Sentence Translation

　　1. Susan Sontag was considered one of the most influential liberal thinkers in the United States. She wrote seventeen books. They have been translated into thirty languages.

　　2. You should smoke the fish for five days or longer if you plan to store them for a long time. After you finish smoking the fish, remove them and let them cool.

　　3. On September fifteenth, Lehman Brothers, a one hundred fifty-eight year-old investment bank, sought legal protection from its creditors. It had failed to find a buyer after months of searching.

　　4. Falling car sales threatened America's carmakers. The big three automakers—General Motors, Ford and Chrysler -- told Congress that they needed loans or they faced bankruptcy.

　　5. Credit rating agencies downgraded A.I.G. because of concerns it could not honor its contracts. Unable to get new loans, A.I.G. asked for government help.

　　Passage Translation

　　1. We look back at this year's bad economic news in the United States. Economic growth was expected to slow in two thousand eight. Housing prices had been falling in the United States since two thousand six. But few economists predicted the financial collapse only a few months away. With the economy slowing, Congress passed a bill in February designed to ease the economic slowdown. The bill returned over one hundred fifty billion dollars to taxpayers.

　　2. Some unemployed job hunters also hurt their chances by volunteering to take a significantly lower salary than what they earned in their last job. An offer to take a pay cut of more than 20% can suggest to employers that you're biding your time and would re-enter the job market in search of higher-paying positions once the economy improves Or, you might unwittingly imply that you're going to ask for a raise soon after coming on board.

　　Reading test

　　1-5 CBDAB

　　6-10 CABAA

　　11-15 DACBC

　　16-20 ADBCB

　　【參考譯文】

　　說到自由，既然自由自在的人為數不多，難道作家還不算自由?既然獲得安全感的人并不多，難道作家還不算安全?作家作業的工具極為平常，極為便宜，幾乎不再有商業價值。他不需要成堆的原材料，不需要精密儀器，不需要有人效犬馬之勞。他的職業不靠任何人，只靠自己;除了他自己以外，任何事都無關緊要。他就是一國之君，既自給，又自立。任何人都不能剝奪他的從業資本;任何人都不能強迫他違心地施展才華;任何人都不能阻止他按自己的選擇發揮天賦。他的筆就是人類和各民族的大救星。他的思想在自由馳騁，任何鎖鏈束縛不住，任何貧困阻擋不住，任何關稅限制不住，甚至圖書俱樂部也只能有節制地對他的收獲潑一點冷水。無論作品是好是糟，只要已經盡力而為，他就會感到歡快。

　　人類力量的最偉大的杰作，即人類用石塊壘起的無比堅固的大廈，也會夷為廢墟，而那脫口而出的話語，那思緒起伏時轉瞬即逝的表達卻延續了下來，但它不是過去的回響，不是純粹的建筑奇跡或神圣的遺址，它力量依舊，生命依舊，有時候遠比初說時更堅強有力，它越過了三千年時光的峽谷，為今天的我們照亮了世界。

　　【參考譯文】

　　If righteousness represents a life attitude in ethics, interest a utility attitude, then the sensibilities represent a perspective of life through aesthetic perception. It insists on acting in candor, in blast and stop, and that everyone maintains his true character. You are not the creed that you espouse, nor your possessions, but yourself in the sense of your genuine character.

　　The meaning of life consists not in sacrifice or possession, but in creation, which is the positive disposition pervasive in people's true character and the emotional satisfaction after the realization of his essential power.

　　People with genuine disposition pursues emotional exchanges in his dealing with other people and the unique flavor of objects in his appreciation of them. What is most precious is that in an era of rash pursuit of interest by people and unavoidable pursuit of people by interest, the proper man has a leisurely manner in his handling of both people and things. I don't mean the Chinese scholar-bureaucrats’ leisurely and carefree mood, nor the peasants’ easy content and conservativenes, but an indifference to fame and fortune without slavery to interest or materials.

　　occupies on earth. However, though larger than the ocean is the sky, even larger is the human mind, for in it imagination can come and go on the wing without limitation.In their jouney through life, some people hurry on with a heavy heart in pursuit of fame and gain, while others go with an easy, grace, enjoying themselves in harmony with nature.