2009年5月三级笔译实务真题

Section 1： English-Chinese Translation (50 points)

Business of Green: An appeal to slow down on biofuel.

Last Friday an advisory panel to the European Environment Agency issued an extraordinary scientific opinion: The European Union should suspend its goal of having 10 percent of transportation fuel made from biofuel by 2020.

The European Union's biofuel targets were increased and extended from 5.75 percent by 2010 to 10 percent by 2020 just last year. Still, Europe's well-meaning rush to biofuels, the scientists concluded, had produced a slew of harmful ripple effects - from deforestation in Southeast Asia to higher prices for grains.

In a recommendation released last weekend, the 20-member panel, made up of some of Europe's most distinguished climate scientists, called the 10 percent target "overambitious" and an "experiment" whose "unintended effects are difficult to predict and difficult to control."

"The idea was that we felt we needed to slow down, to analyze the issue carefully and then come back at the problem," Laszlo Somlyody, the panel's chairman and a professor at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics, said in a telephone interview.

He said that part of the problem was that when it set the targets, the European Union was trying desperately to solve the problem of rising transportation emissions "in isolation," without adequately studying the effects of other sectors like land use and food supply.

"The starting point was correct: I'm happy that the European Union took the lead in cutting greenhouse gasses and we need to control traffic emissions," Somlyody said. "But the basic problem is it thought of transport alone, without considering all these other effects. And we don't understand those very well yet."

The panel's advice is not binding and it is not clear whether the European Commission will follow the recommendation.

It has become increasingly clear that the global pursuit of biofuels - encouraged by a rash of targets and subsides in both Europe and the United States - has not produced the desired effect.

Investigations have shown, for example, rain forests and peat swamp are being cleared to make way for biofuel plantations, a process that produces more emissions than the biofuels can save.

Equally concerning, land needed to produce food for people to eat is planted with more profitable biofuel crops, and water is diverted from the drinking supply.

n Europe and the United States, food prices for items like pizza and bread have increased significantly as grain stores shrink and wheat prices rise.

The price of wheat and rice are double those of a year ago, and corn is a third higher, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization said this week.

"Food price inflation hits the poor hardest, as the share of food in their total expenditures is much higher than that of wealthier populations," said Henri Josserand of the Food and Agriculture Organization.

Biofuels are not, of course, the only reason for high food prices. Fuel to transport food is more expensive with oil more than $100 a barrel. There have been unexpected droughts this year as well.

Should we conclude that all biofuels are bad?

No. But motivated by the obvious problems now emerging, scientists have begun to take a harder look at their benefits.

For example, the European Environment Agency advisory panel suggests that the best use of plant biomass is not for transport fuel but to heat homes and generate electricity. To be useful for vehicles, plant matter must be distilled to a fuel and often transported long distances. To heat a home, it can often be used raw or with minimal processing, and moved just a short distance away.

Section 2： Chinese-English Translation (50 points)

上海作为国际金融中心，拥有繁忙的港口，亚洲最重要的证券市场之一，以及连世界500强都不能忽视的巨大市场。

作为国际化大都市，上海将承办2010年世博会。在世博会长达153年的历史中，有着1700万人口的上海将成为发展中国家城市的首个东道主。本届世博会的主题--城市，使生活 更美好。上海将于2010年5月至10月举行的世博会，预期将有创纪录的7000万人次参观。

上海计划投资30亿美元，用于城市改造。在世博会期间，为了保证交通顺畅，将投入更多的资金用于城市道路和地铁的建设。按照世博会的相关要求，将建设一批会展展馆，建在黄浦江两岸，包括众多高科技展亭和一个会议中心。

上海市政府决心通过世博会不断改善城市生活。许多重要基础设施将在2010年前竣工。世博会后，大部分将被改造成生活、办公、休闲设施。