Along a rugged, wide North Sea beach here on a recent day, children formed teams of eight to 10, taking their places beside mounds of sand carefully cordoned by candy-cane striped tape. They had one hour for their sand castle competition. Some built fishlike structures, complete with scales. Others spent their time on elaborate ditch and dike labyrinths. Each castle was adorned on top with a white flag.

Then they watched the sea invade and devour their work, seeing whose castle could withstand the tide longest. The last standing flag won.

Theirs was no ordinary day at the beach, but a newly minted, state-sanctioned competition for schoolchildren to raise awareness of the dangers of rising sea levels in a country of precarious geography that has provided lessons for the world about water management, but that fears that its next generation will grow complacent.

Fifty-five percent of the Netherlands is either below sea level or heavily flood-prone. Yet thanks to its renowned expertise and large water management budget (about 1.25 percent of gross domestic product), the Netherlands has averted catastrophe since a flooding disaster in 1953.

Experts here say that they now worry that the famed Dutch water management system actually works too well and that citizens will begin to take for granted the nation’s success in staying dry. As global climate change threatens to raise sea levels by as much as four feet by the end of the century, the authorities here are working to make real to children the forecasts that may seem far-off, but that will shape their lives in adulthood and old age.

“Everything works so smoothly that people don’t realize anymore that they are taking a risk in developing urban areas in low-lying areas,” said Raimond Hafkenscheid, the lead organizer of the competition and a water expert with the Foreign Ministry.

Before the competition, the children, ages 6 to 11, were coached by experts in dike building and water management. Volunteers stood by, many of them freshly graduated civil engineers, giving last-minute advice on how best to battle the rising water.

The event, sponsored by two regional water authorities, also featured sophisticated Dutch technology, including an airborne drone that monitors hard-to-reach water management infrastructure, and a jeep-mounted infrared camera used to detect weaknesses in dikes, which showed thermal images of the most promising sand castles resisting the seas.

“If children can do it themselves, they really learn it,” said Harcko Pama, a teacher at an elementary school in Heemstede.

“I know that they will remember this when they are older — it has such great impact,” he said.

Mr. Pama’s class of 11-year-olds competed in three separate teams to build the most flood-resistant castle. Armed with shovels and using hands and feet to tamp down the wet sand, the children improvised, some bringing seawater up to the castles in their shoes, others using towels to move the sand. Plots measuring about nine square yards were carefully lined along the shore. Organizers had timed the exercise so that the children (and the judges) could watch their work being destroyed by the incoming tide just after they had finished construction. Some 250 children competed.

As if part of the greater lesson, the children, from four different elementary schools in low-lying regions of the country, met on a stretch of beach less than 10 miles north of a major dike renovation project. The new dike protecting the seaside resort town of Katwijk will feature a reinforced concrete core and an underground parking garage. The project is to be finished early next year at a cost of nearly $70 million.

A recently released report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development on water management in the Netherlands pointed to an “awareness gap” among Dutch citizens. The finding did much to get the sand castle contest off the ground.（原文地址：http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/30/world/europe/netherlands-water-management-system-global-climate-change-sea-level-rise-dutch-gene.html?_r=0 mtizt.com注）

Early Maori adapted the tropically-based east Polynesian culture in line with the challenges associated with a larger and more diverse environment, eventually developing their own distinctive culture. The British and Irish immigrants brought aspects of their own culture to New Zealand and also influenced Maori culture.More recently American, Australian, Asian and other European cultures have exerted influence on New Zealand.

Even though the majority of the population now lives in cities, much of New Zealand’s art, literature, film and humor has rural themes.

New Zealand music has been influenced by blues, jazz, country, rock and roll and hip hop, with many of these genres given a unique New Zealand interpretation. Maori developed traditional chants and songs from their ancient South-East Asian origins, and after centuries of isolation created a unique “monotonous” and “doleful” sound.

Our vision?recognises?that our distinctive culture is core to what makes New Zealand a great place to live. Cultural expression, engagement and understanding are fundamental to a vibrant and healthy society and help define what it is to be a New Zealander.

Māori?culture makes New Zealand unique in a?globalised?world and is central to our sense of place, identifying us as a nation. Active participation by?Māori?in distinct?te?ao?Māori?activity, will ensure?Māori?culture is protected and flourishes.

Manatū?Taonga?/ the Ministry for Culture and Heritage (the Ministry) is the Government’s leading advisor on cultural matters; funds, monitors and supports a range of cultural agencies; and delivers a range of high quality cultural products and services.

The Ministry provides advice to the Government on where to focus its interventions in the cultural sector. The Ministry seeks to ensure that Vote funding is invested as effectively and efficiently as possible, and that the Government’s priorities are met.

The Ministry has a strong track record of delivering high quality publications (including websites), managing our significant heritage and commemorations, and acting as guardian of New Zealand’s culture and?kaitiaki?of New Zealand’s?taonga. Our work?prioritises?cultural outcomes and supports educational, economic, and social outcomes linking with the work of a range of other government agencies.

Culture is produced by creative and innovative individuals, groups and?organisations. The activities, goods and services they create, produce and distribute have a value which is cultural, social and economic. Cultural expression expands individual capacities, helps bind society and provides jobs and innovation in the economy.

（本文出自两处 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand

http://www.mch.govt.nz/about-ministry/overview/vision mtizt.com 注）

改革开放30多年来，西藏通过深化改革和扩大开放积极推动全区商业、对外贸易和旅游产业加快发展，不仅增强了与内地的交流，同时也加强了与世界的联系和合作。1993年，西藏与全国一道开始建立“框架一致、体制衔接”的社会主义市场经济体制，深化物资、粮食、日用消费品等领域价格流通改革并全面进入市场。目前，西藏已经深深融入全国统一的市场体系，来自全国和世界各地的商品源源不断地进入西藏，丰富着城乡市场和百姓生活。西藏的名、优、特产品及民族手工业产品，大量进入全国市场。

西藏与世界的经济联系日益密切。2012年，全区进出口总额为34.24亿美元，是1953年0.04亿美元的850多倍，年均增长12.1％。截至2012年底，西藏实际利用外资4.7亿美元。西藏立足区位优势，加强与印度、尼泊尔等周边国家的友好合作，实施面向南亚的陆路贸易大通道建设，建设吉隆、樟木、亚东、普兰和日屋口岸，大力发展边境贸易。(本文选自《西藏的发展与进步》白皮书 ?中文地址 英文地址 划线部分为考试删除部分 mtizt.com注?）

官方参考答案：Over the past 30 years or more, through reform and opening up, Tibet has been proactively promoting commerce, foreign trade and tourism. It has increased exchanges with other parts of China as well as communication and cooperation with foreign countries. In 1993 Tibet began to develop the socialist market economy with the rest of the country, developing into a new system within the same framework. Reforms have been carried out in the pricing and circulation of goods and materials, grains, and consumer goods, all of which have entered the market system. Currently Tibet is incorporated into the national market system. Commodities from all over the nation and across the world keep flowing into Tibet, enriching the urban and rural markets as well as the lives of the people. At the same time, well-known and quality products with local characteristics and folk handcrafts are transported to other parts of the country in large quantities.

Economically, Tibet is now more and more closely linked to the world. In 2012 the total volume of its foreign trade reached 3.424 billion U.S. dollars, more than 850 times that of 1953, which stood at 4 million U.S. dollars, with an annual growth rate of 12.1 percent. By the end of 2012 actualized foreign investment in Tibet was 470 million U.S. dollars. Taking advantage of its geographical position, Tibet is strengthening friendly cooperation with India, Nepal and other neighboring countries. To promote border trade, it is building a “commodity passageway” to South Asia via the land route, and has built trading centers in such port cities as Gyirong, Zhangmu, Yatung, Pulan and Riwu.

Passage 2

近几年，频发的自然灾害令全球深受其害。炎热的酷暑、狂暴的飓风、刺骨的严寒以及滔天的洪水近乎成了“常客”。风调雨顺已被视为“奢侈品”。

各国专家对此的解释多种多样，有的说是大气环流异常，有的说全球变暖可能是罪魁，还有的认为厄尔尼诺现象在捣乱。

未来极端天气现象的发生将更为频繁，强度更大，影响地区更广，不仅严重威胁人类生命健康和安全，所导致经济损失总体也呈逐渐增加趋势。

不仅如此，气候灾害对与气候密切相关的行业如水利、农业、林业、能源、健康和旅游业等都有更大影响。在世界经济发展不稳定性、不确定性上升的当下，上述因素为全球经济复苏带来更多变数。（本文选自 http://www.weather.com.cn/climate/qhbhyw/07/1673069.shtml 有删减 mtizt.com注）

CATTI二级笔译实务06-12年真题及答案 pdf 下载：百度云