年3月中級口譯閱讀真題：閱讀第三篇來源和解析
2013年春季中口閱讀第三篇解析 by 新東方柳露
第三篇文章同樣來自The New York Times，原文題目爲The Pocket calculator, near death. 這是一篇介紹袖珍計算器的文章。
The pocket calculator has been relegated to the role of a graphic icon on digital screens rather than an object in its own right. But in the early 1970s, it was at the forefront of consumer technology.
文章首段講袖珍計算器過去和現在在科技領域角色轉換對比。
A pocket calculator was the closest that most 1970s consumers came to owning anything with computational power, even if all it could do was basic math. The Sinclair Executive was one of a cluster of pocket-size electronic calculators developed at the same time. The first one small enough to fit in a shirt pocket was the Busicom LE-120A Handy, introduced in Japan in early 1971.
第二段以事實加例子的結構呈現，抓住事實，即1970s的袖珍計算器還處在科技前沿。
When the Sinclair Executive was introduced in 1972 by the British entrepreneur Clive Sinclair, it was cheaper, slimmer and looked much slicker than the others, thanks to a gleaming black ABS plastic case designed by Mr. Sinclair's brother, Iain. Design magazine hailed it as "at once a conversation piece, a rich man's plaything and a functional business machine." Dozens of other manufacturers developed their own versions. The pinnacle of calculator design was the exquisite 1977 ET44, by Germany's Braun.
第三段繼續介紹袖珍計算器在1970s的發展。
Culturally, the product peaked in 1981 when the German electro band Kraftwerk released a single titled "Pocket Calculator." "I am adding and subtracting," run the lyrics. "I'm controlling and composing. By pressing down a special key, it plays a little melody."
第四段講袖珍計算器在1981年的新發展。
As personal computers flooded onto the market in the 1980s, calculators, pocket-size and otherwise, seemed steadily less appealing. Clive Sinclair had already turned his attention to other inventions, starting with computing. By the middle of the decade, he moved on to transportation with the Sinclair C5 electric vehicle, which was designed with a single seat but no roof.
第五段講計算機的普及對袖珍計算器發展的影響。
The pocket calculator is a victim of "Moore's Law," the theory that the number of transistors that can be squeezed onto a microchip will roughly double every two years, increasing computing power at the same rate.
Even tiny digital devices have become so powerful that they can fulfill the functions of numerous products. Like any other product whose function can be replicated by an app, the pocket calculator is threatened with extinction. Digital devices fulfill their function just as effectively, and are more convenient because they do so many other things too.
最後兩段講袖珍計算器的發展受到同類電子產品發展的威脅，有面臨消亡的危險。
題目：
1. 細節題，考察全文首段強對比細節。
2. 細節題，這類介紹事物發展進程的文章中first, introduce等引出的細節往往是考點。考生定位全文第二段即可。
3. 細節題，定位第三段，考察比較細節。
4. 細節題，考生可利用對大寫人名這類專有名詞的敏感度迅速定位。
5. 細節題，考察比較細節。考生可定位文章最後一段解題。
