听力原文

Short Conversations
11.
W: Did you watch the 7 o’clock program on Channel 2 yesterday evening? I was about to watch it when someone came to see me.
M: Yeah. It reported some major breakthroughs in cancer research. People over 40 would find the program worth watching.
Q: What do we learn from the conversation about the TV program?
12.
W: I won the first prize in the national writing contest and I got this camera as an award.
M: It’s a good camera. You can take it when you travel. I had no idea you were a marvelous writer.
Q: What do we learn from the conversation?
13.
M: I wish I hadn’t thrown away that waiting list.
W: I thought you might regret it. That’s why I picked it up from the waste paper basket and left it on the desk.
Q: What do we learn from the conversation?
14.
W: Are you still teaching at the junior high school?
M: Not since June. My brother and I opened a restaurant as soon as he got out of the army.
Q: What do we learn about the man from the conversation?
15.
M: Hi, Susan. Have you finished reading the book Prof. Johnson recommended?
W: Oh, I haven’t read it through the way I’d read a novel. I just read a few chapters which interested me.
Q: What does the woman mean?
16.
M: Jane missed class again, didn’t she? I wonder why.
W: Well, I knew she had been absent all week, so I called her this morning to see if she was sick. It turned out that her husband was badly injured in a car accident.
Q: What does the woman say about Jane?
17.
W: I’m sure that Smith’s new house is somewhere on this street, but I don’t know exactly where it is.
M: But I’m told it’s two blocks from their old home.
Q: What do we learn from the conversation?
18.
W: I’ve been waiting here almost half an hour. How come it took it so long?
M: Sorry, honey. I had to drive two blocks before I spotted a place to park the car.
Q: What do we learn from the conversation?

Long Conversation 1:
-Hello, I have a reservation for tonight.
-Your name, please?
-Nelson, Charles Nelson.
-Ok, Mr. Nelson, that’s a room for 5 and …
-Excuse me? You mean a room for 5 pounds? I didn’t know the special was so good.
-No, no, no, according to our records, a room for 5 guests was booked under your name.
-No, no, hold on. You must have two guests under the name.
-OK, let me check this again. Oh, here we are.
-Yes?
-Charles Nelson, a room for one for the nineteen…
-Wait, wait, it was for tonight, not tomorrow night.
-Ehm, hmm, I don’t think we have any rooms for tonight. There is a conference going on in town and, er, let’s see, yeah, no rooms.
-Oh, come on, you must have something, anything!
-Well, let, let me check my computer here. Ah!
-What?
-There has been a cancelation for this evening. A honeymoon suite is now available.
-Great, I’ll take it.
-But I’ll have to charge you a hundred and fifty pounds for the night.
-What? I should get a discount for the inconvenience!
-Well, the best I can give you is a 10% discount, plus a ticket for a free continental breakfast.
-Hey, isn’t the breakfast free anyway?
-Well, only on weekends.
-I want to talk to the manager.
-Wait, wait, wait, Mr. Nelson, I think I can give you an additional 15% discount!
Questions 19 to 22 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
19. What is the man’s problem?
20. Why did the hotel clerk say they didn’t have any rooms for that night?
21. What did the clerk say about the breakfast in the hotel?
22. What did the man imply he would do at the end of the conversation?

Long Conversation 2:
-Sarah, you work in the admission’s office, don’t you?
-Yes, I’m, I’ve been here 10 years as an assistance director.
-Really? What does that involve?
-Well, I’m in charge of all the admissions of post graduate students in the university.
-Only post graduates?
-Yes, post graduates only. I have nothing at all to do with undergraduates.
-Do you find that you get a particular...sort of different national groups? I mean you get larger numbers from Latin America or…
-Yes, well, of all the students enrolled last year, nearly half were from overseas. They were from the Afican countries, the far east, the middle east and Latin America.
-Ehm, but have you been doing just that for the last 10 years or have you done other things?
-Well, I’ve been doing the same job, ehm, before that I was a secretary of the medical school at Birmingham, and further back I worked in the local government.
-Oh, I see.
-So I’ve done different types of things.
-Yes, indeed. How do you imagine your job might develop in the future? Can you imagine shifting into a different kind of responsibility or doing something…?
-Oh, yeah, from October 1st I’ll be doing an entirely different job. There is going to be more committee work. I mean, more policy work, and less dealing with students unfortunately. I’ll miss my contact with students.
Questions 23 to 25 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
23. What is the woman’s present position?
24. What do we learn about the post graduates enrolled last year in the woman’s university?
25. What will the woman’s new job be like?

Section A Compound Dictation

Students’ pressure sometimes comes from their parents. Most parents are well-meaning, but some of them aren’t very helpful with the problems their sons and daughters have in adjusting to college. And a few of them seem to go out of their way to add to their children’s difficulties. For one thing, parents are often not aware of the kinds of problems their children face. They don’t realize that the competition is keener, that the required standards of work are higher, and that their children may not be prepared for the change. Accustomed to seeing As and Bs on high school report cards, they may be upset when their children’s first semester college grades are below that level. At their kindest, they may gently enquire why John or Mary isn’t doing better, whether he or she is trying as hard as he or she should, and so on. At their worst, they may threaten to take their children out of college or cut off funds. Sometimes parents regard their children as extensions of themselves and think it only right and natural that they determine what their children do with their lives. In their involvement and identification with their children, they forget that everyone is different and that each person must develop in his or her own way. They forget that their children, who are now young adults, must be the ones responsible for what they do and what they are.

Short Passages

Passage 1
My mother was born in a small town in northern Italy. She was three when her parents immigrated to America in 1926. They lived in Chicago, where my grandfather worked making ice-cream. Mama thrived in the urban environment. At 16, she graduated first in her high school class, went on to secretarial school and finally worked as an executive secretary for a rare wood company. She was beautiful too. When a local photographer used her pictures in his monthly window display, she felt pleased. Her favorite portrait showed her sitting by Lake Michigan, her hair wind-blown, her gaze reaching towards the horizon.
My parents were married in 1944. Dad was a quiet and intelligent man. He was 17 when he left Italy. Soon after, a hit-and-run accident left him with a permanent limp. Dad worked hard selling candy to Chicago office workers on their break. He had little formal schooling. His English was self-taught. Yet he eventually built a small successful whole-sale candy business. Dad was generous and handsome. Mama was devoted to him. After she married, my mother quit her job and gave herself to her family.
In 1950, with three small children, Dad moved the family to a farm 40 miles from Chicago. He worked the land and commuted to the city to run his business. Mama said good-bye to her parents and friends and traded her busy city neighborhood for a more isolated life. But she never complained.
Questions 26 to 28 are based on the passage you have just heard:
26: What does the speaker tell us about his mother’s early childhood?
27: What do we learn about the speaker’s father?
28: What does the speaker say about his mother?

Passage 2
During a 1995 roof collapse, a fire fighter named Donald Herbert was left brain damaged. For 10 years he was unable to speak. Then one Saturday morning, he did something that shocked his family and doctors – he started speaking. “I want to talk to my wife,” Donald Herbert said out of the blue. Staff members of the nursing home where he has lived for more than 7 years rose to get Linda Herbert on the telephone. “It was the first of many conversations the 44-year-old patient had with his family and friends during the 14 hour stretch.” Herbert’s uncle Simon Manka said. “How long have I been away?” Herbert asked. “We told him almost 10 years.” The uncle said. He thought it was only three months.
Herbert was fighting a house fire Dec. 29, 1995, when the roof collapsed burying him underneath. After going without air for several minutes, Herbert was unconscious for two and a half months and has undergone therapy ever since.
News accounts in the days and years after his injury, described Herbert as blind and with little, if any, memory. A video shows him receiving physical therapy, but apparently unable to communicate and with little awareness of his surroundings. Manka declined to discuss his nephew’s current condition or whether the apparent progress was continuing. “The family was seeking privacy while doctors evaluated Herbert,” he said. As word of Herbert’s progress spread, visitors streamed into the nursing home. “He is resting comfortably,” the uncle told them.
Questions 29 to 32 are based on the passage you have just heard.
29: What happened to Herbert 10 years ago?
30: What surprised Donald Herbert’s family and doctors one Saturday?
31: How long did Herbert remain unconscious?
32: How did Herbert’s family react to the public attention?

Passage 3
Almost all states in America have a state fair. They last for one, two or three weeks. The Indiana state fair is one of the largest and oldest state fairs in the United States. It is held every summer.
It started in 1852. Its goals were to educate, share ideas and present Indiana’s best products. The cost of a single ticket to enter the fair was 20 cents. During the early 1930’s, officials of the fair ruled that people could attend by paying something other than money. For example, farmers brought a bag of grain in exchange for a ticket.
With the passage of time, the fair has grown and changed a lot. But it is still one of the Indiana’s celebrated events. People from all over Indiana and from many other states attend the fair.
They can do many things at the fair. They can watch the judging of the priced cows, pigs and other animals. They can see sheep getting their wool cut and they can learn how that wool is made into clothing. They can watch cows giving birth. In fact, people can learn about animals they would never see except other fair. The fair provides the chance for the farming community to show its skills and fun products. For example, visitors might see the world’s largest apple or the tallest sun flower plant.
Today, children and adults at the fair can play new computer games or attempt more traditional games of skill. They can watch performances put on by famous entertainers. Experts say such fairs are important because people need to remember that they are connected to the earth and its products and they depend on animals for many things.
Questions 33 to 35 are based on the passage you have just heard:
33: What were the main goals of the Indiana state fair when it started?
34: How did some farmers give entrance to the fair in the early 1930’s?
35: Why are state fairs important events in the America?

Students’ pressure sometimes comes from their parents. Most parents are well-meaning, but some of them aren’t very helpful with the problems their sons and daughters have in adjusting to college. And a few of them seem to go out of their way to add to their children’s difficulties. For one thing, parents are often not aware of the kinds of problems their children face. They don’t realize that the competition is keener, that the required standards of work are higher, and that their children may not be prepared for the change. Accustomed to seeing As and Bs on high school report cards, they may be upset when their children’s first semester college grades are below that level. At their kindest, they may gently enquire why John or Mary isn’t doing better, whether he or she is trying as hard as he or she should, and so on. At their worst, they may threaten to take their children out of college or cut off funds. Sometimes parents regard their children as extensions of themselves and think it only right and natural that they determine what their children do with their lives. In their involvement and identification with their children, they forget that everyone is different and that each person must develop in his or her own way. They forget that their children, who are now young adults, must be the ones responsible for what they do and what they are.