英语翻译中级口译阅读原文真题
上海中级口译英语真题(完整文档)
上海中级口译英语真题（完整文档）口语部分：Should We Use Child Endorsers?题目：2、 what are the possible advantages or disadvantages of children"s being advertising endorsers?口译部分：英译汉部分：1、在经济全球化，国际贸易自由化的背景下，大学将扮演怎样的角色；本科教育和研究生教育紧密相连；我们的教育应该使学生以寻求新知识、带来新发现为目的进行学习。
2、巴黎的介绍，节选于如下的文章：Ah, beautiful Paris. For centuries this city has attracted the admiration of the world. The allure and charm of Paris captivate all who visit there.啊，美丽的巴黎！几世纪来，这个城市吸引了整个世界的崇拜。
巴黎的诱惑与魅力吸引了所有到此游玩的人。
Where can you discover the charm of Paris for yourself? Is it in the legacy of all the French rulers who worked to beautify their beloved city? Is it in the famous castles，palaces， statues and monuments, such as the Eiffel Tower? Can you find it in the world-class museums， such as the Louvre? Perhaps Paris"allurelies in the zest and style of the Parisians.你在哪里可以找到巴黎对你自己的吸引力呢？是否是在历任的法国统治者们在美化他所钟爱的城市所留下來的遗产里？还是在那些有名的城堡、皇宫雕像和纪念碑例如埃菲尔铁塔之中？你能否在世界一流的博物馆，倒如卢浮宫中找着呢？或许巴黎的诱惑力在于巴黎人的特殊品味和风格。
中级口译真题+参考答案
9月中级口译真题+参考答案(4)Questions 16-20We are moving inexorably into the age of automation. Our aim is not to devise a mechanism which can perform a thousand different actions of any individual man but, on the contrary, one which could by a single action replace a thousand men.Industrial automation has moved along three lines. First there is the conveyor belt system of continuous production whereby separate operations are linked into a single sequence. The goods produced by this well-established method are untouched by the worker, and the machine replaces both unskilled and semiskilled. Secondly, there is automation with feedback control of the quality of the product: here mechanisms are built into the system which can compare the output with a norm, that is, the actual product with what it is supposed to be, and then correct any shortcomings. The entire cycle of operations dispenses with human control except in so far as monitors are concerned. One or two examples of this type of automation will illustrate its immense possibilities. There is a factory in the U.S.A. which makes 1,000 million electric light bulbs a year, and the factory employs three hundred people. If the preautomation techniques were to be employed, the labour force required would leap to 25,000. A motor manufacturing company with 45,000 spare parts regulates their entire supply entirely by computer. Computers can be entrusted with most of the supervision of industrial installations, such as chemical plants or oil refineries. Thirdly, there is computer automation, for banks, accounting departments, insurance companies and the like. Here the essential features are the recording, storing, sorting and retrieval of information.The principal merit of modern computing machines is the achievement of theirvastly greater speed of operation by comparison with unaided human effort; a task which otherwise might take years, if attempted at all, now takes days or hours.One of the most urgent problems of industrial societies rapidly introducing automation is how to fill the time that will be made free by the machines which will take over the tasks of the workers. The question is not simply of filling empty time but also of utilizing the surplus human energy that will be released. We are already seeing straws in the wind: destructive outbursts on the part of youth whose work no longer demands muscular strength. While automation will undoubtedly do away with a large number of tedious jobs, are we sure that it will not put others which are equally tedious in their place? For an enormous amount of sheer monitoring will be required. A man in an automated plant may have to sit for hours on and watching dials and taking decisive action when some signal informs him that all is not well. What meaning will his occupation bear for the worker? How will he devote his free time after a four or five hour stint of labour? Moreover, what, indeed, will be the significance for him of his leisure? If industry of the future could be purged of its monotony and meaninglessness, man would then be better equipped to use his leisure time constructively.16. The main purpose of automation is _________.（A）to devise the machine which could replace the semi-skilled（B）to process information as fast as possible（C）to develop an efficient labor-saving mechanism（D）to make an individual man perform many different actions17. The chief benefit of computing machines is ________.（A）their greater speed of operation（B）their control of the product quality（C）their conveyor belt system of continuous production（D）their supervision of industrial installations18. One of the problems brought about by automation in industrial societies is _________.（A）plenty of information（B）surplus human energy（C）destructive outbursts（D）less leisure time19. Which of the following best explains the use of ‘stint’ （para.4）?（A）Effort.（B）Force.（C）Excess.（D）Period.20. According to the passage, which of the following statements is true?（A）There is no automation with feedback control of the quality of the product.（B）Computers are reliable in any supervision of industrial installations.（C）The essential features for banks are the recording and sorting of information.（D）Automation will undoubtedly eliminate numerous tedious jobs.Questions 21-25The city water pipes in Rome were usually of baked clay or lead; copper was sometimes used and also hollowed stone. For the large supply conduits leading to the city the Romans used covered channels with free water surfaces, rather than pipes. Perhaps this choice was a matter of economics, for apparently they could make lead pipes up to 15 inches in diameter. While pipes can follow the profile of undulatingground, with the pressure increasing in the lower areas, channels cannot. They must slope continuously downwards, because water in channels does not normally flow uphill; and the grade must be flat, from 1 in 60 in small channels to perhaps 1 in 3,000 in large ones, to keep the water speed down to a few feet per second. Thus the main supply channels or aqueducts had long lengths of flat grade and where they crossed depressions or valleys they were carried on elevated stone bridges in the form of tiered arches. At the beginning of the Christian era there were over 30 miles of these raised aqueducts in the 250 miles of channels and tunnels bringing water to Rome. The channels were up to 6 feet wide and 5 to 8 feet high. Sometimes channels were later added on the tops of existing ones. The remains of some of these aqueducts still grace the skyline on the outskirts of Rome and elsewhere in Europe similar ruins are found.Brick and stone drains were constructed in various parts of Rome. The oldest existing one is the Cloaca Maxima which follows the course of an old stream. It dates back at least to the third century B.C. Later the drains were used for sewage, flushed by water from the public baths and fountains, as well as street storm run-off.The truly surprising aspect of the achievements of all the ancient hydraulic artisans is the lack of theoretical knowledge behind their designs. Apart from the hydrostatics of Archimedes, there was no sound understanding of the most elementary principles of fluid behaviour. Sextus Frontinus, Rome’s water commissioner around A.D. 100, did not fully realize that in order to calculate the volume rate of flow in a channel it is necessary to allow for the speed of the flow as well as the area of cross-section. The Romans’ flow standard was the rate at which water would flow through a bronze pipe roughly 4/3 inch in diameter and 9 inches long. When this pipe was connected to the side of a water-supply pipe or channel as a delivery outlet, it was assumed that theoutflow was at the standard rate. In fact, the amount of water delivered depended not only on the cross-sectional area of the outlet pipe but also on the speed of water flowing through it and this speed depended on the pressure in the supply pipe.21. The Romans used all of the following to make water pipes EXCEPT _________.（A）earth （B）wood （C）copper （D）stone22. Covered channels were used instead of pipes to supply large quantities of water probably because _________.（A）the Romans could build them more cheaply（B）these channels could follow uneven ground more easily（C）the Romans could not build large pipes（D）these channels avoided rapid changes of pressure23. The use of ‘grace’ in line 15 suggests that the aqueducts today are _________.（A）hideous （B）divine （C）useful （D）attractive24. In order to calculate the volume of water flowing through a pipe, it is important to know its speed and ________.（A）the area across the end of the pipe （B）the length of the pipe（C）the water pressure in the pipe （D）the level from which the water falls25. The main subject of the passage is concerned essentially with __________.（A）the classical scientific achievements（B）the theoretical Greek hydrostatics（C）the ancient Roman hydraulic system（D）the early European architectural designingQuestions 26-30Every day of our lives we are in danger of instant death from small high-speed missiles from space-the lumps of rocky or metallic debris which continuously bombard the Earth. The chances of anyone actually being hit, however, are very low, although there are recorded instances of ‘stones from the sky’ hurting people, and numerous accounts of damage to buildings and other objects. At night this extraterrestrial material can be seen as ‘fireballs’ or ‘shooting stars’, burning their way through our atmosphere. Most, on reaching our atmosphere, become completely vaporised.The height above ground at which these objects become sufficiently heated to be visible is estimated to be about 60-100 miles. Meteorites that have fallen on buildings have sometimes ended their long lonely space voyage incongruously under beds, inside flower pots or even, in the case of one that landed on a hotel in North Wales, within a chamber pot. Before the era of space exploration it was confidently predicted that neither men nor space vehicles would survive for long outside the protective blanket of the Earth’s atmosphere. It was thought that once in space they would be seriously damaged as a result of the incessant downpour of meteorites falling towards our planet at the rate of many millions every day. Even the first satellites showed that the danger from meteorites had been greatly overestimated by the pessimists, but although it has not happened yet, it is certain that one day a spacecraft will be badly damaged by a meteorite.The greatest single potential danger to life on Earth undoubtedly comes from outside our planet. Collision with another astronomical body of any size or with a ‘black hole’ could completely destroy the Earth almost instantly. Near misses of bodies larger than or comparable in size to our own planet could be equally disastrous tomankind as they might still result in total or partial disruption. If the velocity of impact were high, collision with even quite small extraterrestrial bodies might cause catastrophic damage to the Earth’s atmosphere, oceans and outer crust and thus produce results inimical to life as we know it. The probability of collision with a large astronomical body from outside our Solar System is extremely low, possibly less than once in the lifetime of an average star. We know, however, that our galaxy contains great interstellar dust clouds and some astronomers have suggested that there might also be immense streams of meteorite matter in space that the Solar system may occasionally encounter. Even if we disregard this possibility, our own Solar system itself contains a great number of small astronomical bodies, such as the minor planets or asteroids and the comets, some with eccentric orbits that occasionally bring them close to the Earth’s path.26. According to the writer, the Earth is being continuously bombarded by _________.（A）big bright stars from space（B）man-made space vehicles（C）great interstellar dust clouds（D）small high-speed pieces of rock from space27. The word “vaporised” （para.1）means _________.（A）turned from stones into missiles（B）turned from a fireball into black（C）turned from a solid into a gas（D）turned from meteors into shooting stars28. Why was it once thought that no spacecraft would survive for very long inspace?（A）People believed that spacecraft would be destroyed in a black hole.（B）People believed that spacecraft would be misguided by missiles.（C）People believed that spacecraft would be collided with a star.（D）People believed that spacecraft would be damaged by meteorites.29. What is the greatest danger to life on Earth?（A）Collision with small high-speed missiles.（B）Collision with an astronomical body.（C）Collision with stones from the sky.（D）Collision with spacecrafts.30. According to the passage, which of the following statements is true?（A）Our galaxy contains great interstellar dust clouds.（B）Near misses of bodies smaller than our own planet could be disastrous.（C）The probability of collision with a large astronomical body is very high.（D）The chances of anyone actually being hit by missiles are very high.。
英语翻译中级口译-2-2
英语翻译中级口译-2-2(总分：107.00，做题时间：90分钟)一、第一部分听力理解(总题数：0，分数：0.00)二、第一节(总题数：1，分数：5.00)（分数：5.00）(1).Where does the conversation probably take place?[A] At home． [B] At a hotel． [C] At a shop．（分数：1.00）A.B.C. √解析：[听力原文]M: Are you being served, ma'am?W: Oh, yes, I'm waiting for the gentleman who's gone inside to find me another pair of shoes.[精解] 题干问：“谈话很可能发生在哪儿?”对话中男士问：“有人给您服务吗?夫人。
”女士回答说：“是的，有，我正在等进里面给我找鞋的先生。
”听对话可知这位女士应该是在鞋店里面买鞋。
所以答案选C。
(2).Which of the following is right?[A] The man wants to send a letter to Shanghai．[B] The woman is a seller．[C] The two speakers are at the post office．（分数：1.00）A.B.C. √解析：[听力原文]M: How much will it cost to send this letter to Beijing?W: It weights half an ounce. That'll be six dollars by airmail.[精解] 题干问：“下面哪项是正确的?”对话中男士问：“把这封信邮到北京要花多少钱?”女士说：“它重半盎司。
用航空邮递要6美元。
”听对话可知，这位男士是在邮局，他想往北京寄一封信，所以答案C 是正确的。
9月中级口译真题+参考答案(5)
9月中级口译真题+参考答案(5)SECTION 3: TRANSLATION TEST （1）（30 minutes）Directions: Translate the following passage into Chinese and write your version in the corresponding space in your ANSWER BOOKLET.The culture of any society is usually thought to be of two kinds: material and nonmaterial. Material culture includes the man-made phenomena which have physical properties such as height, breadth, and weight. A boat, a machine, a house-all these objects are part of the material culture. The nonmaterial culture is that portion of the environment which surrounds man and which has an impact on his behavior but which lacks these material properties: values, beliefs, traditions, and all the other habits and ideas invented and acquired by man as a member of society.Contemporary sociological theory tends to assign primary importance to the nonmaterial culture in choosing problems for study. It assumes, for example, that boats, planes, automobiles, and so forth, are not nearly so important as the traditions we have developed which make their manufacture possible-indeed, which prescribe how we are to use them. The emphasis of contemporary sociology is to insist that the material culture would not exist had not the nonmaterial culture first been available to suggest the ideas which are embodied in the inventions of material culture.SECTION 4: TRANSLATION TEST （2）（30 minutes）Directions: Translate the following passage into English and write your version in the corresponding space in your ANSWER BOOKLET.进入耶鲁大学的校园，看到莘莘学子青春洋溢的脸庞，呼吸着书香浓郁的空气，我不由回想起40年前在北京清华大学度过的美好时光。
中级口译真题+参考答案
9月中级口译真题+参考答案(1)Part A: Spot DictationDirections: In this part of the test, you will hear a passage and read the same passage with blanks in it. Fill in each of the blanks with the word or words you have heard on the tape. Write your answer in the corresponding space in your ANSWER BOOKLET. Remember you will hear the passage ONLY ONCE.British people are far more sophisticated about beverages than they were 50 years ago. Witness the Starbucks revolution and you’ll know where ___________ （1）goes. However, spurred on by recent studies suggesting that it can cut the risk of ___________ （2）and retard the aging process, tea is enjoying a ___________ （3）.Although tea is available in more places than ever, it remains to be _____________ （4）of a typical British family.If you are invited to an English home, _____________ （5）in the morning you get a cup of tea. It is either brought in by a heartily _____________ （6）or an almost malevolently silent maid. When you are _____________ （7）in your sweetest morning sleep you must not say: ‘Go away, you _____________ （8）.’ On the contrary, you have to declare with your best five o’clock smile: ‘Thank you very much. I _____________ （9）a cup of tea, especially in the morning.’ If they leave you alone with the liquid you may pour it _____________ （10）!Then you have ___________ （11）; then you have tea at 11 o’clock in the morning; _____________ （12）; then you have tea for tea; then after supper; and again at eleven o’clock _____________ （13）.You must not refuse any additional cups of tea under the _____________ （14）: if it is hot; if it is cold; if you are _____________ （15）; if you are nervous; if you arewatching TV; _____________ （16）; if you have just returned home; if you feel like it; if you do not feel like it; if you have had no tea ______________ （17）; if you have just had a cup.You definitely must not ______________ （18）. I sleep at five o’clock in the morning; I have coffee for breakfast; I drink innumerable _____________ （19）during the day; I have the _____________ （20）even at tea-time!Part B: Listening Comprehension1. StatementsDirections: In this part of the test, you will hear several short statements. These statements will be spoken ONLY ONCE, and you will not find them written on the paper; so you must listen carefully. When you hear a statement, read the answer choices and decide which one is closest in meaning to the statement you have heard. Then write the letter of the answer you have chosen in the corresponding space in your ANSWER BOOKLET.1. （A）The program on Channel Eight reminds me of TV commercials.（B）The product advertised in the TV commercial cannot help cure my illness.（C）I don’t watch TV that much, because of the omnipresent advertis ements.（D）I have to sit on the sofa, because I am too sick to stand in front of the television.2. （A）The plane arrived at 7:30.（B）The plane arrived at 8:00.（C）The plane arrived at 9:00.（D）The plane arrived at 10:00.3. （A）I’ll ask someone else to read and check this agreement for errors.（B）I’ll think more about the agreement before making a decision.（C）It’s obvious that I’ll discuss the agreement with my assistant first.（D）It’s out of question that I shou ld get into any agreement with you.4. （A）The better members decided to cancel the meeting.（B）Less than half of the committee was away on business trips.（C）It’d be better if no one had attended this morning’s committee meeting……（D）The meeting was cancelled because of low attendance.5. （A）Supermarkets in the inner city and the suburbs are usually owned by the same company.（B）Products in grocery stores are more expensive than those in supermarkets.（C）There is a price difference for the same product even in shops run by the same company.（D）People prefer to shop in supermarkets, which are mostly located in the suburbs, with free parking space.6. （A）Many Americans cannot afford higher education because of the soaring college tuition fees and expenses.（B）Sending their children to college is no longer a bigger challenge for millions of Americans.（C）The American government has set the goal that it will eventually stop funding higher education institutions.（D）Nowadays, American parents have to pay more to send their children to college.7. （A）For many university graduates, the jobs they take will not be related to their academic achievements.（B）Because of economic recession, the number of university students majoring in liberal arts is declining.（C）University students who are interested in liberal arts will have more job opportunities upon graduation.（D）With high unemployment rate, many university students will have to opt for transferring to other majors.8. （A）Good business negotiators will never repeat what other people have already restated.（B）Restating by good business negotiators is not an effective way to check the information.（C）Good business negotiators are sometimes curious about other people’s restatements.（D）Restating what others have said is a good strategy for confirming understanding.9. （A）We cannot reach an agreement, let alone a spoken promise.（B）We’d better draft and then sign a written agreement.（C）We generally keep our promises in business transactions.（D）We hope you understand why we are unable to keep our promises.10. （A）I don’t think you have more to say on that topic.（B）I think we’d better talk about that in detail sometime later.（C）I am truly appreciative if you can elaborate on that topic after lunch.（D）I am busy right now, so we might as well discuss it over lunch today.2. Talks and ConversationsDirections: In this part of the test, you will hear several short talks andconversations After each of these, you will hear a few questions. Listen carefully because you will hear the talk or conversation and questions ONLY ONCE. When you hear a question, read the four choices and choose the best answer to that question. Then write the letter of the answer you have chosen in the corresponding space in your ANSWER BOOKLET.Questions 11-1411. （A）Two （B）Three （C）Four （D）Five12. （A）A profit-making private school.（B）A non-profit-making independent school.（C）A state school that is funded by non-governmental sources.（D）A secondary school that is open to the majority of British students.13. （A）Many children are no longer placed in schools according to their academic abilities.（B）Many children can afford to study in private schools, as they become part of the state system.（C）Children from wealthy families no longer choose to go and study in public schools.（D）Cleverer children will be sent to the best private schools in the country for a better development.14. （A）Clever and less bright children will mix well with each other.（B）School authorities will receive more funds from the government.（C）Most students will do well in their entrance examination for the higher education.（D）Every child will have an equal opportunity to go on to higher education.。
年9月中级口译段落听译原文和答案
年9月中级口译段落听译原文和答案Passage 1Man is closely connected to the environment. Our environment provides us with fresh air to breatheclean water to drinkand various vegetables to eat. Howeverour environment is faced with many dangers. It is seriously polluted by chemical wastes from factories and garbage in cities. Trees are being cut down. Large areas of forests are being destroyed. And various animals are being hunted and killed. As a resultmany kinds of plants and animals are disappearing from the earth.人与环境紧密相连。
我们的环境提供了新鲜的空气、干净的水和各种蔬菜，让我们呼吸、饮用。
但我们的环境却正在面临许多危险。
它被工厂的化学废物、城市里的垃圾所污染。
树木被砍伐、大片的森林被破坏、多种动物遭到猎杀。
由此，地球上许多种类的植物和动物，正在走向灭绝。
解析这一段难度较低，注意一下逻辑词，如Howeveras a result在笔记中迅速地使用符号记录下来。
出现了两次、占全文字数三分之一的并列平行结构也是文中的一大重点。
理解上不会造成障碍，关键是信息记录完整。
Passage 2In 1979trade beeen the United States and China stood at roughly $ 5 billion. Todayit tops over $ 400 billion each year. The merce affects our people’s life in so many ways. America imports from C hina many of the puter parts we usethe clothes we wear. And we export to China machinery that helps power your industry. This trade could create even more jobs on both sides of the Pacificwhile allowing our people to enjoy a better quality of life.1979年，美中贸易保持在50亿美元上下。
英语翻译中级口译阅读原文真题
英语翻译资格考试/真题题库2013英语翻译中级口译阅读原文真题真题阅读部分第三篇Napoleon famously described the British as a nation of shopkeepers. These days it would be equally true to describe them as a nation of shoppers. Either way, London is the UK’s shopping mecca; if you can’t find it here you probably can’t find it at all.Some London shops are more or less tourist attractions in their own right. Few visitors come away without popping into Harrods, even if only to gawp. This famous store is a real one-off. The toilets are fab, the food hall enough to make you swoon, and if they haven’t got what you want, it probably doesn’t exist. No other store has such a sense of sheer, outrageous abundance. Since Absolutely Fabulous brought Edina and Patsy steaming onto our screens, Harvey Nichols (’Harvey Nicks’) has become another must-see attraction. Itboasts a great food hall, an extravagant perfume department and jewellery to save up for. But with all the big names from Miyake to Lauren, Hammett to Calvin Klein and a whole floor of up-to-the-minute menswear, it’s fashion that Harvey Nichols does better than the rest. The selection is unrivalled and the prices high, although the sales offer some great bargains, and the store’s own clothing line is reasonable.Carnaby Street still reeks of the 60s although it’s had something of a revival since the ’Cool Britannia’ kick brought Union Jack dresses back into fashion. The last punks have long since slunk away from Chelsea’s King’s Rd but there are still plenty of interesting shops slotted in amid the high-street chains.The shops and stalls inside the old Covent Garden market building tend to be pricey andtourist-oriented, while the streets running off it remain a happy hunting ground for shoppers, withNeal St and Neal’s Yard in particular offering a range of interesting one-off shops.Oxford St and classier Regent St come intotheir own in the six weeks running up to Christmas when they’re festooned with lights. At other times of the year Oxford St can be a great disappointment. Selfridge’s is up there with Harrods as a place to visit and the flagship Marks & Spencer at the Marble Arch end has its fans, but the farther east you go the tackier and less interesting it becomes.Although most things can be bought in most parts of town, there are also streets with their own specialities; Tottenham Court R& for example,is one long electrical goods shop (watch out fortip-offs though), while Charing Cross Rd is still the place to come for offbeat books.Many tourist attractions have excellent shops, selling good-quality souvenirs like mugs, pens, pencils, stationery and T-shirts, often with themes to match their content (war books and videos at theImperial War Museum). By buying from these shopsyou help contribute towards the building’s maintenance, especially important in the cases of those without entry charges.2013英语翻译中级口译阅读原文真题.doc [全文共1469字] 编号：6938555。
中级口译 翻译原题与答案
Dolphins, like whales, must surface to breathe air through a blowhole on top of their heads. Dolphins are social animals and love company. Many of them, in fact, even enj oy being around humans. It is not uncommon to hear of dolphins giving rides through the water to humans.In addition to being playful, dolphins are helpful to men. For example, as 400 B. C. the Greek poet Arion was saved from drowning by a dolphin. From then until now, dolphins have been helping swimmers who are in trouble. Swimmers, however, are not the only humans they help. In some parts of the world, they can be counted on to help men catch fish.Moreover, dolphins are very intelligent. A dolphin's brain resembles a human brain, but it is larger. Consequently, some people claim that dolphins are really smarter than men. Of course, there is no way of proving this point. Brain size is not an absolute measure of intelligence. Furthermore, measuring dolphins' intelligence in other ways is not possible since men cannot fully communicate with them. Apparently, however, dolphins communicate with each other. At any rate, they make whistling, clicking and buzzing sounds which seem to be at least a form of language. So far, however, men have not been able to figure out the communication code the dolphins use.每年春季，数以万计的中外客商云集申城，参加一年一度的华东出口品交易会。
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英语翻译中级口译阅读原文真题
真题阅读部分第三篇
Napoleon famously described the British as a nation of shopkeepers. These days it would be equally true to describe them as a nation of shoppers. Either way, London is the UK’s shopping mecca; if you can’t find it here you probably can’t find it at all.
Some London shops are more or less tourist attractions in their own right. Few visitors come away without popping into Harrods, even if only to gawp. This famous store is a real one-off. The toilets are fab, the food hall enough to make you swoon, and if they haven’t got what you want, it probably doesn’t exist. No other store has such a sense of sheer, outrageous abundance. Since Absolutely Fabulous brought Edina and Patsy steaming onto our screens, Harvey Nichols (’Harvey Nicks’) has become another must-see attraction. It boasts a great food hall, an extravagant perfume department and jewellery to save up for. But with all the big names from Miyake to Lauren, Hammett to Calvin Klein and a whole floor of up-to-the-minute menswear, it’s fashion that Harvey Nichols does better than the rest. The selection is unrivalled and the prices high, although the sales offer some great bargains, and the store’s own clothing line is reasonable.
Carnaby Street still reeks of the 60s although it’s had something of a revival since the ’Cool Britannia’kick brought Union Jack dresses back into fashion. The last punks have long since slunk away from Chelsea’s King’s Rd but there are still plenty of interesting shops slotted in amid the high-street chains.
The shops and stalls inside the old Covent Garden market building tend to be pricey and tourist-oriented, while the streets running off it remain a happy hunting ground for shoppers, with Neal St and Neal’s Yard in particular offering a range of
interesting one-off shops.
Oxford St and classier Regent St come into their own in the six weeks running up to Christmas when they’re festooned with lights. At other times of the year Oxford St can be a great disappointment. Selfridge’s is up there with Harrods as a place to visit and the flagship Marks Tottenham Court R& for example, is one long electrical goods shop (watch out for tip-offs though), while Charing Cross Rd is still the place to come for offbeat books.
Many tourist attractions have excellent shops, selling good-quality souvenirs like mugs, pens, pencils, stationery and T-shirts, often with themes to match their content (war books and videos at the Imperial War Museum). By buying from these shops you help contribute towards the building’s maintenance, especially important in the cases of those without entry charges.。