2017年上半年catti三級筆譯實務(wù)考前預(yù)測卷（第八套）
第 1 題：
If you have never seen a power plant, you might find it hard to imagine how enormously complex the equipment is or how much heat is generated by the boilers or how much coal it takes to fuel the furnaces for just one day.
During the course of a day, the boilers at one of our power plants, Morgantown, for example, can turn 24 million gallons of water into steam. That generating plant alone uses 9,900 tons of coal in its furnaces in just one day. Potomac Electric Power Company (PEPCO) uses so much coal that we have purchased two 80-car unit trains to facilitate the delivery process. And Morgantown alone can produce over 25 million kilowatthours of electricity in a single day''s operation.
Electricity is produced by spinning large magnets inside a coil of wire within the generator. The faster we spin the magnets, the higher will be the voltage of the electricity produced. Electricity leaves a PEPCO generator at between 13,800 and 24,000 volts.
The next step in the process occurs when electricity passes through a transformer where the voltage is stepped up to continue on its journey. A transmission wire is like a small diameter pipe. Stepping up the voltage is like increasing water pressure, thus speeding the flow of energy through the system.
第 2 題：
向一位著名的女作家祝賀她八十歲壽辰，這樣的機會是不多的，所以我去年十月五日到冰心家里去的時候，心情非常激動。我解釋說希望她給我講一下她是怎樣成為詩人的。“我已有多年沒有寫詩了，”她微笑說，“可是我還是愛讀好詩�！�
冰心很幸運地有鼓勵她學(xué)習(xí)和寫作的父母。一九一九年她在北京一所女子學(xué)院念書時，一個事件改變了她生命的整個道路。那就是五四運動，一個由北京學(xué)生發(fā)動的愛國民主運動。群眾游行示威的場面給她以深刻的印象。她投身于斗爭中，并被學(xué)生會任命負責(zé)宣傳工作。她寫了詩歌、文章和故事，以抨擊帝國主義和各種形式的封建主義。
她在1923年到美國去學(xué)文學(xué)，在旅途中和在美國居留中寫下了她的感受。這些都收在一個集子里出版，就是《寄小讀者》。這本書使她聲譽突起。這不僅是因為她是一位女作家，而是因為書中的高尚的情操。有不少較年輕的作家說，是冰心的作品使他們走上了其后所走的道路。
第 3 題：
Because the aircraft industry needs ever-increasing quantities of aluminium plate, new equipment has been designed to automate the making of it. It includes a huge heat-treatment furnace, a crane that lifts hot metal plates without damaging them, and a computer system that can manage the complete flow of work.
Five years ago, Europe''s aircraft industry needed only 8,000 tonnes of aluminium plate a year for its products. Last year the figure reached 21,800 tonnes. By 2004 it should total 30,000 tonnes. Each airliner contains 180 tonnes of it. That is why the plant is being rebuilt to increase both the quality and the amount of its product.
Aluminium is alloyed with other metals and cast into ingots, and the surface of the ingots is smoothed off. After pre-heating, it is rolled in a mill that can take 3.75-m-wide slabs. The new equipment can make the process more efficient and can produce a better product. For example, computers control the temperature of the hot plates, the rate at which they pass through the mill, the speed of cooling it with water, and so on.
The new plant can handle twice the throughput of the one that it is replacing, thanks to the completely automated and computerized process.
