BELJLNG-Eating at a Beijing restaurant is usually an adventure for foreigners, and particularly when they get the chance to order “chicken without sex life” or “red burned lion head”.
Sometimes excited but mostly confused, embarrassed or even terrified, many foreigners have long complained about mistranslations of Chinese dishes. And their complaints are often valid, but such an experience at Beijing’s restaurants will apparently soon be history.
Foreign visitors will no longer, hopefully, be confused by oddly worded restaurant menus in the capital if the government’s plan to correctly translate 3,000 Chinese dishes is a success and the translations are generally adopted.
The municipal（市政）office of foreign affairs has published a book to recommend English translations of Chinese dishes, which aims to help restaurants avoid bizarre translations. It provides the names of main dishes of famous Chinese cuisines in plain English, “an official with the city’s Foreign Affairs office said .” Restaurants are encouraged to use the proposed translations, but it will not be compulsory .“ It’s the city’s latest effort to bridge the culture gap for foreign travelers in China.
Coming up with precise translations is a daunting task, as some Chinese culinary techniques are untranslatable and many Chinese dishes have no English-language equivalent.The translators, after conducting a study of Chinese restaurants in English-speaking countries, divided the dish names into four categories: ingredients, cooking method, taste and name of a person or a place. For some traditional dishes, pinyin, the Chinese phonetic system, is used, such as mapo tofu(previously often literally translated as “beancurd made by woman with freckles”), baozi(steamed stuffed bun ) and jiaozi (dumplings) to “reflect the Chinese cuisine culture,” according to the book.
“The book is a blessing to tourist guides like me. Having it, I don’t have to rack my brains trying to explain Chinese dishes to foreign travellers,” said Zheng Xiaodong, a 31- year – old employe with a Beijing- based travel agency.
“I will buy the book as I major in English literature and I’d like to introduce Chinese cuisine culture to more foreign friends,” said Han Yang, a postgraduate student at the University of International Business and Economics.
It is not clear if the book will be introduced to other parts of China. But on Tuesday, this was the most discussed topic on weibo. com, China’s most popular microblogging site.
1. What’s the best title of the passage?
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A．An adventure for foreigners who eat in Beijing. |
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B．Confusing mistranslations of Chinese dishes |
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C．Chinese dishes to have “official” English names |
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D．The effort to bridge the culture gap |
2. “chicken without sex life” or “red burned lion head” are mentioned in the beginning of the passage to show .
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A．some Chinese dishes are not well received |
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B．some Chinese dishes are hard to translate |
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C．some Chinese dishes are mistranslated |
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D．some Chinese dishes are not acceptable |
3. What measure has the municipal office taken?
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A．Recommending a book on Chinese dishes |
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B．Advocating using precise translation for Chinese dishes |
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C．Publishing a book on China’s dietary habits |
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D．Providing the names of main Chinese dishes |
4. What’s the meaning of daunting in paragraph 5?
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A．confusing |
B．disappointing |
C．discouraging |
D．worthwhile |
5. What’s the attitude of most people to the book according to the passage?
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A．not clear |
B．excited |
C．favorable |
D．divided |
Japan’s All Nippon Airways, which has asked passengers to visit the toilet before boarding to help the environment, said Tuesday it will fit its jets with a women-only lavatory（厕所）.
ANA will introduce one female-only toilet per aircraft on international flights next month after a survey of women fliers identified(确认) it was the second most attractive service they wished for after being offered desserts. The rest of the toilets onboard will be for men and women as usual.
“We received many comments that having a women-only lavatory would be a factor in differentiating our airline from others,” said an NAN spokesman.
“Many women said that they feel uncomfortable taking their time in the lavatory knowing that a male is waiting just behind them in line,” he said. The spokesman denied that the new service was introduced following complaints about men soiling(弄脏) the bathrooms, telling reporters: “Those opinions may exist, but we do not have that data on hand”.
Since 2006 ANA has pursued (开展) a one – month awareness campaign each year in which it asks fliers on 38 domestic flights and four international flights to visit the bathroom before boarding to reduce their body weight and therefore cut he plane’s carbon-dioxide emissions.
The airline is also planning to install “washlets” in it’s aircraft-electric toilet seats with water sprays for washing-a common sight in Japan and generally a source of amusement for first-time visitors and users.
The “washlets” will be installed in the Boeing777-300ER,due to begin operating in April, and the Boeing 787 fleet set to start flying this year.
1. What is the most attractive service to women passengers according to a survey?
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A．women passengers can visit the toilet before boarding. |
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B．women passengers can get some desserts onboard. |
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C．women passengers can visit the toilet on boards free of charge. |
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D．women passengers can use women- only lavatory onboard. |
2. ANA will fit its jets with a women-only bathroom in order to .
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A．cut the plan’s carbon-dioxide emissions and protect our environment |
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B．show equality between men and women |
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C．save much time for women passengers |
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D．make their airline better than other airlines |
3. We can infer the underlined word “domestic” in the fifth paragraph means .
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A．commercial |
B．military |
C．internal |
D．economical |
4. According to the passage, which of the following statement is not true?
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A．Female- only toilet can only be found on international flights. |
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B．Women will feel uncomfortable when they know a male is waiting at the toilet door. |
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C．The rest of the toilets on international flights will be for men only. |
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D．You will be curious about “washlets” when you first see it. |
5. What would be the best title of the passage?
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A．Women and men are equal on ANA’s flights. |
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B．Women- only lavatories will be installed on ANA’s flights. |
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C．Visiting the bathroom before boarding to protect environment. |
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D．ANA has pursued a one- month awareness campaign. |
根据提示写一篇120—150 的英语短文，发表在某中学生英文报上。
假如你校开展了中学生学习生活的讨论，请根据以下提示发言：
1. 合理安排学习和生活 2. 融洽同学之间的关系 3. 积极参加校园社团活动
注意：字数120—150
Let me tell you about five of the enemies we face from within．The first enemy that you’ve got to destroy before it destroys you is indifference．What a tragic disease this is! “Ho-hum，let it slide. I’ll just drift along．” Here’s one problem with drifting：you can’t drift your way to the top of the mountain．
The second enemy we face is indecision(优柔寡断). Indecision is the thief of opportunity and enterprise．It will steal your chances for a better future．Take a sword to this enemy．
The third enemy inside is doubt．Sure，there’s room for healthy skepticism．You can’t believe everything．But you also can’t let doubt take over．Many people doubt the past, doubt the future，doubt each other，doubt the government，doubt the possibilities and doubt the opportunities． , they doubt themselves．I’m telling you，doubt will destroy your life and your chances of success．It will empty both your bank account and your heart．Doubt is all enemy．Get rid of it．
The fourth enemy within is worry．We’ve all got to worry some．Just don’t let it conquer you．Instead, let it alarm you．Worry can be useful．If you step off the curb (路边) in New York City and a taxi is coming，you’ve got to worry．But you can’t let worry loose like a mad dog that drives you into a small coffer．Here’s what you’ve got to do with your worries：drive them into a small corner. Whatever is out to get you，you’ve got to get it．Whatever is pushing on you, you’ve got to push back．
The fifth enemy is overcaution. It is the timid (胆小的) approach to life．Timidity is not a virtue；it’s all illness．If you let it go，it’ll conquer you．Timid people don’t get promoted．They don’t advance and grow and become powerful in the marketplace．You’ve got to avoid overcaution．
1.What’s the best title for this passage? (Within 8 words)
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2.List three enemies inside that might prevent you from getting promoted．(Within 5 words)
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3.Fill in the blank in Paragraph 3 with proper words or phrases．(Within 5 words)
.
4.Which sentence in the text is the closest in meaning to the following one?
However，you shouldn’t be forced into a small room by the worry beyond control．
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5.Translate the underlined sentence in Paragraph 4 into Chinese．
However urban life strikes you, cities worldwide have been growing ever more rapidly. Some of this growth has occurred in the developed world, but the most dramatic increase has been in the Third World. Almost all the world’s population growth over the next 30 years will take place in the cities of developing countries
By the year 2030, for the first time in history, 60 percent of the world’s people will be living in cities.
This is actually good news in some ways. “Cities are the fundamental building blocks of prosperity,” says Marc Weiss, chairman of the Prague Institute for Global Urban Development, “ both for the nation and for families.” Industrial and commercial activities in urban areas account for between 50 and 80 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in most countries of the world“ there’s the crazy notion that the way to deal with a city’s problems is to keep people out of them,”Weiss continued. “But the problems of the rural life are even more serious than those of the city.” For better or worse, urban-watchers are clear on one point: The quality of life for most people in the future will be determined by the quality of cities. Those cities will be bigger than ever. And yet, population numbers by themselves don’t determine a city’s prospects; after all, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and Hamburg, Germany, have the same population. Nor is explosive growth necessarily the determining factor. “City problems,” one authority points out, “mostly have to do with weak, ineffective, and usually unrepresentative city governments.”
1.The passage mainly discusses ______________.
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A．Big cities. |
B．City life. |
C．Population. |
D．Gross Domestic Product. |
2.According to the passage, in the year of 2030 _______.
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A．there will be 21 cities having a population of more than 10 million. |
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B．rural area will be extinct. |
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C．most people will live in cities. |
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D．the third world will keep abreast with the developed world. |
3.In the author’s opinion, _________.
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A．better city, better life |
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B．both urban and rural areas have a larger population |
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C．the larger population, the faster a city develops |
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D．both urban and rural areas have larger gross domestic products |
4.Which statement is NOT true according to the passage?
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A．The developing countries develop faster than the developed countries. |
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B．Cities contribute more to the GDP than the villagers. |
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C．Some problems are more easily solved in cities than in country. |
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D．It’s impossible to solve urban problems by getting people out of cities. |
5.The last paragraph implies that ____________.
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A．Public services are ineffective. |
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B．Cities are increasing too fast. |
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C．Population is not linked with development. |
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D．Government should be responsible for the problems in the cities. |
“Long time no see” is a very interesting sentence. When I first read this sentence from an American friend’s email, I laughed. I thought it was a perfect example of Chinglish.
Obviously, it is a word-by-word literal translation of the Chinese greetings with a ruled English grammar and structure! Later on, my friend told me that it is a standard American greeting. I was too thrilled to believe her. Her words could not convince me at all. So I did a research on google.com. To my surprise, there are over 60 thousand web pages containing “Long time no see.” This sentence has been widely used in emails, letters, newspapers, movies, books, or any other possible places. Though it is sort of informal, it is part of the language that Americans use daily. Ironically, if you type this phrase in Microsoft Word, the software will tell you that the grammar needs to be corrected.
Nobody knows the origin of this Chinglish sentence. Some people believe that it came from Charlie Chan’s movies. In the 1930s, Hollywood moviemakers successfully created a world wide famous Chinese detective named “Charlie Chan” on wide screens. Detective Chan likes to teach Americans some Chinese wisdom by quoting Confucius. “Long time no see” was his trademark. Soon after Charlie Chan, “Long time no see” became a popular phrase in the real world with thanks to the popularity of these movies.
Some scholars refer to America as a huge pot of stew. All kinds of culture are mixed in the stew together, and they change the color and taste of each other. American Chinese, though a minority ethnic(少数民族的成员) group in the United States, is also contributing some changes to the stew! Language is usually the first thing to be influenced in the mixed stew.
You can have some other examples than adoptions from Chinese, such as pizza from Italian, susi from Japanese, and déjà vu from French etc. There is a long list! Americans do not just simply borrow something from others. They will modify it and make it their own, so you would not be surprised to find a tofu and peanut butter hamburger in a restaurant, or to buy a bottle of iced Chinese green tea with honey in a grocery store. Since Americans appreciate Chinese culture more and more nowadays, I believe more Chinese words will become American English in the future. In this way the American stew keeps adding richness and flavor.
1.The writer himself felt surprised at ______.
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A．the Chinglish expression “Long time no see” |
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B．“Long time no see” used as standard American English |
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C．so many literal translation of the expressions used in America |
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D．finding out Americans use the expression every day |
2.The word “stew” in the 4th paragraph probably means ______.
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A．mixture literature |
B．Confucius’ words |
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C．a kind of cooked dish |
D．American changing cultures |
3.According to the passage, it can be inferred that ______.
A. detectives translate the phrase “Long time no see”
B. Hollywood made “Long time no see” popular
B. “Long time no see” used as standard American English
D. cultures can be changed in the huge pot of stew
4.The main idea of the passage is that ______.
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A．some Chinese expressions are introduced into English |
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B．you’ll not be surprised at a tofu in a restaurant in America |
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C．some American expressions can be used in China |
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D．American English keep being enriched from different cultures |
5.According to the passage, which of the following statements is not true?
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A．Informal language sometimes doesn’t go with grammar and structure. |
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B．Languages are always ruled by grammar and structure. |
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C．Long time no see” has been used in at least four media mentioned in the passage. |
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D．There are four languages mentioned to be adopted in the American stew. |
