高译教育-上海外国语大学考研翻译硕士英语真题样题2014

上海外国语大学2014年研究生入学考试

翻译硕士英语样题

Read the following passage and answer the questions below.

Android wars are raging as rivals challenge Google’s dominance

The phone in your pocket is probably an Android device, and if you live in a western country, it is almost certainly running the Google version of Android and thus is bristling with Google’s services: Gmail, YouTube, Docs and more.

______

The raw figures for Android’s market share make it look as though Google _____the smartphone world: of the 301.3m smartphones shipped in the second quarter of this year, 84.7 per cent were Android devices, up from 79.6 per cent in 2013, according to analysts IDC. But those _____hide a more complex story about how difficult it is to _____an ecosystem and bring customers into it.

The next biggest player on the _____OS scene is Apple, which in September made a bold bid to draw users further into its clutches with the launch of a wearable device, the Apple Watch, and, more importantly, its Apple Pay system.

Apple’s iOS _____been _____market share, according to IDC: in the second quarter of this year, it _____for 11.7 per cent of mobile device shipments, down from 13 per cent in the same quarter last year. Apple’s early-mover advantage has been eclipsed by the roaring success of _____.

Google maintains and develops the “official” _____of Android, but the operating system itself is open-source, which _____anyone can fiddle with it, change it, add to it and take bits away, as _____and Nokia, for example, have done with their operating systems have done with their operating systems for, respectively, the Kindle Fire and the Nokia X range.

Google leads the Android Open Handset Alliance, an association of device-makers such as Sony, LG, Samsung and Lenovo, mobile operators such as T-Mobile and Vodafone as well as chipmakers Arm, Qualcomm and Intel, and software companies, _____eBay and, of course, Google.

In return for membership of the OHA, members can create devices that Google will license its services _____. It is important to note that while Android itself is _____ and free to use, Google’s services are not. Members of the alliance also pledge not to “fork” Android – in other words, create their own _____that exclude Google services. This is all great for Google, as it means its data-collecting apparatus, with its access to your email, searches, location data and so on, is in the hands of millions of people to whom “relevant” adverts can be directed.

There is, however, a big part of the Android ecosystem that is nothing to do with Google. This is most significant in China, where Google and its services are persona non grata. But there are also trouble spots on the radar outside China that should worry Google.

Google’s biggest concern is Samsung. The search giant’s relations with the South Korean smartphone maker have been strained, as Samsung has fired warning shots that indicate it probably doesn’t need Google as much as Google needs Samsung, which is by far the biggest vendor of Android OHA devices.

Samsung has been tinkering with an alternative operating system, Tizen, and includes its own mail and other services alongside Google’s on its Galaxy Android devices. In theory, Samsung could drop Google’s version of Android and focus on developing Tizen further or move to the non-Google version of Android.

That version is the Android Open Source Project – the one developers work with when they don’t want to join forces with Google. AOSP is free and is the version that Amazon has used in its Fire devices. Nokia used AOSP to create the well-received Nokia X range before Microsoft assimilated Nokia’s devices division and killed the project.

Amazon and Nokia would do well to look to China, where local providers have built strong ecosystems on the AOSP version of Android. In hardware, Xiaomi has 31.6 per cent of the urban Chinese market, according to Carolina Milanesi, chief of research at Kantar Worldpanel, the market research company. “Xiaomi is the model that works,” she says.

What works in China is a package of services delivered via the hardware. At the end of last year, Gartner, the research company, noted: “Chinese-based internet providers, such as Baidu, Alibaba Group and Tencent, [are] providing local featured apps, services and content through app stores that they themselves operate. This participation is preventing Google from being a major beneficiary of smartphone user growth in the China market.”

If Google has lost out in China, it could lose out elsewhere. Microsoft is keen to get its services – https://www.360docs.net/doc/6512718735.html,, Bing, Office and OneDrive – into more hands, and while its Windows Phone OS has been well received, its market share of just 2.5 per cent in the second quarter of this year means it has a long way to go.

Intriguingly, Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella has been reported as talking to Cyanogen, which maintains a popular AOSP fork of Android. While Microsoft is unlikely to be considering buying Cyanogen, partnering with it to provide services as part of the package makes sense.

Here’s a blue-sky suggestion for Mr Nadella: sit down with Jeff Bezos at Amazon to develop a good fork of Android. Microsoft has a compelling services offering but an almost non-existent platform for these services, despite the quality of the Lumia handsets. Amazon has compelling content with its Prime video but seems unable to get consumers to buy its Fire devices.

For smaller providers, a Microsoft-Amazon-style joint venture would be a great way to become part of an ecosystem out of Google’s reach. I suspect consumers would find that attractive. How about it, Satya and Jeff?

1 Filling the blanks with a word.(15’)

2 Reading Comprehension (40’)

1) How does Google, in corporation with other firms, manage to direct relevent ads to potential customers?

2) According to Milanesi Carolina, what is the model that is effective in China?

3) Why does the author say probably Samsumg does not need Google as much as Google needs Samsung?

4) On what basis does the author suggest the CEOs of MS and Amazon to coorporate with each other?

3 Composition of no less than 700 words. (45’)

Some people say modern people are becoming slaves of smartphones rather than using them as traditional tools to make our lives convenient. What`s your opinion on this and what would you suggest to smartphone users so that they could be less constrained by these handsets?

参考答案

1.dominates

2.figures

3.build

4.mobile

5.has

6.losing

7.accounted

8.Android

9.version

10.means

11.Amazon

12.including

13.to

14.open-source

15.versions

16.Member companies of the OHA can create devices that Google will lisence its

service to, while they promise not to create versions that exclude Google services.

Consequently, Google will be able to collect customer datas with mobile devices made by various manufacturers, and then send the relevant adverts to the targeted customers.

17.This model includes a package of services delivered via the hardware. For

example, they would provide local featured apps, services and content through app stores that they themselves operate.

18.Samsumg is by far the biggest vendor of Android OHA devices, while Samsung

is building its own operating system, Tizen, and it could well drop Google’s

version of Android and focus on developing Tizen further or move to the non-

Google version of Android. We could say Google need to depend on Samsumg`s

hardware for promoting its operating system, while in the future, Samsumg

probably does not need Google as much for its operating system.

19.MS has compelling services like https://www.360docs.net/doc/6512718735.html,, Bing, Office and OneDrive but it

lacks a well-built platform. On the other hand, Amazon has its great content with its Prime video yet lacks other supporting services to attract enough customers.

Given these facts, MS and Amazon could complement eache other through

cooporation.

作文参考：

I love smartphones. I've always loved cell phones to begin with, but I am still very much amazed at how much phones have progressed. From flip phones to these giant hunks of hardware that can do more than I could have ever imagined a phone doing, smartphones are certainly something to marvel. Smartphones can certainly make our lives easier for us as we use them for everyday tasks such as checking the calendar, as alarm clocks, as a calculator, as a phonebook and more. But as smartphones keep progressing with new ways to make our lives easier, are they hindering our natural need for social interactions?

I realize lately that there are less and less things that I actually, physically have to go out and do now-a-days than when I did when I was younger. Meaning, there were certain things that I would go and do that I don't necessarily have to do anymore. Although I also see this as a convenience, because most of these interactions wouldn't be deemed acceptable to do in my pajamas and my hair looking like a hot mess otherwise, there's still the question that I have to ask that makes me wonder if I'm missing out on something. Like, that I'm missing out on something that, as a human, I might need to be doing.

When I first started working for PhoneDog, I wrote an article that questioned whether we had become addicted to our phones. Without really needing to delve too deep into the article, it's pretty clear that at least I was addicted. I had a bad habit of caring less about the conversation happening in front of me rather than one that was constantly ongoing in my pocket. I lived for the buzz of a text message, and had a bad habit of needing to check it as soon as I possibly could. I have since re-assessed just how important text messages are and realized that there is a reason they were sent in text form, and that's so I could respond to them at my earliest convenience. That doesn't necessarily mean they should be checked right away. If something that was said in a text message was that important, they probably should have made a phone call.

But it's not just text messages that are possibly crippling certain social aspects of our lives. There is so much more that we can do with our phones now than just communicate with our friends, family and colleagues. Things that we normally would get up and leave our house for is no longer a necessity. And yes, it is a convenience, but at the same time it makes me question just how far smartphones and

corresponding applications will take it before we hardly ever have a real reason to leave the house anymore.

For example, back when I was younger and a new movie came out, my dad or brother would take me up to the local Blockbuster or some other video joint to rent one. But with apps like Netflix, Hulu+, Amazon Prime Instant Video and other similar applications, these video stores are no longer necessary. Not only is it more convenient to instantly stream a video anytime you want to from just about any device with a screen, but it's also so much cheaper. Also, you don't have to silently curse the kid that took the last copy of that movie that you initially came in to rent. Digital streaming means there's enough copies for everybody!

And what about banking? You hardly ever have a reason to go to the bank now. We can do transfers and check deposits straight from our phones as well. You can order a pizza from just about any pizza joint through an app on your phone. You can shop from almost any store over the Internet that you have access to right on your phone. You can get FedEx to pick up and ship a package for you. You can just do so many things from your smartphone now!

But it's convenient, that's for sure. While I do question what this is doing to our social practices, I also realize that it's my choice to continue to use these services because they're just more convenient. It's just that when you take the time to see how far we have come, where we are right now, and also where this could be heading, it's a little strange to realize just how antisocial society is becoming. At least, that's where we seem to be headed.