英语四级过关专项训练英译汉

Passage 1

The fridge is considered a necessity, it has been so since the 1960s when packaged food first appeared with the label: “Store in the refrigerator.”

In my fridgeless Fifties childhood, I was fed well and healthy. The milkman came daily, the grocer, the butcher , the baker, and the ice-cream man delivered two or three times a week. The Sunday meat would last until Wednesday and surplus bread and milk became all kinds of cakes. Nothing was wasted, and we were never troubled by rotten food. Thirty years on, food deliveries have ceased, fresh vegetables are almost unobtainable in the country.

The invention of the fridge contributed comparatively little to the art of food preservation. A vast way of well-tried techniques already existed—natural cooling, drying, smoking, salting, sugaring, bottling... What refrigeration did promote was marketing—marketing hardware and electricity, marketing soft drinks, marketing dead bodies of animals around the globe in search of a good price.

Consequently, most of the world’s fridges are to be found, not in the tropics where they might prove useful, but in the wealthy countries with mild temperatures where they are climatically almost unnecessary. Every winter, millions of fridges hum away continuously, and at vast expenses, busily maintaining an artificially-cooled space inside an artificially-heated house—while outside, nature provides the desired temperature free of charge. The fridge’s effect upon the environment has been evident, while its contribution to human happiness has been insignificant. If you don' t believe me, try it yourself. Invest in a food cabinet and turn off your fridge next winter. You may miss the hamburgers , but at least you’ll get rid of that terrible hum.

Passage 2

Dogs are social animals and without proper training, they will behave like wild animals. They will spoil your house, destroy your belongings, bark excessively, fight other dogs and even bite you. Nearly all behavior problems are perfectly normal dog activities that occur at the wrong time or place or are directed at the wrong thing. The key to preventing or treating behavior problems is learning to teach the dog to redirect its normal behavior to outlets that are acceptable in the domestic setting.

One of the best things you can do for your dog and yourself is to obedience train it. Obedience training doesn't solve all behavior problems, but it is the foundation for solving just about any problem. Training opens up a line of communication between you and your dog. Effective communication is necessary to instruct your dog about what you want it to do.

Training is also an easy way to establish the social rank order. When your dog obeys a simple request of “come here, sit,” it is showing obedience and respect for you. It is not necessary to establish yourself as top dog or leader of the dog pack by using extreme measures. You can teach your dog its subordinate role by teaching it to show submission to you. Most dogs love performing tricks for you to pleasantly accept that you are in charge. Training should be fun and rewarding for you and your dog. It can enrich your relationship and make living together more enjoyable. A well-trained dog is more confident and can more safely be allowed a greater amount of freedom than an untrained animal.

Passage 3

Brazil has become one of the developing world's great successes at reducing population growth—but more by accident than design. While countries such as India have made joint efforts to reduce birth rates, Brazil has had better result without really trying, says George Martine at Harvard.

Brazil's population growth rate has dropped from 2.99％ a year between 1951 and 1960 to 1.93％ a year between 1981 and 1990, and Brazilian women now have only 2.7 children on average. Martine says this figure may have fallen still further since 1990, an achievement that makes it the envy of many other Third World countries.

Martine puts it down to, among other things, soap operas and instalment plans introduced in the 1970s. Both played an important, although indirect, role in lowering the birth rate. Brazil is one of the world's biggest producers of soap operas. Globo, Brazil's most popular television network, shows three hours of soaps six nights a week, while three others show at least one hour a night. Most soaps are based on wealthy characters living the high life in big cities. "

Although they have never really tried to work in a message towards the problems of reproduction, they describe middle and upper class values—not many children, different attitudes towards sex, women working," says Martine. "They sent this image to all parts of Brazil and made people conscious of other patterns of behaviour and other values, which were put into a very attractive package."

Meanwhile, the instalment plans tried to encourage the poor to become consumers. "This led to an enormous change in consumption patterns and consumption was incompatible with unlimited reproduction," says Martine. Answer Key

Passage 1

1．在五十年代我的童年时期没有冰箱，我吃得好也很健康。

2．冰箱的发明对于食品保鲜术几乎没有什么作用（贡献）。

3．冷藏术确实促进了销售—在世界范围内销售硬件和电力，销售软饮料，销售动物的尸体以卖出一个好价钱。 4．所以世界上的大部分冰箱在有用的热带地区找不到，在从气候上来说几乎不必要的温带富裕国家却比比皆是。 5．冰箱对于环境的影响是显而易见的，但它对人类幸福的贡献却是微不足道的。

Passage 2

1．几乎所有（狗的）行为问题都是完全正常的行为，只是它们发生在错误的时间或地方，或指向错误的事情。 2．预防或解决行为问题的关键在于学习教狗把它正常的行为重新指向在家庭环境中可以接受的目标。

3．通过教狗对你表示服从，你可以教它认识自己的从属地位。

Passage 3

1．在降低人口增长方面，巴西取得了发展中国家巨大的成功之一，但这一成功更多地是出于偶然，而不是出于计划。 2．印度等国家作出了联合努力来降低出生率，而巴西根本不用任何努力就得到了更好的结果。

3．“虽然它们（肥皂剧）从来都没有真正表达出关于生育问题的信息，但它们描述了中产阶级和中上阶级的价值观—没有很多孩子，对性的不同态度和妇女参加工作。”

4．“分期付款使消费模式产生了巨大的改变，而消费和不加节制的生育是不相容的。”