2008年考研英語模擬試題三及答案解析

　　41��

　　The maple looms large in Ojibwa folk tales. The time of year for sugaring off is “in the Maple Moon.” Among Ojibwa， the primordial female figure is Nokomis， a wise grandmother. In one tale about seasonal change， cannibal wendigos�瞔reatures of evil �� chased old Nokomis through the autumn countryside. Wendigos throve in icy cold. When they entered the bodies of humans， the human heart froze solid. Here wendigos represent oncoming winter. They were hunting to kill and eat poor Nokomis， the warm embodiment of female fecundity who， like the summer， has grown old.

　　42��

　　Knowing this was a pursuit to the death， Nokomis outsmarted the cold devils. She hid in a stand of maple trees， all red and orange and deep yellow. This maple grove grew beside a waterfall whose mist blurred the trees' outline. As they peered through the mist， slavering wendigos thought they saw a raging fire in which their prey was burning. But it was only old Nokomis being hidden by the bright red leaves of her friends， the maples. And so， drooling ice and huffing frost， the wendigos left her and sought easier prey. For their service in saving the earth mother's life， these maples were given a special gift： their water of life would be forever sweet， and Canadians would tap it for nourishment.

　　43��

　　Maple and its syrup flow sweetly into Canadian humor. Quebeckers have the standard siropd' erable for maple syrup， but add a feisty insult to label imitation syrups that are thick with glucose glop. They call this sugary imposter sirop de Poteau “telephone pole syrup” or dead tree syrup.

　　44��

　　The contention that maple syrup is unique to North America is suspect， I believe. China has close to 10 species of maple， more than any country in the world. Canada has 10 native species. North America does happen to be home to the sugar maple， the species that produces the sweetest sap and the most abundant flow. But are we to believe that in thousands of years of Chinese history， these inventive people never tapped a maple to taste its sap？ I speculate that they did. Could Proto�睞mericas who crossed the Bering land bridge to populate the Americas have brought with them a knowledge of maple syrup？ Is there a very old Chinese phrase for maple syrup？ Is maple syrup mentioned in Chinese literature？ For a non�瞨eader of Chinese， such questions are daunting but not impossible to answer.

　　45��

　　What is certain is the maple's holdfast on our national imagination. Its leaf was adopted as an emblem in New France as early as 1700， and in English Canada by the mid��19th century. In the fall of 1867， a Toronto schoolteacher named Alexander Muir was traipsing a street at the city， all squelchy underfoot from the soft felt of falling leaves， when a maple leaf alighted to his coat sleeve and stuck there. At home that evening， he wrote a poem and set it to music， in celebration of Canada's Confederation. Muir's song， “The Maple Leaf Forever，” was wildly popular and helped fasten the symbol firmly to Canada.

　　The word “maple” is from “mapeltreow”， the Old English term for maple tree， with “mapl”—as its Proto�睪ermanic root， a compound in which the first “m”—is， I believe， the nearly worldwide “ma”， one of the first human sounds， the pursing of a baby's lips as it prepares to suck milk from mother's breast. The “ma” root gives rise in many world languages to thousands of words like “mama”， “mammary”， “maia”， and “Amazon.” Here it would make “mapl�病� mean “nourishing mother tree，” that is， tree whose maple sap in nourishing. The second part of the compound， “apl�病�， is a variant of Indo�睧uropean able “fruit of any tree” and the origin of another English fruit word， apple. So the primitive analogy compares the liquid sap with another nourishing liquid， mother's milk.
　　Part C

　　Directions：

　　Read the following text carefully and then translate the underlined segments into Chinese. Your translation should be written clearly on ANSWER SHEET 2.（10 points）

　　Clearly if we are to participate in the society in which we live we must communicate with other people. A great deal of communicating is performed on a person�瞭o�瞤erson basis by the simple means of speech. （46） If we travel in buses， buy things in shops， or eat in restaurants， we are likely to have conversations where we give information or opinions， receive news or comment， and very likely have our views challenged by other members of society.

　　（47） Face�瞭o�瞗ace contact is by no means the only form of communication and during the last two hundred years the art of mass communication has become one of the dominating factors of contemporary society. Two things， above others， have caused the enormous growth of the communication industry. Firstly， inventiveness has led to advances imprinting， telecommunications photography， radio and television. Secondly， speed has revolutionized the transmission and reception of communications so that local news often takes a back seat to national news， which itself is often almost eclipsed by international news.

　　No longer is the possession of information confined to a privileged minority. In the last century the wealthy man with his own library was indeed fortunate， but today there are public libraries. （48） For years ago people used to flock to the cinema， but now far more people sit at home and turn on the TV to watch a programme that is being channeled into millions of homes.

　　Communication is no longer merely concerned with the transmission of information. （49） The modem communication industry influences the way people live in society and broadens their horizons by allowing access to information， education and entertainment. The printing， broadcasting and advertising industries are all involved with informing， educating and entertaining.

　�。�50） Although a great deal of the material communicated by the mass media is very valuable to the individual and to the society of which he is part， the vast modem network of communications is open to abuse. However， the mass media are with us for better， for worse， and there is no turning back.

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