Sentence 2.

　　Most of us tend to believe that competition is good, and that competition fairly handled can generally stimulate more efficiency in production, greater efforts to improve products and lower prices for consumers.

　　Sentence 3.

　　Illegal immigrants put pressure on public schools and hospitals, strain state and local budgets, and bring crime to our communities. Yet the vast majority are decent people who work hard and lead responsible lives.

　　Sentence 4.

　　More people are displaced by natural disasters than by wars. The death toll from this once-in-a-century earthquake has reached 23,000 , and it has left 2.5 million people without shelter.

　　Sentence 5.

　　Share prices received a shock yesterday when the government increased interest rates to five per cent. As a result, the Dow-Jones dropped by three hundred and forty points closing at twelve thousand one hundred, its lowest level for ten weeks.

　　( 参考答案)

　　1. 在经历了长达5年的由超低房贷利率引发的迅猛发展后,房地产业急剧下挫。连续五年创新高的新建和已有住宅销量持续下降。

　　2. 我们大多数人相信竞争是有益的,公平的竞争通常会使生产效率更高,提高产品质量力度更大,以及产品销售价格更低。

　　3. 非法移民给公立学校和医院带来压力,造成州政府和地方政府预算紧张,且导致社区犯罪率上升。但是大部分非法移民都是工作努力、有责任感的好人。

　　4. 更多的人因自然灾害而不是战争流离失所。这次百年一遇的地震造成2万3千人死亡、250万人无家可归。

　　5. 政府将利率增加到5%,使得股价昨日大受冲击。道琼斯指数下跌340点,报收12,100点,创下10周以来最低水平。

　　II. Passage Translation

　　Passage 1:

　　I experienced the community of people who worked hard but always with plenty of laughing and singing. These people were dirt-poor by western standards, with no running water or electricity or any other modern convenience. Yet, they display tremendous joy in their lives with their keen senses of humor and their liking for dancing and drumming till the early hours of morning. I learned a powerful lesson that will continue to impress me for decades to come. Happiness is not dependent on material wealth and it was this lesson that eventually led me to question the American dream, a dream of gaining as much money, power and status as humanly possible.

　　我曾在这样一群人中生活，他们工作辛苦，却总是充满了欢笑和歌声。用西方社会的生活标准来衡量的话，这些人极为贫困，没有自来水，居住地不通电，没有任何的现代化生活设施。然而，他们富于幽默感，热爱舞蹈击鼓，生活充满了乐趣，甚至狂欢至凌晨。我受到了深深的触动，这种感触在以后的几十年中会一直影响我。幸福并不基于物质财富。这个启发使我最终对“美国之梦”产生了怀疑，因为“美国之梦”就是尽人的能力所及争取更多的金钱、权力及更高的地位。

　　Passage 2:

　　The figures for burglaries have risen alarmingly over the last few years and are now quite appalling. Let me quote you a few statistics about break-ins. A house is burgled now about every three minutes, and over the past five years the number of burglaries reported to the police has risen by approximately 60,000 to well over 500,000 this year. The insurance companies report that last year alone household burglary losses rose by 38 per cent over the previous year to 219.7 million pounds, and I believe one or two companies are refusing to provide burglary cover in what we might call high-risk areas.