restraint. \says Antonio Cabral, deputy director of the European Commission's Directorate General for Economic & Financial Affairs.
Just as worrisome is the toll being exacted on the private sector. Corporate contributions to state pension systems——which make up 19.5% of total gross pay in Germany——add to Europe's already bloated labor costs. That, in turn, blunts manufacturers' competitiveness and keeps unemployment rates high. According to the Institute of German Economics in Cologne, benefit costs reached a record 41.7% of gross wages in Germany last year, compared with 37.4% a decade before. French cement manufacturer Lafarge says pension cost of $121 million contributed to a 9% fall in operating profits last year. http://tr.hjenglish.com/
To cope, Germany and most of its EU partners are using tax breaks to encourage employees to put money into private pensions schemes. But even if private pensions become more popular, European governments will have to increase minimum retirement ages and reduce public pensions. While today's seniors complain about reduced benefits, the next generation of retirees may look back on their parents' pension checks with envy.
7. What does the author want to tell us from the example of the retired bank teller Sabine Wetzel?
8. Paraphrase Italian Finance Minister Giulio Tremonti's statement \welfare state is producing too few cradles and too few graves.\9. Introduce briefly the pension reforms in some key European countries. 10. What is implied by the last sentence of the passage \complain about reduced benefits, the next generation of retirees may look back on their parents' pension checks with envy.\
SECTION 2: READING TEST
1. B 2. A 3. D 4. C 5. D 6. A 7. C
8. D
9. C 19. A
10. C 20. C
11. C 12. A 13. B 14. A 15. D 16. D 17. B 18. A
Section 5: Reading Test
1. “Get out of jail free” “cards”are stolen artistic masterpieces, mostly paintings. Criminals first stole some famous paintings but then found that it was impossible to sell them. They would hide the paintings somewhere, and when they are arrested fro another crime, they would offer the paintings to the police in
exchange
for
a
commuted
sentence
or
even
a
pardon.
http://tr.hjenglish.com/
2. By one estimate, trade in illicit art in Britain is worth about 1 billion pounds. In order to curb the illicit trade in art, the Metropolitan Police compiled database of stolen works of art. So far the database has already obtained detailed records of 50,000 items and other forces are encouraged to add to the database. The Metropolitan Police also hopes by the end of the year, the public would be able to get access to parts of database and check for stolen items.
3. Thieves stealing artistic masterpieces are always portrayed by Hollywood as graceful high-browed ladies and gentlemen with the support of some mysterious VIP buyers, while the real-life thieves are only common criminals stealing for money. They may be a little more skilled than others, but they even sometimes do not realize the value of the item they stole, and they have difficulty selling it.
4. I believe the author introduces the Wright brothers and the European Airbus at the beginning of the passage for two purposes: Wright brothers' success in the test fly of the first manned aircraft and Airbus's manufacturing of A 380 are both millstones of aeronautic development. The Wrights brothers are Americans, while Airbus is a French company. Their successes are introduced together so that the theme of the passage would come up naturally. http://tr.hjenglish.com/
5. In the long history of technical development, France and America learn and inspire from each other's achievements. On the whole, America gains a little bit more from the reciprocity.
The lethal Minie bullets in American Civil War was originally developed by French officers. Ford developed his world-famous Fordism, characterized by assembly line and interchangeable parts, on the technical breakthroughs achieved by French gunsmiths. America's ideas of nuclear power was developed into practical use by French people. Now France gets 75 percent of its electricity from it. http://tr.hjenglish.com/
6. French people are very good at technical innovations and breakthroughs. While they are much overwhelmed by the sense of achievement accompanying them, they often do not pay enough attention to their further exploitation and commercialization. American people learn a lot from French people achievements, they are better at commercializing them and further developing them into practical use or mass production.
7. The example of the retired bank teller Sabine Wetzel shows that the retired people in Germany do not like the government's decision to cut their pensions, which is understandable since their pensions in the past always went up. http://tr.hjenglish.com/
8. A welfare state is supposed to take care of its citizens from their birth to their death from cradle to grave, but now since people are living longer and unwilling to have children, the number of old people taking money from the welfare system increases a lot, while the number of young people contributing to it declines. The gap between the two threatens the whole social welfare system.
9. In Germany, the state pensions will be cut from 53% of average wages now to 46% by 2024. In Italy, the minimum retirement age will be raised from 57 to 60. In France, a civil servant will have to work for 40 years instead of 37.5 in order to get a full pension.
10. European government' efforts to raise minimum retirement ages and reduce public pensions will continue. Future generations of retirees will benefit far less than old people do today, even though old people complain a lot about the benefit cut. http://tr.hjenglish.com/
2004年高级口译笔试阅读部分真题
