景而欣喜。在经济上它令人生畏，在心理感到难堪，并且你还知道那种扶持的微薄和非常难以得到。现在没人需要你；你现在被排除在工作环境之外，那里会给予你人生的目标和体制。更糟糕的是，失去了用以养家糊口和支付账单的至关重要的收入。问任何新失业者他们想要什么，答案永远是：一份工作。

But in Osborne land, your first instinct is to fall into dependency-permanent dependency if you can get it-supported by a state only too ready to indulge your falsehood.It is as though 20 years of ever-tougher reforms of the job search and benefit administration system never happened.The principle of British welfare is no longer that you can insure yourself against the risk of unemployment and receive unconditional payments if the disaster happens.Even the very phrase ‘jobseeker’s allowance’invented in 1996-is about redefining the unemployed as a “jobseeker” who had no mandatory right to a benefit he or she has earned through making national insurance contributions.Instead, the claimant receives a time-limited “allowance,” conditional on actively seeking a job;no entitlement and no insurance, at £71.70 a week, one of the least generous in the EU.但是在奥斯本之国，你的第一反应就是坠入依赖——永远的依赖，如果你能得到的话——它由一个非常乐意放任你弄虚作假的国家所支持。好像这二十年一直严厉的求职和补助金管理系统的改革从未发生过。英国福利的原则不再是如果发生灾难，你能为自己投保失业险和得到无条件赔付。甚至正是“求职者补贴”这个词语，在将失业者重新定义为“求职者”，他人通过缴纳国民保险金可享有补助，而求职者则没有这个基本权利。作为替代，申请者得到的是一周71.70 英镑的限时“补贴”，条件是积极地找工作：没有津贴也没有保险，在欧盟这也是最小气之一了。

Text 2

All around the world, lawyers generate more hostility than the members of any other profession---with the possible exception of journalism.But there are few places where clients have more grounds for complaint than America.Dur-ing the decade before the economic crisis, spending on legal services in America grew twice as fast as inflation.The best lawyers made skyscrapers-full of money, tempting ever more students to pile into law schools.But most law graduates never get a big-firm job.Many of them instead become the kind of nuisance-lawsuit filer that makes the tort system a costly nightmare.There are many reasons for this.One is the excessive costs of a legal education.There is just one path for a lawyer in most American states: a four-year undergraduate degree at one of 200 law schools authorized by the American Bar Association and an expensive preparation for the bar exam.This leaves today’s average law-school graduate with $100,000 of debt on top of undergraduate debts.Law-school debt means that they have to work fearsomely hard.Reform-ing the system would help both lawyers and their customers.Sensible ideas have been around for a long time, but the state-level bodies that govern the profession have been too conservative to imple-ment them.One idea is to allow people to study law as an undergraduate degree.Another is to let students sit for the bar after only two years of law school.If the bar exam is truly a stern enough test for a would-be lawy-er, those who can sit it earlier should be allowed to do so.Students who do not need the extra training could cut their debt mountain by a third.The other reason why costs are so high is the restrictive guild-like ownership structure of the business.Except in the District of Columbia, non-lawyers may not own any share of a law firm.This keeps fees high and innovation slow.There is pressure for change from within the profession, but oppo-nents of change among the regulators insist that keeping outsiders out of a law firm isolates lawyers from the pressure to make money rather than serve clients ethically.In fact, allowing non-lawyers to own shares in law firms would reduce costs and improve services to customers, by encouraging law firms to use technology and to employ professional managers to focus on improving firms’ efficiency.After all, other countries, such as Australia and Britain, have started liberalizing their legal professions.America should follow.在全世界，律师比任何其他职业的人都更招憎恨——新闻业可能是个例外。但是没有多少地方能比美国更让客户有更多的理由抱怨。

在经济危机之前的十年间，美国法律服务费用的增长速度是通货膨胀的两倍。最好的律师赚得盆满钵满，吸引着更多的学生争相进入法学院。但是大部分法学毕业生从未获得一份大律所的工作。他们中的许多人转而成为那种妨害行为诉讼的提交者，这使得侵权制度成了一场昂贵的噩梦。

这里面有很多原因。其一是法律教育的费用过高。在美国大部分州只有一条成为律师的途径；在某个无关的专业读四年取得本科学位，然后在美国律师协会授权的200 所法学院之一读三年取得法律学位，并为准备律师资格考试花费不菲。这给现在这些普通的法学院毕业生留下在本科债务之外10 万美元的债务。法学院债务意味着他们不得不拼命地努力工作。

改革这一体系会对律师和他们的客户都有所帮助。明智的想法已经存在了好长时间，但是管理该职业的州级机构对实施它们太保守了。一个想法是准许人们读本科学位时学习法律。另外一个是，让学生在法学院只读两年之后就参加律师资格考试。如果这一考试对于一名准律师来说确实是足够严格的测试，那么就应该准许那些有能力提早参加的学生们参加。不需要额外培训的学生就可以削减他们债务大山的三分之一。

费用如此之高的另外一个原因是该行业限制性的同业公会式的所有权结构。除哥伦比亚特区外，非律师人员不得持有律所的任何股份。这使得费用居高不下而创新脚步缓慢。在行业内部存在要求变革的压力，但是监管部门中的反对变革者坚称，将局外人排除在律所之外，可以让律师与赚钱的压力隔离而合乎职业道德标准地为客户服务。

实际上，准许非律师人员参股，通过鼓励律所采用新技术和聘请职业经理人来致力于提高律所效率，可以降低成本并改善对顾客的服务。毕竟，其它国家如澳大利亚和英国都已开始使其法律行业自由化。美国应该效仿。

Text 3

The US$3-million Fundamental physics prize is indeed an interesting experiment, as Alexander Polya-kov said when he accepted this year’s award in March.And it is far from the only one of its type.As a News Feature article in Nature discusses, a string of lucrative awards for researchers have joined the Nobel Prizes in recent years.Many, like the Fundamental Physics Prize, are funded from the telephone-number-sized bank accounts of Internet entrepreneurs.These benefactors have succeeded in their chosen fields, they say, and they want to use their wealth to draw attention to those who have succeeded in science.What’s not to like? Quite a lot, according to a handful of scientists quoted in the News Feature.You cannot buy class, as the old saying goes, and these upstart entrepreneurs cannot buy their prizes the prestige of the Nobels.The new awards are an exercise in self-promotion for those behind them, say scientists.They could distort the achievement-based system of peer-review-led research.They could cement the status quo of peer-reviewed research.They do not fund peer-reviewed research.They perpetuate the myth of the lone genius.The goals of the prize-givers seem as scattered as the criticism.Some want to shock, others to draw people into science, or to better reward those who have made their careers in research.As Nature has pointed out before, there are some legitimate concerns about how science prizes—both new and old—are distributed.The Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences, launched this year, takes an unrepresentative view of what the life sciences include.But the Nobel Foundation’s limit of three recipients per prize, each of whom must still be living, has long been outgrown by the collabora-tive nature of modern research—as will be demonstrated by the inevitable row over who is ignored when it comes to acknowledging the discovery of the Higgs boson.The Nobels were, of course, themselves set up by a very rich individual who had decided what he wanted to do with his own money.Time, rather than intention, has given them legitimacy.As much as some scientists may complain about the new awards, two things seem clear.First, most researchers would accept such a prize if they were offered one.Second, it is surely a good thing that the money and attention come to science rather than go elsewhere, It is fair to criticize and ques-tion the mechanism—that is the culture of research, after all—but it is the prize-givers’ money to do with as they please.It is wise to take such gifts with gratitude and grace.300 万美元的基础物理学奖的确是一个有趣的尝试，正如亚历山大•帕里雅科夫三月份领取今年奖项时所言。而且该类奖项远非仅此一例。按照《自然》杂志新闻特写栏目一篇文章所讨论的，近年来一系列奖金丰厚的研究奖项已经加入诺贝尔奖的行列。许多奖项（如基础物理学奖）来自于互联网企业家的资助，其银行账户是电话号码数量级的。据称，这些慈善家在各自从事的领域已经获得成功，想用自己的财富去让那些有科学成就的人士受到关注。

这有什么让人不喜欢的呢？据新闻特写栏目中援引一小部分科学家所言，非常之多。古语云，有钱买不到社会地位，这些暴富的企业家并不能为他们的奖金买来诺贝尔奖的声望。科学家称，新设奖项是那些幕后人自抬身价的一种举动。它们会扭曲基于成就并由同行评议引导的研究体系。它们会巩固同行评议研究的现状。它们并不资助同行评议研究。它们延续了孤独天才的神话。

正如《自然》杂志以前已经指出的那样，对于科学奖项——新设的和原有的——如何分配，存在某些忧虑是合理的。今年推出的“生命科学突破奖”，对生命科学的范畴所持观点并不具代表性。但是诺贝尔基金会对每一奖项只能由三名仍在世者获得的限制，由于现代科学研究的协作特性而早已不再适宜——这将由当论及确认希格斯波色子的发现时，对于谁可忽略而引起不可避免的争论这一情况来证实。当然，诺贝尔奖本身就是由一位富豪个人设立的，他决定了用自己的金钱去做他想要做的事。赋予诺贝尔奖合理性的是时间，而非设立的初衷。

有些科学家常常会抱怨新的奖项，有两件事却是显而易见。第一，如果被授予这样的奖项，大部分研究人员会接受它。第二，金钱和

关注度投向科学而不是其它地方，这无疑是好事。批评和质疑这种机制是公平合理的——毕竟这是做研究的文化——但它是奖金提供者按

照自己的意愿处置的金钱。以感谢的心情和优雅的风度接受这样的礼物是明智的。

Text 4

“The Heart of the Matter,” the just-released report by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences(AAAS), deserves praise for affirming the importance of the humanities and social sciences to the prosperity and security of liberal democracy in America.Regrettably, however, the report's failure to address the true nature of the crisis facing liberal education may cause more harm than good.In 2010, leading congressional Democrats and Republicans sent letters to the AAAS asking that it identi-fy actions that could be taken by “federal, state and local governments, universities, foundations, educa-tors, individual benefactors and others” to “maintain national excellence in humanities and social scientif-ic scholarship and education.”In response, the American Academy formed the Commission on the Humanities and Social Sciences.Among the commission's 51 members are top-tier-university presi-dents, scholars,lawyers, judges, and business executives, as well as prominent figures from diplomacy, filmmaking, music and journalism.The goals identified in the report are generally admirable.Because representative government presuppos-es an informed citizenry, the report supports full literacy;stresses the study of history and government, particularly American history and American government;and encourages the use of new digit-al technologies.To encourage innovation and competition, the report calls for increased investment in research, the crafting of coherent curricula that improve students' ability to solve problems and communicate effectively in the 21st century, increased funding for teachers and the encouragement of scholars to bring their learning to bear on the great challenges of the day.The report also advo-cates greater study of foreign languages, international affairs and the expansion of study abroad programs.Unfortunate-ly, despite 2½ years in the making, “The Heart of the Matter” never gets to the heart of the matter: the illiberal nature of liberal education at our leading colleges and universities.The commission ig-nores that for several decades America's colleges and universities have produced graduates who don't know the content and character of liberal education and are thus deprived of its benefits.Sadly, the spirit of inquiry once at home on campus has been replaced by the use of the humanities and social sciences as vehicles for publicizing “progressive,” or left-liberal propaganda.Today, professors routinely treat the progressive interpretation of history and progressive public policy as the proper subject of study while portraying conservative or classical liberal ideas—such as free markets or self-reliance —as falling outside the boundaries of routine, and sometimes legitimate, intellectual investigation.The AAAS displays great enthu-siasm for liberal education.Yet its report may well set back reform by obscuring the depth and breadth of the challenge that Congress asked it to illuminate.美国艺术与科学院刚发布的报告《问题的核心》，因肯定了人文和社会科学对美国自由民主的繁荣和安全的重要性而值得赞扬。然而，遗憾的是该报告没有论及通才教育所面临危机的真正本质，这可能造成弊大于利的结果。

2010 年，首要的国会民主党人和共和党人致函美国艺术与科学院，要求其确定可由“联邦、州和地方政府、大学、基金会、教育工作者、个人捐助者和其他人”采取的措施，以“保持国家在人文和社会科学学术和教育方面的优势”。作为回应，美国艺术与科学院成立了人文和社会科学委员会。该委员会51 名成员中有顶级大学的校长、学者、律师、法官和公司执行总裁，也有来自外交、电影、音乐和新闻界的杰出人物。

这份报告中确立的目标大体上是值得称赞的。因为代议制政府的前提是公民知情，该报告支持全面的文化素养；强调学习历史和政治，特别是美国历史和美国政治；以及鼓励使用新的数字技术。为了鼓励创新和竞争，报告呼吁增加研究投资，对紧密结合的课程要精益求精

（它们会提高学生在21 世纪有效地解决问题和交流沟通的能力），增加对教师的资助和鼓励学者转化所学知识以面对当今的巨大挑战。报告还主张加强对外语、国际事务的学习和扩展留学计划。

不幸的是，尽管撰写报告用了两年半的时间，《问题的核心》却从未触及到问题的核心：我们一流院校的通才教育本质上是狭隘的。委员会忽视了几十年来美国各院校输送的毕业生不明白通才教育的内容和特点，因而丧失了它的益处。令人痛心的是，国内校园内曾有的探索精神，已经被利用人文和社会科学作为宣扬“进步的”或左翼民主的宣传工具所代替。

如今，教授们通常将进步的历史观和公共政策视为正统的学习科目，而将保守的或古典自由主义的观点——例如：自由市场和自力更生——描述为逾越了常规、合理事物和理性调研的界限。

2013年考研英语阅读真题 Text 1

In the 2006 film version of The Devil Wears Prada, Miranda Priestly, played by Meryl Streep, scold her unattractive assistant for imagining that high fashion doesn’t affect her.Priestly explains how the deep blue color of the assistant’s sweater descended over the years from fashion shows to department stores and to the bargain bin in which the poor girl doubtless found her garment.This top-down conception of the fashion business couldn’t be more out of date or at odds with feverish world described in Overdressed, Elizabeth Cline’s three-year

indictment of “fast fashion”.In the last decades or so, advances in technology have allowed mass-market labels such as Zara, H&M, and Unable to react to trends more quickly and anticipate demand more precisely.Quicker turnarounds mean less wasted inventory, more frequent releases, and more profit.Those labels encourage style-conscious consumers to see clothes as disposable——meant to last only a wash or two, although they don’t advertise that——and to renew their wardrobe every few weeks.By offering on-trend items at dirt-cheap prices, Cline argues, these brands have hijacked fashion cycles, shaking an industry long accustomed to a seasonal pace.The victims of this revolution, of course, are not limited to designers.For H&M to offer a $5.95 knit miniskirt in all its 2,300-plus stores around the world, it must rely on low-wage, overseas labor, order in volumes that strain natural resources, and use massive amounts of harmful chemicals.Overdressed is the fashion world’s answer to consumer-activist bestsellers like Michael Pollen’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma.“Mass-produced clothing, like fast food, fills a hunger and need, yet is non-durable, and wasteful,” Cline argues.Americans, she finds, buy roughly 20 billion garments a year——about 64 items per person –and no matter how much they give away, this excess leads to waste.To-wards the end of Overdressed, Cline introduced her ideal, a Brooklyn woman named Sarah Kate Beau-mont, who since 2008 has made all of her own clothes——and beautifully.But as Cline is the first to note, it took Beaumont decades to perfect her craft;her example can’t be knocked off.Though several fast-fashion companies have made efforts to curb their impact on labor and the environ-ment——including H&M, with its green Conscious Collection Line——Cline believes lasting change can only be effected by the customer.She exhibits the idealism common to many advocates of sustainabili-ty, be it in food or in energy.Vanity is a constant;people will only start shopping more sustainably when they can’t afford not to.Text 1 在2006年电影版的《时尚女魔头》中，梅丽尔•斯特里普扮演的米兰达•普雷斯丽责备她其貌不扬的女助手，因为她认为高端时尚并不能影响到自己。普雷斯丽说明了她助手的深蓝色毛衣如何在数年间从时尚秀场降到百货商店，又沦为便宜货。毫无疑问，这个贫穷的女孩肯定就是从便宜货里淘的衣服。

这种自上而下的时尚商业观早已过时了，也和伊丽莎白•克莱因在《过度穿着》中描写的狂热世界不一致。《过度穿着》是伊丽莎白•克莱因花了三年时间写成的对 “快时尚”的控诉作品。在过去十年左右的时间，技术的进步已经使得诸如Zara、H&M、优衣库之类的大众市场品牌能够对流行趋势反应得更快，并能更准确的预料到消费者的需求。更快的转变意味着更少的存货浪费、更频繁的发布新品、更高的利润。这些品牌鼓励对时尚敏感的消费者把衣服当成是一次性用品——洗过一两次后就不再穿了，尽管他们没在广告上明说——然后每几周就更新衣橱。克莱因说，这些品牌通过以极其低廉的价格销售时髦的商品，已经把持了时尚的周期，动摇了一个习惯以季节为周期的产业。

当然，这场变革的受害者，不仅仅是设计师们。为了能在其全世界2300多家商店里以5.95美元的价格出售超短裙，H&M必须依赖低工资的海外劳动力、大批量采购原材料导致严重危害自然资源、并大量使用有害的化学物质。

《过度穿着》就仿佛是时尚界交给像迈克尔•波伦的《杂食者的困境》一样的消费者维权畅销书的答案。“大批量生产的服装，就好像快餐一样，充满着渴望和需求，却既不耐用也不经济”，克莱因说到。她发现，美国人每年要买大约200亿件服装——平均每人64件——无论他们捐赠多少，这种无节制的购买行为都导致浪费。

在《过度穿着》的结尾，克莱因介绍了她的理想典范，一个叫萨拉•凯特•博蒙特的布鲁克林女人，她从2008年起就自己做所有的衣服，而且做得相当漂亮。不过正如克莱因是第一个注意到的那样，博蒙特花了几十年完善自己的手艺，她的事例不能轻易复制。

尽管包括H&M在内的几家快时尚公司已经努力控制其对劳动力和环境的影响，引入了绿色环保自觉生产线，克莱因相信只有消费者才能促成持久的变革。她展示了对于无论在食物还是在能源方面都提倡可持续性的人而言共同的理想主义。虚荣是常态，人们只有在付不起钱的时候才会开始以更加可持续的方式购物。

Text 2

An old saying has it that half of all advertising budgets are wasted—the trouble is, no one knows which half.In the internet age, at least in theory, this fraction can be much reduced.By watching what people search for, click on and say online, companies can aim “behavioural” ads at those most likely to buy.In the past couple of weeks a quarrel has illustrated the value to advertisers of such fine-grained informa-tion: Should advertisers assume that people are happy to be tracked and sent behavioural ads? Or should they have explicit permission?

In December 2010 America’s Federal Trade Commission(FTC)proposed adding a “do not track”(DNT)option to internet browsers, so that users could tell advertisers that they did not want to be fol-lowed.Microsoft’s Internet Explorer and Apple’s Safari both offer DNT;Google’s Chrome is due to do so this year.In February the FTC and the Digital Advertising Alliance(DAA)agreed that the industry would get cracking on responding to DNT requests.On May 31st Microsoft set off the row.It said that Internet Explorer 10, the version due to appear with windows 8, would have DNT as a default.Advertis-ers are horrified.Human nature being what it is, most people stick with default settings.Few switch DNT on now, but if tracking is off it will stay off.Bob Liodice, the chief executive of the Associa-tion of National Advertisers, says consumers will be worse off if the industry cannot collect informa-tion about their preferences.People will not get fewer ads, he says.“They’ll get less meaningful, less targeted ads.”

It is not yet clear how advertisers will respond.Getting a DNT signal does not oblige anyone to stop tracking, although some companies have promised to do so.Unable to tell whether someone real-ly objects to behavioural ads or whether they are sticking with Microsoft’s default, some may ignore a DNT signal and press on anyway.Al-so unclear is why Microsoft has gone it alone.After all, it has an ad business too, which it says will comp-ly with DNT requests, though it is still working out how.If it is trying to upset Google, which relies al-most wholly on advertising, it has chosen an indirect method: There is no guarantee that DNT by de-fault will become the norm.DNT does not seem an obviously huge selling point for windows 8—though the firm has compared some of its other products favourably with Google’s on that count be-fore.Brendon Lynch, Microsoft’s chief privacy officer, blogged: “We believe consumers should have more control.” Could it really be that simple? 有句老话说的好，一半的广告预算都浪费了——麻烦的是，没人知道哪一半浪费了。在互联网时代，至少在理论上，可以大大减少这种浪费。通过观察人们搜索什么、点击什么、在网上说些什么，公司可以锁定目标，将“行为”广告（即，“有作为的”或“有用的”广告）投放给最有可能的购买产品的人。

在过去几周，三次交易和一次争论已经向广告商（以及他们的软件提供商）展示了这种经过精细处理的信息的价值：广告商应该假设人们喜欢被跟踪，并发送行为广告吗？还是他们应该先得到明确的许可才行？

在2010年12月，美国联邦贸易委员会提出，应该在网络浏览器上添加“拒绝跟踪”（DNT）选项，这样一来，用户就可以告诉广告商他们不想被追踪。微软公司的IE浏览器和苹果公司的Safari浏览器都提供拒绝跟踪；谷歌公司的Chrome浏览器今年也即将要提供类似功能。在二月份，联邦贸易委员会和数字广告联盟达成一致，浏览器开发业要继续努力，以应对拒绝跟踪的要求。

5月31日，微软公司率先采取行动：该公司发布公告称，在该公司的新操作系统windows8中的IE10浏览器上，将会默认附带拒绝跟踪选项。

广告商们诚惶诚恐。人性使然，人们总是习惯保持默认的设置。现在几乎没人打开“拒绝跟踪”按钮，可如果跟踪处于关闭状态，就会一直是关闭状态。鲍勃•利奥狄斯是数字广告联盟的成员组织之一——全国广告协会——的首席执行官。他说如果软件业无法收集到关于消费者喜好的信息，那消费者只能境况更糟。人们不会少收到广告，他说，“他们会收到更没意义更没针对性的广告。”

现在还不清楚广告商们会怎样采取行动。拒绝跟踪信号并不会强制任何人停止跟踪，尽管有些公司（包括推特公司在内）已经承诺收到拒绝跟踪信号就会停止跟踪。由于无法辨认人们是真正反对行为广告，还是他们只是没有改动微软的默认设置，有些公司可能会忽视拒绝跟踪信号，依然强行跟踪。

同样不清楚的是，微软为什么要孤军奋战。毕竟，微软自己也有广告业务，却声称自己的广告业务也要遵守拒绝跟踪要求，不过它也还在寻求解决办法。如果微软试图激怒几乎完全依赖广告业务的谷歌，那么它就已经选择了一个间接的方法：并不能保证默认拒绝跟踪模式会成为标准范例。虽然公司以前还拿自己的其他几个产品同谷歌的产品在这方面做过比较，但拒绝跟踪也不像是windows8的巨大卖点。微软首席隐私官布兰登•林奇在博客中写到：“我们相信用户应该有更多的操控权限。”真是那么简单吗？

Text 3

Up until a few decades ago, our visions of the future were largely — though by no means uniformly — glowingly positive.Science and technology would cure all the ills of humanity, leading to lives of fulfillment and opportunity for all.Now utopia has grown unfashionable, as we have gained a deeper appreciation of the range of threats facing us, from asteroid strike to epidemic flu to climate change.You might even be tempted to assume that humanity has little future to look forward to.But such gloominess is misplaced.The fossil record shows that many species have endured for millions of years — so why shouldn’t we? Take a broader look at our species’ place in the universe, and it becomes clear that we have an excellent chance of surviving for tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of years.Look up Homo sapiens in the “Red List” of threatened species of the International Union for the Conversation of Nature(IUCN), and you will read: “Listed as Least Con-cern as the species is very widely distributed, adaptable, currently increasing, and there are no major threats resulting in an overall population decline.”

So what does our deep future hold? A growing number of researchers and organisations are now think-ing seriously about that question.For example, the Long Now Foundation has as its flagship project a mechanical clock that is designed to still be marking time thousands of years hence.Per-haps willfully, it may be easier to think about such lengthy timescales than about the more immediate future.The potential evolution of today’s technology, and its social consequences, is dazzlingly complicated, and it’s perhaps best left to science fiction writers and futurologists to explore the many possibilities we can envisage.That’s one reason why we have launched Arc, a new publication dedicated to the near future.But take a longer view and there is a surprising amount that we can say with considerable assurance.As so often, the past holds the key to the future: we have now identified enough of the long-term patterns shaping the history of the planet, and our species, to make evidence-based forecasts about the situations in which our descendants will find themselves.This long perspective makes the pessimistic view of our prospects seem more likely to be a passing fad.To be sure, the future is not all rosy.But we are now knowledgeable enough to re-duce many of the risks that threatened the existence of earlier humans, and to improve the lot of those to come.Text 3

直到几十年前，我们对未来的想象虽千奇百怪，却大都很积极乐观。科学和技术可以治愈人类所有的疾病，让人们过上满足的生活，让人人都有机会。

现如今这种空想的美好社会已经过时了，我们对面临的威胁范围有了更深刻的认识，从行星撞击到流行感冒到气候变化。你可能忍不住会想，人类都没有什么未来值得盼望了。

但是这种沮丧的情绪也不应该。化石资料表明很多物种存活了几百万年——那么我们怎么就不能活那么久呢？眼光放宽一点，想想我们这个物种在宇宙中的位置，就很容易发现，哪怕不能活上几十万年，我们也很可能活上几万年。查阅一下国际自然保护联盟发布的濒危物种红名单上对我们人类（智人）的描述，你会读到：非危物种，因为该物种分布很广，适应性强，目前数量呈上升趋势，且没有造成其总体数量下降的主要威胁。

那么，我们的未来究竟承载着什么呢？越来越多的研究者和机构现在正在仔细思考这个问题。比如，今日永存基金会的首要项目就是设计一个今后几千年仍然可以度量时间的医疗时钟。

思考这么大跨度的时间概念可能本来就比琢磨眼下的将来更容易许多。今日的技术如何演变，以及由此带来的社会影响，实在纷繁复杂，让人炫目。最好还是让科幻作家和未来学家去设想那些诸多可能发生的事情吧。这也是我们为什么发行Arc的原因之一。Arc是致力于研究近期未来的全新出版物。

但是眼光放长远些，我们能确信的事情就数量惊人了。过去是未来的关键：我们现在已经知道星球以及我们人类的历史怎样经历长时间的变化，那么我们就能以此为依据，预知后世子孙未来身处的境地。

这种长远角度使得悲观的前景预期看似更为过时。的确，未来不都那么美好。但是我们现在有足够的知识可以减少曾威胁人类早期生存的同类威胁，并改善未

Text 4

On a five to three vote, the Supreme Court knocked out much of Arizona’s immigration law Monday—a modest policy victory for the Obama Administration.But on the more important matter of the Constitution, the decision was an 8-0 defeat for the Administration’s effort to upset the balance of power between the federal government and the states.In Arizona v.United States, the majority overturned three of the four contested provisions of Arizona’s controversial plan to have state and local police enforce federal immigration law.The Constitution-al principles that Washington alone has the power to “establish a uniform Rule of Naturalization” and that federal laws precede state laws are noncontroversial.Arizona had attempted to fashion state policies that ran parallel to the existing federal ones.Jus-tice Anthony Kennedy, joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and the Court’s liberals, ruled that the state flew too close to the federal sun.On the overturned provisions the majority held that Congress had deliberately “occupied the field,” and Arizona had thus intruded on the federal’s privileged powers.Howev-er, the Justices said that Arizona police would be allowed to verify the legal status of people who come in contact with law enforcement.That’s because Congress has always envisioned joint federal-state immigration enforcement and explicitly encourages state officers to share information and cooperate with federal colleagues.Two of the three objecting Justice—Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas—agreed with this Constitution-al logic but disagreed about which Arizona rules conflicted with the federal statute.The only major objection came from Justice Antonin Scalia, who offered an even more robust defense of state privileges going back to the Alien and Sedition Acts.The 8-0 objection to President Obama turns on what Justice Samuel Alito describes in his objection as “a shocking assertion of federal executive power”.The White House argued that Arizona’s laws conflicted with its enforcement priorities, even if state laws complied with federal statutes to the letter.In effect, the WhiteHouse claimed that it could invalidate any otherwise legitimate state law that it disagrees with.Some powers do belong exclusively to the federal government, and control of citizenship and the bor-ders is among them.But if Congress wanted to prevent states from using their own resources to check immigration status, it could.It never did so.The administration was in essence asserting that because it didn’t want to carry out Congress’s immigration wishes, no state should be allowed to do so either.Every Justice rightly rejected this remarkable claim.Text 4

周一，最高法院以5比3的投票结果否决了亚利桑那州移民法的大部分内容——这是奥巴马政府所采取政策的一次不大不小的胜利。但是在更重要的（事关国之根本这个）国家宪法的大问题上，投票结果却是8比0。这个决定意味着联邦政府打破联邦政府和各州政府权力平衡的努力彻底失败了。

在这场亚利桑那州政府和美国政府的对峙中，最高法院以多数票通过推翻了亚利桑那州饱受争议的计划中四项有争议条款中的三项。亚利桑那州本计划让州警察和地方警察实施联邦移民法。宪法规定华盛顿自身有权力“制定统一的移民规则”，这和联邦法律优先于州法律的规定并不矛盾。亚利桑那州企图改变该州现行的与联邦法律一致的政策。

安东尼•肯尼迪大法官同约翰•罗伯特首席大法官和法庭的自由派们一起裁定州政府的做法不对。关于被推翻的条款，大多数人的观点是，州议会已经故意“占领地盘”了，也就是说亚利桑那州侵犯了联邦的特权。

然而，大法官们说，亚利桑那州警察有权力在执法过程中核实人们的法律身份。因为国会一直期待能联合联邦和各州的力量处理移民问题，并公开鼓励州警官和联邦警官共享信息，相互合作。

三名持反对意见的大法官中，有两人——塞缪尔•阿利托和克拉伦斯•托马斯赞同宪法的逻辑思路，却不同意亚利桑那州的规定违反联邦法规的说法。唯一主要的反对意见来自安东宁•斯卡利亚大法官，他强烈维护州的权益不受联邦干预，甚至提到了客籍法和镇压叛乱法。

用大法官塞缪尔•阿利托在他的反对意见中的话说，以8比0否决奥巴马的判决源自“一项惊人的维护联邦行政权的主张”。白宫声称，亚利桑那州的法律与其执法优先权相冲突，即使州法律严格遵守了联邦法律。实际上，白宫就是在声明，它将作废任何联邦不赞成的合法的州级法律。

有些权力确实归联邦政府独有，控制国籍和国界就是如此。但是如果国会想阻止各州使用自己的资源查看移民身份的话，国会是可以这么做的。可国会从没有这么做过。美国政府事实上就是在宣称，因为它不想实现国会的移民主张，哪一个州也不可以这么做。每一位大法官都端正的反对了这样的主张。

2012年考研英语阅读真题 Text 1

Come on –Everybody’s doing it.That whispered message, half invitation and half forcing, is what most of us think of when we hear the words peer pressure.It usually leads to no good-drinking, drugs and casual sex.But in her new book Join the Club, Tina Rosenberg contends that peer pressure can also be a positive force through what she calls the social cure, in which organizations and offi-cials use the power of group dynamics to help individuals improve their lives and possibly the word.Rosenberg, the recipient of a Pulitzer Prize, offers a host of

exam-ple of the social cure in action: In South Carolina, a state-sponsored antismoking program called Rage Against the Haze sets out to make cigarettes uncool.In South Africa, an HIV-prevention initiative known as LoveLife recruits young people to promote safe sex among their peers.The idea seems promising，and Rosenberg is a perceptive observer.Her critique of the lameness of many pubic-health campaigns is spot-on: they fail to mobilize peer pressure for healthy habits, and they demonstrate a serious-ly flawed understanding of psychology.” Dare to be different, please don’t smoke!” pleads one billboard campaign aimed at reducing smoking among teenagers-teenagers, who desire nothing more than fitting in.Rosenberg argues convincingly that public-health advocates ought to take a page from advertisers, so skilled at applying peer pressure.But on the general effectiveness of the soci-al cure, Rosenberg is less persuasive.Join the Club is filled with too much irrelevant detail and not enough exploration of the social and biological factors that make peer pressure so powerful.The most glaring flaw of the social cure as it’s presented here is that it doesn’t work very well for very long.Rage Against the Haze failed once state funding was cut.Evidence that the LoveLife program produces lasting changes is limited and mixed.There’s no doubt that our peer groups exert enormous influence on our behavior.An emerging body of research shows that positive health habits-as well as negative ones-spread through networks of friends via social communication.This is a subtle form of peer pressure: we unconsciously imi-tate the behavior we see every day.Far less certain, however, is how successfully experts and bureaucrats can select our peer groups and steer their activities in virtuous directions.It’s like the teacher who breaks up the troublemakers in the back row by pairing them with better-behaved classmates.The tactic never really works.And that’s the problem with a social cure engineered from the outside: in the real world, as in school, we insist on choosing our own friends.赶快，每个人都在做!当我们听到“来自同辈的压力”这个短语时，大部分人都会想到这个广为流传的，半是邀请、半是强迫的信息。一般来讲指的都不是好事—酗酒，吸毒，随意的性行为。但是Tina Rosenberg在新书JointheClub中辩护到，通过社会治疗这一方式，来自同辈的压力也可以成为正面积极的力量。在这个社会治疗中，各个机构和行政人员利用团队力量帮助个人改善他们的生活，这样还有可能改善整个世界。普利策奖获得者Rosenberg提供了大量正在进行中的社会治疗的例子：在南卡罗来纳，州资助的反对吸烟活动名叫RageAgainsttheHaze，它打算让吸烟不再流行。在南非，名为Love Life的预防HIV感染的活动招募年轻人在他们的同龄人中提倡安全性行为。这一想法似乎充满希望，Rosenberg是个有洞察力的观察着。她准确地批评了很多公共卫生活动的不完善：这些活动没有动员同龄人形成健康的习惯，对青少年心理的理解有严重误区。其中一个广告牌活动致力于在青少年中减少抽烟量，上面写着：“勇于特立独行，请不要抽烟!”—而青少年，渴望的就是和他人保持一致。Rosenberg争论到，公共卫生提倡者应该向广告商学习，他们能如此熟练地运用来自同辈的压力。这一论点很具说服力。但是在社会治疗的整体效力上，Rosenberg并不太具说服力。JointheClub里面有太多毫不相关的细节，促使来自同辈的压力如此强大的社会、生物因素却剖析地不够。正如现在所呈现的，社会治疗最引人注目的缺陷是：如果持续时间很久，它的效果并不好。一旦州砍掉资金，RageAgainsttheHaze就失败了。证据显示，Love Life项目所产生的长远变化是有限的，而且混杂其他因素。同龄人给我们的行为带来了巨大的影响，这是毫无疑问的。大量刚刚出炉的研究表明，正面积极的健康习惯——还有负面消极的——通过社会交流在朋友网中流传。这是来自同辈的压力更为微妙的形式：我们无意识地模仿每天看到的行为。专家和政府人员该如何成功地选择同龄人团队并引导他们的行为朝着有德行的方向发展，这远远不能确定。这就像老师把后排制造麻烦的学生和表现良好的学生放在一起，以此来解散麻烦制造者团队，这样的技巧从不真正起作用。从外部因素出发策划的社会治疗也有这一问题：在真实世界中，就像在学校，我们坚持选择自己的朋友。Text2

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A deal is a deal-except, apparently, when Entergy is involved.The company, a major energy supplier in New England, provoked justified outrage in Vermont last week when it announced it was reneging on a longstanding commitment to abide by the strict nuclear regulations.In-stead, the company has done precisely what it had long promised it would not challenge the constitutionali-ty of Vermont’s rules in the federal court, as part of a desperate effort to keep its Vermont Yankee nuc-lear power plant running.It’s a stunning move.The conflict has been surfacing since 2002, when the corporation bought Vermont’s only nuclear power plant, an aging reactor in Vernon.As a condition of receiving state approval for the sale, the company agreed to seek permission from state regulators to operate past 2012.In 2006, the state went a step further, requiring that any extension of the plant’s license be subject to Vermont legislature’s approval.Then, too, the company went along.Either Entergy never really intended to live by those

commit-ments, or it simply didn’t foresee what would happen next.A string of accidents, including the partial collapse of a cooling tower in 207 and the discovery of an underground pipe system leakage,raised serious questions about both Vermont Yankee’s safety and Entergy’s management– especial-ly after the company made misleading statements about the pipe.Enraged by Entergy’s behavior, the Vermont Senate voted 26 to 4 last year against allowing an extension.Now the company is suddenly claiming that the 2002 agreement is invalid because of the 2006 legisla-tion, and that only the federal government has regulatory power over nuclear issues.The legal issues in the case are obscure: whereas the Supreme Court has ruled that states do have some regulato-ry authority over nuclear power, legal scholars say that Vermont case will offer a precedent-setting test of how far those powers extend.Certainly, there are valid concerns about the patchwork regula-tions that could result if every state sets its own rules.But had Entergy kept its word, that debate would be beside the point.The company seems to have concluded that its reputation in Vermont is already so damaged that it has noting left to lose by going to war with the state.But there should be consequences.Permission to run a nuclear plant is a poblic trust.Entergy runs 11 other reactors in the United States, includ-ing Pilgrim Nuclear station in Plymouth.Pledging to run Pilgrim safely, the company has applied for federal permission to keep it open for another 20 years.But as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission(NRC)reviews the company’s application, it should keep it mind what promises from Entergy are worth.承诺就是承诺—很明显，当Entergy公司牵涉在内的话就除外。这个公司是新英格兰主要的能源供应商，它曾承诺要一直遵守严格的核能源规范条例，但上周它宣布要违背这个承诺，理所当然地，它激起了佛蒙特州的义愤。这个公司确实已做了它曾承诺的永远不会做的事情：在联邦法庭上挑战佛蒙特州条例的合宪性，拼命努力来保证佛蒙特州美国核能源工厂的正常运行。这一举动令人震惊。2002年公司购买了佛蒙特州唯一的核能源工厂，即位于弗农古老的核反应堆。自此，冲突开始浮出水面。公司同意2012年之后都会寻求本州调整者的许可，作为接受本州同意销售的条件。2006年，佛蒙特更进一步，要求延长这一核工厂的许可证必须得到佛蒙特州立法机关的许可。公司也同意了。Entergy可能不想真正地遵守这些承诺，或者简单来说它并没有预见将要发生的事情。一系列事故，如207冷却塔部分坍塌，发现地下管道系统漏泄，这些都引发了关于佛蒙特州美国人的安全及Entergy公司经营等方面的严重问题—尤其在公司关于管道问题做了令人误解的声明之后。因Entergy的所作所为而震怒，去年佛蒙特州参议院以26:4的选票结果，反对允许延长它的许可证。现在公司突然宣布，因2006法规2002协议无效，只有联邦政府才有权调控核事件。这一案例中的法律问题模糊不清：最高法院曾宣布各州确实对核能源有调控权力，但法律学者认为佛蒙特案件将验证这些权力到底有多大。当然，如果每一个州都设定自己的法律条例，由此而导致的混乱确实能引起合理的关注。但是如果Entergy信守诺言，那这场争论就偏离主题了。公司似乎下了这样的论断：它在佛蒙特的声望已被损害，即使与佛蒙特州作战也没什么好失去的。但是这有一定的后果。允许经营核工厂体现了公众的信任。在美国Entergy还经营了其他11个反应堆，包括普利茅斯的Pilgrim核电站。公司承诺安全经营Pilgrim，已向联邦提出申请，要求再经营20年。但是当核管理委员会审查了公司的申请时，应该记住Entergy的承诺能有什么样的价值。

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In the idealized version of how science is done, facts about the world are waiting to be observed and collected by objective researchers who use the scientific method to carry out their work.But in the everyday practice of science, discovery frequently follows an ambiguous and complicated route.We aim to be objective, but we cannot escape the context of our unique life experience.Prior knowledge and interest influence what we experience, what we think our experiences mean, and the subsequent actions we take.Opportunities for misinterpretation, error, and self-deception abound.Consequently, discovery claims should be thought of as

protos-cience.Similar to newly staked mining claims, they are full of potential.But it takes collective scruti-ny and acceptance to transform a discovery claim into a mature discovery.This is the credibility pro-cess, through which the individual researcher’s me, here, now becomes the community’s anyone, anywhere, anytime.Objective knowledge is the goal, not the starting point.Once a discovery claim becomes public, the discoverer receives intellectual credit.But, unlike with mining claims, the community takes control of what happens next.Within the complex social struc-ture of the scientific community, researchers make discoveries;editors and reviewers act as gatekee-pers by controlling the publication process;other scientists use the new finding to suit their own purpos-es;and finally, the public(including other scientists)receives the new discovery and possibly accompany-ing technology.As a discovery claim works it through the community, the interaction and confronta-tion between shared and competing beliefs about the science and the technology involved transforms an individual’s discovery claim into the community’s credible discovery.Two paradoxes exist throughout this credibility process.First, scientific work tends to focus on some aspect of prevailing Knowledge that is viewed as incomplete or incorrect.Little reward accompa-nies duplication and confirmation of what is already known and believed.The goal is new-search, not re-search.Not surprisingly, newly published discovery claims and credible discoveries that appear to be important and convincing will always be open to challenge and potential modification or refutation by future researchers.Second, novelty itself frequently provokes disbelief.Nobel Laureate and physiologist Albert Azent-Gyorgyi once described discovery as “seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought.” But thinking what nobody else has thought and telling others what they have missed may not change their views.Sometimes years are required for truly novel discovery claims to be accepted and appreciated.In the end, credibility “happens” to a discovery claim – a process that corresponds to what philosopher Annette Baier has described as the commons of the mind.“We reason together, challenge, revise, and complete each other’s reasoning and each other’s conceptions of reason.” 在科学研究的理想状态下，关于世界的事实正在等待着那些客观的研究者来观察和搜集，研究者们会用科学的方法来进行他们的工作。但是在每天的科学实践中，发现通常遵循一条模糊和复杂的路径。我们的目标是做到客观，但是我们却不能逃离我们所处的独特的生活经验的环境。之前的知识和兴趣会影响我们所经历的，会影响我们对于经验意义的思考，以及我们会采取的随后的行动。这里充满着误读，错误和自我欺骗的机会。所以，对于发现的申明应该被当做是科学的原型。这与新近开发的采矿资源比较类似，他们都充满着可能性。但是将发现的申明变为一个成熟的发现是需要集体的审查和集体的接受。这个过程就配称之为“信用的过程”，通过这个过程一个单个研究者的“我”在这里就变成了这个社区中的任何人，任何地方和任何时间。客观的知识不应该是起点而是目标。一旦一个科学发现变成公开的，那么发现者就获得了知识的认可。但是和采矿权不一样的是，科学协会将控制接下来会发生的事情。在复杂的科研机构的社会结构中，研究者去做出发现；编辑和审稿者通过控制出版过程扮演着看门人的角色；其他的科学家使用新的发现来满足他们自己的目标；最后，公众（也包括其他科学家）接受到新的发现和可能相伴随的技术。当一个发现的声明最终通过了机构的审查，在有关所涉及到的共享的和抵触的信念之间的互动和冲突将把一个人的发现变为一个机构的可信的发现在整个信任的过程中存在着两个悖论，第一：科学工作倾向于关注一些流行科学的某些方面，而这些方面又是被认为是不完全和不正确的。去复制和确认已经被人所知和所信的东西不会有多少回报。科学要做的是去探究新的东西而不是再次探究。不足为奇的是，新发表的重要的，有说服力发现和可信的发现将会被后来的研究者质疑，并带来潜在的修改甚至驳斥。第二个悖论是：新颖的东西本身就经常会招致怀疑。诺贝尔奖获得者，生理学家AlbertAzent-Gyorgyi曾经将发现描述为：“观察每个人观察的，思考没有人想到的。”但是思考其他人没有想到的并且告诉其他人他们所遗漏的可能并不会改变这些人的观点。有时候，真正新颖的科学发现被人们所接受和认可将会花好多年的时间。最后，一个科学的发现获得了信任，这个过程是与哲学家AnnetteBaier所描述的心灵的共性的观点是一致的。“我们共同去推理，去质疑，其修改并且完善各自的推理以及各自的推理概念。Text4

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If the trade unionist Jimmy Hoffa were alive today, he would probably represent civil servant.When Hoffa’s Teamsters were in their prime in 1960, only one in ten American government workers belonged to a union;now 36% do.In 2009 the number of unionists in America’s public sector passed that of their fellow members in the private sector.In Britain, more than half of public-sector workers but only about 15% of private-sector ones are unionized.There are three reasons for the public-sector unions’ thriving.First, they can shut things down without suffering much in the way of consequences.Second, they are mostly bright and well-educated.A quarter of America’s public-sector workers have a university degree.Third, they now dominate left-of-centre politics.Some of their ties go back a long way.Britain’s Labor Party, as its name implies, has long been associated with trade unionism.Its current leader, Ed Miliband,owes his position to votes from public-sector unions.At the state level their influence can be even more fearsome.Mark Baldassare of the Public Policy Insti-tute of California points out that much of the state’s budget is patrolled by unions.The teachers’ unions keep an eye on schools, the CCPOA on prisons and a variety of labor groups on health care.In many rich countries average wages in the state sector are higher than in the private one.But the real gains come in benefits and work practices.Politicians have repeatedly “backloaded” public-sec-tor pay deals, keeping the pay increases modest but adding to holidays and especially pensions that are already generous.Reform has been vigorously opposed, perhaps most egregiously in education, where charter schools, academies and merit pay all faced drawn-out battles.Even though there is plenty of evidence that the quality of the teachers is the most important variable, teachers’ unions have fought against getting rid of bad ones and promoting good ones.As the cost to everyone else has become clearer, politicians have begun to clamp down.In Wisconsin the unions have rallied thousands of supporters against Scott Walker, the hardline Republican governor.But many within the public sector suffer under the current system, too.John Donahue at Harvard’s Kennedy School points out that the norms of culture in Western civ-il services suit those who want to stay put but is bad for high achievers.The only American public-sector workers who earn well above $250,000 a year are university sports coaches and the president of the United States.Bankers’ fat pay packets have attracted much criticism, but a public-sector system that does not reward high achievers may be a much bigger problem for America.如果工会会员Jimmy Hoffa今天还活着，他也许会是公务员的代表。1960年Hoffa的组织Teamsters处于全盛时期，美国政府工作人员中只有十分之一的人属于某一个公会;现在这个比率是36%。2009年任职于美国公共部门的工会会员人数超过了任职于私营部门的工会会员人数。在英国，在公共部门的工作人员中半数以上参加了工会;而私营部门的工作人员只有大约15%的人参加了工会组织。公共部门工会如此盛行的原因有三个。第一，他们能够脱身，而不用承担太多后果。第二，他们中间大部分人聪明，受过良好教育。美国公共部门的工作人员中四分之一的人有大学学位。第三，他们现在在政治中的左翼力量中占主导地位。其中有些关系有很长的历史。正如其名，英国工党和工会组织的关系由来已久。其现任领导Miliband把自己得到的位置归功于来自公共部门工会组织的投票。从州范围来看，他们的影响更为吓人。加利福尼亚州公共政策研究院的MarkBaldassare指出，本州大部分预算都由工会来检查。教师工会关注学校，加利福尼亚感化治安官协会关心监狱，各型各色的劳工团体关注卫生保健。在很多富裕国家，公共部门的平均工资要高于私营部门的平均工资。但是真正的收入来源于利润和工作表现。政客已不停地加强公共部门的工资待遇，工资涨幅不大，但却加长本来就不少的假期，特别是增加本来就很多的养老保险金。对于变革的反对一直都很强烈，在教育方面最为惊人。在教育方面，契约学校、专科学校、绩效奖都面临着持久战。尽管有大量证据表明教师的质量是最重要的变量，但教师工会反对解雇不好的教师，提升好教师。

对其他每个人的支出变得更为清晰，政客开始强制执行。在威斯康辛州，工会集结了成千上万的支持者，反对走强硬路线的州长，即共和党人ScottWalker。但很多任职于公共部门的工作人员也在目前的体制下受罪。

哈佛肯尼迪学院的John Donahue指出，西方公务员系统的文化准则适合这些想留在原地过安逸生活的人们，但并不适合那些表现好的人们。任职于美国公共部门的工作人员中，只有大学体育教练和美国总统每年的收入远远高于250,000美元。银行的高收入招致了很多批评，但对于美国来讲，在公共部门体制中，没有给表现好的工作人员足够的回报可能会成为更为严重的问题。

2011 年考研英语阅读真题

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The decision of the New York Philharmonic to hire Alan Gilbert as its next music director has been the talk of the classical-music world ever since the sudden announcement of his appointment in 2009.For the most part, the response has been favorable, to say the least.―Hooray!At last!wrote Anthony Tommasini, a sober-sided classical-music critic.One of the reasons why the appointment came as such a surprise, however, is that Gilbert is comparative-ly little known.Even Tommasini, who had advocated Gilbert‘s appointment in the Times, calls him ―an unpretentious musician with no air of the formidable conductor about him.As a description of the next music director of an orchestra that has hitherto been led by musicians like Gustav Mahler and Pierre Boulez, that seems likely to have struck at least some Times readers as faint praise.For my part, I have no idea whether Gilbert is a great conductor or even a good one.To be sure, he performs an impressive variety of interesting compositions, but it is not necessary for me to visit Avery Fisher Hall, or anywhere else, to hear interesting orchestral music.All I have to do is to go to my CD shelf, or boot up my computer and download still more recorded music from iTunes.De-voted concertgoers who reply that recordings are no substitute for live performance are missing the point.For the time, attention, and money of the art-loving public, classical instrumentalists must compete not only with opera houses, dance troupes, theater companies, and museums, but also with the recorded performances of the great classical musicians of the 20th century.There record-ings are cheap, available everywhere, and very often much higher in artistic quality than today‘s live performances;moreover, they can be ―consumed at a time and place of the listener‘s choosing.The widespread availability of such recordings has thus brought about a crisis in the institution of the traditional classical concert.One possible response is for classical performers to program attractive new music that is not yet available on record.Gilbert‘s own interest in new music has been widely noted: Alex Ross, a classical-music critic, has described him as a man who is capable of turning the Philharmonic into ―a markedly different, more vibrant organization.But what will be the nature of that difference? Merely expanding the orchestra‘s repertoire will not be enough.If Gilbert and the Philharmonic are to succeed, they must first change the relationship between America‘s oldest orchestra and the new audience it hops to attract.译文：

纽约爱乐乐团决定聘请Alan Gilbert作为下一任的音乐总监，这从2009年任命被宣布之日起就在古典音乐界引起了热议.别的不说，大部分人的反应是积极的.―好啊，终于好了！Anthony Thomasine写道，他可是一个以严肃著称的古典音乐评论家.但是，这个任命之所以一起人们惊讶的原因却是Gilbert相对而言并不是很有名.甚至在时代杂志上发文支持Gilbert任命的Thomasine都称其为：低调的音乐家，在他身上找不到那种飞扬跋扈的指挥家的气质.纽约爱乐乐团迄今为止都是由像Gustav Mahler(古斯塔夫•马勒)和Pierre Boulez布列兹那样的音乐家领导的.这样去描述这个乐团的下一位指挥，至少对于时代的读者而言，这是一种苍白的表扬.就我看来，我不知道Gilbert是否是一个伟大的指挥家或者是一个好的指挥.但是我能确定的是，他能表现出很多有趣的乐章，但是我却应该不会去Avery Fisher Hall或者其他地方去听一场有趣的交响乐演出.我要做的事情就是去我的CD架上，或者打开的我的电脑从ITUNES上下载更多的唱片.Text 2

When Liam McGee departed as president of Bank of America in August, his explanation was surprisingly straight up.Rather than cloaking his exit in the usual vague excuses, he came right out and said he was leaving ―to pursue my goal of running a company.Broadcasting his ambition was ―very much my decision, McGee says.Within two weeks, he was talking for the first time with the board of Hartford Financial Services Group, which named him CEO and chairman on September 29.McGee says leaving without a position lined up gave him time to reflect on what kind of company he wanted to run.It also sent a clear message to the outside world about his aspirations.And McGee isn‘t alone.In recent weeks the No.2 executives at Avon and American Express quit with the explanation that they were looking for a CEO post.As boards scrutinize succession plans in response to shareholder pressure, executives who don‘t get the nod also may wish to move on.A turbulent business environment also has senior managers cautious of letting vague pronouncements cloud their reputations.As the first signs of recovery begin to take hold, deputy chiefs may be more willing to make the jump without a net.In the third quarter, CEO turnover was down 23% from a year ago as nervous boards stuck with the leaders they had, according to Liberum Research.As the economy picks up, opportunities will abound for aspiring leaders.The decision to quit a senior position to look for a better one is unconventional.For years executives and headhunters have adhered to the rule that the most attractive CEO candidates are the ones who must be poached.Says Korn Ferry，senior partner Dennis Carey :―I can‘t think of a single search I‘ve done where a board has not instructed me to look at sitting CEOs first.Those who jumped without a job haven‘t always landed in top positions quickly.Ellen Marram quit as chief of Tropicana when the business became part of Pep-siCo(PEP)a decade ago, saying she wanted to be a CEO.It was a year before she became head of a tiny Internet-based commodities exchange.Robert Willumstad left Citigroup in 2005 with ambi-tions to be a CEO.He finally took that post at a major financial institution three years later.Many recruiters say the old disgrace is fading for top performers.The financial crisis has made it more acceptable to be between jobs or to leave a bad one.―The traditional rule was it‘s safer to stay where you are, but that‘s been fundamentally inverted, says one headhunter.―The people who‘ve been hurt the worst are those who‘ve stayed too long.译文：

当八月份，Liam McGee以总裁的身份从美国银行离职的时候，他的解释出人意料的直白.他没有忸怩的用平常的模糊的理由来遮掩他的离开，他很坦诚的讲他离开就是为了去追求他经营一家公司的目标.McGee说宣扬自己的目标就是自己的决定.两周后，他第一次和Hartford Financial Services Group的董事会第一次会谈，这家公司在9月29日提名他为董事会主席和CEO.他说在离开的时候并没有找好后面的职位(下家)，使他有时间去反思他到底想去经营一家什么样的公司.这同时也就他的激情和决心，给了外界一个清晰的信号.这样做的并不只是McGee一个人.最近几周，Avon and American Express的一些高级经理离职并解释说想需找一个CEO的职位.当董事会迫于股东的压力对一系列的计划进行审查的时候，那些计划被否定掉的经理们也会想离开.激烈的商业环境同样使得高级经理很小心，模糊的表态可能会破坏他们的声誉.当经济复苏的标志开始确定的时候，二把手们可能更愿意在没有网(新的工作)情况下换工作.第三季度，根据Liberum的调查，CEO的更迭和一年前相比减少了23%，这是由于紧张的董事会紧盯着他们的CEO们.随着经济的复苏和好转，对有理想的头儿们，机会是很多的.离开高管的职位去寻找一个更好的职位，并不是传统的做法.多年以来，经理们和猎头们都认同这样一个原则：最有吸引力的CEO的竞争是那些需要去挖来的人.Korn Ferry，senior partner Dennis Carey说道：我所做的每一次的招聘中，董事会都要求我从那些在任的CEO中寻找人选.那些没有找到工作就离开的人并不是很快就能找到顶级的职位.10年前，Tropicana被PepsiCo(PEP)收购了，她以经理的身份离职了，她说他想当CEO.但是花了一年的时间她才成为一家小型互联网交换公司的头.2005年Robert Willumstad带着想成为CEO的梦想离开了Citigroup.可是三年后他才成为了一家主要的金融机构的CEO.很多招聘的人都说对于高管而言，过去认为的丢脸的感觉(没有工作)已经慢慢消失了.金融危机已经使得跳槽，离开一个不好的工作变得更加可以接受了.一个猎头就说到： ―传统的规则是待在你原来的地方会更加安全，但是现在已经彻底改变了.那些受伤最厉害的就是那里在一个地方待太久的人.‖

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The rough guide to marketing success used to be that you got what you paid for.No longer.While traditional ―paid‖ media – such as television commercials and print advertisements – still play a major role, companies today can exploit many alternative forms of media.Con-sumers passionate about a product may create “earned” media by willingly promoting it to friends, and a company may leverage ―owned‖ media by sending e-mail alerts about products and sales to customers registered with its Web site.In fact，the way consumers now approach the process of making purchase decisions means that marketing's impact stems from a broad range of factors beyond conventional paid media.Paid and owned media are controlled by marketers promoting their own products.For earned media , such marketers act as the initiator for users‘ responses.But in some cases, one marketer‘s owned media become another marketer‘s paid media – for instance, when an e-commerce retailer sells ad space on its Web site.We define such sold media as owned media whose traffic is so strong that other organizations place their content or e-commerce engines within that environment.This trend ,which we believe is still in its infancy, effectively began with retailers and travel providers such as airlines and hotels and will no doubt go further.Johnson & Johnson, for example, has created BabyCenter, a stand-alone media property that promotes complementary and even competitive products.Besides generating income, the presence of other marketers makes the site seem objective, gives companies opportunities to learn valuable information about the appeal of other companies‘ marketing, and may help expand user traffic for all companies concerned.The same dramatic technological changes that have provided marketers with more(and more diverse)communications choices have also increased the risk that passionate consumers will voice their opinions in quicker, more visible, and much more damaging ways.Such hijacked media are the opposite of earned media: an asset or campaign becomes hostage to consumers, other stakeholders, or activists who make negative allegations about a brand or product.Members of social networks, for instance, are learning that they can hijack media to apply pressure on the businesses that originally created them.If that happens, passionate consumers would try to persuade others to boycott products, putting the reputation of the target company at risk.In such a case, the company‘s response may not be sufficiently quick or thoughtful, and the learning curve has been steep.Toyota Motor, for example, alleviated some of the damage from its recall crisis earlier this year with a relatively quick and well-orchestrated social-media response campaign, which included efforts to engage with consumers directly on sites such as Twitter and the social-news site Digg.沪江考研

http://kaoyan.hjenglish.com/

译文：

过去，市场营销的成功诀窍简而言之就是一分钱一分货.然而时过境迁.虽然传统的―付费‖(paid)媒介，比如电视和广播广告、平面广告和路边广告牌等，仍然扮演着重要角色，但企业如今还可以利用许多其他形式的媒介.比如，痴迷于某种产品的消费者，可能会乐意将之推荐给朋友，从而为企业创造因产品的优良品质带来的―无偿‖(earned)媒介.企业还可以利用―自有‖(owned)媒介，通过邮件向其网站的注册用户发送产品和销售提示.事实上，如今消费者作出购买决定的方式，意味着市场营销的影响力来自于传统付费媒介之外的广泛因素.营销人员通过付费和自有媒介推销其产品，而在―无偿‖媒介方面，营销人员就像是触发用户响应的初始催化剂.在某些情况下，某营销者的自有媒介会成为另一个营销者的付费媒介.比如，当某电子商务零售商出售其网站的广告空间时，我们就将这种―售出‖媒介定义为拥有巨大流量、以致其他机构纷纷前来投放内容或电子商务引擎的自有媒介.我们认为，这种趋势已蓬勃发端于零售商和航空、酒店等旅游供应商，虽然还处于初始阶段，但无疑可以走得更远.比如，强生公司创建了著名网站BabyCenter，借以推广互补性乃至竞争性产品，而其他营销者的出现不仅带来了收入，还令该网站看起来公正客观，并且使企业有机会从其他公司的营销活动中获得可贵的信息，最后还有助于扩大所有相关企业的用户流量.剧烈的技术变革使营销人员获得了数量更多、种类更广的沟通选择，但同时也带来了更高的风险，因为激动的消费者能够以更迅速、更明显、更有害的方式来表达他们的意见.这就是与―无偿‖媒介相对的―劫持‖媒介：某项资产或活动变成了对某个品牌或产品不满的消费者、其他股东或积极分子的劫持物.比如，社交网络用户正领悟到，他们可以通过―劫持‖媒介来对最初创建该媒介的企业施加压力.如果那种事情发生，激动的消费者试图劝服其他人共同抵制两家公司的产品，从而危及企业声誉.当这种事情发生的时候，如果企业的回应不够快或不够好，那么就可能酿成悲剧.比如，在今年较早前发生的召回危机中，丰田汽车公司采取了较快且较有序的社交媒体回应行动，包括在Twitter和社会新闻网站Digg等网站上与客户进行直接交流，从而挽回了部分损失.Text 4

It‘s no surprise that Jennifer Senior‘s insightful, provocative magazine cover story, ―I love My Children, I Hate My Life,‖ is arousing much chatter – nothing gets people talking like the suggestion that child rearing is anything less than a completely fulfilling, life-enriching experience.Rather than concluding that children make parents either happy or miserable, Senior suggests we need to redefine happiness: instead of thinking of it as something that can be measured by moment-to-moment joy, we should consider being happy as a past-tense condition.Even though the day-to-day experience of raising kids can be soul-crushingly hard, Senior writes that ―the very things that in the moment dampen our moods can later be sources of intense gratification and delight.‖

The magazine cover showing an attractive mother holding a cute baby is hardly the only Madonna-and-child image on newsstands this week.There are also stories about newly adoptive – and new-ly single – mom Sandra Bullock, as well as the usual ―Jennifer Aniston is pregnant‖ news.Practically every week features at least one celebrity mom, or mom-to-be, smiling on the newsstands.In a society that so persistently celebrates procreation, is it any wonder that admitting you regret having children is equivalent to admitting you support kitten-killing ? It doesn‘t seem quite fair, then, to compare the regrets of parents to the regrets of the children.Unhappy parents rarely are provoked to wonder if they shouldn‘t have had kids, but unhappy childless folks are bothered with the message that children are the single most important thing in the world: obviously their misery must be a direct result of the gaping baby-size holes in their lives.Of course, the image of parenthood that celebrity magazines like Us Weekly and People present is hugely unrealistic, especially when the parents are single mothers like Bullock.According to several studies concluding that 译文：

毫无疑问，Jennifer Senior在有煸动意味的的杂志封面故事中表达了她的独到见解，―我爱我的孩子们，我讨厌我的生活‖——这唤起了人们的谈兴.人们一谈到养孩子就会觉得这是一件完全令人愉悦、生活充实的事情.Jennifer Senior没有指出养孩子到底是使得父母快乐呢还是痛苦呢，她倒是认为，我们需要重新定义幸福：幸福不应该是一个个瞬间的快乐组合的可以被衡量的东西；我们应该把幸福视为一种过去式的状态.尽管抚养孩子的日子漫长难熬，令人筋疲力尽，但是Jennifer Senior认为，正是那些心绪沉重的时刻，日后却成为我们欢乐的源泉.杂志封面上一位给力的母亲抱着一个可爱的婴儿，这种圣母与圣子(麦当娜和孩子)的图画这周在杂志上多次出现.例如杂志上讲到最近刚收养孩子的母亲——有时是刚变成单身母亲——桑德拉布鲁克，以及那种很常见的―詹尼弗阿尼斯顿怀孕了‖的新闻.实际上，每周都有至少一位名人母亲、或者准母亲在杂志上笑迎读者.在一个不断地庆祝生育的社会中，承认自己后悔生育孩子就相当于承认自己支持杀小猫，这难道不值得反思吗？把父母的后悔与孩子的后悔相比较，这显然并不合理.没有人会去让不情愿养孩子的父母去反思自己是否不该养孩子，但是那不幸福的没有孩子的人却为类似这样的信息所困扰：―孩子是世上唯一最可珍惜的东西‖，显然，你们的不幸必须通过生儿育女才能得以消除.当然，像美国周刊与人物这样的杂志提供的名人父母的形象是非常不切实际的.特别是像Bullock这样的单身母亲时更是如此.多项研究表明，有孩子的父母很少比没有孩子的夫妇更快乐，而单亲家庭是最不快乐的.这并不奇怪，因为一个人养一个孩子实在太麻烦了，没有人可以依靠.然而，你听听Sandra和Britney说的话：自己―一个人‖养孩子，其实非常简单.(她们当然觉得简单了，因为她们是在周围有一帮人全天侯的侯着啊.)

很难想象有的人生孩子就只是很傻很天真因为Reese和Angelina这种名流使这种行为变的很光鲜，——多数成年人其实理解：养孩子可不是剪头发那样简单.但这确实有趣：反思一下我们每周看到的无忧无虑，幸福诱人的为人父母的生活会不会从一种微小的，无意识的方面加剧我们对于现实生活的不满.这种方式就好像：我们有那种想成为― the Rachel‖(老友记中的单身妈妈)的心理，这种心理，使得我们看上去有点像詹尼弗安尼斯顿(Rachel 的扮演者).2010年考研英语阅读真题 Text 1 阅读1 Of all the changes that have taken place in English-language newspapers during the past quar-ter-century, perhaps the most far-reaching has been the inexorable decline in the scope and se-riousness of their arts coverage.在过去的25年英语报纸所发生的变化中，影响最深远的可能就是它们对艺术方面的报道在范围上毫无疑问的缩小了，而且这些报道的严肃程度也绝对降低了。

It is difficult to the point of impossibility for the average reader under the age of forty to imagine a time when high-quality arts criticism could be found in most big-city newspapers.对于年龄低于 40岁的普通读者来讲，让他们想象一下当年可以在许多大城市报纸上读到精品的文艺评论简直几乎是天方夜谭。

Yet a considerable number of the most significant collections of criticism published in the 20th century consisted in large part of newspaper reviews.然而，在20世纪出版的最重要的文艺评论集中，人们读到的大部分评论文章都是从报纸上收集而来。

To read such books today is to marvel at the fact that their learned contents were once deemed suitable for publication in general-circulation dailies.现在，如果读到这些集子，人们肯定会惊诧，当年这般渊博深奥的内容竟然被认为适合发表在大众日报中。

We are even farther removed from the unfocused newspaper reviews published in England be-tween the turn of the 20th century and the eve of World War II, at a time when newsprint was dirt-cheap and stylish arts criticism was considered an ornament to the publications in which it appeared.从 20世纪早期到二战以前，当时的英国报纸上的评论主题广泛，包罗万象，我们现在离此类报纸评论越来越远。当时的报纸极其便宜，人们把高雅时尚的文艺批评当作是所刊登报纸的一个亮点。

In those far-off days, it was taken for granted that the critics of major papers would write in de-tail and at length about the events they covered.在那些遥远的年代，各大报刊的评论家们都会不遗余力地详尽报道他们所报道的事情，这在当时被视为是理所当然的事情。

Theirs was a serious business, and even those reviewers who wore their learning lightly, like George Bernard Shaw and Ernest Newman, could be trusted to know what they were about.他们的写作是件严肃的事情，人们相信：甚至那些博学低调不喜欢炫耀的评论家，比如 George Bernard Shaw 和 Ernest Newman也知道自己在做什么。

These men believed in journalism as a calling, and were proud to be published in the daily press.这些批评家们相信报刊评论是一项职业，并且对于他们的文章能够在报纸 上发表感到很自豪。

“So few authors have brains enough or literary gift enough to keep their own end up in jour-nalism, ” Newman wrote, “that I am tempted to define 'journalism' as 'a term of contempt applied by writers who are not read to writers who are.'” Newman 曾写道，“鉴于几乎没有作家能拥有足够的智慧或文学天赋以保证他们在新闻报纸写作中站稳脚跟，我倾向于把'新闻写作'定义为不受读者欢迎的作家用来嘲讽受读者欢迎的作家的一个 '轻蔑之词' ” Unfortunately, these critics are virtually forgotten.不幸的是，这些批评家们现在实际上已被人们遗忘。

Neville Cardus, who wrote for the Manchester Guardian from 1917 until shortly before his death in 1975, is now known solely as a writer of essays on the game of cricket.从 1917 年开始一直到 1975 年去世不久前还在为曼彻斯特《卫报》写文章的 Neville Cardus，如今仅仅作为一个撰写关于板球比赛文章的作家被人们所知。

During his lifetime, though, he was also one of England's foremost classical-music critics, and a stylist so widely admired that his Autobiography(1947)became a best-seller.但是，在他的一生当中，他也是英国首屈一指的古典音乐评论家之一。他也是一位深受读者青睐的文体家，所以 1947 年他的《自传》一书就成为热销读物。

He was knighted in 1967, the first music critic to be so honored.1967年他被授予爵士称号，也是第一位获此殊荣的音乐评论家。

Yet only one of his books is now in print, and his vast body of writings on music is unknown save to specialists.然而，他的书现在只有一本可以在市面上买到。他大量的音乐批评，除了专门研究音乐评论的人以外，已鲜为人知。

Is there any chance that Cardus's criticism will enjoy a revival? Cardus 的评论有没有机会重新流行？

The prospect seems remote.前景似乎渺茫。

Journalistic tastes had changed long before his death, and postmodern readers have little use for the richly upholstered Vicwardian prose in which he specialized.在他去世之前，新闻业的品味早已改变很长时间了，而且他所擅长的措词华丽的维多利亚爱德华时期的散文风格对后现代的读者没有什么用处。

Moreover, the amateur tradition in music criticism has been in headlong retreat.何况，由业余爱好者作音乐批评的传统早已经成为昨日黄花了。Text 2 阅读2 Over the past decade, thousands of patents have been granted for what are called business methods.在过去的十年中，成千上万的商业方法被授予了专利权。Amazon.com received one for its “one-click” online payment system.亚马逊网站获得的专利是在线“单击”付费系统。

Merrill Lynch got legal protection for an asset allocation strategy.美林公司的资产分配方案得到了法律保护。

One inventor patented a technique for lifting a box.某位发明者的提箱技巧也获得了专利。

Now the nation's top patent court appears completely ready to scale back on business-method patents, which have been controversial ever since they were first authorized 10 years ago.现在，该国最高专利法院似乎完全准备好要缩减商业方法专利，因为商业方法专利自从十年前第一次批准授予以来一直有争议。

In a move that has intellectual-property lawyers abuzz the U.S.court of Appeals for the federal circuit said it would use a particular case to conduct a broad review of business-method patents.在一项使得知识产权律师们议论纷纷的提议中，美国联邦巡回上诉法院声称它将利用某个具体案件来对商业方法专利进行广泛的复审。

In re Bilski, as the case is known , is “a very big deal”, says Dennis D.Crouch of the University of Missouri School of law.密苏里大学法学院 Dennis D.Crouch 说，“正如人们所知道的那样，Bilski案例是一 件非常大的事情” It “has the potential to eliminate an entire class of patents.” 它“可能将消除整个专利类别”。

Curbs on business-method claims would be a dramatic about-face, because it was the federal circuit itself that introduced such patents with is 1998 decision in the so-called state Street Bank case, approving a patent on a way of pooling mutual-fund assets.对于商业方法诉求的限制是个戏剧性的彻底变化，因为正是联邦巡回法院自己引进了这种专利。那是在 1998 年，对于所谓的美国道富银行的案件中，联邦巡回法院做出了判决，批准了筹集共同基金资产的方法具有专利权。

That ruling produced an explosion in business-method patent filings, initially by emerging in-ternet companies trying to stake out exclusive rights to specific types of online transactions.这一裁决使得商业方法专利文件以几何数级增加，起初只是一些新兴的网络公司对于某些特定类型的在线交易系统试图争取独家专有权。

Later, more established companies raced to add such patents to their files, if only as a defensive move against rivals that might beat them to the punch.后来，更多的知名公司竞相添加这样的专利权，希望这样的防御性的行为可以先下手为强。

In 2005, IBM noted in a court filing that it had been issued more than 300 business-method pa-tents despite the fact that it questioned the legal basis for granting them.2005 年，IBM公司在一份法院报告中声称：尽管怀疑这种专利授权的法律基础，但它已经申请了300 多份商业方法专利。

Similarly, some Wall Street investment firms armed themselves with patents for financial prod-ucts, even as they took positions in court cases opposing the practice.同样，当一些华尔街投资公司出席某些反对其金融产品的法庭案件时，他们会给其各类金融产品申请专利来作为自己的维权武器。

The Bilski case involves a claimed patent on a method for hedging risk in the energy market.前面提到的 Bilski 案例牵扯到一份已申请的方法专利，即关于能源市场的风险规避方法（注：也可译为“套期保值或对冲风险”）。

The Federal circuit issued an unusual order stating that the case would be heard by all 12 of the court's judges, rather than a typical panel of three, 美国联邦巡回上诉法院罕见地裁定，该案件将不由三位法官听审，而是由全部十二名法官共同进行。and that one issue it wants to evaluate is whether it should “reconsider” its State Street Bank ruling.另外，上诉法院还宣布，它想探讨的另一件事情是是否应该“重审”道富银行的裁决。

The Federal Circuit's action comes in the wake of a series of recent decisions by the supreme Court that has narrowed the scope of protections for patent holders.联邦巡回法院的这一裁决效仿了最高法院。最高法院最近做出了一系列的判决，缩小了专利持有者的受保范围。

Last April, for example the justices signaled that too many patents were being upheld for “in-ventions” that are obvious.例如，去年四月，法官们认定太多的专利授予了一些显而易见的“发明”。

The judges on the Federal circuit are “reacting to the anti-patent trend at the Supreme Court”, says Harold C.Wegner, a patent attorney and professor at George Washington University Law School.乔治华盛顿大学法律学院的专利法律师 Harold C.Wegner 教授表示，“联邦巡回法院的法官们正在对最高法院的反专利动态做出反应”。Text 3 阅读3 In his book The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell argues that social epidemics are driven in large part by the action of a tiny minority of special individuals, often called influentials, who are un-usually informed, persuasive, or well-connected.在《引爆流行》这本书中，作者 Malcolm Gladwell 认为社会流行潮流在很大程度上是由一小部分特殊个体的行为引起的。这些人就是人们常说的影响者。他们异乎寻常的博闻多识，能言善辩，人脉广泛。

The idea is intuitively compelling, but it doesn't explain how ideas actually spread.从直觉上讲Malcolm Gladwell的理论似乎很有说服力，但是它没有解释流行观念的实际传播过程。

The supposed importance of influentials derives from a plausible sounding but largely untested theory called the “two step flow of communication”: Information flows from the media to the influentials and from them to everyone else.人们之所以认为影响者很重要，是源于“两级传播”理论。即信息先从媒体流向影响者，然后再从影响者流向其他人。这一理论看似合理，但未经验证。

Marketers have embraced the two-step flow because it suggests that if they can just find and influence the influentials, those selected people will do most of the work for them.营销人员接受两级传播理论是因为该理论认为如果能够找到影响者，并对他们施加影响。这些精英们就会替他们完成大部分的营销传播工作。

The theory also seems to explain the sudden and unexpected popularity of certain looks, brands, or neighborhoods.这一理论似乎还可以解释某些装扮、品牌或社区为何会突然受到出乎意料的追捧。

In many such cases, a cursory search for causes finds that some small group of people was wearing, promoting, or developing whatever it is before anyone else paid attention.对于许多诸如此类的情况，如果只是走马观花地寻找原因，你会发现总是有一小群人开风气之先，率先穿上、宣传和开发人们此前从未留意的东西。

Anecdotal evidence of this kind fits nicely with the idea that only certain special people can drive trends 这种事实证据与该观点正好一拍即合--只有一些特别的人才能引领潮流。

In their recent work, however, some researchers have come up with the finding that influentials have far less impact on social epidemics than is generally supposed.但是在最近的研究中，一些研究人员发现，影响者对社会流行潮流的影响力远比人们认为的要小。

In fact, they don't seem to be required of all.事实上，他们似乎根本就是无关紧要。

The researchers' argument stems from a simple observing about social influence, with the ex-ception of a few celebrities like Oprah Winfrey-whose outsize presence is primarily a function of media, not interpersonal, influence-even the most influential members of a population simply don't interact with that many others.研究者的观点源于对社会影响力的简单观察：除了少数像 Oprah Winfrey这样的名人之外（她强大的人气影响力主要来自媒体影响力，而非她与观众互动的人际影响力），即使人群中最有影响力的人也无法与那么多的“其他人”互动，从而引领潮流。

Yet it is precisely these non-celebrity influentials who, according to the two-step-flow theory, are supposed to drive social epidemics by influencing their friends and colleagues directly.然而根据两级传播理论，正是这些非名人影响者直接影响了他们的朋友和同事，从而推动了社会流行潮流。

For a social epidemic to occur, however, each person so affected, must then influence his or her own acquaintances, who must in turn influence theirs, and so on;但是，要让一种社会流行潮流真正发生，每个受影响的人还必须影响他的熟人，而他的熟人又必须影响其他熟人，and just how many others pay attention to each of these people has little to do with the initial influential.依此类推；但是会有多少人去关注这些熟人中的每个人，与最初的影响者几乎没有关系。

If people in the network just two degrees removed from the initial influential prove resistant, for example, the cascade of change won't propagate very far or affect many people.举个例子来说，在这个人际影响的网络中，如果第一个影响者受到两次抵制，那么他的连锁影响范围就不会继续扩大，或者说影响的人不会很多。

Building on the basic truth about interpersonal influence, the researchers studied the dynamics of social influence by conducting thousands of computer simulations of populations, manipulating a number of variables relating to people's ability to influence others and their tendency to be influenced.基于这一人际影响力的基本事实，研究者们研究了社会影响的动力机制。我们对不同人群进行了成千上万次计算机模拟，不断调整人们影响他人和受他人影响的各种变量。

They found that the principal requirement for what we call “global cascades”-the widespread propagation of influence through networksthe more in-herently creative we become, both in the workplace and in our personal lives.事实上，我们对新事物尝试得越多，就会走出自己的舒适地带越远。在职场和个人生活中变得越有创造性。

But don't bother trying to kill off old habits;但是，不要麻烦地去试图戒掉旧习惯;once those ruts of procedure are worn into the brain, they're there to stay.一旦这些惯有程序融进脑部，它们就会留在那里。

Instead, the new habits we deliberately ingrain into ourselves create parallel pathways that can bypass those old roads.相反，我们有意使之根深蒂固的新习惯会创建平行路径，它们可以绕过原来那些路径。

“The first thing needed for innovation is a fascination with wonder, ” says Dawna Markova, au-thor of “The Open Mind” 《开放思想》一书的作者达瓦纳•马克瓦说：“革新所需要的第一样东西就是对好奇的着迷。

”But we are taught instead to 'decide, ' just as our president calls himself 'the Decider.' “ 然而我们被教导去做'决定'，就像我们的总裁称呼自己为'决策者'那样。

She adds, however, that ”to decide is to kill off all possibilities but one.她接着说，“但是，决定意味着除了一种可能性外，其他的都被扼杀了。

A good innovational thinker is always exploring the many other possibilities.” 优秀的具有革新精神的思想家总是在探寻着许多其他的可能性。“ All of us work through problems in ways of which we're unaware, she says.她说，我们都是通过一些自己没有意识到的方法解决问题的。

Researchers in the late 1960 covered that humans are born with the capacity to approach chal-lenges in four primary ways: analytically, procedurally, relationally(or collaboratively)and innova-tively.研究人员在 20 世纪 60 年代末发现人类天生主要用四种方法应对挑战：分析法，程序法，相关法(或合作法)和创新法。

At the end of adolescence, however, the brain shuts down half of that capacity, preserving only those modes of thought that have seemed most valuable during the first decade or so of life.但是在青春期结束，大脑关闭一半的能力，仅仅保留了那些大约在生命最开始的十几年时间里似乎是最为宝贵的思维方式。

The current emphasis on standardized testing highlights analysis and procedure, meaning that few of us inherently use our innovative and collaborative modes of thought.标准化测试目前主要强调分析法和程序法这两种方式。也就是说，我们中很少有人会本能地使用创新和合作的思维方式。

”This breaks the major rule in the American belief systemor at least confirm that he's the kid's dad.俗话说，贤父知己子，但是如今男人可以提升自己做父亲的智慧，或者至少可以确认自己是孩子的父亲了。

All he needs to do is shell our $30 for paternity testing kit(PTK)at his local drugstoreand pressure from funding agencies, who are questioning why com-mercial publishers are making money from government-funded research by restricting access to itespecially those born to families who have lived in the U.S.for many generationsnotably, protein5'9″ for men, 5'4″ for womenhaving extracted them from the mouths of his slaves.所以要请牙医给他移植九颗牙齿—而这些牙齿是从他的奴隶口中拔来的。

That's a far different image from the cherry-tree-chopping George most people remember from their history books.这跟很多人在历史书上读到过的那个砍樱桃树的华盛顿有点大相径庭。

But recently, many historians have begun to focus on the roles slavery played in the lives of the founding generation.但是最近开始，历史学家开始越来越关注奴隶制在美国开国一代人的生活中所扮演的角色。

They have been spurred in part by DNA evidence made available in 1998, which almost certainly proved Thomas Jefferson had fathered at least one child with his slave Sally Hemings.他们多半是受了 1998 年 DNA 事件的影响。那个事件证明托马斯•杰弗逊至少和他的奴隶萨利•赫明思生过一个孩子。

And only over the past 30 years have scholars examined history from the bottom up.学者们从头至尾地研究历史还是近三十年的事情。

Works of several historians reveal the moral compromises made by the nation's early leaders and the fragile nature of the country's infancy.一些历史学家揭示了早期开国者们的道德妥协和早期国家的不稳定性。

More significantly, they argue that many of the Founding Fathers knew slavery was wrongthough not Hemings herself or his approximately 150 other slaves.然而，杰弗逊还是解放了赫明思的孩子们，虽然没有同样解放赫明思和其他150名奴隶。

Washington, who had begun to believe that all men were created equal after observing the bravery of the black soldiers during the Revolutionary War, overcame the strong opposition of his relatives to grant his slaves their freedom in his will.华盛顿在目睹了美国独立战争中黑人士兵的英勇之后开始相信人人生就平等。于是，不顾亲属的反对，他解放了自己所有的努力。

Only a decade earlier, such an act would have required legislative approval in Virginia.而仅仅在十年前，解放奴隶的法案才在弗吉尼亚得以批准。Part C : C部分：

Read the following text carefully and then translate the underlined segments into Chinese.Your translation should be written clearly on ANSWER SHEET 2.阅读下面的文章，并将画线部分翻译成中文。将你的翻译答案写在答题纸第2页上。

In his autobiography, Darwin himself speaks of his intellectual powers with extraordinary mod-esty.在自传中，达尔文极其谦逊地评价了自己的智力。

He points out that he always experienced much difficulty in expressing himself clearly and con-cisely, but he believes that this very difficulty may have had the compensating advantage of forc-ing him to think long and intently about every sentence, and thus enabling him to detect errors in reasoning and in his own observations.他在想要简明地表达自己观点时，总会遇到很大的困难，但是他认为，正是这种困难起了弥补作用，使他长时间专注地思考每个句子，从而能在推理和亲自观察中发现自己的错误。

He disclaimed the possession of any great quickness of apprehension or wit, such as distin-guished Huxley.他承认自己不具备像著名的赫胥黎那样的快速理解能力。

He asserted, also, that his power to follow a long and purely abstract train of thought was very limited, for which reason he felt certain that he never could have succeeded with mathematics.他还认为，在深入理解冗长且完全抽象的一系列观点方面，自己的能力非常有限；因此，他曾深信自己在数学方面本来就不该获得成功。

His memory, too, he described as extensive, but hazy.他还说他的记忆杂乱而模糊，So poor in one sense was it that he never could remember for more than a few days a single date or a line of poetry.在某个方面甚至很糟糕，即使记下了某个日子或者一行诗歌，几天后就能忘记。

On the other hand, he did not accept as well founded the charge made by some of his critics that, while he was a good observer, he had no power of reasoning.另一方面，一些批评家指责说，尽管他善于观察，但却不能推理，他对此既不接，认为毫无根据。

This, he thought, could not be true, because the “Origin of Species” is one long argument from the beginning to the end, and has convinced many able men.他认为这种批评是不正确的，因为《物种起源》这本书从头到尾都是长篇大论，而且还说服了很多有才华的人。

No one, he submits, could have written it without possessing some power of reasoning.他说，如果不具备推理能力，没有人能够写出这样的书。

He was willing to assert that “I have a fair share of invention, and of common sense or judg-ment, such as every fairly successful lawyer or doctor must have, but not, I believe, in any higher degree.” 他愿意这样评价自己：“正如每一位成功的律师和医生一样，我具有一定的发现能力和常识判断力；但是，我认为自己的水平不高。” He adds humbly that perhaps he was “superior to the common run of men in noticing things which easily escape attention, and in observing them carefully.” 他谦虚地补充说，或许他“和普通人相比，更能注意到他们容易忽略的细节，更能对这些细节进行仔细观察”。

Writing in the last year of his life, he expressed the opinion that in two or three respects his mind had changed during the preceding twenty or thirty years.在去世的最后一年，他写道在过去的二三十年中，他的思想发生了变化。

Up to the age of thirty or beyond it poetry of many kinds gave him great pleasure.到三十多岁的时候，诗歌给他带来极大的快乐。

Formerly, too, pictures had given him considerable, and music very great, delight.以前，绘画给他带来了极高的兴致，音乐给他带来了无穷的乐趣。

In 1881, however, he said: “Now for many years I cannot endure to read a line of poetry.然而在1881年，他说：“这几年来，读一行诗，我就受不了。

I have also almost lost my taste for pictures or music.” 我对音乐和绘画的品味也几乎快要丧失了。” Darwin was convinced that the loss of these tastes was not a loss of happiness, but might possi-bly be injurious to the intellect, and more probably to the moral character.达尔文认为，失去对音乐和绘画方面的兴趣，不是失去了幸福，但可能损伤智力，甚至更可能败坏道德。2007年考研英语阅读真题 Text 1 阅读1 If you were to examine the birth certificates of every soccer player in 2006's World Cup tourna-ment, you would most likely find a noteworthy quirk: 如果你打算在 2006 年世界杯锦标赛上调查所有足球运动员的出生证明，那么你很有可能发现一个引人注目的巧合：

elite soccer players are more likely to have been born in the earlier months of the year than in the later months.优秀足球运动员更可能出生于每年的前几个月而不是后几个月。

If you then examined the European national youth teams that feed the World Cup and profes-sional ranks, you would find this strange phenomenon to be even more pronounced.如果你接着调查世界杯和职业比赛的欧洲国家青年队的话，那么你会发现这一奇怪的现象甚至更明显。

What might account for this strange phenomenon? 什么可以解释这一奇怪的现象呢？

Here are a few guesses: a)certain astrological signs confer superior soccer skills;下面是一些猜测：a）某种占星术征兆使人具备更高的足球技能；

b)winter-born babies tend to have higher oxygen capacity, which increases soccer stamina;b）冬季出生的婴儿往往具有更高的供氧能力，这增加了踢足球的持久力；

c)soccer-mad parents are more likely to conceive children in springtime, at the annual peak of soccer mania;c）热爱足球的父母更可能在春季（每年足球狂热的鼎盛时期）怀孕；

d)none of the above.d）以上各项都不是。

Anders Ericsson, a 58-year-old psychology professor at Florida State University, says he believes strongly in “none of the above.” 58岁的安德斯•埃里克森是佛罗里达州立大学的一名心理学教授，他坚信“以上各项都不是”这一猜测。

Ericsson grew up in Sweden, and studied nuclear engineering until he realized he would have more opportunity to conduct his own research if he switched to psychology.在瑞典长大的埃里克森，一直研究核工程，直到他认识到，如果他转向心理学领域，他将会有更多机会从事自己的研究。

His first experiment, nearly 30 years ago, involved memory: 他的首次试验是在大约30年以前进行的，与记忆相关： training a person to hear and then repeat a random series of numbers.训练一个人先听一组任意挑选的数字，然后复述这些数字。

“With the first subject, after about 20 hours of training, his digit span had risen from 7 to 20,” Ericsson recalls.“在经过大约 20小时的训练之后，第一个试验对象（复述）的数字跨度从 7个上升到 20个，” 埃里克森回忆说。

“He kept improving, and after about 200 hours of training he had risen to over 80 numbers.” “该试验对象不断进步，在接受大约 200个小时的训练后，他复述的数字已经达到 80多个。” This success, coupled with later research showing that memory itself is not genetically deter-mined, led Ericsson to conclude that the act of memorizing is more of a cognitive exercise than an intuitive one.这一成功，连同后来证明的记忆本身不是遗传决定的研究，使得埃里克森得出结论，即记忆过程是一种认知练习，而不是一种本能练习。

In other words, whatever inborn differences two people may exhibit in their abilities to memor-ize, those differences are swamped by how well each person “encodes” the information.换句话说，无论两个人在记忆力能力上可能存在怎样的天生差异，这些差异都会被每个人如何恰当地“解读”所记的信息所掩盖。

And the best way to learn how to encode information meaningfully, Ericsson determined, was a process known as deliberate practice.埃里克森确信，了解如何有目的地解读信息的最佳方法就是一个为人所知的有意练习过程。

Deliberate practice entails more than simply repeating a task.有意练习需要的不仅仅是简单地重复一个任务。

Rather, it involves setting specific goals, obtaining immediate feedback and concentrating as much on technique as on outcome.相反，它包括确定明确的目标、获得即时的反馈以及技术与结果的浓缩。

Ericsson and his colleagues have thus taken to studying expert performers in a wide range of pursuits, including soccer.因此，埃里克森和他的同事开始研究包括足球领域在内的广泛领域中专业执行者。

They gather all the data they can, not just performance statistics and biographical details but also the results of their own laboratory experiments with high achievers.他们收集了能够收集的所有资料，不只是表现方面的统计数据和传记详细资料，还包括他们自己对取得很高成就的人员进行的实验室实验结果。

Their work makes a rather startling assertion: the trait we commonly call talent is highly over-rated.他们的研究得出了一个非常令人惊奇的结论--我们通常称为天分的特征被高估了。

Or, put another way, expert performersare nearly always made, not born.或者，换句话说，专业执行者――无论是在记忆还是手术方面，在芭蕾还是计算机编程领域――几乎总是培养的，而不是天生的。Text 2 阅读2 For the past several years, the Sunday newspaper supplement Parade has featured a column called “Ask Marilyn.” 在过去的几年，《星期日报》的增刊《漫步》开设了一个名为《询问玛丽琳》的专栏。

People are invited to query Marilyn vos Savant, who at age 10 had tested at a mental level of someone about 23 years old;人们被邀请去询问玛丽琳•沃斯•萨文特。玛丽琳•沃斯•萨文特在10岁时测试的智力水平达到别人 23 岁时的水平，that gave her an IQ of 228that is, it pre-dicted the opposite.但是，在压力大状况下，智商测试所得的结果与领导才能的关系是否定的，也就是说，它预测的结果是相反的。

Anyone who has toiled through SAT will testify that test-taking skill also matters, whether it's knowing when to guess or what questions to skip.任何经历过学术能力检测的人都会认为，应试能力也很重要，无论是知道何时应该进行推测，还是知道应该忽略什么问题。Text 3 阅读3 During the past generation, the American middle-class family that once could count on hard work and fair play to keep itself financially secure had been transformed by economic risk and new realities.在过去的十几年里，美国那些曾经可以依靠辛勤劳动和公平条件维持稳定收入的中产阶层家庭的生活被经济风险和新现实改变了。

Now a pink slip, a bad diagnosis, or a disappearing spouse can reduce a family from solidly middle class to newly poor in a few months.如今，一份解雇通知书、一个不利的诊断结果或者配偶的去世都可能在几个月之内将一个家庭从稳定的中产阶层家庭降格成为一个新贫困家庭。

In just one generation, millions of mothers have gone to work, transforming basic family eco-nomics.在仅仅一代人的时间里，数百万母亲出去工作，改善家庭的基本经济状况。

Scholars, policymakers, and critics of all stripes have debated the social implications of these changes, but few have looked at the side effect: family risk has risen as well.学者、决策者以及各类批评人士对这些变化的社会意义争论不休，但是，很少有人关注这些变化的副作用：家庭的风险增加了。

Today's families have budgeted to the limits of their new two-paycheck status.如今的家庭根据其新的双收入限度安排开支。

As a result, they have lost the parachute they once had in times of financial setbackand newly fashionable health-savings plans are spreading from legislative halls to Wal-Mart workers, with much higher deductibles and a large new dose of investment risk for families' future healthcare.卫生保健和家庭承担份额的绝对成本都上涨了——而且，最近实施的健康储蓄计划正在从立法机关扩展到沃尔玛员工，包含大量更高的减免，并且给家庭未来的卫生保健带来许多新投资风险。

Even demographics are working against the middle class family, as the odds of having a weak elderly parenthave jumped eightfold in just one generation.甚至人口统计状况也对中产阶层家庭不利，因为有一个体弱、年迈的父母——以及由此而产 生的所有物资和经济援助——就在仅仅一代人的时间里增长了8倍。

From the middle-class family perspective, much of this, understandably, looks far less like an opportunity to exercise more financial responsibility, and a good deal more like a frightening ac-celeration of the wholesale shift of financial risk onto their already overburdened shoulders.从中产阶层家庭的角度来看，大多数情况是可以理解的，这根本不像一种发挥更多支付能力的机会，而是像一种将经济风险大规模转向那些已经负担过重的家庭的令人恐惧的加速行为。

The financial fallout has begun, and the political fallout may not be far behind.经济副作用已经开始，政治副作用可能也将开始。Text 4 阅读4 It never rains but it pours.不鸣则易，一鸣惊人

Just as bosses and boards have finally sorted out their worst accounting and compliance troubles, and improved their feeble corporation governance, a new problem threatens to earn themthe sort of nasty headlines that inevitably lead to heads rolling in the executive suite: data insecurity.正当老板和董事长终于解决了最糟糕的财务和规章问题并加强其公司的薄弱管理之后，数据安全这个新问题又威胁到他们。该问题以让人厌恶的方式出现在头版头条新闻中（尤其在美国)，进而不可避免地导致管理层的走马换任。

Left, until now, to odd, low-level IT staff to put right, and seen as a concern only of data-rich industries such as banking, telecoms and air travel, information protection is now high on the boss's agenda in businesses of every variety.在这之前，信息保护通常还只是临时的、低层次的值息技术员的工作，并且只被诸如银行、电信、航空公司等数据量大的行业重视，可现在这个问题被放在了各行各业老板的议亊日程的重要位置。

Several massive leakages of customer and employee data this yearhave left managers hurriedly peering into their intricate IT systems and business processes in search of potential vulnerabilities.今年发生了多起消费者和员工信息的重大泄密事件。这些泄密事件发生在时代华纳、美国国防部承包的科学应用国际公司以及加州大学伯克利分校这样的不同机构。这使得管理人员匆忙检查那些复杂的信息系统和商业程序，以便寻找潜在隐患。

“Data is becoming an asset which needs to be guarded as much as any other asset, ” says Haim Mendelson of Stanford University's business school.斯坦福大学商学院的海姆•门德尔森认为“信息正在成为一种需要像保护其他财产一样而保护的财产”。

“The ability to guard customer data is the key to market value, which the board is responsible for on behalf of shareholders.” “保护消费者信息的能力是市场价值的关键因素，这是董事会应该为了股东的利益而承担的责任”。

Indeed, just as there is the concept of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles(GAAP), perhaps it is time for GASP, Generally Accepted Security Practices, suggested Eli Noam of New York's Columbia Business School.纽约哥伦比亚商学院的埃尼•诺姆暗示，事实上正如存在公认会计原则的观念一样，或许可能应该是采取公认安全措施的时候了。

“Setting the proper investment level for security, redundancy, and recovery is a management issue, not a technical one, ” he says.他表示“为安全、备份以及恢复确定适当的投资标准是一个管理问题，不是技术问题。”。

The mystery is that this should come as a surprise to any boss.其神秘在于，对任何老板来说，这可能是一个意外。

Surely it should be obvious to the dimmest executive that trust, that most valuable of economic assets, is easily destroyed and hugely expensive to restorethough not justified-by the lack of legal penalty(in America, but not Europe)for data leakage.这类事情的现状可能受到缺乏有关信息泄露的法律处罚（在美国，不是在欧洲）的激励，尽管还没有的到证实。

Until California recently passed a law, American firms did not have to tell anyone, even the victim, when data went astray.直到加利福尼亚最近通过了一项法律，美国的公司不必告知任何人信息何时泄露，甚至包括受害人。

That may change fast: lots of proposed data-security legislation is now doing the rounds in Washington, D.C.这种情况可能迅速改变：如今，许多被提议的信息保护立法正在华盛顿特区讨论。

Meanwhile, the theft of information about some 40 million credit-card accounts in America, disclosed on June 17th, overshadowed a hugely important decision a day earlier by America's Federal Trade Commission(FTC)that puts corporate America on notice that regulators will act if firms fail to provide adequate data security.同时，6 月 17 日有关偷窃约 4000 万信用卡账户信息事件的披露给此前一天美国商务委员会的一个重要决定蒙上阴影，该决定的内容是：如果公司没有提供适当的信息安全保护措施，那么监管人员就会采取行动。

The study of law has been recognized for centuries as a basic intellectual discipline in European universities.几个世纪以来，有关法律的研究一直被看成是欧洲各国大学的一门基本的知识学科。

However, only in recent years has it become a feature of undergraduate programs in Canadian universities.不过，只是在最近几年有关法律的研究才成为加拿大大学教育的一门学科。

Traditionally, legal learning has been viewed in such institutions as the special preserve of law-yers, rather than a necessary part of the intellectual equipment of an educated person.传统上在加拿大的高等学府里，学习法律一直被看作是律师的专门工作，而不是一个受过良好教育的人所必须具备的知识素养。

Happily, the older and more continental view of legal education is establishing itself in a number of Canadian universities and some have even begun to offer undergraduate degrees in law.幸运的是，加拿大的许多大学正在树立法律教育更传统、更具有大陆特性的观念，有些甚至已经开始授予法律学士学位.If the study of law is beginning to establish itself as part and parcel of a general education, its aims and methods should appeal directly to journalism educators.如果有关法律的研究正在开始成为普通教育一个不可缺少的学科的话，那么它的目的和方法应该会即刻吸引新闻学教育家。

Law is a discipline which encourages responsible judgment.法律是一门学科，这门学科鼓励进行有责任的判断。

On the one hand, it provides opportunities to analyze such ideas as justice, democracy and freedom.一方面，它分析提供了分析如公正、民主以及自由概念的机会。

On the other, it links these concepts to everyday realities in a manner which is parallel to the links journalists forge on a daily basis as they cover and comment on the news.另一方面，法律又将正义、民主和自由这些观念与日常生活中的实际联系在一起，其方式就如同新闻工作者在报道和评论新闻事件时，以日常生活为基础，使这些观念与实际情况相结合一样。

For example, notions of evidence and fact, of basic rights and public interest are at work in the process of journalistic judgment and production just as in courts of law.比如，有关证据和事实、基本权利和公众利益这样的概念在新闻判断和新闻制作过程中起作用，就像在法庭上一样。

Sharpening judgment by absorbing and reflecting on law is a desirable component of a journal-ist's intellectual preparation for his or her career.通过学习并且反省法律来强化判断是一名新闻记者为其事业进行知识准备时渴望实现的。

But the idea that the journalist must understand the law more profoundly than an ordinary citi-zen rests on an understanding of the established conventions and special responsibilities of the news media.但是，新闻工作者对于法律的理解应该比普通公民更加深刻，这个观点是建立在对新闻媒体的既定规范和特殊的社会责任有深刻认识之上的。

Politics or, more broadly, the functioning of the state, is a major subject for journalists.政治，或者更广泛一点，国家的职能，是新闻记者报道的一个主要方面。

The better informed they are about the way the state works, the better their reporting will be.他们对国家运作的方式了解越多，他们的报道就越优秀。

In fact, it is difficult to see how journalists who do not have a clear grasp of the basic features of the Canadian Constitution can do a competent job on political stories.实际上，很难想象那些对加拿大宪法的基本特点缺乏清晰了解的新闻工作者能够胜任政治新闻报道的工作。

Furthermore, the legal system and the events which occur within it are primary subjects for journalists.此外，法律体系以及其中发生的事件是新闻记者报道的主题。

While the quality of legal journalism varies greatly, there is an undue reliance amongst many journalists on interpretations supplied to them by lawyers.虽然与法律有关的新闻报道的性质差别很大，但是，许多新闻记者过分依赖律师提供给他们的诠释。

While comment and reaction from lawyers may enhance stories, it is preferable for journalists to rely on their own notions of significance and make their own judgments.律师的评论和反应当然能够提升新闻报道的价值，但是记者们最好还是依靠自己对于事件重要性的认识来做出判断。

These can only come from a well-grounded understanding of the legal system.只能通过对法律体系的深刻了解才能得出。2006年考研英语阅读真题 Text 1 阅读1 In spite of “endless talk of difference, ” American society is an amazing machine for homo-genizing people.不管我们如何喋喋不休地谈论差别，美国社会实际上是一台同化人们的神奇的机器。

There is “the democratizing uniformity of dress and discourse, and the casualness and absence of deference” characteristic of popular culture.这就是民主化的着装和言谈，并且还有种随意和缺乏尊重感，这些构成了通俗文化的特性。

People are absorbed into “a culture of consumption” launched by the 19th-century department stores that offered “vast arrays of goods in an elegant atmosphere.Instead of intimate shops catering to a knowledgeable elite, ” 人们被一种消费文化所吸引了，这种文化是由十九世纪在高雅的氛围中陈列着琳琅满目的商品的百货商店所开始的，不是为了迎合有知识的精英们而开设的专门商店，these were stores “anyone could enter, regardless of class or background.而是创建了“不分阶层和背景人人都可以进入”的大众商店。

This turned shopping into a public and democratic act.” 这使得购物成为一种大众的、民主的行为。

The mass media, advertising and sports are other forces for homogenization.大众传媒、广告和体育也是协助人们均质化的推动力。

Immigrants are quickly fitting into this common culture, which may not be altogether elevating but is hardly poisonous.尽管这种文化并不算高雅，但也算不上有害，移民们很快就融入了这种共同文化。

Writing for the National Immigration Forum, Gregory Rodriguez reports that today's immigration is neither at unprecedented levels nor resistant to assimilation.Gregory Rodriguez 为美国移民研讨会撰文指出，今天的移民既不是处于空前的水平，也不抵制同化。

In 1998 immigrants were 9.8 percent of population;in 1900, 13.6 percent.在 1998 年，移民占全国人口的 9.8%；在 1900 年为 13.6%。

In the 10 years prior to 1990, 3.1 immigrants arrived for every 1, 000 residents;在 1990年以前的十年之中，在每千位居民当中，有千分之 3.1的新来的移民；

in the 10 years prior to 1890, 9.2 for every 1, 000.而在 1890 年以前的十年之中，每千位居民当中就有千分之 9.2 的移民。

Now, consider three indices of assimilation--language, home ownership and intermarriage.现在，让我们来看一下三个同化指标——语言、拥有产权住房和异族结婚情况。

The 1990 Census revealed that “a majority of immigrants from each of the fifteen most com-mon countries of origin spoke English 'well' or 'very well' after ten years of residence.” 1990年的人口普查透露：“来自十五个移民数量最多的国家的移民在到美国十年后英语说得‘好’或‘很好’。” The children of immigrants tend to be bilingual and proficient in English.移民的子女几乎都说两种语言，且精通英语。

“By the third generation, the original language is lost in the majority of immigrant families.” “到了第三代，在大多数移民家庭，他们的母语就消失了。”

Hence the description of America as a “graveyard” for languages.因此，有人就把美国描 述成了“语言的坟场”。

By 1996 foreign-born immigrants who had arrived before 1970 had a home ownership rate of 75.6 percent, higher than the 69.8 percent rate among native-born Americans.到了 1996 年，出生于国外的、在 1970 年以前到达美国的移民有 75.6%购置了自己的住房，这个数字高出土生土长的美国人的拥有自己所有权住房的百分比——69.8%。

Foreign-born Asians and Hispanics “have higher rates of intermarriage than do U.S.-born whites and blacks.” 在国外出生的亚裔和西班牙裔移民“与美国本土白人和黑人相比，与异族通婚的比率要高。”

By the third generation, one third of Hispanic women are married to non-Hispanics, 到了第三代，有三分之一的西班牙裔女性与非西班牙裔男性结婚，and 41 percent of Asian-American women are married to non-Asians.而有41%亚裔美国妇女与非亚裔男性结婚。

Rodriguez notes that children in remote villages around the world are fans of superstars like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Garth Brooks, 罗得里格斯写道，即使那些住 在世界各地偏僻村庄的的孩子们都是诸如阿诺•施瓦辛格和加思•布鲁克斯等明星的星迷，yet “some Americans fear that immigrants living within the United States remain somehow immune to the nation's assimilative power.” 然而“一些美国人却害怕住在美国的移民不知怎样才能免受美国的同化力量影响”。

Are there divisive issues and pockets of seething anger in America? Indeed.在美国是否存在不和以及潜在的不安？答案是肯定的，It is big enough to have a bit of everything.因为这个国家足够大以至于什么现象都存在。

But particularly when viewed against America's turbulent past, today's social indices hardly suggest a dark and deteriorating social environment.但是与美国动荡狂暴的过去相比，如今的社会基本不能说明美国的社会环境正在恶化，变得黑暗。Text 2 阅读2 Stratford-on-Avon, as we all know, has only one industry--William Shakespeare--but there are two distinctly separate and increasingly hostile branches.众所周知 Stratford-on-Avon 只有一个特色，那就是威廉•莎士比亚，但这儿却有两个相互独立的部门，他们随着时间的变化而日益变得敌对。

There is the Royal Shakespeare Company(RSC), which presents superb productions of the plays at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre on the Avon.这儿有皇家莎士比亚公司（RSC），它在 Avon 的莎士比亚纪念剧院里将很多优秀的戏剧作品呈现给大家。

And there are the townsfolk who largely live off the tourists who come, not to see the plays, but to look at Anne Hathaway's Cottage, Shakespeare's birthplace and the other sights.这儿的居民大部分是靠挣来游玩的游客的钱来维持生计，这些游客并不是来看戏剧的，而是来看 Anne Hathaway的庄园。这是莎士比亚的出生地和其他的景色。

The worthy residents of Stratford doubt that the theatre adds a penny to their revenue.Strat-ford 的当地乡绅们都质疑剧院有没有为当地的税收收入做一点贡献。

They frankly dislike the RSC's actors, them with their long hair and beards and sandals and noi-siness.他们直言讨厌 RSC的演员，这些演员留着长头发，长胡须，拖着凉鞋，吵吵嚷嚷。

It's all deliciously ironic when you consider that Shakespeare, who earns their living, was himself an actor(with a beard)and did his share of noise-making.这真是一种绝妙的讽刺，当你想到作为他们摇钱树的莎士比亚，自己也是个演员，留着胡子，一起大吵大闹。

The tourist streams are not entirely separate.游客群并不是完全分开的。

The sightseers who come by bus--and often take in Warwick Castle and Blenheim Palace on the side--游览者乘公车来，经常会去游览 Warwick城堡和Blenheim 宫殿，don't usually see the plays, and some of them are even surprised to find a theatre in Stratford.通常不会去看戏，并且他们中的一些人甚至会对在 Stratford 能找到剧院感到惊讶。

However, the playgoers do manage a little sight-seeing along with their playgoing.然而，看戏者只花少量的时间在观光上，也就是在戏剧演出时顺便看看。

It is the playgoers, the RSC contends, who bring in much of the town's revenue because they spend the night(some of them four or five nights)pouring cash into the hotels and restaurants.RSC主张，是看戏者给城镇带来大量的税收，因为他们通常花整晚上时间（有些是四到五个晚上）在旅馆或饭店里大量消费。

The sightseers can take in everything and get out of town by nightfall.然而游览者在当天的黄昏前就能把所有事情做完了，然后离开小镇。

The townsfolk don't see it this way and local council does not contribute directly to the subsidy of the Royal Shakespeare Company.当地居民并不这么认为，地方政府也直接没有给予RSC补贴。

Stratford cries poor traditionally.Stratford 一向都会哭穷。

Nevertheless every hotel in town seems to be adding a new wing or cocktail lounge.然而城镇上每一家旅馆似乎都增加了新的部门或是鸡尾酒酒吧。

Hilton is building its own hotel there, which you may be sure will be decorated with Hamlet Hamburger Bars, the Lear Lounge, the Banquo Banqueting Room, and so forth, and will be very expensive.希尔顿也在这儿建了一座自己的酒店，这里肯定可以能看到被装饰一新的哈姆雷特汉堡酒吧，Lear 休息室，宴会厅等等。进一步说，这里消费将很贵。

Anyway, the townsfolk can't understand why the Royal Shakespeare Company needs a subsidy.总之，居民不明白为什么 RSC 需要补贴。

(The theatre has broken attendance records for three years in a row.（剧院已经打破了连续三年以来的就座率纪录。

Last year its 1, 431 seats were 94 percent occupied all year long and this year they'll do better.)去年整年的 1431 个座位的就坐率达到了94%，今年将会更高。）

The reason, of course, is that costs have rocketed and ticket prices have stayed low.当然，原因是，演戏的花费高了，然而票价仍然很低。

It would be a shame to raise prices too much because it would drive away the young people who are Stratford's most attractive clientele.大幅增加票价是一件很为难的事情，因为这样会把 Stratford 的最有魅力的顾客－年轻人赶走。

They come entirely for the plays, not the sights.他们完全是为了戏而来，不是为风景。

They all seem to look alike(though they come from all over)--lean, pointed, dedicated faces, wearing jeans and sandals, 他们看起来都一个样（虽然他们从各个地方而来）——消瘦、率直、专注的脸庞，穿着牛仔裤和便鞋，eating their buns and bedding down for the night on the flagstones outside the theatre to buy the 20 seats and 80 standing-room tickets held for the sleepers and sold to them when the box

第二篇：2013考研英语(一)翻译真题。

2013考研英语

（一）翻译真题--中域教育网

46.yet when one looks at the photographs of the gardens created by the homeless, it strikes one that, for all their diversity of styles, these gardens speak of various other fundamental urges beyond that of decoration and creative expression.47.A sacred place of peace, however, crude it may be, is a distinctly human need, as opposed to shelt which is a distinctly animal need.48.The gardens of the homeless which are in effect homeless garden introduce from in to an urban environment where it either didn’t exist or was not discernible as such

49.Mast of us give in to a demoralization of spirit which we usually blame on some psychological conditions until one day we find ourselves in a garden and feel the oppression vanish as if by magic

50.It is this implicit or explicit reference to nature that fully justifies the use of the word garden, though in a “liberated” sense, to describe these synthetic constructions.

第三篇：2013考研英语(一)翻译真题及解析

2013考研英语

（一）翻译真题及解析--中域教育网

46.yet when one looks at the photographs of the gardens created by the homeless, it strikes one that, for all their diversity of styles, these gardens speak of various other fundamental urges beyond that of decoration and creative expression.解析

考察重点：非谓语动词做后置定语，状语从句，插入语

这个句子结构非常清晰：it strikes one that, for all their diversity of styles,these gardens speak of various other fundamental urges beyond that of decoration and creative expression.是主句，其中for all their diversity of styles是插入语。时间壮语从句yet when one looks at the photographs of the gardens created by the homeless,提前至主句之前，其中created by the homeless 是过去分词短语充当后置定语，用来修饰 the gardens。词汇的识别：句子中的动词looks at，对应的宾语是 the photographs of the gardens,因此翻译成“观看”。句子中created by the homeless对应的宾语是 the gardens,因此翻译成“创建、建立”。句子中的动词speak of对应的宾语是 various other fundamental urges，因此翻译成“透露、显示、表明”。

参考翻译：然而当我们观看那些由无家可归的人创建的家园的照片时，它们的那些各种各样的风格，会给人以深深的震撼。这些家园在它的装饰和创造性表示之上，透露出了其他基本的需求。

评分标准：三个动词 “look at, created by the homeless和speak of”的翻译各占0.5分，目标汉语的通顺流畅占0.5分。

47.A sacred place of peace, however, crude it may be, is a distinctly human need, as opposed to shelt which is a distinctly animal need.解析

考察重点：让步壮语从句，插入语，比较状语从句

这个句子结构简洁：A sacred place of peace, however crude it may be, is a distinctly human need,是主句，其中, however crude it may be,是让步壮语从句充当插入语； as opposed to shelter which is a distinctly animal need.是比较状语从句。

词汇的识别：句子中的三个系词在表与信息的提示之下分别翻译成为“是人类的基本需求”；“无论多么粗糙（贫瘠）”；“是动物的基本需求”。

参考翻译：一块神圣的和平之地，不管它有多么粗糙，它都是一种人类基本的需求，和庇护所相反，那只是动物的基本需求。

评分标准：三个系词的翻译各占0.5分，目标汉语的通顺流畅占0.5分。

48.The gardens of the homeless which are in effect homeless garden introduce from in to an urban environment where it either didn’t exist or was not discernible as such

解析：

考察重点：定语从句

这个句子结构简洁： The gardens of the homeless which are in effect homeless garden introduce from it to an urban environment where it either didn’t exist or was not discernible as such是主句，其中 which are in effect homeless garden 是定语从句修饰 The gardens of the homeless;定语从句where it either didn’t exist or was not discernible as such修饰先行词 an urban environment。

参考翻译： 无家可归的人的家园，事实上是无所谓家的家园，给要么是不存在的，要么是无法分辨得清的城市环境引入了一种形式。评分标准：动词短语“introduce from it to”、系词“are”、“didn’t exist, was not discernible”的翻译各占0.5分，目标汉语的通顺流畅占0.5分。

49.Mast of us give in to a demoralization of spirit which we usually blame on some psychological conditions until one day we find ourselves in a garden and feel the oppression vanish as if by magic

解析

考察重点：时间壮语从句，定语从句

这个句子结构稍显复杂：Mast of us give in to a demoralization of spirit which we usually blame on some psychological conditions 是主句，其中, which we usually blame on some psychological conditions 是定语从句 until one day we find ourselves in a garden and feel the oppression vanish as if by magic.是时间状语从句。

词汇的识别：动词短语“give in”在宾语 demoralization of spirit的指导下，翻译为“屈服于”；“blame which on some psychological conditions”中的blame翻译成为“推卸到”；find发现，feel感受到。参考翻译： 我们当中大多数人都屈服于精神的道德败坏，我们经常把这种精神上的败坏推卸到心理环境上，直到有一天我们发现自己处于一个家园当中，并感受到这种压迫好像魔法一样消失.评分标准：三组动词的翻译各占0.5分，目标汉语的通顺流畅占0.5分。

50.It is this implicit or explicit reference to nature that fully justifies the use of the word garden, though in a “liberated” sense, to describe these synthetic constructions.解析：

考察重点：强调句型，插入语

这个句子结构稍显复杂： It is this „„that „„是强调句型，还原成正常语序后句子表达为“this implicit or explicit reference to nature fully justifies the use of the word garden”；though in a“liberated”sense是插入语。

词汇的识别：动词“justify”在宾语 the use of word garden的指导下，翻译为“证实„是合理的”；动词“describe”在宾语“these synthetic constructions”的指导之下翻译成“描述”。

参考翻译： 正是这种隐晦或明显的涉及自然，尽管是从一种解放的意义上来说, 充分地证实了用来描述这些人造建筑的花园这个单词很贴切。

评分标准：两个动词的翻译各占0.5分，强调句型的翻译占0.5分，目标汉语的通顺流畅占0.5分。

第四篇：考研英语历年真题1989

1989年全国硕士研究生入学统一考试英语试题

Section I Close Test

For each numbered blank in the following passage there are four choices labeled ［A］, ［B］, ［C］ and ［D］.Choose the best one and put your choice in the ANSWER SHEET.Read the whole passage before making your choice.(10 points)

①One day drought may be a thing of the past at least in coastal cities.②Vast areas of desert throughout the world may for the first timeand provide millions of hectares of land where now nothing grows.③By the end of this century this may not be mere2.④Scientists are already looking into the possibility of using some of the available ice in the Arctic and Antarctic.⑤In these regions there are vast ice-caps formed by snow that has fallen over the past 50,000 years.⑥Layerlayer of deep snow means that, when melted, the snow water would be pure, not salty as sea-ice would be.⑦There is so muchpure water here that it would need only a fraction of it to turn much of the desert or poorly irrigated parts of the world into rich farmland.⑧And what useful packages it would come in!⑨It should be possible to cut off a bit of ice and

11They are always transport it!⑩Alternatively perhaps a passing iceberg could be.○

breaking away from the main caps and floating around, pushed by currents, until they eventually melt and are wasted.12Many icebergs are, of course, far too small to be toweddistance, and would melt ○

13It would be necessary to locate one before they reached a country that needed them anywhere.○

14that wasand that was big enough to provide a good supply of ice when it reached us.○

Engineers think that an iceberg up to seven miles long and one and a half miles wide could be

15Even then they would cover only transported if the tug pulling it was as big as a supertanker!○the iceberg was at its destination, more that 7,000 twenty miles every day.○

17That would probably be more than million cubic metres of water could be taken from it!○

18But no doubt a use could be enough for any medium-sized city even in the hottest summer!○

19○20found for it.○

21This is The larger the iceberg, the slower it melts, even if it is towed through the tropics.○

because when the sun has a bigger area to warm , less heat actually gets into the iceberg.22The vast frozen centre would be unaffected.[394 words] ○

1.［A］ come to life［B］ come into existence

［C］ come into activity［D］ come round

2.［A］ speculation ［B］ imagination［C］ computation［D］ expectation

3.［A］ above［B］ of［C］ upon［D］ over

4.［A］ essential［B］ potential［C］ claimable［D］ obtainable

5.［A］ seized［B］ snatched［C］ grabbed［D］ captured

6.［A］ much［B］ any［C］ some［D］ certain

7.［A］ manageable ［B］ manipulative ［C］ operable［D］ controllable

8.［A］ after［B］ while［C］ since［D］ once

9.［A］ Apparently ［B］ Noticeably［C］ Distinctly［D］ Notably

10.［A］ round［B］ over［C］ up［D］ through

第五篇：英语四级历年翻译真题

2011 12

1,Charity groups organized various activities to--raise money for the survivors of the earthquake who survived the earthquake.2,Linda couldn’t have received my e-mail;otherwise, she would have replied.3,It’s my mother who/that always encourages/keeps encouraging me not to lose heart/give up.4,The publishing house has to take the popularity of this novel into consideration/account.5,It is absolutely wrong to define one’s happiness only/merely by money.2011 06The university authorities did not approve the regulation , nor did they make any explanation/nor did they give the reason for doing so.Jane is tired of dealing with customer complaints and wishes that she could be assigned to another job.John rescued the drowning child at the risk of his own life,George called his boss from the airport but it was his assistant who answered/picked up the phone(turned out that his assistant answered /picked up the phone.Although he was interested in philosophy , his father persuaded / talked him into majoring tin law.2010 12In order to ensure him to attend the meeting / To ensure his attendance at the meeting , I called him up in advance.The significant museum is said to have been built about a hundred years ago.There would be no life on earth without its unique environment / but for its unique environment.What impressed the tourists most was the friendliness and warmth of the local people.They requested that books(should)be returned to the library the books I borrowed to the library by next Friday.2010 06Because of noise outside , Nancy had great difficulty in concentrating on the experiment / focusing her attention on the experiment.The manager never laughed;neither is said to have been built.We look forward to without its unique environment /but for its unique environment.It is suggested that the air conditioner what impressed the tourists most.5 The 16-yesrs-old girl decided to travel abroad on her own despite books I borrowed(should)be returned to the library /I(should)return the books

I borrowed to he library.2009 12You would not have failed if had followed my instructions /orders.Despite the hardship he encountered, Mark never abandoned the pursuit of knowledge /gave up pursuing knowledge.