European Union

A European Union flotilla will begin anti-piracy operations off the coast of Somalia next week, EU Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana said on Tuesday. The six warships and three maritime reconnaissance aircraft will replace a NATO naval force that has been patrolling the region and escorting cargo ships carrying relief aid to Somalia since the end of October. Although the NATO ships have successfully delivered nearly 30,000 tons of humanitarian supplies to the impoverished nation, they have not been able to stem the upsurge in pirate attacks on foreign shipping in one of the most important shipping lanes in the world.

New Delhi, India

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged Pakistan yesterday to cooperate "fully and transparently" in investigations into the Mumbai attacks that have upset India-Pakistan relations. India has said the 10 militants who rampaged through its financial capital killing 171 people were from Pakistan, including one surviving gunman. If Pakistan fails to act swiftly against those responsible, India has threatened to pull out of a nearly five-year-old peace process between the nuclear rivals. "This is the time for everybody to cooperate and to do so transparently, and this is especially a time for Pakistan to do so," Rice told a press conference in New Delhi.

Ottawa, Canada

Canada's Minority Conservative government may seek the temporary suspension of Parliament to stop opposition parties from voting it out and taking power, an aide to Prime Minister Stephen Harper said on Tuesday. The Liberals, New Democrats and Bloc Quebecois signed a deal on Monday committing them to bringing down the government, just seven weeks after it won re-election with a strengthened minority, and forming a coalition government to replace the Conservatives. The opposition says Harper is not doing enough to tackle the fallout from the financial crisis, so they proposed forging a coalition of Liberals and New Democrats, with the separatist Bloc promising its support.

Manila, the Philippines

Philippine lawmakers allied to President Gloria Arroyo quashed an impeachment motion against her yesterday, shielding her from opposition moves to unseat her for the fourth time in as many years. Eleven opposition lawmakers walked out of the chamber when it became apparent that an overwhelming majority of the 238-member House of Representatives would throw out the impeachment complaint. Voting 183-21, with three abstaining, the House of Representatives adopted a report by a congressional justice panel dismissing the impeachment complaint for lack of substance, blocking a possible trial in the Senate. The complaint against Arroyo, due to serve until mid-2010, were based on charges of corruption, bribery and human rights abuses. Apart from surviving four impeachments, she has also escaped three attempts by troops since 2003 to seize power.

Cambridge, United States

Harvard University says its endowment has tumbled $8 billion in the four months since the end of the last fiscal year. The school’s endowment is the largest in higher education. The estimated 22 percent decline is the school's sharpest endowment drop in modern history. The endowment was valued at $36.9 billion on June 3. The school has said its U.S. stock portfolio and foreign equity portfolio had taken hard hits recently. The university's president warned that the estimated drop may be conservative because some money managers have yet to report figures.

新闻这部分占考试的比重很低，只有5分。所以，在准备短期通过高级口译考试的同学，不应被文章中一望无际的新闻生词所困扰，这样只能进入舍本逐末的背单词怪圈。更不能进入无聊且荒谬的背诵多篇新闻的题海战术，这对寻求短期突破考试的同学来说显然是不实际的，毕竟考生不是默默背诵的机器。最重要的是，这种错误方法对听力考试考点来说更是南辕北辙，因为很多同学就算背诵了很多新闻词汇，依然过不了听力这一关，就是因为这种错误地方法，将考生引入了听力的误区，认为听力就是背单词，背文章。

上海新东方在口译听力课堂上，一贯讲究学以致用，尤其对听力来说，最重要是将所学词汇的音熟于耳，发于声。背诵对听力来说只是最浅的层次，而是否能使自己的英语语音达到标准，才是通过听力的最关键一环。而拥有标准的发音，也是做一名合格口译员的先决条件。

一个口译员应该临场以不变应万变，万变不离其宗。而我们所讲的新闻的宗就是他的导语原则。导语是新闻的核心。

本次听力考试的新闻，依然符合新闻的基本特征 —- 倒金字塔结构。这一点在《高级口译听力教程》第三版第11页已有强调，重点对每段新闻的导语部分进行考察。

对每段新闻导语来说，最重要的是听出这篇新闻发生了什么事。而发生什么事，是由新闻的动词短语来体现。这就是说，考试重点是考察新闻导语中动词短语。

对本次考试来说，除最后一题考察简单的数字之外，其他四题皆为动词短语的考察，针对此考点，大家平时在听CNN和VOA的时候，务必练习对首句导语的跟读模仿，达到新闻播音员的语音和语速，这样既为能考试做好足够的准备，也为今后的口译职场铺平道路。

关于最后一题的数字题的几种考试题型的应对，在我的博客上考前也放了一篇《攻克高口新闻数字题》的文章，大家可以关注。

口译学习的道路永无止境，但学而能用，学以致用才是口译学习的特色。而唯一的捷径，是勤奋与决心，加上正确的学习方法。

You can never learn enough. 加油！

上海新东方口译研究中心   2009.3.15

更多最新信息，点击口译名师博客群：http://blog.hjenglish.com/qiuzhengzheng