1. The average age of people in the countryside is increasing, while that of the cities is falling. More old people stay in the countryside than young people and the opposite is true in the cities.

译文： 农村人口的平均年龄正处于上升趋势, 而在城市却正好相反。原因是在农村老年人要比年轻人多，城市正好相反。

解析：本句难度适中，只需要按照句子的逻辑顺序将句子信息陈列出来即可。此外，本句无明显生词。

2. One important reason for the move to cities has to do with quality of life issues: comfort and convenience. For example, most of us would like our children to receive the better education, and cities often offer better schools.

译文：“进城热”与生活水平问题息息相关。人们向往城市舒适方便的生活。就像我们大部分人都想子女能够接收到更好的教育，而城市通常就有教育质量更好的学校。

解析：在做本句翻译时需要注意在前半句适当地增译一些信息，如在comfort and convenience 处需要加上move to the cities的主语“人们”。后半句难度不大，直译即可。

3. Most burglars are opportunist, looking for an easier break-in. So don’t make things simply for them. Don’t advertise the fact that you are out or away, or be careless about security.

译文：大部分的夜盗都是投机分子，他们会寻找最方便快捷的“翻墙入室”的机会。所以不要给他们可乘之机。不要嚷嚷着让别人都知道你在家，也不要太马虎大意而忽略了安全问题。

解析：本句句型不复杂，需要注意几个词语的译法，如opportunist本来是“机会主义者”，在这里用于形容burglars身上，需要相应地翻译成贬义词“投机分子”;此外，don’t make things simply for them可以用成语“可乘之机”概括，这些需要同学平时多做翻译练习积累，在会在临考时马上反应出来。

4. Researchers from the University of Copenhagen and the University of Iceland said ash particles from the early part of the volcanic eruption are especially abrasive, posing a possible threat to aircraft engines.

译文：来自哥本哈根大学和冰岛大学的研究者们表示早些时候火山爆发遗留的火山灰摩擦度非常高。这可能对飞机的引擎产生威胁。

解析：本句句型简单，但生词较多，需要考生抓注意些重点词汇理解。如：volcanic eruption 是表示“火山爆发”， abrasive 表示“磨损的”。考生在遇到不会的单词时也不用过于慌张，一般句子中包含大量专业词汇句意都比较简单，可凭上下文进行推测。

5. Lack of sanitation leads to wide spread of contamination of drinking water. Recent statistics say water-associated infectious diseases claim up to 3.2million lives each year, approximately 6 percent all death globally.

译文：不注意环境卫生会导致饮用水大规模受污染。近期的数据显示与饮用水有关的可传染性疾病每年可导致320万人失去生命，这个数字接近每年全球死亡人数的6%。

解析： 本句的主题是高口中常考的环境问题，全句无复杂结构，考生需要保证数字听译的准确性。本句中有出现两处数字，要求考生掌握数字速记的方法。

contamination : 污染

infectious : 传染的，有传染性的

approximately : 大约 The term “American dream” is widely used today. But what exactly does this concept mean? Where does the term come from? Has the meaning of the term changed over time? Questions like these can complicate a seemingly simple term and lead us to an even more important question: is the American dream a myth or a reality today?

The term “American dream” began to be widely used in 1867. The term was used in a famous novel written by Horatio Alger. The novel, Ragged Dick, was a “rags to riches” story about a little boy who was orphaned and lived in New York. The boy saved all his pennies, worked very hard, and eventually became rich. The novel sent the message to the American public that anyone could succeed in America if they were honest, worked hard, and showed determination to succeed. No matter what your background, no matter where you were from, no matter if you had no money or no family, hard work and perseverance would always lead to success.

Today, the message from Alger’s novel is still a prevalent one in this country. It is still used to define the American dream. A very basic definition of the American dream is that it is the hope of the American people to have a better quality of life and a higher standard of living than their parents. This can mean that each generation hopes for better jobs, or more financial security, or ownership of land or a home.

However, new versions and variations of the American dream have surfaced since Alger’s novel was published. For one thing, the basic definition I stated a moment ago — the idea that Americans are always seeking to improve their lifestyle — also suggests that each generation wants more than the previous generation had. Some people would argue that this ever-increasing desire to improve the quality of one’s life may have started out on a smaller scale in the past, but today has led to an out-of-control consumerism and materialism.

Another more benign view of the American dream is that it is about the desire to create opportunities for ourselves, usually through hard work. A hallmark of the American dream, some would argue, is the classic “self-starter,” the person who starts out with very little in life—little money, few friends, few opportunities—and works hard to make his or her way in the world. A classic example of this type of American dreamer would be former president Abraham Lincoln, who was born in a log cabin, was largely self-educated, and yet worked his way up in the world to eventually become a United States president.

This view of the American dream has also been associated with immigrants and their quests for a better life in a new country. Americans have long been fascinated by immigrant stories, and many feel great pride about their own families who may have come from other countries, worked very hard, and created a better life for future generations.

The American dream has also, historically, been associated with westward expansion in this country. Throughout most of the 1800s, the notion of the frontier—a vast expanse of largely unclaimed land in the West—symbolized new opportunities and a fresh start to people. Many a dreamer set off for the West in search of land, jobs, gold, or other opportunities, often with next to nothing in his pocket. Unfortunately, this idea of new opportunities in the West had a negative side. The American West was not unpopulated; Native American Indians already lived there, along with other immigrant groups, and these people were often displaced — or met with violence — if they interfered with the visions or ideas of westward-migrating Americans.

A more recent interpretation of the American dream has to do with equality. Civil rights activists such as Dr. Martin Luther King Junior, used some of the rhetoric associated with the American dream to urge people to work for equal opportunities for all Americans, not just some Americans. A harsh reality was becoming clear to some people, especially in the 1960s and 1970s: not everyone had the same opportunities. If people were