ATA - American Translators Association Use of Reference Materials Questions and Answers

Question 1

A candidate preparing for the ATA exam is deciding which reference materials to use.
According to ATA rules for both in-person and online exams, which of the following combinations is fully permissible?

Accepted Answer

A collection of personal, printed glossaries and multiple bilingual and monolingual paper dictionaries.

Answer

An external hard drive containing a personal terminology database and several specialized PDF dictionaries.

Answer

A subscription-based terminology management tool and a list of bookmarked online forums.

Answer

An electronic dictionary device and a smartphone with access to a pre-approved list of online dictionaries.

Question 2

During the computerized ATA exam, a candidate is permitted to use a specific, pre-approved list of online resources. What is a key restriction when using an approved search engine like Google from this list?

Accepted Answer

The candidate may only search for terms and check usage, but is not permitted to click on any of the search results.

Answer

The candidate can only perform five searches per passage.

Answer

The candidate must log all searches on a separate sheet for the proctor to review.

Answer

The candidate can click on any link as long as it does not lead to a forum or an interactive chat.

Question 3

What is the primary rationale behind the ATA's policy of allowing 'open book' access to dictionaries and other reference materials during the certification exam?

Accepted Answer

To simulate a professional translator's real-world working environment where such resources are standard tools.

Answer

To compensate for the fact that spell-check and grammar-check are disabled on the exam software.

Answer

To reduce the need for candidates to have specialized subject matter expertise.

Answer

To ensure that all candidates, regardless of their native language, have equal access to lexical support.

Question 4

A candidate is taking the exam and encounters an unfamiliar legal term. They have several print resources available. Given the time constraints, which of the following is the most efficient and effective use of these materials?

Accepted Answer

Immediately consult a specialized, subject-specific dictionary (e.g., a legal dictionary) for a precise, in-context definition.

Answer

First, look up every word in the sentence in a general bilingual dictionary to build context.

Answer

Use a thesaurus to find alternative words in the source language before attempting to translate.

Answer

Cross-reference the term in two different general bilingual dictionaries to see if the first result is correct.

Question 5

Which of the following resources is explicitly allowed for both in-person and online ATA certification exams?

Accepted Answer

Printed, personally-created glossaries and style guides.

Answer

A personal laptop to access locally-stored glossaries and PDFs.

Answer

A tablet device for looking up terms in pre-approved online dictionaries.

Answer

Interactive terminology forums like the WordReference forums.

Question 6

A candidate wisely brings a monolingual target-language dictionary to the exam, in addition to bilingual dictionaries. In which scenario would this resource be most valuable?

Accepted Answer

When choosing between several potential target-language translations offered by a bilingual dictionary to ensure the chosen word has the correct nuance and usage.

Answer

When the candidate does not understand a word in the source text.

Answer

When confirming the spelling of a common word in the target language.

Answer

When trying to find a direct, one-to-one equivalent for a source-language idiom.

A candidate preparing for the ATA exam is deciding which reference materials to use.According to ATA rules for both in-person and online exams, which of the following combinations is fully permissible?

A candidate preparing for the ATA exam is deciding which reference materials to use.
According to ATA rules for both in-person and online exams, which of the following combinations is fully permissible?