英语专四Dictation听力原文

Dictation 听力原文

9. Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein was born in Germany in 1879, His father owned a factory that made electrical devices. His mother enjoyed music and books. His parents were Jewish but they did not observe

many of the religion’s rules. Albert was a quite child who spent much of his time alone. He was

slow to talk and had difficulty learning to read. When Albert was five years old, his father gave

him a compass. The child was filled with wonder when he discovered that the compass needle

always pointed in the same direction—to be north. He asked his father and his uncle what caused the needle to move. Their answers about magnetism and gravity were difficult for the boy to

understand. Yet he spent a lot of time thinking about them. He said later that he felt something

hidden had to be behind things.

Useful expressions and words: 1. device 装置，设备

leave to one’s own devices 听任某人自行其是，允许某人按自己的意愿做事

She left the child to her own devices for an hour in the afternoon. 她允许孩子在下午有一个小时的自由支配时间。 2. compass 指南针

3.magnetism 磁力

10. Private Cars

With the increase in the general standard of living, some ordinary Chinese families begin to afford

a car. Yet opinions of the development of a private car vary from person to person.

It gives a much greater degree of comfort and mobility. The owner of a car is no longer forced to reply on public transport, and hence no irritation caused by waiting for buses or taxis. However,

others strongly object to developing private cars. They maintain that as more and more cars are

produced and run in the street, a large volume of poisonous gas will be given off, polluting the

atmosphere and causing actual harm to the health of people.

Whether private cars should be developed in Chicago is a difficult question to answer, yet the desire for the comfort and independence a private car can bring will not be eliminated.

11. A Henpecked Husband and His Wife

There was once a large, fat woman who had a small, thin husband. He had a job in a big

company and was given his weekly wages every Friday evening. As soon as he got home on

Fridays, his wife used to make him give her all his money, and then she used to give him back only enough to buy his lunch in his company every day.

One day, the small man came home very excited. He hurried into the living-room. His wife

was listening to the radio and eating chocolates there.

“You will never guess what happened to me to day, dear.” he said.

He waited for a few seconds and then added, “I won ten thousand dollars on the lottery!” “That is wonderful! ” said his wife delightedly. But then she pulled a long face and added

angrily, “But how could you afford to buy the ticket?”

Useful Words and Expressions: 1. henpecked 怕老婆的，妻管严的 2. lottery 彩票 a great lottery 虚无缥缈的事

3. pull a long face 拉下脸来

have a face to say that脸皮厚得竟能讲出这种话

12. A Young Man’s Promise

One day, a young man was writing a letter to his girlfriend who lived just a few miles away in

a nearby town. He was telling her how much he loved her and how wonderful he thought she was.

The more he wrote the more poetic he became. Finally he said that in order to be with her, he would suffer the greatest difficulties, he would face the greatest dangers that anyone couldn’t

imagine. In fact, to spend only one minute with her, he would swim across the widest river, he

would enter the deepest forest, and he would fight against the fiercest animals with his bare hands.

He finished the letter, signed his name and then suddenly remembered that he had forgotten

to mention something quite important. So, in a postscript below his name, he added: “By the way, I’ll be over to see you on Wednesday night, if it doesn’t rain.”

13. A Kind Neighbor

Mr. and Mrs. Jones’ apartment was full of luggage, packages, furniture and boxes. Both of them

were very busy when they heard the doorbell ring. Mrs. Jones went to open it and she saw a middle-aged lady outside. The lady said she lived next door. Mrs. Jones invited her to come in and

apologized because there was no place for her to sit. “Oh, that’s OK.” said the lady. “I just come to

welcome to your new home. As you know, in some parts of this city, neighbors are not friendly at

all. They are some apartment houses where people don’t know any of their neighbors, not even the

ones next door. But in this building, everyone is very friendly with everyone else. We are a big happy family. I am sure you will be very happy here.” Mr. and Mrs. Jones said, “But madam, we

are not new dwellers in this apartment. We’ve lived here for two years. We are moving out

tomorrow.”

14. That Isn’t Our Fault

Mr. and Mrs. Williams got married when he was twenty-three, and she was twenty. Twenty-five years later, they had a big party, and a photographer came and took some photographs

of them.

Then the photographer gave Mrs. Williams a card and said, “They’ll be ready next