When giving any general overview of the development and use of machine translationsystems and translation tools, it is important to distinguish four basic types of translation demands.
The first, and traditional type of demand is for translations of a quality normally expected from humans, i.e., translations of publishable quality. This illustrates the use of MT for dissemination. It has been satisfied, to some extent, by machine translation systems ever since they were first developed in the 1960s. However, MT systems produce output which must invariably be revised or “post-edited” by human translators if it is to reach the quality required. Sometimes such revision may be substantial, so that in effect the MT system is producing a “draft” translation. As an alternative, the input text may be regularized (or “controlled” in vocabulary and sentence structure) so that the MT system produces few errors which have to be corrected. Some MT systems have, however, been developed to deal with a very narrow range of text content and language style, and these may require little or no preparation or revision of texts.
The second basic demand is for translations at a somewhat lower level of quality, which are intended for users who want to find out the essential content of a particular document—and generally, as quickly as possible. This demand —the use of MT for assimilation—has been met in the past as, in effect, a by-product of systems designed originally for the dissemination application. Since MT systems did not (and still cannot) produce high quality translations, some users have found that they can extract what they need to know from the unedited output. They would rather have some translation, however poor, than no translation at all. With the coming of cheaper PC-based systems on the market, this type of use has grown rapidly and substantially.
The third type of demand—MT for interchange—comes from the need for immediate translation in order to convey the basic content of messages. MT systems are finding a “natural” role, since they can operate virtually or in fact in real-time and on-line and there has been little objection to the inevitable poor quality, and are useful in producing spoken language translations, e.g. for telephone conversations and business negotiations. The problems of integrating speech recognition and automatic translation are obviously hard to tackle, but progress is nevertheless being made. In the future—still distant, perhaps—we may expect on-line MT systems for the translation of speech in highly restricted domains.
The fourth area of application is for translation within multilingual systems of information retrieval, information extraction, database access, etc. This field is the focus of a number of projects in Europe at the present time, which have the aim of widening access for all members of the European Union to sources of data and information whatever the source language.
1.It can be inferred from the second paragraph that in rendering publishable translations of literary works,（ ）.
2.According to the third paragraph, users of MT for assimilation （ ）.
3.It can be inferred from the fourth paragraph that with the progressive sophistication systems, （ ）.
4.Translation within multilingual systems of information retrieval, etc, is now the focus of a number of projects in Europe because（ ）.
问题1选项
A.MT systems’ performance is satisfactory to a substantial degree
B.little could be done by MT systems developed so far
C.MT systems can do much better than human translators
D.considerable revision on MT produced texts is needed
问题2选项
A.are growing fast in number
B.complain a lot about its poor quality
C.can get little from the unedited output
D.would rather have no translation at all
问题3选项
A.one can communicate on the telephone with another who speaks a different language
B.interpreters will no longer be useful in international negotiations or conferences
C.it will be only natural that people will find little need to learn a foreign language
D.people will find no cause to complain about the quality of texts turned out by MT system
问题4选项
A.Europeans have little difficulty in oral communication
B.there are more languages spoken in Europe than in any other regions of the world
C.there is need for all members of the European Union to access data in different languages
D.there is less difficulty in developing MT systems handling languages similar to each other
第1题:
【选项释义】
It can be inferred from the first paragraph that in rendering publishable translations of literary works,（ ）. 从第一段可以推断，在翻译文学作品时，（ ）。
A. MT systems’ performance is satisfactory to a substantial degree A. 机器翻译系统的性能在很大程度上令人满意
B. little could be done by MT systems developed so far B. 迄今为止开发的机器翻译系统几乎无能为力
C. MT systems can do much better than human translators C. 机器翻译系统可以比人工翻译做得更好
D. considerable revision on MT produced texts is needed D. 需要对机器翻译产生的文本进行大量修订
【考查点】事实细节题。
【解题思路】第二段说到机器翻译系统的问题出现在However, MT system produce output which must invariably be revised or “post-edited” by human translators if it is to reach the quality required. Sometimes such revision may be substantial, so that in effect the MT system is producing a “draft” translation.（然而，如果要达到要求的质量，机器翻译系统所产生的翻译必须由人工译者进行修改或“后期编辑”。有时这样的修改可能是实质性的，因此机器翻译系统实际上是在生成一个“草稿”翻译），说明机器翻译系统翻译出来的成品需要人工修改，因此D选项“需要对机器翻译系统产生的文本进行大量修订”正确。
【干扰项排除】
A选项“机器翻译系统的性能在很大程度上令人满意”，文章只是提到机器翻译的出现满足了人们传统的翻译质量需求，但是机器翻译还是需要后期人工修改，因此并没有在很大程度上令人满意，属于曲解原文；
B选项“迄今为止开发的机器翻译系统几乎无能为力”，机器翻译对于翻译文学作品并非无能为力，只是没有太令人满意，属于曲解原文；
C选项“机器翻译系统可以比人工翻译做得更好”未在文中体现，属于无中生有。
第2题:
【选项释义】
According to the third paragraph, users of MT for assimilation（ ）. 根据第三段，使用机器翻译进行同化的人（ ）。
A. are growing fast in number A. 数量在快速增长
B. complain a lot about its poor quality B. 抱怨它的质量太差
C. can get little from the unedited output C. 不能从未编辑的输出中得到任何东西
D. would rather have no translation at all D. 宁愿一点翻译都不要
【考查点】事实细节题。
【解题思路】根据题干关键词assimilation定位到文章第三段第二句This demand — the use of MT for assimilation — has been met in the past as, in effect, a by-product of systems designed originally for the dissemination application.（这一需求——使用机器翻译进行同化——在过去已经得到满足，实际上，它是最初为传播应用而设计的系统的副产品），结合最后一句With the coming of cheaper PC-based systems on the market, this type of use has grown rapidly and substantially.（随着市场上更便宜的基于个人计算机的系统的出现，这种类型的使用（使用机器翻译进行同化）已经迅速而显著地增长），可知A选项“数量在快速增长”正确。
【干扰项排除】
B选项“抱怨它的质量太差”未在文中体现，属于无中生有；
C选项“能从未编辑的输出中得到很少的东西”，根据文章第三段Since MT systems did not （and still cannot） produce high quality translations, some users have found that they can extract what they need to know from the unedited output.（由于机器翻译系统没有（并且仍然不能）产生高质量的翻译，一些用户发现他们可以从未编辑的输出中提取他们需要知道的内容），可知使用机器翻译进行同化的人从未编辑的输出中能够得到一些东西，属于曲解原文；
D选项“宁愿一点翻译都不要”，根据文章第三段They would rather have some translation, however poor, than no translation at all.（他们宁愿有一些翻译，不管多么蹩脚，也不愿完全没有翻译），可知他们还是宁愿有一些翻译可以用来参考，属于曲解原文。
第3题:
【选项释义】
It can be inferred from the fourth paragraph that with the progressive sophistication systems,（ ）. 从第四段可以推断，随着机器翻译系统的逐步复杂化，（ ）。
A. one can communicate on the telephone with another who speaks a different language A. 一个人可以通过电话与另一个说不同语言的人交流
B. interpreters will no longer be useful in international negotiations or conferences B. 口译员将不再在国际谈判或会议中发挥作用
C. it will be only natural that people will find little need to learn a foreign language C. 人们觉得没有必要学一门外语是很自然的
D. people will find no cause to complain about the quality of texts turned out by MT system D. 人们会发现没有理由抱怨他们的文本质量
【考查点】推理判断题。
【解题思路】题干中的the progressive sophistication of MT systems（机器翻译系统的逐步成熟），说明问的是机器翻译系统的发展势头，根据第四段最后两句The problems of integrating speech recognition and automatic translation are obviously hard to tackle, but progress is nevertheless being made. In the future — still distant, perhaps — we may expect on-line MT systems for the translation of speech in highly restricted domains.（语音识别与自动翻译的融合问题显然难以解决，但仍在不断取得进展。在未来——也许还是遥远的未来——我们可以期待在高度受限的领域中实现语音翻译的在线机器翻译系统），可知，未来的进展可能出现在“在线机器语音翻译”这方面，由此推断A选项“一个人可以通过电话与另一个说不同语言的人交流”正确。
【干扰项排除】
B、C、D选项均未在文中体现，属于无中生有。
第4题:
【选项释义】
Translation within multilingual systems of information retrieval, etc, is now the focus of a number of projects in Europe because（ ）. 多语言信息检索系统内的翻译等等，如今是欧洲一些项目的重点，是因为（ ）。
A. Europeans have little difficulty in oral communication A. 欧洲人在口头交流方面没有什么困难
B. there are more languages spoken in Europe than in any other regions of the world B. 在欧洲使用的语言比世界上任何其他地区都多
C. there is need for all members of the European Union to access data in different languages C. 欧洲联盟的所有成员都需要以不同的语言访问数据
D. there is less difficulty in developing MT systems handling languages similar to each other D. 开发处理彼此相似语言的机器翻译系统的难度较小
【考查点】事实细节题。
【解题思路】根据题干关键词projects in Europe定位文章最后一段第二句This field is the focus of a number of projects in Europe at the present time, which have the aim of widening access for all members of the European Union to sources of data and information whatever the source language.（这一领域是欧洲一些项目的重点，其目的是扩大欧洲联盟所有成员获得数据和信息来源的机会，无论其来源语言如何），可知C选项“欧洲联盟的所有成员都需要以不同的语言访问数据”正确。
【干扰项排除】
A、B、D选项均未在文中体现，属于无中生有。
