中级口译听力教程第三版4A 大耳朵英语 https://www.doczj.com/doc/c315578639.html, 2009-03-17 11:25:07 【打印】
4-A
An intermediate course of English listening. Third edition.
Revision exercises two.
Part A. Spot dictation. Listen and fill in each of the blanks with the words you have heard from the recording.
There is no doubt that today English is one of the most important and richest of the world’s languages. Probably the most significant factor accounting for the latter quality was the conquest of England by the Normans more than 900 years ago. The conquering Normans spoke French. Most of the inhabitants of the conquered nations spoke varieties of Anglo Saxon of Germanic origin. Of course the Normans were stronger than the logical inhabitants politically, and naturally their language became the language of the King’s court. It also became the language for written documents together with Latin, and was generally regarded as more literally, and somehow better than the language of the common people. In spite of the apparently being worse, however, the language of the ordinary inhabitants of England and especially the language spoken by the inhabitants of the central part of the country did not die out. For centuries the two languages continue to exist side by side. The individual most responsible for bringing them together was a customs official who lived in the late fourteenth century named Geoffrey Chaucer. Chaucer, whose Canterbury Tales is one of the most extraordinary works in English, practically created or at least made acceptable a new language, which was a combination of the more elegant French and the cruder and more powerful Germanic elements. Since Chaucer’s time the two languages had been woven closer and closer together forming the single language that we now know as English.
Part B. Listening Comprehension.
1. Statements. Listen and decide which one is closest in meaning to the statement you hear.
1) Sandra’s research was completed a year ahead of schedule. So she can now relax herself from time to time for the rest of this year.
2) The new employees were told to report to the personnel manager’s office on Wednesday morning. They would receive a week’s training.
3) The sales representative had trouble getting his checks cashed. Because the accounting department found those checks were falsified.
4) James thought he could retire after he had spent 30 years teaching, but didn’t. He needs to stay at the job for sometime.
5) That he was accepted by the big firm surprised everyone but himself. It was obvious he was not quite qualified for the position.
6) In the report submitted to the state council the economist underestimated the rate of inflation. They failed to see some important contributing factors.
7) Susan hoped that her friend would come on time, so they could catch the 9 o’clock coach, otherwise they would have to wait until 4 hours later.
8) Scien
tists have been trying unsuccessfully for 50 years to develop a battery operated car, several key technical problems remain unsolved.
9) This seaport on the southeastern coast is most active even during the winter. Those ports on the northern coast have to be closed for the winter.
10) Yesterday afternoon I was about to leave the office for home when my secretary showed up. She said the president wanted to talk to me over the phone.
2. Talks and conversations. Listen and choose the best answer to each question you hear. Questions 11 to 15 are based on the following talk.
Today I will continue my discussion of the behavior of school of psychology. And tell you about what I feel of some problems related to behaviorism. The psychologist wishes to understand human behavior and the human mind. He or she must therefore design methods of investigating human beings as they actually live. The behavior school of psychology, however, has done almost all of its studies under laboratory conditions. Behaviorism seems to want respectability of natural science. But it uses the methods of 50 years ago. Furthermore behavior studies often do not make any great contributions, but the authors were covered this up with mathematical tables in statistics, which are not important for the study. To investigate human behavior in a more natural setting is difficult I admit. Nevertheless, there are at least 2 ways to carry out such a task.
Questions:
11) Where does the talk most probably take place?
12) Who most likely is giving the task?
13) What is the main idea of the talk?
14) What does the speaker think is the best way to study human psychology?
15) What does the next part of the talk most probably deal with?
Questions 16 to 20 are based on the following talk.
Several months ago I decided it would be wise to investigate the possibilities of buying a life insurance policy. If for no other reason than because I understood it might be a good investment. I got the name of an insurance agent from a friend and called the agent to get some information. From the kinds of questions I put to him the agent could tell that I knew nothing about insurance, so he kindly offered to explore the matter with me in more detail to help me determine the kind of policy I ought to be considering. That evening he appeared at my door promptly at 7:30 without wasting time on amenities he spread his papers out on the kitchen table and launched into a lengthy explanation. I listened attentively as he talked about the differences between various types of policies, and he explained the kind of coverage he felt I ought to have, because of my age bracket and financial objectives. Towards the end of the evening he kindly helped me filled out the application for a 55,000 dollar policy. And then he asked if I could go to a doctor’s office on Friday for a physical examination. I don’t know why but it was not until the mention of the doctor’s appointment
that I realized fully what was happening. I was about to sign a life time contract. Yet I had not really made the decision about whether I wanted to buy the policy or not. As a matter of fact the question of need for a decision for me one way or the other had not even come up. Suddenly I felt sure that I definitely did not want to buy the policy. However, since he had spent so much time with me I didn't want to make him feel that he had wasted his time. So I invented an excuse about things I had to do on Friday, and I assured him that I would call him in a few days. Actually I had no intention of going to see the doctor or of calling the agent again. I wanted to forget the whole thing.
Questions:
16) Why did the author of the passage telephone the insurance agent?
17) Where did the author of the passage get the name of the insurance agent?
18) What did the author do after talking with the insurance agent?
19) Why didn’t the author tell the insurance agent the truth?
20) Which of the following statements is true about the author of the passage?
Questions 21 to 25 are based on the following conversation.
M: Joe, could I have a word with you while you are having your coffee?
W: Of course, David. Let’s find a quiet corner over there.
M: The manager asked me to tell you that he appreciated your efforts last year very much.
W: Thanks, David. That makes me feel a lot better. I tried my best, you know. You can tell him that I am grateful for his confidence in me.
M: Yes, I will certainly pass that on to him. Your sales figures for the last 2 years have been remarkably good.
W: Manchester is a good area to work in. There are a lot of businesses opening all the time. I tried to make contact with the managers as soon as I know of a new company starting up. The early bird catches the worm as they say.
M: I am sure that’s true. But there is more to that, isn’t it? Joe, you seem to be very confident and this helps your sales.
W: Yes, I have been working on that for sometime. I think that if I appear confident as successful people are more likely to buy our goods.
M: Well, you certainly seem successful at that. Your sales figures prove that. I was wondering if you could give a short talk tomorrow afternoon on the idea of being confident as a sales representative. Do you think you could put together something on that topic?
W: I think I could manage. I will work on it this evening.
M: I would be grateful if you could do that for me. I am sure the others would benefit from that kind of talk.
W: About how long do you want me to speak for?
M: Something like 20 minutes if that’s all right.
W: And what sort of thing do you want me to talk about?
M: Oh, how to build up your confidence, present yourself to customers, that sort of thing.
W: I’ll work on it later then, David.
M: Thanks, Joe. Let me take your coffee cup back for you. I think it is about time we got
back to the conferences.
Questions:
21) Where does Joe work?
22) When does David want Joe to talk?
23) What does David want Joe to talk about?
24) When will Joe prepare the talk?
25) For how long does David want Joe to talk?
Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following talk.
W: Well, home computer owners fit into 3 main categories. You see there are the earnest ones, the game players, and the practical ones.
M: Oh, yes, what do you mean?
W: Well, earnest ones, they sought of walk away at learning how to program the thing for themselves. Then game players, they get hooked on playing those silly games you can buy and don’t do much else. I call them silly games because I am not coordinated enough to be good at them myself. Then, thirdly, the practical ones, and that’s me. I don’t use the computer very often. But I have worked out some ways in which it can be helpful in everyday life. Well, I started off as an earnest computer owner. But I gave up being like that because of lack of success of programming.
M: Like with the games.
W: Exactly. Well, you know how easily I gave up. But this time it was going to be different. I tried and tried, but I had so many disasters. I blamed it on the instruction book. It was awful, not clear at all.
M: Disasters say?
W: Well, yes. You know that I had that Italian exam to take.
M: Mm, I remember.
W: Well, I had read a lot about how computers were useful in language teaching for giving boring but necessary grammar practice. Well, I had to learn a lot of Italian irregular verbs, so I decided to try and write a program to help me. Well, actually what I did was I tried to adapt a program for French verbs found in a computer magazine.
M: And the computer didn’t like Italian as much as French. It didn’t work.
W: No, well, in a way it did, but not as I expected. I just couldn’t get the program right. The verbs kept appearing on the screen but jumping on low of the place. It was quite alarming really.
M: It sounds like space invaders. What happened?
W: Well, I tried again and again to get the program right. I kept altering it and testing it which meant typing in the list of verbs I want to learn each time I tested. Well, the result was programs never came quite right and I gave up in disgust. But after all those repetitions I found I had learned the verbs perfectly. There was nothing to do with the bloody program. It was just all those hours spent trying to sort it out.
Questions:
26) What are the man and woman mainly talking about?
27) How many main categories do computer owners fit into according to the woman?
28) Which type of computer owners are not mentioned in the conversation?
29) What did the woman want the computer program to help her do?
30) What finally happen to the woman according to the conversation?
Part C. Listening and translation.
1. Sentence translation. 3. Exercises.
1. Senten
ce translation. Listen and translate each sentence you have heard into Chinese. Then write it in the space given below.
1) How well have you prepared for your presentation next week? It’s a big contract and I don’t think we should take any chances.
2) Women in general wear too many accessories at the same time, such as necklaces and rings. These can be an asset if worn in moderation.
3) Learning a language is a laborious process and adjusting to the subtle cultural differences require much more time and patience than anyone can imagine.
4) Including plenty and leafy green vegetables everyday may aide memory function and guard against Alzheimer’s disease, suggests a study of 3,700 seniors 65 and older.
5) Growing old in America isn’t what it used to be. People are not only living longer, they are better educated and less likely to live in poverty.
2. Passage translation. Listen and translate each passage you have heard into Chinese. Then write it in the space given below. You may take notes while you are listening.
1) The American family is changing. It is becoming smaller, women are becoming more equal, and the divorce rate is high. But despite the high divorce rate marriage has never been more popular. The majority of divorced people remarry but only 2 percent marry more than twice. Most marriages last a long time, and a large proportion of divorces are from teenage marriages.
2) Walking burns calories. It takes 3,500 calories to gain or lose one pound. Since a one hour walk at a moderate pace will burn up 300 to 360 calories by walking one hour every other day, you can burn up a pound and a half a month, or 18 pounds a year, providing there is no change in your intake of food. To lose weight faster walk an hour every day and burn up 3 pounds a month or 36 pounds a year.
Unit nine. Part one. About single sex education. 3. Exercises.
1. This is a talk given by an educator about single sex education. Listen and supply missing words you hear from the talk.
I am going to be discussing the benefits of single sex education. As a teacher and advisor in an all girl school, I am often asked to defend single sex education. Specifically all girls education as if girl schools were on trial. I personally strongly recommend single sex education for girls. But the arguments against this form of education can be quite powerful. So I would like to begin by pointing out 3 of the main arguments against all girl schools. First of all, critics of all girl schools argue that the separation of the sexes seems old fashioned. It goes against the aims and the goal of feminism educators which is to provide fairness. To make sure boys and girls have the same educational opportunities and are treated in the same ways. Secondly, the critics say that in single sex schools boys and girls can’t develop the ability to interact with one another. They point out that in single sex schools boys and girls can’t learn how to be c
omfortable with each other and also how to compete with each other. The third criticism is that single sex schools don’t provide children with the smooth transition into the adult world where men and women live together. In single sex schools, these critics say, boys and girls cannot become prepared for a world in which they will work, play and live together as adults. But although these are serious arguments I believe that single sex education is beneficial for girls. In the second part of this lecture I will focus on two strong advantages of single sex education. It values girls’ unique qualities and it helps girls develop self confidence.
2. The following part is a continuation to the above talk. Listen and then provide the missing information in the spaces given below.
The real benefit of all girls education is that it values girls’ unique qualities, the qualities that make them different from boys. What are these unique qualities? Well, I am going to list a few. First of all, girls can often concentrate on higher level abstract thinking at an earlier age than boys can. Secondly, they can often work for longer periods of time. Girls also enjoy collaborative learning activities and so they work well in groups. Finally, as girls mature, they are often kind of co-operative rather than competitive. These four qualities are valued in all girls schools. The second benefit of single sex education is that it helps girls develop self-confidence. I strongly believe that girls become more self-confident without the distraction and different learning styles of boys. In a single sex environment girls enjoy being leaders. They offer help to others and they also ask for help when they need it. For example, if they don’t understand a math or science concept they will ask for clarification. But when girls are in the same classroom as boys they often lose their self esteem. Boys are sometimes a louder, and may jump up out of their seats and wave their arms at people’s faces, if they know the answer to a teacher’s question. If this happens girls typically sink back in their chairs and wait for the boys to quiet down. But if there are no boys around girls can feel free and be themselves. Now it’s true that all girl schools do separate girls from the real world while they are growing up. But in the real adult world boys are the ones who set the rules of the game. And these rules don’t necessarily reflect the needs or talents of girls. In an all girl school girls can become confident enough to challenge the rules. And then perhaps they can change the real world into a place designed to accommodate both men and women.
Part two. Statements. 2. Exercises. Listen and then choose the answer that is closest in meaning to each statement you hear.
1) This project is urgent. I have to type all these reports by Monday morning. So there goes my sleep this weekend.
2) We are thinking of asking professor Brown if he can give the exam during
the final week of classes. But we are told that there isn’t much chance of that.
3) Professor White Head hadn’t planned to invite her to the Monday meeting. But he changed his mind at the last minute.
4) Since it’s going to cut your fortune to get your car fix why don’t you just trade it for a new one?
5) It is essential to stay healthy when you are faced with important examinations. Studying all night will be good for neither your grades nor your health.
6) The committee finally reached a decision. And I couldn’t have hoped for a better outcome. Everybody says they haven’t seen like this for weeks.
7) I had a hard time getting through this novel. Who can remember the names of all those 45 characters in it?
8) Michael has put all his time and mind into his studies. Though he has only studied English for two years he speaks it very well.
9) We’ve undercharged them. The invoice doesn’t include the legal fees or our agency commission. We need to inform them of this immediately.
10) We have little choice about when to send the application. Yesterday was too soon to send it and tomorrow will be too late.
11) It took 2 weeks longer than usual to get your package because the postal workers were on strike.
12) The price of the car was so low that it made Brad suspicious of the value. He hesitated for 10 days and still made no decision.
13) When he met us on Thursday professor Baker said that he tried to reschedule the class at a time convenient to the majority.
14) If it takes Mike two hours to do the East Asian history assignment it will take the rest of the class double the time.
15) Why bother to call Smith and tell him about the meeting this afternoon. We will see him at lunch.
16) The snack bar is not always this deserted. It’s the end of the semester. Everyone is in the library studying.
17) We’d expected the repairs to cost us about 15 dollars, but they charged us 3 times as much.
18) Ms. Plate came to meet us at the reception. I thought that she was the secretary, but she turned out to be the president of the company.
19) After studying mathematics for two years at a German university in Berlin, she has changed to an architecture program in an American university in Washington.
20) Even though the doctor has advised him to quit, Bob still smokes a pack of cigarettes a day.