听力教程第三册答案UNIT9

Unit 9

Section One

Part 1 Spot Dictation

As the bulge of the baby boom pushes into (1) middle age - the

30-to-50-year-olds are now the (2) largest age group in this country - our outlook

on getting older is (3) changing. In fact, experts are finding today that getting

older is getting better, in very (4) real ways.

Most people in their middle years are at the (5) peak of their working lives.

This is the time of (6) competence when people get a great deal of (7) satisfaction

and security out of realizing they have something to (8) offer others.

As you get older, you're more (9) secure in your relationships. The longer

you've been married, the more likely it is that you are going to (10) stay married.

It takes a long time to become a (11) person. The older you get, the more (12)

unique you become. You become (13) clearer about what you think, what you like

and don't like. You know who you are.

One of the things we fear about growing older is increasing (14) isolation. If

you let it, your world can (15) shrink. But if you make the effort, (16) midlife can

be a time of more personal relationships. If you (17) nourish your relationships,

by the time you've reached midlife you have a rich network -lifelong friends, (18)

acquaintances, colleagues, an extended family.

While older people are free to spend their time the way they want, they also

know they have (19) less of it. That makes them more aware of how precious time

is and more (20) discriminating about how they use it.

Exercise

Directions: Listen to the passage and fill in the blanks with what you hear.

(Refer to Tapescript)

Unlike air travel, which is regulated internationally, rail travel is in many

cases controlled nationally. The degree of safety of rail travel is therefore highly

variable from country to country, depending on the degree of regulation and the

quality of regulation in the country concerned. In Britain and the United States

rail passenger deaths work out at an average of less than 10 rail passenger

deaths per year. Unfortunately, the rail passenger deaths per year statistics in

the less developed parts of the world are considerably higher than the rail

passenger deaths per year statistics are in the western world.

In the UK over the last 25 years, there has been an average of one train

accident for every million miles run. Because individual trains carry such a large

number of passengers compared with the number of passengers carried in cars,

buses and planes, this actually means that the degree of risk is, comparatively,

one which is almost non-existent.

By far the greatest cause of railway accidents is human error, either in

controlling or responding to signals. Recent improvements in the numbers of

accidents are in large measure due to the introduction of automatic and

computerized signalling equipment. Radio communication systems between

drivers and control centres have also proved influential in reducing accidents.

With the continuing development of radio communication systems and

automatic signalling systems we can look forward to further reductions in what

are already impressively low accident rates.

Exercise

Directions: Listen to the passage and write down the gist and the key words that

help you decide.

1) This passage is about rail travel safety.

2) The key words are highly variable. degree and quality of regulation: Britain

and the United States. less than 10 rail passenger deaths per year: less

developed parts. higher: UK. last 25 years. one train accident for every

million miles run: cause. human error: automatic. computerized signaling.

radio communication systems. reduce accidents.

Section Two Listening Comprehension ~

Part 1Dialogue

Adolescence

Interviewer: So, you say Eric's what you'd consider pretty strict but pretty

fair? So, for example, when he tells you to do Interviewer: something

Jora: Well, he's strict and I get angry when he doesn't want me to do stuff. But

afterwards I can almost always see why he said it, y'know?

Interviewer: Yeah.

Jora: And there's only a couple of incidents where, well, that were totally,

y'know, that I didn't understand at all.

Interviewer: Hmm. Not a bad record.

Eric: No. Vh, 'cos I'm sure I've made some mistakes.

Interviewer: Is ... how would you compare your mom? Is she less strict than

your dad? Mm-hmm. Well, she's less strict, but it's, it's like I can't win, y'know?

The stuff that my dad's not strict about, my mom's strict about, and· the stuff

that my mom's not strict about, my dad is. And, well, like my dad doesn't let me

see PG-13* or R movies, but my mom does. She, well, she rents R-rated* movies,