Question

BELJLNG — Eating at a Beijing restaurant is usually an adventure for foreigners, and particularly when they get the chance to order “chicken without sex life” or “red burned lion head”.

Sometimes excited but mostly confused, embarrassed or even terrified, many foreigners have long complained about mistranslations of Chinese dishes. And their complaints are often valid, but such an experience at Beijing’s restaurants will apparently soon be history.

Foreign visitors will no longer, hopefully, be confused by oddly worded restaurant menus in the capital if the government’s plan to correctly translate 3,000 Chinese dishes is a success and the translations are generally adopted.

The municipal（市政）office of foreign affairs has published a book to recommend English translations of Chinese dishes, which aims to help restaurants avoid bizarre translations. It provides the names of main dishes of famous Chinese cuisines in plain English, “an official with the city’s Foreign Affairs office said .” Restaurants are encouraged to use the proposed translations, but it will not be compulsory .“ It’s the city’s latest effort to bridge the culture gap for foreign travelers in China.

Coming up with precise translations is a daunting task, as some Chinese culinary（烹饪的）techniques are untranslatable and many Chinese dishes have no English-language equivalent. The translators, after conducting a study of Chinese restaurants in English-speaking countries, divided the dish names into four categories: ingredients, cooking method, taste and name of a person or a place. For some traditional dishes, pinyin, the Chinese phonetic system, is used, such as mapo tofu (previously often literally translated as “beancurd made by woman with freckles”), baozi (steamed stuffed bun ) and jiaozi (dumplings) to “reflect the Chinese cuisine culture,” according to the book.

“The book is a blessing to tourist guides like me. Having it, I don’t have to rack my brains trying to explain Chinese dishes to foreign travellers,” said Zheng Xiaodong, a 31- year – old employee with a Beijing-based travel agency.

“I will buy the book as I major in English literature and I’d like to introduce Chinese cuisine culture to more foreign friends,” said Han Yang, a postgraduate student at the University of International Business and Economics.

It is not clear if the book will be introduced to other parts of China. But on Tuesday, this was the most discussed topic on weibo.com, China’s most popular microblogging site.

1.What’s the best title of the passage?

A. An adventure for foreigners who eat in Beijing.

B. Confusing mistranslations of Chinese dishes

C. Chinese dishes to have “official” English names

D. The effort to bridge the culture gap

2.“chicken without sex life” or “red burned lion head” are mentioned in the beginning of the passage to show__________.

A. some Chinese dishes are not well received

B. some Chinese dishes are hard to translate

C. some Chinese dishes are mistranslated

D. some Chinese dishes are not acceptable

3.What measure has the municipal office taken?

A. Recommending a book on Chinese dishes

B. Advocating using precise translation for Chinese dishes

C. Publishing a book on China’s dietary habits

D. Providing the names of main Chinese dishes

4.What’s the meaning of the underlined word “daunting” in paragraph 5?

A. discouraging B. disappointing

C. confusing D. worthwhile

5.What’s the attitude of most people to the book according to the passage?

A. not clear B. excited

C. favorable D. divided

Answer 1

1.C

2.C

3.B

4.A

5.C

【解析】试题分析：本文由非同寻常的误译中国菜名开篇，讲述了误译中国菜名给外国友人带来的诸多误解。而政府也在积极解决由文化差异带来的误解。相继出台了相关政策和发布一本权威的菜名翻译书。并且获得了不同人的认同。但是翻译菜名仍然是一个巨大的工程，因为有些中国的烹饪技术是无法翻译的，还有一些在中国菜名在英文里没有相对应的单词。

1.主旨大意题。文章开头就谈到中国菜名的误译给外国友人带来的惊讶和误解等诸多不便，而政府也出台了相关政策以及翻译样本，这些都是在解决一个问题——如何翻译中国菜。故选C。

2.细节理解题。定位到第二段第一句Sometimes excited but mostly confused, embarrassed or even terrified, many foreigners have long complained about mistranslations of Chinese dishes.“有时候面对这些菜名外国人会感到激动更多时候是迷惑、尴尬和害怕。他们老早就抱怨对中国菜名的误译。”由此可见第一段提出的一些菜名是为了引出下文中外国人对中国菜名误译的态度。故选C。

3.事实理解题。定位到第四段。文中说到市政府发布了一本中国菜名英译的书就是为了避免错误翻译。同时一位外国事务所的官员说Restaurants are encouraged to use the proposed translations, but it will not be compulsory .“ It’s the city’s latest effort to bridge the culture gap for foreign travelers in China.饭店应该采取合适翻译菜名，而这也是这个城市最近为文化差异搭起桥梁的举措。故选B。

4.语义理解题。联系下文as some Chinese culinary techniques are untranslatable and many Chinese dishes have no English-language equivalent.说到，有些中国的烹饪技术是无法翻译的，还有一些在中国菜名在英文里没有相对应的单词。所以可知精确翻译是一个令人沮丧，难以解决的问题。故选A，discouraging“令人沮丧，令人气妥的。”

5.推理判断题。从六、七两段的人物语言可看出，人们对这本书的态度是支持的。北京的一个导游认为这本书是一个福音，因为它解决了导游在向外国游客解释菜名时突然卡壳的尴尬。而做外贸经济的学生来说，他可以把这本书作为自己的英语教材，也可以送人等。故选C。

考点：考查议论文阅读。