三、閱讀理解

　　根據今年新考綱規定，三級筆譯的閱讀部分共30道選擇題，總分30分。雖然題目比較多，但是每部分的閱讀內容，不像高口那樣都是長篇大論，一般是兩三段的文章，也有才一兩段的，例如04年5月的第三篇閱讀：

　　The blue of the sea is caused by the scattering of sunlight by tiny particles suspended in the water. Blue light, being of short wavelength, is scattered more efficiently than light of longer wavelengths. Although waters of the open ocean are commonly some shade of blue, green water is commonly seen near coasts, especially in tropical or subtropical regions. This is caused by yellow pigments being mixed with blue water. Phytoplankton are one source of the yellow pigment. Other microscopic plants may color the water brown or brownish-red. Near the shore, silt or sediment in suspension can give water a brownish hue. Outflow of large rivers can often be observed many miles offshore by the coloration of suspended soil particles.

　　Marine phytoplankton (Greek for “plant wanderers”) are microscopic single-celled plants that include diatoms, dinoflagellates, coccolithophorids, green algae, and blue-green algae, among others. The growth of these organisms, which photosynthesize light, depends on a delicate balance of nutrient enrichment via vertical mixing, which is often limited by the availability of nitrogen and light. Diatoms are one-celled plants with patterned glass coverings. Each glass, or silicon dioxide box, is ornamented with species-specific designs, pits, and perforations making them popular with microscopists and, more recently, electron scanning microscopists.

　　只有兩段內容。后面有6道選擇題，我們看一下前兩道：

　　63. Green water near coastlines is almost always caused by
　　A. sand color B. red pigments in coastal waters
　　C. blue pigment D. reflected light and yellow pigment from plant life

　　64. Phytoplankton are the source of which color pigment?
　　A. Red. B. Green. C. Yellow. D. Blue.

　　仍然是考查對篇章的理解和找出信息點。三級筆譯的閱讀題每篇的字數都在150-450之間，篇幅短小，然而題材廣泛，以04年5月的真題為例，閱讀部分八篇文章的主題分別是：

　　quantum theory，origin of baseball，ocean plant，diet standard in America，about pearl(僅一段)，stress(僅一段)，mental disorder(僅一段)，aspirin

　　出題主要以細節題、是非題、主旨題、推斷題為主。解題方法這里無需贅言，和四六級中高口什么的始終是一脈相承，追根溯源還是要注意平時擴大閱讀面、加大閱讀量、訓練閱讀速度。

　　四、完形填空 (Cloze Test)

　　根據今年新考綱規定，完形填空部分共二十個空，總分10分。這里的完形填空不同于大家平時熟悉的那種給出選項的完形填空，三級筆譯的完形填空是需要自己填空缺的單詞的，來看下04年5月真題的節選：

　　Does a born and bred bilingual _____make_____(8) a better translator than someone who learned language B later in ______life____(9)? There is no definite answer, but the following issues are important. ______First____(10), a born and bred bilingual often suffers from not truly knowing ______any____(11) language well enough to translate, with some even suffering from what _____is_____(12) known as a lingualism, a state in which a person lacks _____a____(13) full, fluent command of any language.

　　這里，第8空考查的是語法;第9空考查固定搭配和上下文理解：later in life是固定說法;第10空非常簡單，一看就推斷得出來;11空考查的同樣是對語意的理解;后面兩空也非常簡單，屬于基礎語法范疇。

　　沒有選項的完形填空，難點就在對文章大意的把握，所這里需要考生通讀全文，抓住重要信息點，找主旨句，并保證自己填進去的內容在語法和邏輯上都說得通。