2010年5月翻译资格考试二级笔译真题

第一部分 英译汉 试题一

In the European Union, carrots must be firm but not woody, cucumbers must not be too curved and celery has to be free of any type of cavity. This was the law, one that banned overly curved, extra-knobbly or oddly shaped produce from supermarket shelves.

But in a victory for opponents of European regulation, 100 pages of legislation determining the size, shape and texture of fruit and vegetables have been torn up. On Wednesday, EU officials agreed to axe rules laying down standards for 26 products, from peas to plums.

In doing so, the authorities hope they have killed off regulations routinely used by critics - most notably in the British media - to ridicule the meddling tendencies of the EU.

After years of news stories about the permitted angle or curvature of fruit and vegetables,the decision Wednesday also coincided with the rising price of commodities. With the cost of the weekly supermarket visit on the rise, it has become increasingly hard to defend the act of throwing away food just because it looks strange.

Beginning in July next year, when the changes go into force, standards on the 26 products will disappear altogether. Shoppers will the be able to chose their produce whatever its appearance.

Under a compromise reached with national governments, many of which opposed the changes, standards will remain for 10 types of fruit and vegetables, including apples, citrus fruit,peaches, pears, strawberries and tomatoes.

But those in this category that do not meet European norms will still be allowed onto the market, providing they are marked as being substandard or intended for cooking or processing.

"This marks a new dawn for the curvy cucumber and the knobbly carrot," said Mariann Fischer Boel, European commissioner for agriculture, who argued that regulations were better left to market operators.

"In these days of high food prices and general economic difficulties," Fischer Boel added, "consumers should be able to choose from the widest range of products possible. It makes no sense to throw perfectly good products away, just because they are the 'wrong' shape."

That sentiment was not shared by 16 of the EU's 27 nations - including Greece, France,the Czech Republic, Spain, Italy and Poland - which tried to block the changes at a meeting of the Agricultural Management Committee.

Several worried that the abolition of standards would lead to the creation of national ones, said one official speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the discussions.

Copa-Cogeca, which represents European agricultural trade unions and cooperatives, also criticized the changes. "We fear that the absence of EU standards will lead member states to establish national standards and that private standards will proliferate," said its secretary general, Pekka Pesonen.

But the decision to scale back on standards will be welcomed by euro-skeptics who have long pilloried the EU executive's interest in intrusive regulation.

One such controversy revolved around the correct degree of bend in bananas - a type of fruit not covered by the Wednesday ruling.

In fact, there is no practical regulation on the issue. Commission Regulation (EC) 2257/94 says that bananas must be "free from malformation or abnormal curvature," though Class 1 bananas can have "slight defects of shape" and Class 2 bananas can have full "defects of shape."

By contrast, the curvature of cucumbers has been a preoccupation of European officials. Commission Regulation (EEC) No 1677/88 states that Class I and "Extra class" cucumbers are allowed a bend of 10 millimeters per 10 centimeters of length. Class II cucumbers can bend twice as much.

It also says cucumbers must be fresh in appearance, firm, clean and practically free of any visible foreign matter or pests, free of bitter taste and of any foreign smell.

Such restrictions will disappear next year, and about 100 pages of rules and regulations will go as well, a move welcomed by Neil Parish, chairman of the European Parliament's agriculture committee.

"Food is food, no matter what it looks like," Parish said. "To stop stores selling perfectly decent food during a food crisis is morally unjustifiable. Credit should be given to the EU agriculture commissioner for pushing through these proposals. Consumers care about the taste and quality of food, not how it looks."

参考译文：

胡萝卜必须硬挺水灵，黄瓜不能太弯，芹菜不能有任何孔洞，这是欧盟之前一度实行的硬性规定。按照该规定，如果蔬果弯度过大、疙疙瘩瘩或者奇形怪状，将禁止在超市上架销售。

不过，有关蔬果尺寸、形状和口感的长达 100 页的法律规定将予以废除，对于一向 反对该项法律的人士来说这是一大胜利。周三，欧盟官员通过决议，将取消对豌豆、李 子等 26 种蔬果设定的强制标准。

此前，批评人士特别是英国媒体经常拿这些规定开涮，指责欧盟有过度干预之嫌。 通过修改这部法律，欧盟希望不再授人口实。

多年来，有关蔬果弯度标准的报道经常见诸媒体报端。在欧盟周三通过上述决议之 际，商品价格也在节节攀升。民众用于超市购物的生活成本不断增加，此时再仅以外形 不达标为由禁止相关蔬果上架销售就更加站不住脚了。

修订后的法律于明年七月开始正式生效，届时有关 26 种产品的强制标准将被彻底废 除，同类产品不论外观如何将同时上架，供消费者随意挑选。

欧盟许多成员国反对修改这部法律。按照欧盟委员会与各成员国政府达成的折衷方 案，对包括苹果、柑橘类水果、桃、梨、草莓和西红柿在内的 10 种蔬果的强制标准将予以保留。

不过，这 10 类蔬果中即使相关产品不达标也可上市销售，但必须注明是不达标产品或者烹调、加工专用产品。

欧盟委员会农业问题专员玛丽安·菲舍尔·伯尔认为,最好由市场运营商自行做出相关 规定。她说，“法律修订对于弯黄瓜和有节胡萝卜而言是新黎明的到来/法律修订后意味着 弯黄瓜和有节胡萝卜今后也可以上市销售了。”

“当前食品价格居高不下，经济大环境也不景气，”菲舍尔 ·伯尔补充说，“应该给消 费者提供尽可能多的选择。有些产品本身品质没什么问题，如果仅仅因为外形不达标就 白白扔掉的话，实在说不过去。”

欧盟 27 个成员国中有 16 个对这种说法持有异议。希腊、法国、捷克、西班牙、意 大利和波兰等国家曾在农业管理委员会的一次会议上试图阻止欧盟修改这项法律。

一位因问题敏感而要求不具名的欧盟官员说，有几个国家担心，一旦取消了欧盟强 制标准，各国可能会纷纷推出本国标准。

代表欧洲农业工会和合作社的游说团体柯巴—柯杰卡(Copa-Cogeca)也反对修改这 项法律。该团体秘书长佩卡﹒贝松宁说，“我们担心，如果取消了欧盟统一强制标准， 各 成员国将纷纷设定国家标准，私立标准也将会激增。”

不过，取消强制标准的决议受到了欧元怀疑论者的欢迎。他们对于欧盟委员会干预 性的规定一向颇有微词。

其中一项争议是香蕉弯度标准问题。在周三通过的决议中并没有涉及香蕉。

事实上，关于这一问题根本就没有具体规定。《欧盟委员会规定》中第 2254/94 条规 定，香蕉产品“不得畸形或弯度异常”，不过，该规定还指出，一级香蕉可以有“轻度外形 瑕疵”，二级香蕉则不限“外形瑕疵”。

相比之下，欧盟官员一直关注的是黄瓜弯度标准问题。欧盟委员会规定》中第 1677/88 条规定，一级和“特级”黄瓜的弯度标准为每 10 厘米长弯度不得超过 10 毫米，二级黄瓜不 得超过 20 毫米。

该条款还规定，黄瓜必须外表新鲜、硬挺、干净，不得有任何明显异物或虫害痕迹， 无苦味、异味。

明年所有这些硬性标准都将寿终正寝，届时长达百页的相关规定也将予以废除。欧 洲议会农业委员会主席尼尔﹒帕里什对此表示赞同。

“不管外观如何，食品终究是„食‟品”，帕里什说，“粮食危机期间禁止品质没有任何 问题的产品上市销售情理不容。欧盟农业委员会最终通过了修改相关法律的决议，值得 称赞。消费者真正关心的是食品的味道和品质，而不是外观。”

英译汉试题二

Ask mothers why babies are constantly picking things up from the floor or ground and putting them in their mouths, and chances are they'll say that it's instinctive - that that's

how babies explore the world. But why the mouth, when sight, hearing, touch and even scent are far better at identifying things?

Since all instinctive behaviors have an evolutionary advantage or they would not have been retained for millions of years, chances are that this one too has helped us survive as a species. And, indeed, accumulating evidence strongly suggests that eating dirt is good for you.

In studies of what is called the hygiene hypothesis, researchers are concluding that organisms like the millions of bacteria, viruses and especially worms that enter the body along with "dirt" spur the development of a healthy immune system. Several continuing studies suggest that worms may help to redirect an immune system that has gone awry and resulted in autoimmune disorders, allergies and asthma.

One leading researcher, Dr. Joel Weinstock, the director of gastroenterology and hepatology at Tufts Medical Center in Boston, said in an interview that the immune system at birth "is like an unprogrammed computer. It needs instruction."

He said that public health measures like cleaning up contaminated water and food have saved the lives of countless children, but they "also eliminated exposure to many organisms that are probably good for us."

"Children raised in an ultra-clean environment," he added, "are not being exposed to organisms that help them develop appropriate immune regulatory circuits."

Studies he has conducted with Dr. David Elliott, a gastroenterologist and immunologist at the University of Iowa, indicate that intestinal worms, which have been all but eliminated in developed countries, are "likely to be the biggest player" in regulating the immune system to respond appropriately, Elliott said in an interview. He added that bacterial and viral infections seem to influence the immune system in the same way, but not as forcefully.

Most worms are harmless, especially in well-nourished people, Weinstock said. "There are very few diseases that people get from worms," he said. "Humans have adapted to the presence of most of them."

Ruebush deplores the current fetish for the hundreds of antibacterial products that convey a false sense of security and may actually foster the development of antibiotic-resistant, disease-causing bacteria. Plain soap and water are all that are needed to become clean, she noted.

参考译文：

如果你问一些妈妈为什么婴儿会不停地从地上或地板上捡起东西来往嘴里送，她们很可能会说是本能使然，称婴儿就是这样探索世界的。但是，婴儿的视觉、听觉、触觉甚至嗅觉分辨事物的能力要强得多，为什么单单选择通过味觉进行探索呢?

所有的本能行为都有进化优势，否则这些本能行为不可能延续数百万年至今。由此 说来，通过味觉探索世界很可能也是人类得以延续的途径。越来越多的证据都有力地表 明，吃脏东西有益健康。

在名为“卫生学假设理论”的系列研究中，研究人员逐步得出一个结论，即，随“脏东 西”进入人体的数百万个细菌、病毒特别是蠕虫等有机体可以刺激免疫系统的健康发育。 几项仍在进行的研究显示，对于那些免疫系统出问题而出现自身免疫功能紊乱、过敏和 哮喘的人而言，蠕虫可以帮助免疫系统修复。

波士顿塔夫茨医学中心肠胃、肝脏病学专科主任乔尔﹒魏因斯托克博 士是主要 研究 人员，他在接受采访时说，人出生时的免疫系统“就像未经编程的电脑一样，需要指令。”

他说，对不干净的水或食品进行清理等诸如此类的公共卫生措施确实拯救了无以计 数的儿童的生命，但是这些措施“也使人们无法接触到对人体有益的多种有机体。”

“对于那些在过于洁净的环境中长大的儿童，”他补充说，“他们接触不到可以帮助免 疫调节系统发育的多种有益有机体。”

他与爱荷华大学的胃肠病学与免疫学专家戴维﹒艾略特博士共同进行了系列研究。

艾略特在接受采访时说，他们的研究结果显示，在发达国家几乎被完全消灭的蛔虫很可 能最有利于免疫系统调节。他补充说，细菌和病毒感染也同样有助于调节免疫系统，只 不过作用没有蛔虫那么大。

魏因斯托克说，大部分蠕虫对人体无害，对营养良好的人群更是如此。“蠕虫致病十 分少见，”他说，“人体对大多数蠕虫早已适应。”

当下，人们热衷于购买抗菌产品，多达数百种的抗菌产品给人一种错误的安全感， 实际上这些产品可能会导致对抗生素具有抗药性的致病菌的滋生，茹布什对此深感遗憾。 她说，(日常卫生)只需肥皂和水就能清洗干净。

第二部分(缺)