Section 3: Cloze Test (20 points)

In the following passage, there are 20 blanks representing words that are missing from the context. You are to put back in each of the blanks the missing word. Write your answers on the ANSWER SHEET. The time for this section is 20 minutes.

A good translator is by definition bilingual. The opposite is not __________(1) true, however. A born and bred bilingual will still need two __________(2) to become a translator: first, the skills and experience necessary for__________(3); second, knowledge of the field in which he or she will __________(4). The skills and experience for translation include the ability to write __________(5) in the target language, the ability to read and understand the _________ (6) language material thoroughly, and the ability to work with the latest __________(7) and communication hardware and software.

Does a born and bred bilingual __________(8) a better translator than someone who learned language B later in __________(9)? There is no definite answer, but the following issues are important. __________(10), a born and bred bilingual often suffers from not truly knowing __________(11) language well enough to translate, with some even suffering from what __________(12) known as a lingualism, a state in which a person lacks _________(13) full, fluent command of any language. Second, born and bred bilinguals __________(14) don’t know the culture of the target language well enough to _________(15) top-quality translations, or cannot recognize what aspects of the source language __________(16) its culture need to be treated with particular care, as they _________(17) in a sense too close to the language. And last, they often __________(18) the analytical linguistic skills to work through a sticky text.

On __________(19) other hand, the acquired bilingual may not have the same in-depth __________(20) of colloquialisms, slang, and dialect that the born bilingual has. Also, the acquired bilingual will not be able to translate as readily in both directions (from B to language A and A to language B). Finally, born bilinguals often have a greater appreciation of the subtleties and nuances of both their languages than someone who learns their B language later in life can ever hope to have.