四级听写
1. Insects
Nobody likes insects. They are annoying and sometimes dangerous. Some of them bite us and give us diseases; others bite us and give us big red spots. Some do not bite, but just fly around our heads or crawl around our houses and gardens. /
Indeed, we do not like most of them except those lovely butterflies. / But insects are interesting. Firstly, they are very old animals. Three hundred and twenty million years ago, there were no man in the world, but there were insects. Today, on every square mile of land there are millions of them flying and crawling about. Secondly, insects are very adaptable to their surroundings, so that today there are about a million different species in the world.
Why then do some people try to kill insects? After all, not many of them hurt us. The reason is that they eat so much of man’s food and there are so many of them. (158 words)
2. A Protest against Injustice
It all started on a bus one day in 1955. A black woman was returning home from work after a long hard day. She sat near the front of the bus because she was tired and her legs hurt. But in those days, black people could sit only in the back of the bus. So the driver ordered the woman to give up her seat. But the woman refused, and she was arrested.
Incidents like this had happened before. But no one had ever spoken out against such treatment of blacks. This time, however, a young black preacher organized a protest. He called on all black citizens to stop riding the buses until the laws were changed. He led the protest movement to end such injustice to the blacks. The protest marked the beginning of the civil rights movement in the United States. (146 words)
3. Foolish Tests
Centuries ago, a man accused of a crime / often had to go through a strange test. / In one country, for instance, a metal bar was dropped into boiling oil. / The prisoner had to put his hand into the oil and take out the bar. / It was believed that the oil would not burn an innocent man. / If the prisoner got his hand burned, he would be found guilty of the crime he was accused of. / Another foolish method was used in Europe. / When a man was accused of a crime, he was thrown into a pool or river. / If he floated, people declared that he was guilty. / They took him out of the water and punished him. / However, if the man sank, people claimed that he was innocent. / They pulled him out of the water quickly and released him. / We do not know what would have happened / if the man had learned to swim under the water. (160 words)
4. Why Do People Want Work?
People work because they need money to live. / They need money for food and clothes and to pay for their houses, flats or the rooms where they live. / People need money for
many different things / and they can earn money if they work. / Work makes people feel important. / Work makes them feel that they are useful. /
But machines can not do many things that people used to do. / Technology is giving us more cars, roads and food but less work. / Many businessmen believe that we will soon have robots / which will work all the time. / The robots will never complain or stop work. / Some scientists think that by the year 2025 / intelligent animals will do the work that many people do now. /
In tomorrow’s world, / people will need to learn new things / because life will be changing so fast. / People will have to change their ideas about work. / (152 words)
5. The Great Depression
The stock market crash in October 1929 / marked the beginning of the worst economic crisis in American history. / For the first year, the economy fell very slowly. / But it dropped sharply in 1931 and 1932. / By the end of 1932, the economy collapsed almost completely. /
During the three years following the stock market crash, / the American gross national product dropped by almost half. / Millions of people lost their jobs. / Tens of thousands lost their homes. / Men with wives and children begged for money on the streets. / During the next several years, / a large part of the richest nation on earth / learned what it meant to be poor. /
Hard times found their way into every area and every job. / Workers struggled as factories closed. / Farmers hit with falling prices and natural disasters / were forced to give up their farms. / Businessmen lost their stores, and sometimes their homes. / All the gains of the 1920s were washed away. (154 words)
6. Learning to describe
All through my boyhood and youth, I was known as an idle person, / and yet I was always busy with my own private affairs, / which was to learn to write. / I always kept two books in my pocket, / one to read, and the other to write in. / As I walked, my mind was busy / fitting what I saw with appropriate words. / When I sat by the roadside, / I would either read, / or note down the features of the scene / or write some lines of verse. / Thus I lived with words. / What I wrote was not for future use, / but was written consciously for practice. / Description was the principal field of my exercise. That was a proficiency that tempted me, and I practiced to acquire it. To anyone with sense, there is always something worth describing. (138 words)
7. Angel Falls
Angel Falls, deep in the jungles of Latin America, is the highest waterfall in the world. / It is over 1,000 feet higher / than any other fall in the world. / Imagine that you are going
there by plane. / For hundreds of miles you fly southeast over green plains, / mountains with forests, and high plateaus. / Suddenly you see a silver thread in the distance. / As your plane flies closer, / you see water falling over half a mile straight down the cliff. / It is such an impressive sight that you will never forget it. /
No one knew about the waterfall until 1930, / when James Angel, an American pilot, / was flying over the mountains and canyons in the area. / He suddenly saw a waterfall. / The water seemed to be dropping straight out of the clouds. /
In 1941 an American expedition explored and measured the falls. / From the top to the bottom, / the water falls more than 3,200 feet. / (152 words)
8. Fixing a Flat Tire
I was coming home along the motorway the other night / when I heard a sudden bang. / Immediately I realized that I had a flat tire. /
I managed to stop without falling off, / but I still had the problem of what to do about the tire. / With a motorbike, you have to take the wheel off, / find the hole, cover it with a little piece of rubber, / then put the whole lot hack together again. / It takes ages and you get very dirty. / As I didn't have any choice, I set to work. / It didn't take long to get the wheel off / and it wasn't too hard to remove the tire from the wheel. / Finding the hole took longer / but the fun really began / when I had to put the wheel back on the bike. / You’ve no idea how easy it is to lose / small pieces of a motorbike in the dark. / (155 words)
9. Pace of Public Speech
Pace refers to how fast or how slow you speak. / If you speak too fast, you may be difficult to follow. / If you speak too slow, / you risk losing the attention of your audience. / If audience attention seems to be drifting away, / try picking up your pace. / Usually you don't know / that you have been going too fast until someone tells you so / after your speech is over. / If you are told this, guard against this mistake in the future. / In your next speech / write reminders on your note cards to slow down. /
Ideally the speaker varies his or her pace. / Speaking fast and then slowing down helps keep the attention of the audience. / Also, don't forget the benefits of pausing. / A pause before or after a dramatic moment is a highly effective technique. / The next time you are watching a comedian on television, / watch how he or she uses pauses. / (154 words)
10. The Wolf and the Shepherd
A wolf had long hung about a flock of sheep, / and had done them no harm. / The shepherd, however, had his suspicions, / and for a while was always on the lookout for him / as a dangerous enemy. / But as the wolf continued for a long time to follow his flock / without making any attempt to annoy them, / the shepherd began to look upon him more as a friend than an enemy. / One day the shepherd happened to have to go into the city, / so
he entrusted the sheep to the care of the wolf. / The wolf saw his opportunity and fell upon the sheep and ate them up. / On his return, the shepherd saw his flock destroyed / and exclaimed: "What a fool I am! / I deserve no less for trusting my sheep to a wolf! " / The moral of the fable is: / There is more danger from a pretended friend than from an open enemy. / (159 words)
11. A Strange Man
There is a story about a man who behaves very strangely. / What others like, he dislikes, / and what most people enjoy, he doesn’t care for. /
He is extremely particular about selecting the correct tie to wear with his suit, / but it doesn't bother him if his shirt is dirty / or his suit isn’t pressed. /
He always sees the negative side of things. / He finds fault with the best movie of the year, / but stays awake until two o’clock in the morning / watching very old movies on television. / Even his taste in food is peculiar. / He drinks warm water and cold tea, / eats raw eggs and can't stand fresh fruit.
Last week his uncle died and left him a million dollars. / In his will, the old man insisted that the nephew spend / half the inheritance within the next five years. / If he didn’t, the money would be given to a university. / Everyone is anxious to know what the nephew will do. / (163 words)
12. Why Should I Take a Part-time job?
The first obvious reason is the money. / I am not one of those rich kids / whose parents could give them cars as birthday presents. / My parents have worked all their lives / and saved every penny to pay my tuition and living expenses. / Although they would be willing to give me some pocket money, / if I asked, I prefer to earn it myself. / I feel good that I can in a way / lighten the burden of my parents.
The second reason is the experience my part-time job provides. / Sooner or later, I'll have to enter the job market and sell myself. / And if I am to sell myself for a good price, / experience will make a difference. / While working, I get to know people / employers as well as workers. / I learn how to deal with the bosses / and how to get along with my fellow workers. / All this experience gained from my part-time job / will be valuable to my future. / (169 words)
13. Badminton
Badminton is a fast game played by two or four persons. / It can be played both indoors and outdoors. / The outdoor game is more suitable for family enjoyment at home. / Badminton is an ancient game, which took its name from the place where the game was played indoors for the first time. / There are several explanations of how the modern game began. / One is that English army officers brought the game home from India in the
1870s and it soon became popular in England. /
Badminton trains the player's ability to react quickly with his eyes, his mind, his feet and his hand. / Becoming a good player requires physical fitness and mental effort. / Constant practice and habits of concentration and confidence are necessary. / The great players of the game have often been great sportsmen. / This is apparent in their conduct both on and off the court. / (146 words)
14. Animated Cartoons
When we see Mickey Mouse on the screen, / we all know that he is not a real mouse at all. / Yet like a living creature, he moves and talks. / How can Mickey Mouse move around, / tell jokes and do tricks in an animated cartoon? /
The first thing that needs to be done / is to divide the script or the movie story into sections / and illustrate each section separately. / A full-length cartoon feature needs hundreds of thousands of drawings. / When all the drawings are completed, they are photographed by a motion picture camera. /
There is much more to a cartoon film than drawings. / It sometimes takes hundreds of artists to work for years to produce one. / Actors and singers are selected to give voices to the drawn pictures. / Music is specially composed and fitted into the movie. / No wonder cartoon characters are fun to watch, / whether seen at home on television or in a movie theater. / (158 words)
15. The Nursing Staff
The physicians in a hospital form the core of the medical staff. / But they could not provide effective medical care to their patients without the help of numerous nurses. / For the patients, the nursing staff is particularly important. / Nurses are usually in close contact with patients / as long as they are in the hospital. /
The nursing staff is usually quite large and diverse. / The general term “nurse” refers to a person / trained to offer bedside care to sick persons. /
A nurse does not study for as many years as a doctor. / However, she must be very dedicated. / Caring for the sick requires a great deal of patience and concern. / Most nurses work long days, / and they often must work at odd hours or during the night. / Serving as a nurse in a hospital can be a very rewarding job. / But not every person is suited to become one. / (151 words)
16. The Supermarket
In almost all supermarkets there are shopping carts with a special space to put the baby. In the early days, before there were carts, it was noticed that as soon as a woman shopper had her arms full of goods, she stopped buying. Thus carts were introduced. Later a space for the baby was provided in the cart because it was observed that with the baby
sitting comfortably in the cart the mother felt less need to hurry through the store and consequently bought more.
The average American housewife goes to the supermarket twice a week. On the average she spends one or two hours there each week. Women don’t go to the supermarket just to buy food. Visiting the supermarket is the housewife's chance to get away from home for a while. In the supermarket she feels that she is part of the outside world. She gets to know all the new products. Frequently she meets a number of her friends in the supermarket. (167 words)
17. Changes in Fashions
Women's fashions tend to change more rapidly and radically than men’s. In the early 1900s, all women wore their skirts down to the ankle. Today, skirt length varies from floor-length to ten inches above the knee. Women’s shoes have also gone through all sorts of changes in the last seventy years. For example, boots for women were very common around the turn of the century. Then, for years, they were not considered fashionable. Today they are back in style again in all colors, lengths, and materials. In fact, today's women can wear all sorts of clothes, even slacks and shorts, on almost any occasion. While all of these changes were taking place in women's fashions, men's clothing remained pretty much the same until a couple of years ago. In fact, most men still wear the traditional suit though bright colors and varieties in cut are now more common. (153 words)
18. The Future of the Cinema
The cinema became the greatest entertainment industry in the world because millions of people paid to see films. But today, in many countries, more and more people prefer to watch television. In countries where a lot of people watch television, fewer and fewer films are made, and there are fewer and fewer cinemas to show them. But this does not mean that there will come a time when no films are made and there are no cinemas left.
The cinema did not really become a form of art for many years. Most films were made for entertainment only. But a number of film directors have always tried to do more than entertain. And their films have been works of art. In the future this kind of film will become more and more important. The cinema, which began as entertainment, may perhaps live on as art. (151 words)
19. Football in England
What is surprising about football in England is the great knowledge of the game which even the smallest boys seem to have. They can tell you the names of the players on most of the important teams. They know the results of large numbers of matches. They will tell you, with an air of authority, who will win such and such a match, and their opinion is usually as valuable as that of men three or four times their age.
Most schools in England take football seriously. They believe that education is not merely a matter of filling a boy's mind with facts in the classroom. It also means character training. And one of the best ways of training character is by means of games, especially such team games as football. The schools, therefore, regularly arrange games and matches for their pupils. (145 words)
20. Life
Life is difficult. Life is a series of problems. What makes life difficult is that the process of facing and solving problems is a painful one. Problems, depending on their nature, cause in us sadness or loneliness or regret or anger or fear. And since life poses an endless series of problems, life is always difficult and full of pain as well as joy.
Yet, it is in this process of solving problems that life has its meaning. It is only because of problems that we grow mentally. When we desire to encourage the growth of the human spirit, we challenge and encourage the human capacity to solve problems, just as in school we set problems for our children to solve. It is through the pain of meeting and working out problems that we learn. It is for this reason that wise people learn not to dread but actually to welcome the pain of problems. (157 words)
21. Going on a Tour
Have you ever been a tourist? If so, did you enjoy every part of your tour? Your tour was almost certainly easier and more comfortable than the journeys of a hundred years ago. Today you can fly in comfortable planes and stay in good hotels. The countries that you visit all try to make your tour as enjoyable as possible.
Not very long ago, a tourist had to be either rich or ready to bear very rough conditions. Today it is not necessary to be rich in order to be a tourist. More and more people leave their own countries for holidays in foreign lands. The tourist industry has become very important.
At present most of these tourists go to countries in Europe. Italy usually attracts most tourists. Mountain lovers go to Switzerland in winter and sun-lovers from northern lands crowd the shores of the Mediterranean Sea in summer. (153 words)
22. My First Day Abroad
When the plane finally touched down on the runway, I was terribly scared. I didn't know how they were going to receive me. At the airport I passed through immigration and customs, and entered a big hall. Sitting next to me were a young man and a woman and three children running about. A singing group sang a welcome song for a group of students from America. I was green with jealousy and was very disappointed since nobody was there waiting for me! I found a telephone, called Friendship Ambassadors, and told them I had arrived. Later that night the founder of the organization told me that they hadn't
received my telegram, so they couldn't meet me on my arrival. I felt better when some warm-hearted people treated me very kindly that night. I will never forget my first experience going abroad. (147 words)
23. Senior Citizens
People over the age of sixty-five in the United States are called senior citizens. The number of these people is increasing rapidly because people are living longer than before. Their life is different from that of younger Americans. Most of them are retired or no longer work full time.
For many senior citizens, the years after sixty-five are not enjoyable. They feel that their lives lose meaning after retirement. In addition, they may feel lonely being away from their families and the contacts they had in their work. Moreover, they become more worried about their health as they grow older, and about their safety if they live in big cities. Other senior citizens enjoy their lives. They feel free to do what they were not able to when they were working and raising families. They now have time to enjoy hobbies and sports and travel. (148 words)
24. Thanksgiving Day
The American Thanksgiving Day goes back to 1621. In that year a special feast was prepared in Plymouth, Massachusetts. The colonists who had settled there had left England to find religious freedom. They experienced many difficulties in coming across the Atlantic. After arriving in the new land, they were assisted by the Indians. They had much to be thankful for. Their religious practices were no longer forbidden. They learned to adjust their farming habits to the climate and soil. When they selected the fourth Thursday of November for their Thanksgiving celebration, they invited the Indians to join them in dinner and a prayer of gratitude for the new life. They recalled the group of 102 men, women and children who left England. They remembered their dead who did not live to see the shores of Massachusetts. They reflected on the 35-day journey which tested their strength. (146 words)
25. Chinese Food
The first time I ever ate Chinese food I loved it. From then on, it tasted better and better. The first thing I noticed was the fresh taste of the meat and vegetables. When I learned more about the food, I began to understand why it is so.
In ancient times, China lost much of its wood due to overpopulation and poor management of its forests. Wood became very expensive and hard to get, so the Chinese had to either find something else to use, or learn how to use wood better. In order to use as little wood as they could, they started cutting their meat and vegetables into small pieces before they put them into the hot oil. In that way the food cooked faster and they saved
wood. The food kept its fresh flavor, and it’s this flavor that attracts people to the art of Chinese cooking. (152 words)
26. Sugar
Sugar has been known to man for at least 3,000 years, but has come into common use only in modern times. Until quite recently, it was considered a medicine and a luxury for the very rich.
But what exactly is sugar? Of course, most of us recognize it immediately as the sweet material we put in coffee or cakes. This common form of sugar is derived from such plants as the sugar cane. But in fact there are many kinds of sugar, and the chemist recognizes hundreds of different varieties.
About 90% of the sugar produced is used as food. Only 10% is used in industry for purposes other than food production. Yet sugar has great possibilities for use as the basis of chemicals. It can even be used for making plastics. In the future, these potential uses of sugar will certainly be developed more fully than in the past. (149 words)
27. Working Wives
Should married women work outside the home? The question seems almost odd today although it was a serious one in the past. More and more married women are working and for most of them the reason is obvious. They must work if their families are to survive in an age of soaring inflation and unemployment. But what about those who don't really have to work? Do the rewards justify their efforts? The answer is pretty clearly yes.
In families in which the wife has a choice, the extra paycheck may ease the financial burden on her husband. For young couples, it may mean the possibility of buying a house of their own. Unless the wife works, buying a house is simply out of the question. Another important reason is that a job provides a wife with additional security, psychological as well as financial, in the event of the illness or death of her husband. (157 words)
28. Benefits of Urban Life
In spite of the city's image as an unhealthy place, city living often provides benefits that country living lacks. That's why people living in urban areas often live longer than those in the country.
One factor which seems to contribute to their long life is exercise. In the cities it is often faster and less frustrating to walk short distances than to wait for a bus. Even taking public transportation often requires some walking. Smaller apartment houses have no elevators and so tenants must climb stairs. City dwellers usually have to walk to local supermarkets. Since parking space is hard to find, there is often no alternative to walking.
On the other hand, those who live in the country do not have to walk every day. In fact, the opposite is often true. To go to work, school or almost anywhere else, they must ride in
cars. (152 words)
29. Disadvantages of Living in Big Cities
Although big modern cities provide people with many facilities, they certainly have their disadvantages.
The first serious problem is the traffic. During the rush hours, wherever you look it’s people, people, people. All the streets are jammed with packed buses and endless lines of cars. As a result, traffic accidents often occur. Next comes the problem of pollution. Factories and vehicles are constantly giving off harmful smoke, so that urban people seem to have forgotten what fresh air is like. Every year, millions of people die of cancer or other diseases caused by air-pollution.
Apart from these, there are many more. For example, there is the housing problem. And another is the high crime rate. Finally, urban dwellers are so far away from nature that most of them just lose track of seasons !(140 words)
30. The Great American Game
Baseball is called the great American game. Hardly a boy in the U. S. has grown up without playing it. The game is so much a part of American life that its terms have become the common everyday speech of the people. Scores of baseball terms are used by people who may never have seen a game in their life.
During World War II, Germans dressed in American uniforms turned up behind the American lines. Many of them spoke English so well that they passed themselves off as American soldiers. However, the U. S. Army found a way to tell which were false and which were real. They halted strange soldiers at check-points and asked them questions about baseball and some of the star players. Genuine Americans could answer the questions easily. But the Germans, who couldn't, were promptly made prisoners of war. (146 words)
31. The U.S. Coast Guard
The U. S. Coast Guard does what its name says. It has responsibility for many different duties. The Coast Guard can be found at many large lakes in America and in coastal waters. It enforces laws controlling navigation, immigration, and fishing. It enforces other laws that affect the thousands of privately-owned boats in the United States. Coast Guard planes, boats, and helicopters search for missing boats and rescue people in dangerous situations. It also does scientific research on the ocean and clears ice from rivers or lakes, so boats can travel safely.
One of the Coast Guard's most important duties now is to stop drug trafficking into the United States. Armed Coast Guard boats use radio and radar to find boats that may carry drugs. They stop the boats suspected of carrying drugs and search them. They seize
the drugs and arrest the people if they find any illegal drugs aboard. (158 words)
32. Encounter with Strangers
Talking with a stranger will often enrich our knowledge. For instance, a gardener I met in a park told me more about how plants grow than I had ever learned before. Once a taxi driver invited me to tea at his home and helped me learn about a way of life different from my own.
Through talking with strangers, we can learn something about ourselves, for an encounter with a stranger, at its best, is a meeting of hearts and minds. To a stranger, we may say things that we have always wanted to say, but never dared mention to our family members or friends, and thus see ourselves through new eyes.
Meeting a stranger by chance can result in a life-long friendship. Thirty years ago I met a stranger at a station while waiting for a train, and we’ve been friends ever since. Come to think of it, weren't nearly all our friends once strangers? (160 words)
33. Laws
Before laws were written, there was no sure way of knowing what was permitted and what was forbidden. One judge might apply one set of rules to a case while another judge might apply completely different rules to a similar case. It all depended on the personal judgment of one person.
Today we follow the custom of recording our laws. Rules passed by our lawmakers are printed and available for everyone to see. Unless laws are publicly available, we do not regard them as binding.
Each of us is subject to many different sets of laws. Some laws say what is permitted, such as how fast you may drive. Other laws say what is required, such as paying a federal income tax. Still other laws say what is prohibited, such as smoking in elevators. In the United States, federal laws apply to everyone and state laws apply to activities within each state. (154 words)
34. What Can We Do about the Water Pollution Problem?
Water pollution has become a serious problem. Industrial wastes have already made many rivers lifeless. Oil spills in the seas are killing enormous numbers of fish and birds. What is more, polluted water is an increasing danger to public health. It causes people to become ill with all kinds of diseases.
What can we do about it in order to survive on earth? First, we can make great efforts to clean up polluted water and limit further pollution. Second, we can insist that water pollution control laws be passed and strictly enforced. Third, we can personally help to prevent water pollution by not throwing anything into streams or lakes. Finally, we can also protect ourselves against polluted water. If we go on a camping trip, for instance, we
can avoid drinking water that is unsafe and avoid swimming in water that is polluted. By doing so, we may be able to live a healthier life. (164 words)
35. A New Way to Clean Waste Water
American researchers have successfully tested a new way to clean waste water without chemicals. It is based on the fact that waste water is an excellent food for green plants.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency is supporting the test which was carried out at an existing waste water treatment center. The scientists put plants in narrow containers inside a glass building. One end of each container was a little higher than the other and waste water was directed down the containers through the plants’ thick roots. As expected, the roots trapped the wastes in the water and used them for food. At the same time, the plants produced natural gas. The gas could be collected and sold as fuel.
This technique of cleaning waste water is more effective than most chemical systems. Many places in the United States have now begun to use green plants to clean their waste water. (157 words)
36. Heat
If you are asked to name the one factor that has contributed most to modern civilization, you will probably answer “heat”. Modern civilization really began when man learned how to make heat engines. Heat is needed for various purposes in every industry. It is a form of energy. Therefore, studying heat mainly consists in studying changes in the forms of energy. For example, one of the most important uses of electricity is the production of heat. Electricity is used as a source of heat where extremely high temperatures are needed. Let us take another example. When you go into the broad sunshine, you at once become aware that the sun is one of the important sources of heat. If there were no sunlight, life on this earth would be impossible. Indeed, we would all be frozen to death if the sun were cold. (144 words)
37. Eating Habits
City people in my country eat three times a day as the Americans do: breakfast, lunch, and supper or dinner. Meals are served at the following times: morning, noon, and evening. Ordinary families most commonly eat meals of meat, fish, rice, flour, vegetables and fruits. Our eating habits are not very different from those of the Americans.
Americans have their Thanksgiving dinner in late November, in order to celebrate the gratitude of the Pilgrims after their first harvest in the New World. In my country we have a special family dinner on New Year’s Eve in order to celebrate Spring Festival. Also, like many Americans, when I am in a hurry, I just have a snack for lunch. Therefore, it seems that human beings are just the same everywhere; they become hungry about every four to five hours, regardless of nationality. (143 words)
38. Population Growth
A UN report shows that if the present growth rate continues, world population will hit
6. 4 billion by the year 2000.
What’s more, the greatest part of the growth will be in the poor developing countries. These are the nations where providing enough food for millions of people proves to be a difficult problem to solve.
Food isn’t the only problem that such a population explosion presents. The more people there are and the worse their living conditions, the greater the possibility for all kinds of social problems.
Actually, the world’s birth rates are falling. But so are death rates, as medical advances have made it possible for man to live longer than before. Such advances have also reduced infant death rates. Unless population growth is reduced, the world population may reach 12 billion in a century. Is the earth capable of providing a decent life for so large a population?(151 words)
39. A World without TV
Television hasn't been with us very long, but we are already beginning to forget what the world was like without it. Before we admitted the one-eyed monster into our homes, we never found it difficult to occupy our spare time. We used to enjoy civilized pleasures. For instance, we used to have hobbies, we used to entertain our friends and be entertained by them, we used to go outside for our amusement, to theaters, cinemas, restaurants and sporting events. All that belongs to the past. Now all our free time is regulated by that monster. We have even given up sitting at table and having a leisurely meal, exchanging the news of the day. A sandwich and a glass of beer will do—anything, provided it doesn’t interfere with the program. The monster demands absolute silence and attention. If anyone dares to open his mouth during a program, he is quickly silenced.(157 words)
40. Exploring
Explorers have gone all over the world, and most parts of it are well known today, though there are still some forests and mountains about which one would like to know more. But it is not necessary to go abroad in order to learn something new about the world. In our own city or town, even in our own village, there is probably a great deal to be learnt, and certainly no one has seen all that is beautiful or interesting in his own country.
We can usually see mountains that we have not climbed, and if we reach the top of one we can see others in the distance. If we walk along a river we shall find other streams running into it, and wonder where they come from. Every valley gives us a new view. Even on a short walk we may see birds and trees and flowers of which we do not know the names. (159 words)
41. Human Language
Human language is a system of symbols, primarily spoken. It is composed of sounds that describe things, ideas, actions, and the like. Written language uses letters and other signs to represent the sounds of speech.
We learn to read by noticing or being taught groups of letters that stand for the sounds that we already know how to speak. We learn to write by learning to form the letters and to put them together s o that others can read what we “say”.
Since human language is a form of human behavior, there is nothing absolute about it. It has developed slowly throughout human history and will continue to develop.
In the English language there are perhaps 600,000 words, but most of them are known only to specialists and are rarely used. The average mature person has a working vocabulary of about 10,000 words and a recognition vocabulary of 30,000 to 40, 000 words. (150 words)
42. Why I Attend college?
Why did I choose to attend college? Is the four-year academic life worthwhile? I have put these questions to myself many times in the past two years, and now I have reached the conclusion that a college education is something that I truly want and it is worthwhile.
I chose to attend college because I enjoy learning. I felt that I wanted to continue to study. I simply couldn’t end my education upon graduation from the high school and enter the working world so soon. I chose to attend college also because I feel college is more than a place which offers knowledge. It can expose one to a rich variety of ideas. Finally, I feel that in today’s world, a college education has become almost essential if one wishes to compete in the job market. Attending college is a practical and necessary step to a secure future. (153 words)
43. Dried Food
Centuries ago, man discovered that removing water from food helps to preserve it, and that the easiest way to do this is to expose the food to the sun and wind. All foods contain water. Cabbage and other leaf vegetables contain as much as 93% water, potatoes and other root vegetables 80%, and fish from 80% to 60 %, depending on how fatty they are. If this water is removed, food wo n’t go bad easily.
Dried foods take up less room and weigh less than the same food packed in cans or frozen, and they do not need to be stored in special conditions. For these reasons they are invaluable to climbers, explorers and soldiers in battle, who have little storage space. They are also popular with housewives because it takes so little time to cook them. Usually it is just a case of replacing the water removed with boiling water. (150 words)
44 Teaching
Teaching is supposed to be a professional activity requiring long and complicated training. The act of teaching is looked upon as a flow of knowledge from a higher source
in to an empty container. The student’s role is one of receiving information; the teacher’s role is one of supplying it. However, teaching need not be the province of a special group, nor need it be looked upon as a technical skill. Teaching is not forcing information into a supposedly empty head but guiding and assisting. If you have a certain skill you should be able to share it with someone. All of us, from the youngest child to the oldest member of our society, should come to realize our own potential as teachers. We can share what we know, however little it might be, with someone who has need of that knowledge or skill. (145 words)
45. Energy from the Sun
The energy from the sun goes in every direction. However, only a minute part of it falls on the earth. Even so, it represents the power of about five million horsepower per square mile per day. The sun gives us as much energy every minute as mankind uses in a year.
At present, we use this energy indirectly, and it is our only final source of power. Coal represents the chemical action of the sun on green plants thousands of years ago. Water power results from the sun’s creating vapor and the resulting rain. Even windmills operate because of air currents set in motion by the sun. Some day, through some type of solar motor, we shall use this source of energy more directly. Already, a scientist has worked out a surprisingly efficient engine, which uses a series of mirrors to concentrate the sun’s energy to create steam. (152 words)
46. Women’s College in the United States
In the United States 84 colleges now accept just women. Most of them were established in the 19th century. They were designed to offer women the education they could not receive anywhere else. At that time major universities and colleges accepted only men. In the past 20 years many young women have chosen to study at colleges that accept both men and women. As a result some women’s colleges decided to accept men students too. Others, however, refused to change.
Educational experts say that men students usually speak more in class than women students do. In a women’s college, women feel free to say what they think. Women's colleges also bring out leadership capability in many women. Recent studies show that this leadership continues after college. The studies also show that American women who went to women’s colleges are more likely to hold successful jobs later in life.(153 words) 47. The Value of a Name
Names can affect the way people see themselves. If a person likes his name, he is likely to have high self-esteem. However, the value of a person’s name to his or her self-esteem is mostly influenced by other people's opinion of that name. For example, some teachers like students because of their names. A tea cher’s tone of voice, smile, and warm treatment of certain students show his or her preference.
This does not happen only in the classroom. Studies show that youngsters with
aggressive names actually commit more crimes than teenagers who have quiet, peaceful-sounding names.
The studies described above emphasize the disadvantages of uncommon names. However, uncommon names may also have advantages in certain occupations. So if your name is unusual, you may one day become a well-known scientist or the president of your own business! (147 words)
48. The horse
The horse preceded man on earth. The earliest remains of primitive horses have been found on the North American continent. Many scientists believe this small species travelled over a land mass to Asia to found the beginning of the modern Asian horse. Yet it became extinct in America. Other scientists believe that the horse may have originated in Asia. In any event the animal soon spread to China, Europe, and the Middle East. The first modern horses to be introduced into the American continent came with the early Spanish explorers.
Horses are said to rate in intelligence after the ape, the elephant and the dog. They have excellent memories and can sometimes find their way home when lost, and sense danger better than their masters. The early civilizations of man that made use of the horse developed more rapidly than those which did not. (147 words)
49. Space and Distance
The study of space and distance concerns the way we use the space around us. The minute you enter a classroom, for example, you will have to decide where to sit. You may choose to sit in the back because you do not want to be noticed, or because you do not want people behind you to look at you. On the other hand, you might select a front-row seat because you have a lot of confidence or because you want to be noticed.
What is interesting about your choice of seating is that you might be sending your instructor a message. When he sees you sitting in the back or in the far corner, he might decide that you are not very interested in the subject. If you are in the front row, he might conclude that you are an unusually attentive student and he should give you special attention. (155 words)
50. Travel and the Hotel Business
A hotel is a temporary home for travelers. In a hotel the traveler can rest and have food and drink. The hotel may also offer facilities for recreation, such as a swimming pool, or a golf course. In many cases, the hotel also provides free parking space for the traveler’s means of transportation.
Travel and hotels have always been closely related. In Europe and America, for example, inns were built along the roads. The inns were primitive by modern standards. The traveler usually had to share his bed with other people. The old fashioned inns, however, did provide food and shelter for both men and horses and therefore became a symbol of hospitality. Indeed, the word "inn" has been used by many modern hotels to suggest the image of people warming themselves in front of a cheerful fire while waiting to
be called to a rich dinner. (153 words)
51. A new Era
A new era is upon us. We can call it the service economy, the information age, or the knowledge society. It all translates to a fundamental change in the way we work. Already we are partly there. The percentage of people who earn their living by making things has fallen dramatically in the Western World. Today the majority of jobs in America, Europe, Japan, and many other countries are in the service industry, and the number is on the rise. More women are in the work force than ever before. There are more part-time jobs. More people are self-employed. But the breadth of the economic transformation can't be measured by numbers alone, because it is also giving rise to a radical new way of thinking about the nature of work itself. Long-held notions about jobs and careers, the skills needed to succeed, even the relation between individuals and employers---all these are being challenged. (160 words)
52. Nuclear Power
The big advantage of nuclear power is the large amount of energy released from a relatively small amount of material. Nuclear power has become an important source of energy in some countries, especially in Germany and Japan. The United States and Canada are less dependent than Europeans on nuclear energy, in part because of their more abundant coal reserves.
Five problems severely restrict the use of nuclear power instead of coal to generate electricity. The first problem is the danger of an accident. The second is the need to store waste products following the reaction. No country has devised an effective storage system for waste products. The third problem is that a bomb can be made from the material. Nuclear power has been used in warfare twice. The final problem is its high cost. The future of nuclear power has been seriously affected by its high risks and costs. (151 words) 53. Diet and Health
Even though we have more choice of what to eat than forty years ago, the diet of the average American is less healthy. In fact, according to a recent study, American pets, eating specially prepared tinned food, have a healthier diet than most of their owners.
The Health Department was alarmed at recent figures which show that America has the third highest record in the world for heart disease. Cancer is also a growing cause of death. This has led to governments to try to launch a campaign to encourage healthier eating habits. The campaign will urge people to eat less salt, sugar, animal fat than they do today. It will show the advantages of eating more fresh fruits and vegetables.
The Health Department is going to issue a booklet that will give guidance on which foods to eat and which to avoid. (148 words)
54. New Y ear’s Celebration
New Year's Day is the world’s oldest celebration. In fact, ancient people celebrated the new year even before they had exact ways of measuring time. New Year's Day is also the
one holiday that is observed by people of all national and religious groups.
Not everyone celebrates the new year at the same time. The Chinese celebrate at different times each year, sometime between January twenty-first and February nineteenth. But the majority of people today celebrate it on January first.
In some countries, the New Year's holiday is the most important celebration of the year. But this is not true in the United States, even though it is a celebration that many people enjoy. One reason may be that Christmas comes just one week before the new year. Christmas is America’s biggest holiday. And the American people give it the importance that people in other countries give the start of a new year. (158 words)
55. Seasons and Human Intelligence
If you are like most people, your intelligence varies from season to season. You are probably a lot sharper in the spring than you are at any other time of the year. A noted scientist concluded from other men's work and his own that climate and temperature have a definite effect on our mental abilities.
He found that cool weather is much more favorable for creative thinking than is summer heat. This does not mean that all people are less intelligent in the summer than they are during the rest of the year. It does mean, however, that the mental abilities of large numbers of people tend to be lowest in the summer.
Spring appears to be the best period of the year for thinking. One reason may be that in the spring man's mental abilities are affected by the same factors that bring about great changes in all nature. (150 words)
56. A False Alarm
Last night I had a frightening experience. While I was eating at a fast-food restaurant, the manager came to announce that everybody would have to leave the building because a bomb was reported to be hidden somewhere in the restaurant. When the announcement was made, the place was immediately thrown into confusion as everyone was determined to get out first. To make matters worse, an elderly woman, who must have weighed 300 pounds, had just come up to the entrance, which was also the only exit. In the meantime, I suddenly remembered that I had left my purse in the chair in which I had been sitting. It was certainly not convenient now to return to get it. When I finally managed to get my purse and go outside, I saw the police had arrived and were searching the area. Eventually they determined that it had been all a false alarm. (154 words)
57. Air-conditioning
With air-conditioning, you can be comfortable anywhere indoors even on the hottest summer day. Inventors had been trying to come up with methods of keeping the air cool. There were hundreds of ideas, but none of them really worked.
The first machine was developed by Willis H. Carrier, who is often called “the father of air-conditioning”. He built the machine for a printing plant in New York. Soon air-conditioning was being used in many factories. But the public did not really know
about this invention until the 1920s when movie theaters, department stores and restaurants had air conditioners installed. As air conditioners became popular during the 1930s, central air-conditioning systems were developed. A whole office or apartment building could he cooled from one unit. After World War II, large numbers of air conditioners began to be used in both public buildings and private homes. (150 words)
58. Helen Keller.
Helen Keller was born in 1880 into a middle-class family. Her father was a newspaper editor. They lived in a comfortable house on a farm. From the time she lost her eyesight and hearing until she was nearly seven, she was cared for by her loving family, who allowed her uncontrolled freedom around the home. She had the servants’children as playmates, and she ruled them like a little queen. She did not sit at the table at dinner, but wandered around helping herself to food from other people's plates. Without any discipline, she grew up to be a little wild animal. She behaved very badly if anyone prevented her from doing or having what she wanted.
But later, with the help of her teacher, Helen Keller managed to overcome the double disabilities of blindness and deafness and became one of the most remarkable persons in the nineteenth century. (151 words)
59. The Submarine
Trying to describe a submarine is like trying to describe an automobile. There are dozens of different kinds of automobiles and each is different from any other. So a description of any one automobile would fail to describe the rest. And yet all automobiles are alike in the most important things: all have engines, wheels, steering devices, and certain other vital parts. And a description of a sort of "average" automobile would in some way describe all others.
The same is true of submarines. There are many kinds and sizes, but all work basically the same way and all must have the equipment necessary for sailing, for diving beneath the sea, for communicating with their home bases, for housing and feeding a crew and so on. So it is possible to describe a sort of "average" submarine in a way that will tell something about all submarines and how they all operate. (154 words)
60. Motel
The word "motel” m eans motorist hotel and it is used chiefly by people traveling by car. Parking space is always available. Motels are usually outside the center of town near major roads and are less expensive than hotels. Rates in motels are about $10 to $15 per person a day for a room and bath. Motels in and near large cities tend to be more expensive. In smaller towns the prices may be lower. Because motels are often located outside the center of town, it will probably be inconvenient to stay in a motel unless you have a car or unless the motel is located near public bus or train lines. Although reservations in advance are usually required in motels in busy areas, this is not always the case in less crowded parts of the country. Because of their convenience and economical prices, it is easy to understand
why they are so popular with Americans. (155 words)
61. Shrinking Families Challenge Traditions
It has been a Chinese tradition for several generations to live under the same roof. However, this tradition is being challenged by new ideas brought about by economic development in the last decade. The concept of an extended family is disappearing in China.
Experts point out that the traditionally large families are splitting into smaller nuclear families. Along with one-child families, there are single-parent families and "dink" families. "Dink" stands for "double-income-no-kid".
Single parent families are the result of the increasing divorce rate, which has caused problems in child care and education. As more and more women are working outside the home, they choose either not to have children or leave their children in the care of grandparents. Thus, the number of "dink" families and families in which grandparents live with their grandchildren is on the rise. (147 words)
62. How Your Memory Works
In all human communication, information is transferred from one person's memory to another's. No matter how the message is sent, it must arrive in a form that can be understood, held and recalled later by the brain. How do these three memory processes function? Before answering this question, we need to consider the fact that there are two kinds of memory: short-term and long-term memory.
Your short-term memory can hold only five to seven items of information such as five numbers, six words, or seven syllables. However, unless you repeat that information to yourself over and over again, you will forget it in less than a minute. This temporary memory is used when you try to remember a name or telephone number that someone told you a moment ago. Short-term memory plays an important part in thinking and understanding.(148 words)
63. The United Nations
The most important international organization is the United Nations, created at the end of World War II by the victorious allies. When it was established in 1945, the United Nations comprised 49 states. But by the early 1990s it had grown to 159 members.
However, the United Nations is now frequently criticized for various reasons. It is criticized, for example, for failing to keep world peace. Members can vote to establish a peace-keeping force and request states to contribute soldiers. However, any one of the five permanent members of the Security Council may veto the operation. It is also attacked for being one-sided on a number of world issues. Yet, with all its weaknesses, the United Nations still represents a place where for the first time in human history nearly all states of the world can meet and vote on important issues. (144 words)
64. A Change of Interests on Campus in China
There has been a change of interests on campus in recent years. Many excellent
1.Town and Country Life in England There is a big difference between town life and country life in England. In the country, everybody knows everybody else. They know what time you get up, what time you go to bed and what you have for dinner. If you want help, you will always get it and you will be glad to help others. In a large town like London, however, it can sometimes happen that you have never seen your next door neighbor and you do not know his name or anything about him. People in London are often very lonely. This is because people go to different places in the evenings and at weekends. If you walk through the streets in the centre of London on Sunday, it is like a town without people. One is sorry for old people living on their own. They could die in their homes and would not be discovered for weeks or even months. 2. A Change in Women’s Life The important change in women’s life-pattern has only recently begun to have its full effect on women’s economic position. Even a few years ago most girls left school at the first opportunity, and most of them took a full-time job. However, when they married, they usually left work at once and never returned to it. Today the school-leaving age is sixteen, many girls stay at school after that age, and though women tend to marry younger, more married women stay at work at least until shortly before
英语专业四级听写训练54：Cars in the Future As big cars cause many problems,such as pollution, shortage of parking space,crowded traffic,scientists are now trying to design some small cars that may some day replace today’s big automobiles.If more people begin to drive such cars in the future,there will be less air pollution. There will also be more space for parking cars in cities,and the streets will be less crowded.Three such cars can fit in the space that is now needed for one car of the usual size. The little cars will cost much less to own and to drive.Driving will be safer as these cars can only go 60 kilometers per hour. The cars of the future will be fine for driving around the city.However, they will not be suitable for long trips,because these cars by petrol can only go 450 kilometers before needing to stop for refueling 英语专业四级听写训练53：Dining Custom in the USA Dining Custom in the USA Americans, like many people elsewhere in the world, like to invite friends to their homes for an evening of food,drink and conversation. Formal dinners in fine homes and hotels in the US are much the same as formal dinners anywhere in the world. But as most people in the US have no servants,their dinner parties at home tend to be informal. Guests may sit down at a table,or as many new small homes have no separate dining room or very small dining space. Guests can also serve themselves and eat in the living room, holding their plates or trays on their knees. A more enjoyable form of entertainment is the picnic. Americans are great picnickers and almost every family has a picnic basket. Summer invitations are often for a picnic at a park or in the open countryside, and less hamburgers or hot dogs are cooked over a fire. Picnic food is usually cold.
听写评分标准 2015年专四考试时间预计为4月18日，准备参加专四考试的同学或许都在准备听写复习，很多人也不清楚专四听力评分标准，尤其是关于听写的，其实专四听力评分标准对于大家的复习有很强的指导意义，下面就为大家介绍一下专四听写标准，希望能引起大家的注意。 专四听写评分标准： 1. 听写共分15小节;每节1分。 2. 每节最多扣1分。 3. 重复错误，仅扣一次。 4. 错误共分两类：小错误(minormistakes)和大错误(majormistakes)。 A. 小错误： 1) 单词拼写错一到二个字母。例：inconvenient—unconvenient， inconvient;originally--origionally,originally;knives———nives。 2) 标点符号错误：一when When;To solve this problem，the—To solve this problem。 3) 冠词，单复数错误：shells—shell;withasolution—withthesolution。 4) 小错误扣分标准：小错误在一节中出现一次，留作总计;出现两次，扣0.5分;出现三次，扣0.5分后留一小错做总计;出现四次(以上)，扣1分。 5) 未扣分小错误的扣分标准：累计2---4个：扣0.5分。累计5---8个：扣1分。 B. 大错误：漏写、加词、造词、换词(冠词作小错计)，大移位，时态错误，原文一个词变两个词。每个错误扣0.5分。 例：arestillpaid—isstillpaid，stillpaid， stillpay;wereused—weused;coinswere—coinwas;began—begun;goods—good;cloth—ci of，cloths;salt—soit;paid—payed;throughout—allthrough， throughof;accepted——anacception;aspayment——forpayment;forgoods——togoods;t hey——these，there.
Popular Pastime of the English People One of the best means of understanding the people of any nation is watching what the do with their non-working time. Most English men, women and children love growing things, especially flowers. Visitors to England in spring, summer or autumn are likely to see gardens all they way along the railway lines. There are f lowers at the airports and flowers in factory grounds, as well as in gardens along the roads. Each English town has at least one park with beautifully kept flower beds. Public buildings of every kind have brilliant window boxes and sometimes baskets of flowers are hanging on them. But what the English enjoy most is growing things themselves. If it is impossible to have a garden, then a window box or something growing in a pot will do. Looking at each other ’s gardens is a popular pastime with the English. 4. British and American Police Officers Real policemen, both in Britain and the ., hardly recognize any commonpoints between their lives and what they se on TV — if they ever get home in time. Some things are almost the same, of course, but the policemen do not think much of them much of them. The first difference is that a policeman ’s real life deals with the law. Most of what he learns is the law. He has to know actually what actions are against the law and what facts can be used to prove them in court. He has to know nearly as much law as a lawyer, and what ’s more, he has to put it into practice on his feet, in the dark and, running down a narrow street after someone he wants to talk to. Little of his time is spent in talking with beautiful girls or in bravely facing cruel criminals. He will spend most of his working life arranging millions of words on thousands of forms about hundreds of sad, ordinary people who are guilty--- or not of stupid, unimportant crimes. Useful Words and Expressions: 1. think much of 重视，尊重 2. in court 在法庭上 3. criminal 罪犯，犯罪者 4. guilty 犯罪的，有罪的 5. Living Space How much living space does a person need What happens when his space needs are not met Scientists are doing experiments on rats to try to determine the effects of overcrowded conditions on man. Recent studies have shown that the behavior of rats is greatly affected by space. If rats have enough living space, they eat well, sleep well and produce their young well. But if their living conditions become too crowded, their behavior and even their health change obviously. They can not sleep and eat well, and signs of fear and worry become clear. The more crowded they are, and more they tend to bite each other and even kill each other. Thus, for rats, populations and violence are directly related. Is this a natural law for human society as well Is enough space not only satisfactory, but necessary for human survival These are interesting questions.
专四听写与听力理解上外12套模拟题答案6-12 Model Test 6 Authority and Creativity In many countries, authority is seldom questioned, either because it is highly respected, or because it is feared . Sometimes, too, because rank has been important in certain societies for a long time, people have been trained never to question those in authority. In other countries, including America, children are trained to question and search for answers. When a child asks a question, he will often be told to go to the library and find the answer for himself. By the time students reach the age of 14 or 15, they may be developing exciting new ideas in all fields of science and arts . To encourage such creativity, there are many national prizes offered to students every year for their scientific discoveries and artistic accomplishments. This interest in questioning and searching may be considered by some people as bad for young people's manners. This impression may be created when visitors notice young Americans asking questions and arguing with older people . 1-5 CABDB 6-10 DCBDC 11-15 DACBC 16-20 DCADC 21-25 CBDBA 26-30 CDBAC Model Test 7 Driving in the US When driving in the United States, it’s a good idea to have an internaitonal driver’s license if you don’t have a state license. Each of the 50 states has its own traffic laws. For example, in some states drivers can pump their own gas at “self-service islands”, while in others this is not allowed. Drivers are expected to know and understand the laws even if they don’t live in the state. Get information when you cross the border into a state at a tourist information center. There is a national speed limit of 55 miles per hour, or about 80 kilometers per hour. Americans usually start and stop slowly and are generally polite about letting cars enter busy streets. They usually stop for people who are walking and let them cross the street first. In many states, you may turn right after stopping at a corner, even if there a red light. 1-5 DBABB 6-10 CCBBD 11-15 CBACD 16-20 BAACD 21-25 BABBD 26-30 CDADB Model Test 8 Why Do People Smoke
专业四级考试听写评分标准 1. 听写共分15小节，每节1分，大错误下面画线。小错误用圆圈表示，重复错误用三角记号表示。 2. 每节最多扣1分。 3. 重复错误，仅扣一次分。 4. 错误共分两类：小错误（minor mistakes）和大错误（major mistakes），分别扣0.25分和0.5分。 A. 小错误： 1）单词拼写错一到两个字母。例： steadily →staedily；harbor →habor 两个字母以下的词、次序颠倒算小错。 2）标点符号错误（含大小写）。例： World War I →world war one , and then adopted →. And then adopeted 3) 冠词、单复数错误。例： until the beginning →until beginning; parent →parents 4）小错误扣分标准：小错误在一节中出现一次，留作总计；出现两次：扣0.5分；出现三次：扣0.5分后留作总计；出现四次：扣1分。 5）未扣分小错误的扣分标准： 累计2 ~ 4 个：扣0.5分 累计5 ~ 8 个：扣1分 B. 大错误：漏写、加词、造词、换词（冠词作小错计）、大移位、时态错误，每个错误扣0.5分。例： loved →love；task —test；trip —trap；flee —flea；have finished —finsh （ed） 5. 一些特例的扣分标准： 下列情况不扣分： World War I →World War One race car →racecar well-balanced →well balanced 90 percent →90% 6. 总分只有0.5分时，以1分计算；其余总分中如含小数点的，小数舍去，保留整数，如12.5 →12； 7.5 →7 7. 空白卷一律打0分。
英语专业四级听写50篇 前言 听写在英语专业四级统考中占有15％的比重，是考试的重要组成部分。 说起听写，正在准备和已经参加过英语专业四级考试的同学会说： “我能明白听写的内容，可写的时候就是跟不上！”“短文大意我明白，可是有的语我不 会写。” 这只反映出了问题的两个方面。一是听写速度不够快。二是词汇量不够或词汇掌握得不够准确。这些无疑是影响听写成绩的重要因素。但是，这些不是问题的全部。在从事听写教学及听写问卷过程中，很容易发现学生失分的具体问题： （1）没听懂，没听好，听写速度跟不上，写出的内容断断续续不连贯，学生因此大量失分； （2）有的词汇没听懂，拼写不够准确，这导致听写失分； （3）时态错误导致失分； （4）单复数不准确导致失分； （5）没有注意断句或专有名词，句子开头单词或专有名词错误使用大小写导致失分； （6）没有注意原文冠词的使用，书写时漏掉冠词导 致失分； （7）没有注意单数第三人称形式导致失分； （8）没有注意单数复数名词的形式导致失分。 上述问题的产生有的是缺乏训练造成的，如书写速度跟不上。有的则是语言基础较 差造成的，如听力较差没有完全听懂或没有掌握好词汇。而单复数、大小写、冠词漏写 等则多是粗心大意造成的。 听写部分能提高吗？ 当然能！而且提高的空间很大。 笔者从事英语专业基础教学与研究，从一开始所带的教学班参加四级考试超过全国 院校平均通过率28．2个百分点，超过全国专业外语院校平均通过率12．5个百分点开始，所带的教学班在全国英语专业④级统考中通过率始终ito％，平均成绩、优秀率始终名列 前茅。最近一次所带的教学班参加四级统考，又考出了很好的成绩，通过率超过全国院 校平均水平26石个百分点，超过全国专业外语院校13．6个百分点，而且在十几个平行 班中平均成绩是最高的，优秀人数也是最多的。在四级考试中，听写一项的成绩也不例外，每次均位居第一，本项目满分15分，所带班级平均成绩能够达到14分。 是不是学生基础很好？统计表明，和平行班相比所带班级入学时并不存在什么特别 优势。 教学经验表明，听写成功的关键是训练方法和体现训练方法的训练材料。 听写训练过程中无论是老师还是学生都有必要注意以下几点： 二．扭握淤轿肘虚度大纲要求第一遍用正常速
四级听写 1. Insects Nobody likes insects. They are annoying and sometimes dangerous. Some of them bite us and give us diseases; others bite us and give us big red spots. Some do not bite, but just fly around our heads or crawl around our houses and gardens. / Indeed, we do not like most of them except those lovely butterflies. / But insects are interesting. Firstly, they are very old animals. Three hundred and twenty million years ago, there were no man in the world, but there were insects. Today, on every square mile of land there are millions of them flying and crawling about. Secondly, insects are very adaptable to their surroundings, so that today there are about a million different species in the world. Why then do some people try to kill insects? After all, not many of them hurt us. The reason is that they eat so much of man’s food and there are so many of them. (158 words) 2. A Protest against Injustice It all started on a bus one day in 1955. A black woman was returning home from work after a long hard day. She sat near the front of the bus because she was tired and her legs hurt. But in those days, black people could sit only in the back of the bus. So the driver ordered the woman to give up her seat. But the woman refused, and she was arrested. Incidents like this had happened before. But no one had ever spoken out against such treatment of blacks. This time, however, a young black preacher organized a protest. He called on all black citizens to stop riding the buses until the laws were changed. He led the protest movement to end such injustice to the blacks. The protest marked the beginning of the civil rights movement in the United States. (146 words) 3. Foolish Tests Centuries ago, a man accused of a crime / often had to go through a strange test. / In one country, for instance, a metal bar was dropped into boiling oil. / The prisoner had to put his hand into the oil and take out the bar. / It was believed that the oil would not burn an innocent man. / If the prisoner got his hand burned, he would be found guilty of the crime he was accused of. / Another foolish method was used in Europe. / When a man was accused of a crime, he was thrown into a pool or river. / If he floated, people declared that he was guilty. / They took him out of the water and punished him. / However, if the man sank, people claimed that he was innocent. / They pulled him out of the water quickly and released him. / We do not know what would have happened / if the man had learned to swim under the water. (160 words) 4. Why Do People Want Work? People work because they need money to live. / They need money for food and clothes and to pay for their houses, flats or the rooms where they live. / People need money for
专四听写阅卷标准 专业四级在即，作为专四考试的第一个题型——听写，一直以来由于其要求细致，是考察基本功的题型，特别需要大家关注。不过如果知道了批分标准，就不会觉得无章可循。专四听写每篇中有十五个“小段”，或者是句子或者是意群，每个“小段”分值为一分。中比较容易出现的错误有两类：一类是大错误(major mistakes)，每出现一次扣0.5分；另一类是小错误(minor mistakes)，每次出现扣0.25分。如下举出历年真题中出错较多的句子加以分析，以求给大家练习的时侯多一份参考。 A. 小错误有如下三种类型： 1) One or two wrong spellings in one word. (单词拼写错一到二个字母。) (1)October is usually the busiest month in the academic calendar. (2010) October is usually the busiest month in the academic calender. （-0.25）(2) They remain all their lives, square pegs in round holes. (2008) They remain all their lifes, square pigs in round holes. （-0.5） 2) Of punctuations and capitalization . (标点符号、大小写的错误) (1) To solve this problem，the Chinese again came up with the solution. (2004) To solve this problem the Chinese again came up with the solution. （-0.25） (2) For many people in the west, New Year’s Eve is the biggest party of the year. (2009) For many people in the west, new year’s eve is the biggest party of the year. (-0.75)
2010年英语专业四级听写答案及听写评分标准 Freshmen's Week Britain has a well-respected higher education system and some of the top universities and research institutions in the world. But to those who are new to this system, it can sometimes be confusing. October is usually the busiest month in the academic calendar. Universities have something called Freshmen's Week for their newcomers. It's a great opportunity to make new friends, join lots of clubs and settle into university life. However, having just left the comfort of home and all your friends behind, the prospect of meeting strangers in classrooms and dormitories can be worrying. Where do you start? And who should you make friends with? Which clubs and society should you join? Luckily, there will be thousands of others in the same boat as you. They worry about starting their university social life on the right foot. So just take it all in slowly. Don't rush into anything that you'll regret for the next three years. 附：专四听写评分原则： 1. 听写共分15小节；每节1分。 2.每节最多扣1分。 3.重复错误，仅扣一次。 4.错误共分两类： 小错误（minor mistakes）和大错误（major mistakes）。 A. 小错误： 1）单词拼写错一到二个字母。例：inconvenient—unconvenient，inconvient；originally--origionally, originally；knives———nives。 2）标点符号错误：一when When；To solve this problem，the—To solve this problem the… 3）冠词，单复数错误：shells—shell；with a solution—with the solution。4）小错误扣分标准：小错误在一节中出现一次，留作总计；出现 两次，扣0.5分；出现三次，扣0.5分后留一小错做总计；出现四次（以上），扣1分。
如何决战专业英语四级听力 全国高等学校英语专业四级考试听力部分的测试题型分为两个主要部分：Dictati on和Listening Comprehension。 第一部分Dictation为1篇约150个词的短文，全篇文章共念4遍。第一遍用正常速度，每分钟120个词，让学生听懂短文的大意。第二、三遍则用较慢的语速朗读。句子或分句间留有1 0～15秒左右的间隙，特别长的句子有意群停顿，让学生书写。第四遍再用正常速度朗读，在这期间，考生对自己所记录的内容根据录音核实、检查。这一部分的时间是15分钟。 第二部分是Listening Comprehension。它由三个部分组成，即Section A、S ection B以及Section C，共有25道选择题。各部分的题型分别为：Section A: Statement,共8题；Section B：Conversation,共9题；Section C：News Broadcas t,在4篇左右的VOA或BBC听力材料之后，考生需就每篇材料分别完成1～3 道书面选择题，共8题。每一道选择题后留给考生10秒的间隙，考生必须利用这一间隙选出答案，录音的语速为每分钟120～150个词，只读1遍。整个听力理解部分的测试时间为20分钟。 二、专业四级听力测试要点及基本应试对策 (一)听写1.听写的测试要点听写所涉及的知识大致可分为语言因素和非语言因素两大类。语言因素主要指语言知识，即语言基本功中包括诸如语言知识、词汇知识、句法知识和语用知识等。现分述如下：1)语言知识。包括对英语每一个音的发音部位和发音方法，对元音和辅音的语音特征及区别，对音节结构和同化的规则，对省音和加音的现象，以及对语调和重音规则等知识的了解和掌握。 2)词汇知识。包括对英语词汇的分类、构词规则，以及习语、短语的了解和掌握。 3)句法与语义知识。包括对句子结构，句型转换规则，语义特征如歧义、反义等知识的了解和掌握。
Passage 1: Town and Country Life in England There is a big difference between town life and country life in England. In the country, everybody knows everybody else. They know what time you get up, what time you go to bed and what you have for dinner. If you want help, you will always get it and you will be glad to help others. In a large town like London, however, it can sometimes happen that you have never seen your next door neighbor and you do not know his name or anything about him. People in London are often very lonely. This is because people go to different places in the evenings and at weekends. If you walk through the streets in the center of London on Sunday, it is like a town without people. One is sorry for old people living on their own. They could die in their homes and would not be discovered for weeks or even months. (154 words) Passage 2: A Change in Women’s Life The important change in women’s life-pattern has only recently begun to have its full effect on women’s economic position. Even a few years ago most girls left school at the first opportunity, and most of them took a full-time job. However, when they married, they usually left work at once and returned to it. Today the school-leaving age is sixteen, many girls stay at school after that age, and though women tend to marry younger, more married women stay at work at least until shortly before their first child is born. Very many more afterwards return to full-time or part-time work. Such changes have led to a new relationship in marriage, with the husband accepting a greater share of the duties and satisfactions of family life and with both husband and wife sharing more equally in providing the money, and running the home, according to the abilities and interests of each of them. (154 words) Passage 3: A Popular Pastime of the English People One of the best means of understanding the people of any nation is watching what they do with their non-working time. Most English men, women and children love growing things, especially flowers. Visitors to England in spring, summer, or autumn are likely to see gardens all the way along the railway lines. There are flowers at the airports and flowers in factory grounds, as well as in gardens along the roads. Each English town has at least one park with beautifully kept flower beds. Public buildings of every kind have brilliant window boxes and sometimes baskets of flowers are hanging on them. But what the English enjoy most is growing thing themselves. If it is impossible to have a garden, then a window box or something growing in a pot will do. Looking at each other’s gardens is popular pastime with the English. (144 words) Passage 4: British and American Police Officers Real policemen, both in Britain and the U.S., hardly recognize any common points between their lives and what they see on TV—if they ever get home in time. Some things are almost the same, of course, but the policemen do not think much of them. The first difference is that a policeman’s real life deals with the law. Most of what he learns is the law. He has to know actually what actions are against the law and what facts can be used to prove them in court. He has to know nearly as much law as a lawyer, and what’s more, he has to put it into practice on his feet, in the dark and, running down a narrow street after someone he wants to talk to.