English Test for Postgraduates of Ideological and Political Education
1.Translate the following passage into Chinese. (40%)
Britain’s parliament is in crisis. This is not a crisis of the Westminster system of government, but of the character of those governing. The revelations of members’ padded expense accounts have stirred a 英语翻译huge outcry from an already skeptical public. Daily Mail columnist Melanie Phillips didn’t mince words when she summarized this way: “It can't be emphasized enough that it's not the system that's to blame, but the members of Parliament who have abused it. This is not a constitutional problem. It is a moral crisis.”
Phillips is quite correct in her observations, but can the public demand accountability based on morality? That’s the rub. Parliament’s moral crisis is a symptom of the wider moral crisis within society at large. How can parliamentarians be held to a standard that the people who put them in office don’t hold to themselves? As Phillips points out, “This society has accordingly got the Parliament it deserves. And we won't put Parliament right until and unless we arrest the slide in our wider culture.”
A major problem with morality is that if no one claims responsibility for deciding and acting out the ethical principles of right and wrong, morality becomes a word without meaning. Morality is a system of principles or rules of conduct to which humans conform. Presently our “wider culture” exemplifies the debasement of rules of conduct with little common agreement as to what rules or principles we should be following.
The Church of England’s response to this present uproar provides us a window through which to view the depth of the problem. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has not called for accountability according to moral principles on behalf of the politicians. Rather, he has taken the soft option of saying, in effect, “let us all move forward, they have learned their lesson so let’s have no recriminations.” There was no call for the defining of principles or rules of conduct that our political leaders should be exemplifying. A body that our “wider culture” should be looking to for leadership in moral conduct has abdicated its responsibility and sent a message that morality is not important to the issue.
Is this perhaps because religion in general no longer can be considered the one true source of morality? The continuing revelations of sexual abuse within some religious institutions are of course part of the sad state of affairs.
The British parliamentary example is perfect for understanding how this plays out in our lives today. Neither the members of parliament nor the state religious authority turned to that simple and /straightforward body of moral principles that has been available to mankind for millennia. Instead, like a modern-day Adam, the government announced the need for a set of new rules and procedures which they themselves would propose and pass in an effort to self-govern.
Unfortunately, this is unlikely to prove an effective answer. Until we are prepared to acknowledge a common source of morality, there will be no improvement in the moral crisis that envelopes our cultures.
2.Translate the following passage into English. (40%)
社会和谐是中国特色社会主义的本质属性，是国家富强、民族振兴、人民幸福的重要保证。构建社会主义和谐社会，是我们党以马克思列宁主义、毛泽东思想、邓小平理论和“三个代表”重要思想为指导，全面贯彻落实科学发展观，从中国特色社会主义事业总体布局和全面建设小康社会全局出发提出的重大战略任务，反映了建设富强民主文明和谐的社会主义现代化国家的内在要求，体现了全党全国各族人民的共同愿望。
社会和谐是我们党不懈奋斗的目标。新中国成立后，我们党为促进社会和谐进行了艰辛探索，积累了正反两方面经验，取得了重要进展。党的十一届三中全会以后，我们党坚定不移地推进改革开放和现代化建设，积极推动经济发展和社会全面进步，为促进社会和谐进行了不懈努力。党的十六大以来，我们党对社会和谐的认识不断深化，明确了构建社会主义和谐社会在中国特色社会主义事业总体布局中的地位，作出一系列决策部署，推动和谐社会建设取得新的成效。经过长期努力，我们拥有了构建社会主义和谐社会的各种有利条件。
新世纪新阶段，我们面临的发展机遇前所未有，面对的挑战也前所未有。和平、发展、合作成为时代潮流，世界多极化和经济全球化的趋势深入发展，科技进步日新月异。同时，国际环境复杂多变，综合国力竞争日趋激烈，影响和平与发展的不稳定不确定因素增多，我们仍将长期面对发达国家在经济科技等方面占优势的压力。我国社会主义市场经济体制日趋完善，社会主义物质文明、政治文明、精神文明建设和党的建设不断加强，综合国力大幅度提高，人民生活显著改善，社会政治长期保持稳定。同时，我国正处于并将长期处于社会主义初级阶段，人民日益增长的物质文化需要同落后的社会生产之间的矛盾仍然是我国社会的主要矛盾，统筹兼顾各方面利益任务艰巨而繁重。特别要看到，我国已进入改革发展的关键时期，经济体制深刻变革，社会结构深刻变动，利益格局深刻调整，思想观念深刻变化。这种空前的社会变革，给我国发展进步带来巨大活力，也必然带来这样那样的矛盾和问题。我们党要带领人民抓住机遇、应对挑战，把中国特色社会主义伟大事业推向前进，必须坚持以经济建设为中心，把构建社会主义和谐社会摆在更加突出的地位。
3.Write a short composition for about 300 words.(20%)
Construction of Harmonious Society