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2011年对外经济贸易大学考博英语真题
考试科目：1101经济英语
基础英语部分（共50分）
Please write all your answers on the Answer Sheet.
Part One Reading (15 points)
Directions: Read the article below and fulfill the tasks that follow the article.
AS the planet warms,floods, storms, rising seas and drought will uproot millions of people and withdire wider consequences. Barack Obama, collecting his Nobel peace prize, saidthat climate change “will fuel more conflict for decades”, He took the analysisnot from environmental scaremongers but from a group of American generals.
The forecast is close (1) becoming received wisdom. A flurry of newbooks with titles such as “Global Warring” and “Climate Conflict” offer near-apocalyptic visions. Cleo Paskal,at the Royal Institute of International Affairs in London, predicts those floods, storms, thefailure of the Indian monsoon and agricultural collapse will bring “enormousmad specific, geopolitical, economic, and security consequences for all ofus...the world of tomorrow looks chaotic and violent”. Jeffrey Mazo of theInternational Institute for Strategic Studies, also in London, calls climatechange an “existential threat” and fears it could usher (2) “state failure and internal conflict” inexposed places, notably Africa.
Yetsurprisingly few facts support these alarming assertions. Widely touted forecasts such as for200m climate refugees in firenext few decades seem to have been plucked (3) the air. Little or no academic researchhas looked at questions such as whether Bangladeshis displaced by a rising seawould move a series of short distances over a long period, or (moredisruptively) a greater distance immediately.
Soscientists preparing the fifth report of the Intergovernrnental Panel onClimate Change, due in 2013, are for the first time including a chapter onthreats to human security. An early effort came at a conference last month inNorway, (4) the auspices of the Peace ResearchInstitute in Oslo.
One ideais to find previous occasions when big environmental changes came (5) social, political and military shifts.Droughts in the Central Asian steppe, for example, led to mass westwardmigration and the “barbarian” invasions that helped topple the Roman Empire. Hunger and drought led to the collapse of Mayan civilizationa millennium ago. Sudden cooling wiped out an early European settlement on Greenland. The Dust B0wl of the 1930s forced over 2m people to migrate within the United States.
Thoseexamples may be relevant in Africa, where in many countries around three-quartersof the population survive by cultivating a few varieties of crops watereddirectly by rain, the form of farming most vulnerable (6) climate change. Africahas warmed by 0.5℃ on averagein the past half century, and may heat by 1.5-4℃more this century. Heat hits cereal yields (especially maize), perhaps by10-20% for a 1℃ rise.Rainfall patterns will also shift.
Thehardest evidence for a link so far comes from a team led by Marshall Burke ofthe University of California, which studiedAfrican wars from 1980 to 2002 and found that rising temperatures are indeedassociated with crop failure, economic decline and a sharp rise in thelikelihood of war. It predicted a “50% increase” in the chance of civil war in Africa by 2030.
But thatclaim is now heavily revised, since researchers redid their sums to takeaccount of the more peaceful period of 2002-08. Others say that political andother factors such as ethnic conflict and outside intervention are far betterindicators of the likelihood of fighting.
Take thewidely cited case of the war in Darfur, the western region of Sudan. BanKi-moon, the UN secretary-general, described it as “an ecological crisis,arising at least (7) part from climate change”. Environmentalproblems have probably worsened the Darfuris’dreadful plight, offering grist tothose who call climate change a “threat multiplier”. Average rainfall in theregion fell abruptly (by a third or more) in the early 1970s and Darfur repeatedly suffered droughts. Clashes over grazingand then displacement of villagers were followed, from 2003, by horrific war.
Yet theconnection is elusive. Roughly three decades elapsed between the rain stopping and warstarting. Many other factors—political, ethnic, demographic andeconomic—conspired to stoke violence. Those were specific to Darfur, whereasthe sharp drop in rainfall hit the whole Sahel,without intensifying conflict elsewhere.
Anothercommonly cited example is violent competition for scarce grazing between nomadicherdsmen in the Horn of Africa. Yet a study of fighting among pastoralists onthe border between Kenya and Somalia in the past 60 years (presented at theconference) showed instead that conflict worsened when grazing was abundant andfell (8) droughts. Hungry people ware too busystaying alive, or too exhausted, to fight. By contrast, when rains madeherdsmen's lives easier, they could release surplus young labour for theviolent sport of raiding other groups.
Otherresearchers look at the political or military consequences of phenomenaunrelated to weather, such as rapid urbanization, migration or earthquakes. Yetthe evidence here too is mixed (9) best. Where natural disasters do showpredictable political outcomes, they are very slight. A study of the short-termimpact of hurricanes on Haitiand the Dominican Republicfrom 1850-2007, for example, suggests that the storms have grown more intense(if not more frequent), but their arrival is not associated with morn politicalviolence. Another study showed that natural disasters usually producedshoo-term economic pain but no sign of increased political violence
Earthquakes, too, tend to produce mixed outcomes. A Mexican quake in 1985may have stoked an insurgency. But the tsunami of 2005 offered a moment forsecessionists in Aceh and the central Indonesian government to co-operate.Climate change could indeed cause woes aplenty. That is all the more reason to be precise (10) them.
1. Fill ineach blank in the article with an appropriate preposition (介词) (5 points, 0.5 point each)
2. Readthe article carefully and explain the meaning of the words according to thecontext. (5 points, 0.5 point each)
(1) scaremonger (in paragraph 1)
(2) apocalyptic (in paragraph 2)
(3) tout (in paragraph 3)
(4) topple (in paragraph 5)
(5) intervention (in paragraph 8)
(6) elapse (in paragraph 10)
(7) stoke (in paragraph 10)
(8) intensify (in paragraph 10)
(9) grazing (in paragraph 11)
(l0) woe (in paragraph 13)
3. Theabove article mentioned the widely cited case of the war in Darfur, the westernregion of Sudan.Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, described it as “an ecological crisis…”Why? Some people call climate change a” threat multiplier'. What does thatmean? (5 points)
Part Two Translation (20 points)
1. Translate tile following passage from Chinese into English (10points)
历代的智慧，几个世纪以来人类一直籍以为乐的故事，所有这些都可以从书中方便而又便宜的获得。但是我必须懂得如何利用这份宝藏，懂得如何才能使它对我们最为有益.世界上最为不幸的人，也就是那些从未体验过读好书之乐趣的人吧。
我对人最为感兴趣,喜欢结识他们，喜欢了解他们。我认识的一些非凡之人，首先存在于作者的想象之中，然后表现在作品的字里行间，最后在我的想象中重新显现。我在书中找到了新的朋友，新的社会,还有新的语言。
把你的一部分空闲时光用来培养阅读好书的爱好吧。爱读书的人从好书中不但得到乐趣，他们从中获得的那种精神食粮，从其他地方是很难得到的。尽管他们未必有意识地想到读书是为了提高才智。在不知不觉中，他们从书中吸取的知识积累起来，经过想象力的加工，对将来大有用处。
2. Translate the following passage from English to Chinese (10points)
Naturecontains the elements, in color and form, of all pictures, as the keyboardcontains the notes of all music.
But theartist is born to pick, and choose; and group with science, these elements,that dm result may be beautiful - as the musician gathers his notes, and formshis .chords, until he brings forth from chaos glorious harmony.
To say tothe painter, that Nature is to be taken as she is, is to say to the player,that he may sit on the piano...
The dignity of the snow-cappedmountain is lost in distinctness, but the joy of the tourist is to recognizethe traveler on the top. Tile desire to see, for file sake of seeing, is, withthe mass, alone the one to be gratified, hence the delight in detail.
Part Three Writing (15 points)
Directions:Write a composition of about 300 wordsbased on the following:
The past10 years has witnessed the unprecedented development of the Internet and theonline world, which have already transformed the way most of us live. Pleasewrite a composition entitled “Is the Internet a blessing or curse for us?”What's your opinion about the advantages and disadvantages of tile internet? Doyou think its advantages outweigh its disadvantages or the other way round? Howto make the best use of the internet?
专业英语部分（共50分）
Part Four Translation
Translate the following English into Chinese. (10 points)
Historically, economists have said that well-being is a simple functionof income. However, it has bean found that once wealth reaches a subsistencelevel, its effectiveness as a generator of well-being is greatly diminished.This paradox has been referred to as the Easterlinparadox. This means that aspirations increase with income; after basicneeds are met; relative rather than absolute income levels influencewell-being. Happiness economists hope to change the way governments viewwell-being and how to most effectively govern and allocate resources given thisparadox. However, other research suggests that no paradox exists, and happinessis linearly related to the logarithm of absolute (real, PPP-adjusted) income,with little or no relative income component.
Moneycorrelates with happiness, but the rate diminishes with more money. In 2010,two economists found that higher earners generally reported better lifesatisfaction, but people's day-to-day emotional well-being only rose withearnings until a threshold annual income of $75,000. Other factors have beensuggested as making people happier than money. One study, when corrected forsocial status, showed no correlation between income and happiness.
Part Five
Make some comments in English on Chinese Primer's promise to makepeople happier in his congress address. (5 points)
Part Six
汉译英：(10 points)
对于希望利用中国大量廉价劳动力的国内外企业来说，多年来，中国沿海制造业中心一直是生产基地的上上之选。然而，自今年5月份以来，中国境内劳资争端明显增多，加之人民币走强以及政府采取行动遏制污染和产能过剩，表明这种低成本的生产模式已不再稳固。
Part Seven
Read the following passage and answer the questions: (25 points)
Theconclusion of the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations in 1994, andthe establishment of the WTO in 1995 to provide the institutional support tothe multilateral trade agreements, constituted a significant milestone in theevolution of the multilateral trading system. The principle of “singleundertaking” bound all WTO members to all the results of the Uruguay Roundnegotiations (with the exception of plurilateral agreements), therebyreinforcing the fundamental principle of most-favored nation (MFN) treatment.With the conclusion of the Uruguay Round and the strengthened multilateraltrading system (MTS), there was an expectation that exceptions tomultilateralism, such as regional trade agreements, even though legally coveredby the WTO under certain conditions, would either become less of an alterativepolicy option for countries or will need to be adapted and conducted in such amanner as to become outward-oriented; not inward-looking, and has constitutebuilding blocks for the new multilateralism ushered in by the WTO.
Thisobjective has been continually emphasized in WTO Ministerial Declarations thatreaffirm commitment to the supremacy of multilateralism while recognizing theimportant role that regional trade agreements (RTAs) can play. This is apparentfrom paragraph 4 in the DohaDeclaration where WTO Members stressed their “commitment to the WTO as theunique forum for global trade rule-making and liberalization, while alsorecognizing that regional trade agreements can play an important role inpromoting the liberalization and expansion of trade and in fosteringdevelopment”. In the work programme adopted at Doha. WTO Members also agreed to negotiationsaimed at clarifying and improving existing WTO provisions applying to RTAswhile taking into account their developmental aspects (paragraph 29). Such“developmental aspects” are a concrete expression of the wider emphasis in theDoha Work Programme (DWP) on development issues, includingimplementation-related issues and concerns, special and differential treatmentand technical assistance.
Asrecognized by these Declarations, the growth, expansion and deepening ofregional trade agreements has been remarkable. Almost all countries in theworld and virtually all WTO Members (the exception being Mongolia) today areparty to, or are in the process of negotiating, at least one RTA. Thus, regionalismhas become a policy option for most countries and is a permanent feature of theinternational trading environment for the foreseeable future.
A notable feature inthe recent rise of regionalism is that countries that have traditionallyfavored the multilateral approach to trade liberalization, including Australia, New Zealand, Japan,Singapore, India and the Republic of Koreahave joined the RTA bandwagon. The United States has also given moreattention to concluding RTAs. A different composition of RTAs involving thewidening of country coverage beyond the traditional regional zone has emerged.Significantly, RTAs have emerged between countries and entities in differentregions/continents (e.g. EU-Mexico, EU-South Africa, US-Israel. Jordan, Morocco,Chile).In most cases, these agreements are bilateral in membership, concluded by twocountries/entities, including the case of free trade agreements negotiated andconcluded by the two distinct RTAs (e.g. EU-MERCOSUR under negotiation).
Theexpansion, widening and deepening of RTAs has resulted in, a situation wherebyintra-RTA trade accounted for some 40 per cent of world trade (merchandiseimports) in 2000 and will account for over 50 per cent in 2005. Furthermore,intra-RTA trade has been significant, or has become more important for RTAmembers. Thus, international trade flows are increasingly concentrated withinregional groupings formed by large trading nations.
Thequalitative dimension of RTAs in respect of coverage of policy areas has alsoevolved. Recent “new-generation” RTAs increasingly cover not only trade ingoods, but also other “behind the border” regulatory areas, including trade inservices, investment, competition policy, intellectual property rights,government procurement, labour, environment and development cooperation,thereby going beyond multilateral disciplines and liberalization commitments(“WTO-plus”). These are part and parcel of “deeper” integration efforts.
Developing countries are no exception to the process of expansion andreinvigoration of the RTAs. They have actively participated in regional tradeagreements among themselves (South-South) and with developed countries(North-South). In addition to these subregional agreements, various bilateralpreferential trade agreements (PTAs) have been launched among, or involvingdeveloping countries, often on an interregional basis.
Q1: What isWTO's stance toward regionalism? How is the development of regionalism in theworld right now? (5 points)
Q2: Pleasebriefly analyze the positive and negative effects of regionalism to developingcountries. (10 points)
Q3: Withthe thriving of regionalism in the world, what do you think is the future ofWTO's multilateral trading system (MTS)? (10 points)
