英语高考卷2021

When the explorers first set foot upon the continent of North America, the skies and lands were alive with an astonishing variety of wildlife. Native Americans had taken care of these precious natural resources wisely. Unfortunately, it took the explorers and the settlers who followed only a few decades to decimate a large part of these resources. Millions of waterfowl were killed at the hands of market hunters and a handful of overly ambitious sportsmen. Millions of acres of wetlands were dried to feed and house the ever-increasing populations, greatly reducing waterfowl habitat. 当探险家们第一次踏上北美洲大陆时，天空和大地上到处都是各种各样的野生动物，美洲土著人智慧地保护了这些宝贵的自然资源。然而仅仅几十年，探险家和定居者们就夺走了这些资源中的大部分。数百万只水鸟在市场猎人和一些野心勃勃的运动员手中被杀。上百万英亩，用于喂养和容纳不断增加的水禽种群的湿地干涸，水禽栖息地大大减少。 In 1934, with the passage of the Migratory Bird Hunting Stamp Act (Act), an increasingly concerned nation took firm action to stop the destruction of migratory waterfowl and the wetlands so vital to their survival. Under this Act, all waterfowl hunters 16 years of age and over must annually purchase and carry a Federal Duck Stamp. The very first Federal Duck Stamp was designed by J.N. “Ding” Darling, a political cartoonist from Des Moines, Iowa, who at that time was appointed by President Franklin Roosevelt as Director of the Bureau of Biological Survey. Hunters willingly pay the stamp price to ensure the survival of our natural resources. 1934年，随着《候鸟狩猎邮票法案》的通过，越来越受到关注的国家采取了坚定的行动，制止对候鸟水禽以及对它们的生存至关重要的湿地的破坏。根据该法案，所有16岁及以上的水禽猎手每年都必须购买并携带联邦鸭票。第一张联邦鸭票是由J.N.“丁”达林设计的，他是爱荷华州得梅因的一位政治漫画家，当时被富兰克林·罗斯福总统任命为生物调查局局长。猎人愿意购买鸭票，可以确保我们自然资源的生存。 About 98 percent of every duck stamp dollar goes directly into the Migratory Bird Conservation Fund to purchase wetlands and wildlife habitat for inclusion into the National Wildlife Refuge System — a fact that ensures this land will be protected and available for all generations to come. Since 1934, better than half a billion dollars has gone into that Fund to purchase more than 5 million acres of habitat. Little wonder the Federal Duck Stamp Program has been called one of the most successful conservation programs ever initiated. 每一张鸭票的98%直接进入候鸟保护基金，用于购买湿地和野生动物栖息地，纳入国家野生动物保护区系统——确保这片土地得到保护，提供给子孙后代。自1934年以来，已有超过5亿美元的资金投入该基金，用于购买超过500万英亩的栖息地。难怪联邦鸭票计划被称为有史以来最成功的保护计划之一。

By day, Robert Titterton is a lawyer. In his spare time though he goes on stage beside pianist Maria Raspopova — not as a musician but as her page turner. “I’m not a trained musician, but I’ve learnt to read music so I can help Maria in her performance.” 罗伯特·蒂特顿白天是个律师，业余时间，他和钢琴家玛丽亚·拉斯波娃一起上台——不是作为音乐家，而是作为她的翻页师。“我不是一个熟练的音乐家，但我学会了阅读音乐，所以我可以帮助玛丽亚表演。” Mr Titterton is chairman of the Omega Ensemble but has been the group’s official page turner for the past four years. His job is to sit beside the pianist and turn the pages of the score so the musician doesn’t have to break the flow of sound by doing it themselves. He said he became just as nervous as those playing instruments on stage. 蒂特顿是欧米茄乐团的主席，在过去四年里一直是该组织的官方翻页师。他的工作是坐在钢琴家旁边翻阅乐谱，这样音乐家就不必自己动手而破坏声音的连续。他说他变得和舞台上那些演奏乐器的人一样紧张。 “A lot of skills are needed for the job. You have to make sure you don’t turn two pages at once and make sure you find the repeats in the music when you have to go back to the right spot.” Mr Titterton explained. 蒂特顿解释道：“这份工作需要很多技能。当你必须翻到正确的位置时，你得确保不要一次翻两页，确保发现音乐中的重复部分。”。 Being a page turner requires plenty of practice. Some pieces of music can go for 40 minutes and require up to 50 page turns, including back turns for repeat passages. Silent onstage communication is key, and each pianist has their own style of “nodding” to indicate a page turn which they need to practise with their page turner. 做一个翻页师需要大量的练习。有些曲子长达40分钟，最多需要翻50页，包括重复段落的往回翻。在台上无声的交流是关键，每个钢琴家都有自己的“点头”风格来示意翻页，这需要他们和翻页师练习。 But like all performances, there are moments when things go wrong. “I was turning the page to get ready for the next page, but the draft wind from the turn caused the spare pages to fall off the stand,” Mr Titterton said, “Luckily I was able to catch them and put them back.” 不过和所有的表演一样，有时也会出问题。”我正准备翻到下一页，但翻页的气流让剩余的几页从架子上掉了下来，”蒂特顿先生说，“幸好我抓住了它们，把它们放回去。” Most page turners are piano students or up-and-coming concert pianists, although Ms Raspopova has once asked her husband to help her out on stage. 大多数翻页师是钢琴专业的学生或是有前途的钢琴演奏家，尽管拉斯波娃女士曾经让她的丈夫在舞台上帮她翻页。 “My husband is the worst page turner,” she laughed. “He’s interested in the music, feeling every note, and I have to say: ‘Turn, turn!’ “Robert is the best page turner I’ve had in my entire life.” “我丈夫是最糟糕的翻页师，”她笑道，“他沉浸入音乐，感受每个音符，我不得不说：‘翻页、翻页！’罗伯特是我一生中遇到的最棒的翻页师。”