1995年6月听力原文
Section A
1. M: I have never seen such an interesting show. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.
W: I must admit that I felt sleepy during the two hours.
Q: How did the woman feel about the show?
2. W: I can’t figure out what’s wrong with my watch. It was just a month ago that I had it repaired.
M: Don’t waste your time and money any more. It’s very old watch and it is quite worn out.
Q: What does the man mean?
3. M: Oh, what a morning! You know I had so much work to do and the phone just kept ringing. Three sales people called me this morning.
W: I know how it is. I get a lot of calls, too, even on weekends.
Q: What are the two speakers doing?
4. W: You Americans are funny. It seems as if you were married with cars.
M: Yeah, I guess that’s true. The country is becoming one big highway. I was reading that there are about 4 million miles of roads and highways in this country now.
Q: What are they talking about?
5. W: I intend to buy some fruit for the children. These apples and pears seem to be in season. I’ll get 2 dozen of each.
M: I hope they are as good as they look.
Q: What does the man mean?
6. M: Excuse me, but I didn’t hear clearly what you said. Did you say that your teaching assistant would mark the exam papers?
W: No. I said he would collect the papers. I’ll grade them myself.
Q: What did the woman say about the exam?
7. M: I’m getting absolutely nowhere with Physics problems.
W: How about my going through them with you?
Q: What does the woman mean?
8. W: Hi, Jack, I just came back yesterday. Anything new while I was away?
M: Congratulations, Susan! It’s said you will be promoted to manager and become my immediate boss.
Q: What’s most probably the relationship between the two speakers at the moment?
9. M: Of the two houses we have seen, which one do you think fits our needs better, the first one or the second one?
W: The second one. It seems very expensive. But in the long run, it will save up the money on the maintenance.
Q: What does the woman say about the reason for her choice?
10. W: What a memory I have! I did write down the number on a sheet of paper when I answered the phone this morning. But now the paper has disappeared without any trace.
M: Don’t worry. I’ll be seeing Mr. Brown in an hour.
Q: What do we learn from this conversation?
Section B
Passage One
In the early days of railroads horses pulled the trains. The trains had no engines and no power of their own. Richard Traversic of England invented a steam powered engine in 1840. Soon people were building railroads and steam engines all over the world. Because the steam engine did the work that animals used to do, people called them “Iron Horses”. Peter Copper was a rich American businessman. He owned a lot of land near the Bottomhal and Ohio railroad. He wanted the railroad to be successful. He built his own steam engine to drive along the railroad. Most people traveled in coaches drawn by houses. A coach line challenged Peter Copper to a race.
The day of the race came. At first, the horse was winning the race. Peter Copper’s engine needed time to build up steam. He worked hard to make the train go faster. Soon, he was catching up with the horse. He was going to win the race. Suddenly, one of the parts of the engine broke. The train stopped. The horse rushed ahead. Peter Copper lost the race. Of course, that is not the end of the story. By 1870, railroads extended all across the United States. The Iron Horse had become an important part of American life.
Questions 11 to 13 are based on the passage you have just heard.
11. Why did people call steam engines Iron Horses?
12. Why did Peter Copper build his own steam engine?
13. Why did Peter Copper lose the race?
Passage Two
Hollywood produces many different kinds of films, including mysteries, musicals, love stories and horror films. Different these films may be. They generally have one thing in common conflict. The main character wants something very badly and will do anything to get it. The opponent tries to stop the main character from achieving his goal. This opposition creates conflict and conflict is the heart of drama. To give an example. Let’s say the main character is a young man of humble origin, who wants to marry the beautiful daughter of a rich banker. The father thinks the young man is unworthy of his daughter and he does not allow her to see him. The young man, who is very much in love, refuses to give up without a fight. The conflict between the young man and the girl’s father is what makes the story interesting. It forces the main characters to take action and through their action we see them as they really are. In the good story, the main character changes. He is not the same at the end of the story as he was at the beginning. He learns something from watching her. Good movies not only entertain us, they also help us understand a little more about life.
Questions 14 to 16 are based on the passage you have just heard.
14. What is common to all the films produced in Hollywood?
15. What usually happens to the main character in a good story?
16. What can we learn from good movies?
Passage Three
In a way, all of us are on a spaceship-the planet Earth. We move around the sun at 18 miles per second and never stop. On our spaceship, we have 5 billion people and limited supply of air, water an land. These supplies have to be used carefully because we can’t buy new air, water or land from anywhere else. Environment on our planet is a closed system. Nothing new is ever added. Nature recycles its resources. Water, for example, evaporates and rises as visible drops to form clouds. The same water returns to the earth as rain or snow. The rain that falls today is actually the same water that fell on the land 70 million years ago. Today, the earth is in trouble. Factories pour dirty water into our rivers, many fish and water becomes unhealthy for people to get sick. People throw bottles and paper out of their car windows and roadside becomes covered with all sorts of wastes. Over the years people have changed environment and we have pollution. To continue to survive, we must learn how to use the earth resources wisely. We have to change out habits and stop dropping such enormous amounts of industrial waste into the water and air. We must cooperate with nature and learn better ways to use, not abuse our environment.
Questions 17 to 20 are based on the passage you have just heard.
17. Why does the speaker compare the earth to a spaceship?
18. How fast does the planet Earth travel around the sun?
19. Why does the speaker advise us to use the earth resources wisely?
20. What message is the speaker trying to convey?