【试题1】
It is odd to watch with what feverish ardor the Americans pursue prosperity and how they are ever tormented by the shadowy suspicion that they may not have chosen the shortest route to get it.
Americans cleave to the things of this world as if assured that they will never die, and yet are in such a rush to snatch any that come within their reach, as if expecting to stop living before they have relished them. They clutch everything but hold nothing fast, and so lose grip as they hurry after some new delight.
An American will build a house in which to pass his old age and sell it before the roof is on; he will plant a garden and rent it just as the trees are coming into bearing; he will clear a field and leave others to reap the harvest; he will take up a profession and leave it, settle in one place and soon go off elsewhere with his changing desires. If his private business allows him a moment’s relaxation, he will plunge at once into the whirlpool of politics. Then, if at the end of a year crammed with work he has a little spare leisure, his restless curiosity goes with him traveling up and down the vast territories of the United States. Thus he will travel five hundred miles in a few days as a distraction from his happiness.
Death steps is in the end and stops him before he has grown tired of this futile pursuit of that complete felicity which always escapes him.
参考译文：
1 美国人以疯狂的热情追求繁荣，却又常常拿不准自己是否真正选中了求富贵的最佳捷径，因此深受其苦。见到美国人如此生活，旁观者真是百思不解。
美国人紧紧抓住尘世中的东西不放，好像深信他们永远也不会死似的。可一旦利益近在咫尺，美国人却又追求得如此迫不及待，好像人生短促，岂能不及时行乐。他们什么都抓在手里，却又什么都抓不紧，因此为求新欢乐，常常便在匆忙中丢了旧爱好。
一个美国人会为安度晚年去兴建一幢房子，却又会在房顶还没架上屋梁时就把它卖掉;他会在花园里植树栽花，却又会在花园快要硕果累累时把它租给别人;他会在农田中播种耕耘，却又会把收获让给他人;他会热衷于一门专业，却又会马上将其放弃;他会在某处安家落户，却又会情移念转，另寻安身之地。如果管理自家店铺后仍有片刻闲暇，美国人会一头栽进政治纷争的旋涡之中。时值岁尾年首，终年忙碌的美国人竟会见缝插针，不忘休闲。于是他那永不休止的好奇之心，会与他一起同游美国辽阔的大地，几日内纵横数百里河山，聊以消遣，暂将快乐置于一旁。
终于，死亡来临了。死亡阻止了他，在他求欢乐兴致仍浓之际。他没有达到目的，极致的快乐总是与他擦肩而过。
【试题2】
It is well that the commonest fruit should be also the best. Of the virtues of the orange I have not room fully to speak. It has properties of health giving, as that it cures influenza and establishes the complexion. It is clean, for whoever handles it on its way to your table, but handles its outer covering, its top coat, which is left in the hall. It is round, and forms an excellent substitute with the young for a cricket ball. The pip can be flicked at your enemies, and quite a small piece of peel makes a slide for an old gentleman.
But all this would count nothing had not the orange such delightful qualities of taste. I dare not let myself go upon this subject. I am a slave to its sweetness. I grudge every marriage in that it means a fresh supply of orange blossom, the promise of so much golden fruit cut short. However, the world must go on.
With the orange we do live year in and year out. That speaks well for the orange. The fact is that there is an honeaty about the orange which appeals to all of us. If it is going to be bad—for the best of us are bad sometimes—it begins to be bad from the outside, not from the inside. How many a pear which presents a blooming face to the world is rotten at the core. How many an innocent-looking apple is harbouring a worm in the bud. But the orange has no secret faults. Its outside is a mirror of its inside, and if you are quick you can tell the shopman so before he slips it into the bag.
参考译文：
说来也巧，这种最普通的水果恰恰是最好的水果。论其优点，难尽其详。柑橘有益于健康，比如，可以治疗流感，滋养皮肤。柑橘干净卫生，不管是谁把它端上餐桌，也只触到它的表皮，即它的外衣，吃完以后便被丢在餐厅。柑橘是圆的，孩子们拿它当板球玩是再好不过了。柑橘核可用来弹射你的对手，一小片橘皮也能让一个老者滑个趔趄。
但是，如若不是柑橘有甜美可口的味道，上述一切便不足为奇。我真不敢纵谈它的美味，我被柑橘的美味所倾倒。每一个婚礼都使我感到痛惜，它意味着一束鲜橘花—未来金黄色果实的夭折。无奈，人类还得继续繁衍。
我们年复一年地吃着柑橘生活，这就证明了柑橘的好处。事实上，是柑橘诚实的`品格令我们所有的人羡慕不已。如果它开始变坏的话—即使我们之中最优秀者有时也会变坏—它是从外表而不是从内里开始的。有多少梨子，在向人们展现容光焕发的笑容时，内里已经腐烂。有多少看上去纯洁无暇的苹果，刚刚发芽就已经包藏蛀虫。而柑橘从不隐藏瑕疵。它的外表就是它内心的写照。假如你反应快，不等售货员把坏橘子放进纸袋儿，你就能把它指出来。
