2017年翻譯考試初級筆譯模擬題：什么是全球化

　　【漢譯英】

　　什么是全球化

　　全球化是描述全球社會出現(xiàn)的一個術(shù)語，在這個社會中，世界上一個區(qū)域在經(jīng)濟、政治、環(huán)境、文化方面的事件會很快對世界其它地區(qū)的人們產(chǎn)生重大影響。2全球化是通信、運輸、信息科技發(fā)展的結(jié)果。它體現(xiàn)了連接個體、社區(qū)、公司以及各國政府間日益增長的經(jīng)濟、政治、科技文化聯(lián)系。全球化包括多國公司和跨國公司的成長。監(jiān)管世界貿(mào)易和金融的國際機構(gòu)3在全球化時代發(fā)揮著日益重要的作用。4

　　盡管絕大多數(shù)人依然是單一國家的公民，然而他們卻比以往任何時候在文化上、物質(zhì)上、心理上5更多地參與著其它國家人民的生活。遙遠的事件通常會產(chǎn)生迅速重大的影響6，我們生活中的日常用品，如我們穿的衣服、吃的食物、開的汽車——都是全球化的產(chǎn)品。

　　全球化最明顯的證據(jù)是貿(mào)易和資本(股票、債券、貨幣和其它投資)流動的增長。自1950年到2001年全球出口額7增加了20倍。到2001年世界貿(mào)易已增至全球生產(chǎn)的產(chǎn)品和提供的服務(wù)總和的四分之一。就資本而言，在20世紀70年代早期，日成交貨幣只有一百億到兩百億美元。到21世紀初，日貨幣交易已逾1.5兆億美元。

　　大多數(shù)專家認為全球化是通信、運輸和信息科技改善的結(jié)果8。例如，由于通信和信息處理的革新，不僅貨幣，股票、證券以及其他金融資產(chǎn)一天二十四小時9都能夠在全球范圍內(nèi)進行交易。從紐約到倫敦一個三分鐘長的電話在1930年花費超過300美元(按2000年的價格計算)，瞬間的通訊非常昂貴。如今這類花費已微不足道。10

　　通信和信息技術(shù)的進步使得商業(yè)訂單的處理成本節(jié)省90%以上。比如，11利用計算機在互聯(lián)網(wǎng)上進行銀行交易，對銀行業(yè)來說每筆花費幾分錢，而用傳統(tǒng)方法就會要花費數(shù)美元。20世紀的后30年計算機處理能力的實際成本平均每年下降30%。人們幾乎在任何地方都能與他們的顧客、家人一周七天、一天24小時保持迅捷的聯(lián)系。

　　通信領(lǐng)域的進步將全球的人們隨時聯(lián)結(jié)起來。例如通訊衛(wèi)星使全球廣播、電視新聞事件，如戰(zhàn)爭、國家災(zāi)難、體育賽事和其他娛樂活動等。互聯(lián)網(wǎng)、手機和傳真機實現(xiàn)了迅捷通信。

　　全球化的另一表現(xiàn)是交通運輸條件的改善。噴氣式飛機的次日貨物遞送使世界變得越來越小。即使是速度緩慢的遠洋運輸貨輪也由于集裝箱貨運這樣的革新，提高了效率12、降低了成本。

　　信息科技的進步也降低了13商業(yè)成本。例如，按股票市場價值計算，全球思科系統(tǒng)公司14是世界上最大的公司之一。然而思科僅有三家工廠生產(chǎn)用于互聯(lián)網(wǎng)維護的設(shè)備，而將其他的工作轉(zhuǎn)包給了別的公司。

　　成本的降低使美國公司得以移到海外，同時也使外國制造商在美國境內(nèi)設(shè)廠更為容易。日本豐田汽車公司在北美銷售的汽車三分之二是在北美制造的。

　　不僅是貨物、貨幣和信息在迅速地長途移動，越來越多的人口也在大范圍快速流動。移民是全球化時代的一個重要特征。工人們寄回本國的錢已經(jīng)成為很多國家的重要收入來源。

　　【參考譯文】

　　What Is Globalization?

　　Globalization is a term for the emergence of a global society in which economic, political, environmental, and cultural events in one part of the world quickly come to have significance for people in other parts of the world. Globalization is the result of advances in communication, transportation, and information technologies. It describes the growing economic, political, technological, and cultural linkages that connect individuals, communities, businesses, and governments around the world. Globalization also involves the growth of multinational corporations and transnational corporations. The international institutions that oversee world trade and finance play an increasingly important role in this era of globalization.

　　Although most people continue to live as citizens of a single nation, they are culturally, materially, and psychologically engaged with the lives of people in other countries as never before. Distant events often have an immediate and significant impact. Items common to our everyday lives - such as the clothes we wear, the food we eat, and the cars we drive - are the products of globalization.

　　The most dramatic evidence of globalization is the increase in trade and the movement of capital (stocks, bonds, currencies, and other investments). From 1950 to 2001 the volume of world exports rose by 20 times. By 2001 world trade amounted to a quarter of all the goods and services produced in the world. As for capital, in the early l970s only $ 10 billion to $ 20 billion in national currencies were exchanged daily. By the early part of the 2lst century more than $ 1.5 trillion were traded daily to support the expanded levels of trade and investment

　　Most experts attribute globalization to improvements in communication, transportation, and information technologies. For example, not only currencies, but also stocks, bonds, and other financial assets can be traded round the clock and around the world due to innovations in communication and information processing. A three-minute telephone call from New York City to London in 1930 cost more than $ 300 (in year 2000 prices) , making instant communication very expensive. Today the cost is insignificant.

　　Advances in communication and information technologies have helped slash the cost of processing business orders by well over 90 percent. Using a computer to do banking on the Internet, for example, costs the banking industry pennies per transaction instead of dollars by traditional methods. Over the last third of the 20th century the real cost of computer processing power fell by 35 percent on average each year. People can be almost anywhere and remain in instant communication with their employers, customers, or families 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

　　Advances in communications instantly unite people around the globe. For example, communications satellites allow global television broadcasts to bring news of faraway events, such as wars and national disasters as well as sports and other forms of entertainment. The Internet, the cell phone, and the fax machine permit instantaneous communication. Improvements in transportation are also part of globalization. The world becomes smaller due to next-day delivery by jet airplane. Even slow, oceangoing vessels have streamlined transportation and lowered costs due to innovations such as containerized shipping.

　　Advances in information technologies have also lowered business costs. The global corporation Cisco Systems, for example, is one of the world's largest companies as measured by its stock market value. Yet Cisco owns only three factories to make the equipment used to help maintain the Internet. Cisco subcontracts the rest of its work to other companies around the world.

　　The lowering of costs that has enabled U. S. companies to locate abroad has also made it easier for foreign producers to locate in the United States. Two-thirds of the automobiles sold in North America by Japan's Toyota Motor Company are built in North America

　　Not only do goods, money, and information move great distances quickly, but also more people are moving great distances as well. Migration is a major feature of this era of globalization. Remittances sent home by workers to their home countries have become an important source of income for many countries.