Model Test 2

[00:05.00]Model Test Two
[00:08.00]Part Ⅲ Listening Comprehension
[00:11.00]Section A
[00:13.00]Directions: In this section, you will hear 8 short conversations
[00:18.00]and 2 long conversations. At the end of each conversation, one or
[00:24.00]more questions will be asked about what was said. Both the conversation
[00:29.00]and the questions will be spoken only once. After each question there
[00:34.00]will be a pause. During the pause, you must read the four choices marked
[00:39.00] A), B), C) and D), and decide which is the best answer. Then mark the
[00:46.00]corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.
[00:54.00]Now, let’s begin with the eight short conversations.
[00:58.00]11. M: I can’t believe this. I spent six months working on this project
[01:04.00]and my boss rejected it in two minutes. He said it was too risky.
[01:10.00] W: Maybe your project is indeed too risky. You can revise your plan a
[01:15.00]little and your boss will like it then.
[01:18.00] Q: What does the woman suggest the man do?
[01:38.00]12. M: What do you think of AC Milan and the team of Argentina? There have
[01:45.00]already many matches between them.
[01:48.00] W: They aren’t evenly matched. I think AC Milan’s foot work is much
[01:53.00] better on the whole, yet the Argentine attacker is worth a bet.
[01:58.00] Q: What does the woman think of the two football teams?
[02:18.00]13. M: Excuse me, I want to return this shirt. It’s too small. Because
[02:25.00] I received it as a gift I didn’t try it on.
[02:29.00] W: I’m afraid we don’t give back the money, but we can give you
[02:33.00]credit toward another purchase in our store.
[02:36.00] Q: What do we learn from the conversation?
[02:55.00]14. M: I’m suffering from the inability to fall asleep and digest food.
[03:03.00]Besides, I’m gaining weight.
[03:05.00] W: Let me examine you first. OK, I will give you some medicine for
[03:11.00]your poor sleep and difficulty in digesting food. But I also recommend
[03:16.00]that you begin a regular exercise program.
[03:20.00]Q: What does the woman suggest the man do?
[03:40.00]15. M: I’m going to my French class. See you, Kathy.
[03:45.00] W: What? You are learning French? How about your Japanese and computer
[03:51.00]class? You are attending all three classes?! No, you can’t do that! Don’t
[03:58.00]bite off more than you can chew.
[04:01.00] Q: What does the woman imply from the conversation?
[04:20.00]16. M: TV commercials are fascinating and attractive. They will help our
[04:28.00]products build strong brand positions.
[04:30.00] W: I admit it’ll leave a deep impression on the audience, but it’s too
[04:34.00]expensive. I suppose we produce alternative ads that are pre-tested in
[04:40.00]different kinds of media before making a final choice.
[04:45.00] Q: What are the man and woman going to do next?
[05:05.00]17. M: I’m reading Thomas Hardy now. This term we are studying Tess of the
[05:12.00]d’Urbervilles. Have you read it?
[05:14.00] W: I read it once. It seems that the people are in situations beyond
[05:19.00]their control. I would rather read a recreational book. I don’t want to
[05:23.00]end up feeling depressed.
[05:29.00]Q: What does the woman think of Tess of the d’Urbervilles?
[05:45.00]18. M: I read a job ad for an English interpreter, but I’m afraid I’m not
[05:52.00] qualified. They said they want someone experienced.
[05:56.00] W: It’s easy. You can call the company and tell them you’re a quick
[06:00.00]learner and you would not let them down if they could give you a chance.
[06:05.00] Q: What does the woman suggest the man do?
[06:23.00]Now you’ll hear two long conversations.
[06:27.00]Conversation One
[06:29.00]M: I want to do something tonight for a change; let’s go
[06:33.00]to the movies.
[06:35.00]W: In this heat? Are you joking?
[06:36.00]M: We can go to an outdoor movie. Do you think I’d suggest an
[06:40.00]indoor one in the middle of the summer in San Diego?
[06:43.00]W: I’d rather go out for a meal. The outdoor movies are so uncomfortable.
[06:48.00]M: Why don’t we do both at the same time? We could pick up some
[06:52.00]take-away food and eat it in the movie.
[06:56.00]W: That sounds like fun. But they never show any good films in the summer.
[07:00.00]At least not any of the new ones. All you get is the old classics. It’s
[07:04.00]just what we’ve seen half a dozen times.
[07:08.00]M: But that’s why they’re classics. They’re worth seeing again and again.
[07:12.00]W: Another objection to outdoor movies is that you can never hear properly.
[07:18.00]You hear all the traffic from outside.
[07:20.00]M: Well, we can find a foreign film with printed translation at the bottom
[07:24.00]of the screen, then you don’t need to hear the sound. I think it would be
[07:29.00]fun to sit watching an old film and eating a meal at the same time.
[07:34.00]W: Last time I went to an outdoor movie, I bought a bar of chocolate to
[07:38.00]eat as I went in. It was a horror film and I was so shocked I just sat
[07:44.00]there holding my bar of chocolate until the interval when I found it had
[07:48.00]melted in my hand and run all down my dress.
[07:52.00]That was an expensive evening out.
[07:55.00]M: Well, we don’t go and see a horror film, darling,
[07:58.00]and take-away meals don’t melt.
[08:01.00]Questions 19 to 21 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
[08:07.00]19. What are the two speakers talking about?
[08:27.00]20. Which is one of the reasons for the woman’s objection to outdoor movies?
[08:50.00]21. What are two speakers possibly going to do tonight?
[09:11.00]Conversation Two
[09:14.00]M: Last time, we outlined how the Civil War finally got started.
[09:18.00]I want to talk today about the political management of the war
[09:22.00]on both sides: the north under Abraham Lincoln and the south
[09:27.00]under Jefferson Davis. An important task for both of these
[09:31.00]presidents was to justify for their citizens just why the
[09:35.00]war was necessary.
[09:37.00]W: It started in 1861, on July 4th when Lincoln gave his
[09:42.00]first major speech, right?
[09:44.00]M: Yes, in the speech he presented the northern reasons for
[09:48.00]the war. It was, he said, to preserve democracy, Lincoln
[09:53.00]suggested that this war was a noble campaign that would
[09:56.00]determine the future of democracy throughout the world.
[10:00.00]For him the issue was whether or not this government of
[10:04.00]the people, by the people could maintain its integrity,
[10:08.00]could it remain complete and survive its domestic foes.
[10:12.00]In other words, could a few discontented individuals and
[10:20.00]by that he meant those who led the southern rebellion, could
[10:20.00]they break up the government and put an end to free government on earth?
[10:25.00]W：The best way for the nation to survive was to crush the rebellion, right?
[10:31.00]M: At the time, he was hopeful that the war wouldn’t last
[10:33.00]long and the slave owners would be put down forever, but he
[10:39.00]underestimated how difficult the war would be. It would be
[10:42.00]harder than any the Americans had thought before or since,
[10:46.00]largely because the north had to break the will of the southern
[10:50.00]people, not just by its army. But Lincoln rallied northerners
[10:54.00]to a deep commitment to the cause and achieved the success.
[10:59.00]Questions 22 to 25 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
[11:05.00]22. What is the conversation mainly about?
[11:26.00]23. What does the speaker imply about the purpose of Lincoln’s speech?
[11:48.00]24. Who were the discontented individuals Lincoln referred to in his speech?
[12:11.00]25. Why did Lincoln underestimate how difficult the war would be?
[12:33.00]Section B
[12:35.00]Directions: In this section, you will hear 3 short passages.
[12:41.00]At the end of each passage, you will hear some questions. Both the passage
[12:47.00]and the questions will be spoken only once. After you hear a question, you
[12:54.00]must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C) and D).
[13:00.00]Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line
[13:06.00]through the centre.
[13:08.00]Passage One
[13:09.00]Biologists insist that we humans share a common ancestry with all animals,
[13:14.00] and that humans are simply one very special animal which has evolved
[13:18.00]physical and cultural behavior that makes humans unique as the dominant
[13:23.00]animal on the Earth.
[13:26.00]Do you know that humans and apes have a genetic structure in their
[13:30.00]DNA hereditary material which is more than 98% the same?　This should
[13:36.00]not be misunderstood as a negative comment about humans, but as
[13:40.00]a positive comment about the other animals with which we share our
[13:45.00]world. Even simpler animals have many of the same genetic sequences
[13:49.00]of DNA, which permit them to carry on many of the same chemical
[13:54.00]activities in their body cells as we humans do. The process of
[13:59.00]energy production in human—technically called respiration— is
[14:03.00]nearly identical to that of tigers and birds!
[14:07.00]Do animals have a culture? Yes, even scholars in the social
[14:12.00]sciences now insist that animals do have cultures, each type
[14:16.00]of animal having its unique cultural characteristics.
[14:20.00]As part of their culture, we now recognize that some animals
[14:24.00]make and use tools, some animals can clearly share knowledge
[14:29.00]with one another, and some animals have some sort of language
[14:32.00] with which they can communicate. While these animal cultures
[14:37.00]have their limitations, it is possible to share our cultures
[14:40.00] with one another, and this has been done for many centuries.
[14:44.00] From the time that primitive man domesticated animals we have
[14:49.00] shared cultures with these animals. Sharing common resources
[14:52.00]as well as in related behavior, man is not alone in his environment.
[14:59.00]Questions 26 to 28 are based on the passage you have just heard.
[15:06.00]26. What makes human unique according to the passage?
[15:27.00]27.Which is true according to the passage?
[15:49.00]28.What is the limitation of animal cultures according to the passage?
[16:11.00]Passage Two
[16:13.00]Climate researchers still do not agree on whether the earth will
[16:17.00]become warmer during the century. Even more importantly, none of
[16:21.00]them expect the planet to get very much warmer in the foreseeable
[16:26.00] future. They say that the earth is likely to warm by no more than
[16:31.00]2 degrees Centigrade during this century.
[16:35.00]Satellite studies indicated that additional cloud cover would
[16:39.00]moderate any warming trend. Highly accurate satellite data for
[16:45.00]the last nineteen years show a slight cooling of the atmosphere.
[16:50.00]Most of the one-half-degree Centigrade of warming that has occurred
[16:54.00]in the last one-hundred years took place before 1940—before
[16:58.00]humanity put very much CO2 into the air. Thus there is strong
[17:04.00]evidence that the two are unconnected.
[17:07.00]Research has only recently produced a computerized climate model
[17:10.00]able accurately to mimic the weather the world has accurately had.
[17:15.00]This more-accurate model projects only a 2 degree Centigrade
[17:21.00]increase in temperatures.
[17:24.00]Between 900 AD and 1300AD, the earth warmed by some 4 to 7 degrees
[17:31.00]Fahrenheit—almost exactly what the models now predict for this
[17:35.00]century. History books call it the Little Climate Optimum. Written
[17:42.00]and oral history tells us that the warming created one of the most
[17:46.00]favorable periods in human history. Crops were plentiful, death rates
[17:52.00]diminished, and trade and industry expanded—while art and architecture
[17:58.00]flourished.Researchers tell us that we need not fear a return of the
[18:03.00]Little Climate Optimum. If there is any global warming in the 21th century, it
[18:08.00]will produce milder weather that marked the medieval Little Optimum—with the
[18:13.00]added benefit of more CO2 in the atmosphere and therefore a more luxuriant
[18:18.00]natural environment.
[18:21.00]Questions 29 to 31 are based on the passage you have just heard.
[18:26.00]29. Which is true according to the passage?
[18:46.00]30. Which is true about the Little Climate Optimum?
[19:07.00]31. What will happen if CO2 is put into the air?
[19:29.00]Passage Three
[19:30.00]There are many famous museums throughout the world where people can
[19:34.00]enjoy art. Washington D.C. has the National Gallery of Art; Paris has
[19:40.00] the Louvre. Florida International University in Miami also displays
[19:45.00]art for people to see. And it does so without a building, or even a
[19:49.00]wall for its drawings and paintings.
[19:53.00]Florida International University has opened what it says is the first
[19:58.00]computer art museum in the United States. You don’t have to visit the
[20:02.00]university to see the art. You just need a computer linked to a telephone.
[20:08.00]You call the telephone number of a university computer and connect your
[20:12.00]own computer to it. All of the art is stored in the school computer. It
[20:17.00]is computer art, created electronically by artists on their own computers.
[20:22.00]In only a few minutes, your computer can receive and copy all the pictures
[20:27.00] and drawings.
[20:29.00]Robert Shostak is director of the new computer museum. He says he started
[20:33.00]the museum because computer artists had no place to show their work.
[20:38.00]A computer artist could only record his pictures electronically and send
[20:42.00]the records, or discs, to others to see on their computers. He could also
[20:47.00]put his pictures on paper. But to print good pictures on paper, the computer
[20:53.00]artist needed an expensive laser printer.
[20:57.00]Robert Shostak says the electronic museum is mostly for art or computer
[21:02.00]students at schools and universities. Most of the pictures in the museum
[21:06.00]are made by students. Mister Shostak says the Florida International University
[21:12.00]museum will make computer art more fun for computer artists because more
[21:17.00]people can see it. He says artists enjoy their work much more if they can
[21:22.00]have an audience. And the great number of home computers in America could
[21:27.00] mean a huge audience for the electronic museum.
[21:31.00]Questions 32 to 35 are based on the passage you have just heard.
[21:36.00]32. Where is the National Gallery of Art ?
[21:56.00]33. Who made most of the pictures in Florida International University computer museum?
[22:20.00]34. Who is Robert Shostak according to the passage?
[22:41.00]35. What should the artists have if they enjoy their work?
[23:03.00]Section C
[23:04.00]Directions: In this section, you will hear a passage three times. When the
[23:10.00] passage is read for the first time, you should listen carefully for its
[23:15.00] general idea. When the passage is read for the second time, you are required
[23:20.00]to fill in the blanks numbered from 36 to 43 with the exact words you have
[23:26.00] just heard. For blanks numbered from 44 to 46 you are required to fill
[23:34.00]in the missing information. For these blanks, you can either use the exact
[23:40.00]words you have just heard or write down the main points in your own words.
[23:45.00] Finally, when the passage is read for the third time, you should check
[23:50.00]what you have written.
[23:53.00]Now listen to the passage.
[23:55.00]In the late 1960s’, many people in North America turned their attention
[24:01.00] to environmental problems, and new steel-and-glass skyscrapers were
[24:05.00]widely criticized. Ecologists pointed out that a cluster of tall
[24:10.00]buildings in a city often overburdens public transportation and
[24:15.00]parking lot capacities.
[24:17.00]Skyscrapers are also extravagant consumers, and wasters, of electric
[24:22.00]power. In one recent year, the addition of 17 million square feet of
[24:28.00]skyscraper office in New York City raised the peak daily demand for
[24:33.00]electricity by 120,000 kilowatts — enough to supply the entire city
[24:39.00]of Albany, New York, for a day. Glass-walled skyscrapers can be
[24:44.00]especially wasteful. The heat loss through a wall of half-inch
[24:48.00]plate glass is more than ten times that through a typical stone
[24:53.00]wall filled with insulation board. To lessen the strain on heating
[24:58.00] and air-conditioning equipment, builders of skyscrapers have
[25:02.00]begun to use special glass that reduce glare as well as heat
[25:06.00]gain. However, mirror-walled skyscrapers raise the temperature
[25:11.00]of the surrounding air and affect neighboring buildings.
[25:15.00]On top of raising the temperature of the atmosphere, skyscrapers
[25:19.00]put a severe strain on a city’s sanitation facilities, too.
[25:24.00]If fully occupied, the two World Trade Center towers in New York City
[25:29.00]would alone generate 2.25 million gallons of raw waste each year –
[25:35.00] as much as a city the size of Stamford, Connecticut, which has
[25:40.00]a population of more than 109,000.
[25:44.00]Skyscrapers, by all accounts, also interfere with television reception,
[25:49.00] block bird flyways, and obstruct air traffic. In Boston in the
[25:53.00]late 1960’s, some people even feared that shadows from skyscrapers
[25:58.00]would kill the grass on Boston Common. Still, people continue to
[26:04.00]build skyscrapers for all the reasons that they have always built
[26:07.00]them – personal ambition and the desire of owners to have the
[26:12.00] largest possible amount of rentable space.
[26:16.00]Now the passage will be read again.
[26:21.00]In the late 1960s’, many people in North America turned their
[26:26.00]attention to environmental problems, and new steel-and-glass
[26:30.00]skyscrapers were widely criticized. Ecologists pointed out that
[26:35.00]a cluster of tall buildings in a city often overburdens public
[26:39.00]transportation and parking lot capacities.
[26:44.00]Skyscrapers are also extravagant consumers, and wasters, of
[26:47.00]electric power. In one recent year, the addition of 17
[26:51.00]million square feet of skyscraper office in New York City
[26:56.00] raised the peak daily demand for electricity by 120,000
[27:02.00]kilowatts — enough to supply the entire city of Albany, New York,
[27:06.00]for a day. Glass-walled skyscrapers can be especially wasteful.
[27:12.00] The heat loss through a wall of half-inch plate glass is more
[27:16.00] than ten times that through a typical stone wall filled with
[27:21.00] insulation board. To lessen the strain on heating and air-conditioning
[27:24.00] equipment, builders of skyscrapers have begun to use special glass
[27:29.00]that reduce glare as well as heat gain. However, mirror-walled
[27:34.00]skyscrapers raise the temperature of the surrounding air and
[27:38.00]affect neighboring buildings.
[28:31.00]On top of raising the temperature of the atmosphere, skyscrapers
[28:34.00]put a severe strain on a city’s sanitation facilities, too.
[28:40.00]If fully occupied, the two World Trade Center towers in New York
[28:44.00]City would alone generate 2.25 million gallons of raw waste
[28:49.00]each year
[29:41.00]– as much as a city the size of Stamford, Connecticut,
[29:45.00] which has a population of more than 109,000.
[29:49.00]Skyscrapers, by all accounts, also interfere with television
[29:53.00]reception, block bird flyways, and obstruct air traffic.
[30:49.00]In Boston in the late 1960’s, some people even feared that shadows from
[30:54.00]skyscrapers would kill the grass on Boston Common. Still, people
[30:59.00]continue to build skyscrapers for all the reasons that they have
[31:02.00] always built them – personal ambition and the desire of owners
[31:07.00] to have the largest possible amount of rentable space.
[31:12.00]Now the passage will be read for the third time.
[31:15.00]In the late 1960s’, many people in North America turned their
[31:20.00] attention to environmental problems, and new steel-and-glass
[31:24.00]skyscrapers were widely criticized. Ecologists pointed out
[31:29.00]that a cluster of tall buildings in a city often overburdens
[31:33.00]public transportation and parking lot capacities.
[31:38.00]Skyscrapers are also extravagant consumers, and wasters, of
[31:44.00]electric power. In one recent year, the addition of 17 million
[31:47.00] square feet of skyscraper office in New York City raised the
[31:52.00]peak daily demand for electricity by 120,000 kilowatts — enough
[31:57.00] to supply the entire city of Albany, New York, for a day.
[32:02.00]Glass-walled skyscrapers can be especially wasteful. The heat loss
[32:07.00]through a wall of half-inch plate glass is more than ten times that
[32:11.00] through a typical stone wall filled with insulation board. To lessen
[32:16.00] the strain on heating and air-conditioning equipment, builders of
[32:20.00] skyscrapers have begun to use special glass that reduce glare as well
[32:25.00] as heat gain. However, mirror-walled skyscrapers raise the temperature
[32:30.00]of the surrounding air and affect neighboring buildings.
[32:34.00]On top of raising the temperature of the atmosphere, skyscrapers put a
[32:39.00]severe strain on a city’s sanitation facilities, too. If fully occupied,
[32:45.00] the two World Trade Center towers in New York City would alone generate
[32:50.00] 2.25 million gallons of raw waste each year – as much as a city the
[32:57.00]size of Stamford, Connecticut, which has a population of more than 109,000.
[33:04.00]Skyscrapers, by all accounts, also interfere with television reception,
[33:09.00] block bird flyways, and obstruct air traffic. In Boston in the
[33:14.00]late 1960’s, some people even feared that shadows from skyscrapers
[33:19.00]would kill the grass on Boston Common. Still, people continue to build
[33:24.00] skyscrapers for all the reasons that they have always built them –
[33:28.00]personal ambition and the desire of owners to have the largest possible
[33:33.00] amount of rentable space.
[33:36.00]This is the end of listening comprehension