南京新东方名师：3月中级口译考试阅读分析

——直击3月中级口译之阅读真题分析

许贤武：南京新东方口译教师，具有丰富的高校教学教研经验，英语功底深厚，授课热情澎湃、轻松活泼。喜欢向学生介绍英语的魅力，学生眼里他有些幽默，现实生活里他有些憨厚。最大梦想是带领学生从绝境中寻找希望！

3月份口译刚刚结束，在此仅以本次中级口译的一篇文章来看整个中级口译考试阅读部分的特点。文章如下：

After SABMiller lost a bidding war for China's Harbin Brewery Group to Anheuser-Busch Cos. two years ago, it looked as if America's King of Beers would reign over the Middle Kingdom as well. Anheuser-Busch, after all, had already sealed a deal with China's leading brewery, Tsingtao, and with Harbin in its stable it looked unbeatable.

But SABsMiller had a Plan B that could well give it the throne after all. Since losing Harbin, London-based SAB has focused its energies on a 12-year-old joint venture, China Resources Snow Breweries Ltd.,that is now thriving. In June, CR Snow, which includes 46 breweries across the country, surpassed longtime leader Tsingtao for the No. 1 spot. For the 12 months through June, CR Snow produced nearly 40 million barrels, vs. 37 million for Tsingtao. As a result, CR Snow boasts 14.9% of the Chinese market, compared with Tsingtao's 13.9%. "Our growth has been on the back of a very consistent and targeted strategy," says Wayne Hall, SABMiller's finance director in China.

Both companies want to be the toast of China. As beer sales in the U.S. and Western Europe have lost their fizz, they're growing at 8%-plus annually in China. That has helped China overtake the U.S. as the world's top beer market.

SAB was early to see the promise of China, where it has been brewing since 1994. Yet instead of targeting big cities such as Shanghai and Beijing, as its competitors did, SABMiller scooped up breweries in less affluent areas, including the northeastern rust belt and the populous inland province of Sichuan. This contrarian strategy has allowed SABMiller to build up a national footprint at bargain prices. While Anheuser ponied up $700 million--as much as $62 per barrel of annual brewing capacity--for Harbin, SABMiller has typically paid $30-$40 per barrel for its breweries. "SABMiller has made a mint by purposely buying cheaper assets," says Bear, Stearns & Co. analyst Anthony Bucalo.

SABMiller has been smart in its positioning of the flagship Snow brand. To appeal to upwardly mobile youth, it slapped a shiny, modern label on the 50-year-old brew and launched a national ad campaign emphasizing the beer's freshness, complete with sweepstakes that reward winners with outdoorsy vacations. The marketing push is paying off as it presses into the big cities. China now accounts for nearly 20% of SABMiller's total beer volumes, and Snow has become China's No. 1 brand. Soon, it will probably surpass Miller Lite as the biggest seller in the company's cooler.

本篇文章大概内容为Sabmiller 啤酒公司在中国的策略，通过Sabmiller公司与其他一些国外啤酒业大公司在中国的策略的对比，说明了Sabmiller公司在中国成功的原因。 本篇文章特别符合英愈报刊语言的特点，可以从以下几个方面分析：

1. 词汇:中口的级别虽然为4000词汇，但是实际上阅读中的生词是超过这个级别的，因为中间充满了让很多中国学生不适应但是外刊特别喜欢的词汇。但是这一点不会成为学生在阅读中的障碍。口译阅读考察的重点一定是考生的上下文综合理解能力以及对语言的领悟能力，而不是单纯的比拼考生的词汇量大小。在此以本文章中的一些重要信息的生词举一些具体的例子。

Example 1: As beer sales in the U.S. and Western Europe have lost their fizz, they're growing at 8% plus annually in China.（Para. 3, line 1.）

此句中有fizz 这个大部分考生不是很熟悉的词，即使词汇量大到比较怪异地步的同学对这个词的理解也无非是“嘶嘶声”，是个象声词而已。那么lose the fizz到底是什么意思呢？ 我们可以稍微综合一下上下文便可以得知，甚至只需要读到此句中的主句部分便能明白。Growing at 8% plus annually in China.每年8%的速度，一定是个肯定的东西，而且看一下两个地点词的不同：Western Europe, China. 就一定明白此句中前后两部分一定是个相反意思。因此lost their fizz 在此句中的大概意思我们就可以明白了，指的一定是发展缓慢的意思，阅读不是翻译，我们不需要“信，达”的标准：General idea works all the time in reading comprehension.

Example 2: Yet instead of targeting big cities such as Shanghai and Beijing, as its competitors did, SABMiller scooped up breweries in less affluent areas, including the northeastern rust belt and the populous inland province of Sichuan.(Para. 4. line 1 )

此句中考生可能不是很确定的用法是scoop up 与affluent. 其实很容易推断出这两词的大概意思： yet instead of targeting big cities, 这个词组告诉了我们后面一定是not big cities; 因此less affluent areas 合起来的意思必定如此。SabMiller 在前几段中反复说到了它的成功之处。 因此scoop up 的意思一定是类似的意思，也就是develop, make something thrive 的意思。Scoop up 中的副词up 也大致告诉我们这是一个肯定意义的词。

Example 3: "SABMiller has made a mint by purposely buying cheaper assets,"

此句，make a mint 应是个难点。 这句是紧随前面SabMiller和Anheuser 的两个数据对比。数据对比告诉我们SabMiller似乎成本更低，而 purposely buying cheaper assets, 当然也是省钱的好方法，made a mint我们推断应该是成功的意思，既然是做生意，而且此句前后都强调了SabMiller的省钱之道，make a mint 应该是成功赚钱的意思。Mint作为多义词，有薄荷，造钱厂和钱币（British slang）的意思.

2．句子以及篇章理解能力： 篇章的理解能力首先当然是建立在句子的理解上的。如果一句话中的每个单词我们都认识，是否代表这句话我们就能看懂或者看的比较透彻呢，答案当然是否定的。比如But SABMiller had a Plan B that could well give it the throne after all.（Para. 2 .line 1）give it the throne, 对于“throne” 这个词，如果考生学习了阅读教材第一课，这个词当然是非常熟悉的，“王座，君主”，但是放到文章中能理解的很好么？我们看一个关键词，那就是句中第一个单词“But”，碰到这样的词，我们应该要比较开心：But前后两部分无非是相反的内容。因此But 前后两部分我们知道其中之一就可以了，而且考试中的题型经常会这样考。本句中But前面的内容为文章第一段，讲的无非是SabMiller在竞争中处于劣势：首先lost a bidding war然后其对手Anheuser-Busch, after all, had already sealed a deal with China's leading brewery, Tsingtao…. 因此But SABMiller had a Plan B that could well give it the throne after all.无非是说SabMiller的另外一些措施还是使得它很成功。再趁势追击，在阅读过程中不再有出现转折的词，那么整篇文章的大意或者中心肯定是在SabMiller的成功之处。因此在文章的阅读的过程中，transitional words是相当重要的理解桥梁。这篇文章的整体构成还是非常规则的，正如其他的中口文章一样，在第二段的首词“But”之后的每个段落的第一句话都是每段的中心句，而中心句的把握对整段文字理解是有着登峰而能望远的感觉的。因此考生在阅读中对每段中心句的把握是相当重要的，尤其是那些经济，社会等等现象分析的文章更加如此，因为这些文章与其他文章相比，中心句更明显，相当容易地能被考生在阅读中所发现。

3．适应原文特色： 口译阅读文章选取的为原汁原味的英文，因此很多同学一开始会有不适应的现象。主要体现在句子结构，句子的客观性表达方法，词汇或词组的使用习惯不同，修辞手法的应用等。如本文中Both companies want to be the toast of China.（Para. 3. line 1）SAB was early to see the promise of China,(Para. 4. line 1) To appeal to upwardly
mobile youth, it slapped a shiny, modern label on the 50-year-old brew and launched a national ad campaign emphasizing the beer's freshness, complete with sweepstakes that reward winners with outdoorsy vacations.(the last Para. )

整个考试给我们的时间还是很紧张地，50分钟完成6篇文章的阅读的确是一个艰巨的任务。如何在考试中能够应用本文中提到的一些小方法取决于考生平时阅读的习惯，比如能否脱离字典阅读，能否集中注意力等等。这些良好的阅读习惯的养成更加要靠平时的积累，这样在考试中才可以很轻松的将自己的英语水平发挥到极至。