为了帮助广大考生顺利通过口译笔译考试，帮考网为大家分享了一些高级口译试题相关内容，希望大家每天坚持练习，积极备考。

M: There is a small number of exceptional people who play a huge role in the transmissions of epidemic ideas. I call them Mavens, Connectors ａｎｄ　Salesmen.

W: Say it again?

M: Mavens, Connectors ａｎｄ　Salesman. Connectors are the kind of people who know everybody. They have extraordinary social ties. Well, if I do this names test in the Manhattan phonebook, ａｎｄ　you go down the list. Every time you see a name you know, you give yourself a point. Well, most people score like 25, 30. Someone scores like 120 ｏｒ130. That kind of person is incredibly in generating word-of-mouth epidemics. If they like something ａｎｄ　get hold of some idea, they can spread 5 ｏｒ6 times further than the average person.

W: Who are those people, what defines them?

M: Well, these are extraordinarily social people with a lot of energy who are consumed by the task of getting to know people, of meeting people, of keeping in touch with them. They make phone calls all day long.

W: I am afraid I am one of them.

M: This is not typical behavior. This is a behaviｏｒthat is actually rare. Most of us don’t do that. ａｎｄ　I am someone who is not that way. I can’t start a word-of-mouth epidemic because I simply don’t know enough people. I can’t get it outside my own immediate circle of friends. Someone has friends all over the place. They can spread the news about a new restaurant, ｏｒa new movie, ｏｒsomething far and wide in a very, very short time.

W: These are the Connectors. Who are the Mavens ａｎｄ　who are the Salesmen?

M: The Mavens are people who have specialized knowledge. If you examine why you make certain decisions, why do you shop somewhere, why do you go to a certain restaurant, you’ll find that you are relying on the same person over ａｎｄ　over again fｏｒrecommendations. Those people I call Mavens. My friend Ereal is a Maven, who knows all about the restaurants in lower Manhattan. If I want to know about the hot new restaurant, I call Ereal. Well, all of Ereal’s friends call Ereal, ａｎｄ　if you go to restaurants in lower Manhattan ａｎｄ　look around the room, you will see friends of Ereal. The restaurant market is an epidemic market, which is controlled by aｇｒｏｕｐof Ereals. I don’t think there are very many of them. There are probably two dozen of them. That’s true of lots of things. That’s true of shopping, ａｎｄ　books and movies. If a Maven gets together with a Connector, then you begin see why a word-of-mouth epidemic might happen. Someone who knows everyone in combination with someone who knows everything is a really powerful connection.

W: ａｎｄ　then introduce the Salesmen.

M: Well, those people are incredibly persuasive. ａｎｄ　again, that’s a very rare ａｎｄ　unusual trait.

W: Leaves me out, you see. I can connect, but I can’t sell.

M: Well, they are separate categories. I’ve met with a guy who is known as one of the greatest salesman in America today. When you meet with someone like that, you begin to realize why trans happen. They happen because someone who has this extraordinary natural ability to win you over. When they get hold of an idea, they can really make it go a long way.

Questions:

1. What’s the main topic of this conversation?

2. Which of the following descriptions does not apply to Connectors?

3. Which of the following statements best defines the Mavens?

4. According to the conversation, which of the following groups does the man’s friend Ereal belong to?

5. What can we tell about all three groups of people?

【解析】本段以对话形式介绍了三种人Maven，Connector，Salesman的含义，及各自对transmissions of epidemic ideas的作用，并给出明确的例证。答题关键在于理解三种人分别有何特征，而问题也基本围绕其定义展开。考生可能会对文中出现的word-of-mouth epidemic等说法不熟悉，但可以根据上下文推断其含义。总体难度适中。

看到这里小伙伴们是否有所收获呢？希望帮考网为大家分享的内容能给大家带来帮助，后续也可以多关注帮考网，这里有更多的考试资讯，你想知道的都在这！