Chapter One mainly describes the interpreting task in two aspects, background information and task requirements. The author gives a detailed introduction to the speech and relevant information to provide a full perspective of the speech. At the same time, he sets out the basic requirements that needs to be met to fulfill the task.

1  Background Description

 Every month, Loyola University Chicago holds several talks on various topics, covering history, humanity, religion and arts, given by professors in Loyola or from other  universities  in  Chicago.  All  these  talks  involve  high  participation  of communication and interactions, aiming to achieve two goals. One is to provide local students with more details about historical anecdotes and plentiful liberal knowledge. The other is to help international students understand American culture better. Before the Veteran's Day, Loyola University holds a lot speeches related to wars and soldiers, among which "Civil War Chicago: Eyewitness to History" was given by Professor Karamanski and Professor McMahon together.

 The speech was delivered on October 22, 2015, and the interpreting simulation was conducted on October 29, 2015. Between this period, a tremendously huge load of work had been done before interpreting simulation, including resource collecting, staff arrangements, timetable setting and transcript revision, which well prepared the author for the simulation.

 In the speech, the two professors talk about what role the city Chicago played in the Civil War many years ago. Both of them aim to portray a realistic image of Chicago in wartime and present how Chicago and Chicagoans contributed to the victory of Civil War economically, politically and martially, as well as how the Civil War had a cultural impact on Chicago and Chicagoan life in turn.

2 Task Requirements

 Generally speaking, consecutive interpreting serves for all kinds of bi-lingual communication, for example public addresses, press conferences, meetings, business negotiations and so on. The speech "Civil War Chicago: Eyewitness to History" is a public address for both domestic and international students in Loyola. Serving as the message conveyor, the interpreter is expected to interpret as much as he can what the speakers say. In target language, s/he is viewed as the representative of the speaker. There are several basic requirements that should be met in this simulation.

 Firstly, holding a right stance is the first step of preparation. The basic principle is that interpreter is on behalf of speaker. The interpreter usually uses the first person instead of the third person, since he should not only deliver what the speaker expresses, but also include the speaker's attitude, points and spirit.

 Secondly, keeping a moderate speed is key to an interpreter. In this situation, interpreter interprets from English to Chinese. In consideration of different language characteristics, Chinese is simpler and more condensed than English in sentence structure. Besides, Chinese is the mother tongue for the interpreter. The interpreter's speaking rhythm cannot be slower than speaker. The speed should be kept between 120 to 150 words per minute. At the same time, sudden speeding up or slowing down should be avoided. Moderate speaking speed is key to delivering message.

 Thirdly, pronunciation matters to both the interpreter and the audience. The key principle is that interpreter's pronunciation should be completely clear and accurate. S/He must ensure that every sentence is complete without obvious repetition. When it comes to Chinese, accent should be avoided in case it may cause misunderstanding. As for the interpreter himself, he tries to keep his tone and volume moderate and proper.

 Fourthly, focusing on content is the primary goal. This speech reflects some important historical incidents and characters. For some international students like Chinese who take English as their second language, they may be not familiar with American history and culture. Therefore, when the interpreter delivers what the speaker says about historical knowledge or something related to American culture, it is necessary for him to make the content clear and understandable.