《现代大学英语听力2》听力原文及题目答案Unit--13

《现代大学英语听力2》听力原文及答案U n i t1U n i t1Task 1【答案】A.1) She wanted to see St. Paul’s Cathedral.2) She was so surprised because she saw so many Englishmen who looked alike.3) They were all wearing dark suits and bowler hats, carrying umbrellas and newspapers.4) Because she had often read about them and seen photographs of them, who all looked as if they were wearing a uniform.5) No, he didn’t.6) He used the English saying “It takes all kinds to make a world”to prove his opinion.B.If all the seas were one sea, what a great sea it would be! And if all the trees were one tree, what a great tree it would be! And if this tree were to fall in the sea, what a great splash there would be!Yesterday morning Gretel went to the City of London. She wanted to see St. Paul's Cathedral. She was surprised to see so many Englishmen who looked alike. They were all wearing dark suits and bowler hats. They were all carrying umbrellas and newspapers. When she returned home she asked Mr clark about these strange creatures. "They must be typical English gentlemen," she said." I have often read about them and seen photographs of them. They all look as if they are wearing a uniform. Does the typical English gentleman still exist?"Mr. Clark laughed. "I've never thought about it," he answered." It's true that many of the men who work in the City of London still wear bowler hate and I suppose they are typical Englishmen. But look at this." Mr. Clark picked up a magazine and pointed at a photo of a young man. "He's just as typical, perhaps. It seems as if there is no such thing as a 'typical' Englishman. Do you know the English saying 'It takes all kinds to make a world'? That's true of all countries-including England."“Oh, just like the poem ‘If All the Seas Were One Sea’,”Gretel began to hum happily. If all the seas were one sea, what a great sea that would be! If all the trees were one tree, what a great tree that would be! And if this tree were to fall in the sea, w hat a great splash that would be!”Task 2A.1) people were much busier2) colder than England; minus thirty degrees; last longer3) much more mountainous; much higher and much more rocky; more beautiful4) tend to be more crowded5) the houses; smallerB.1) T 2) T 3) F 4) F 5) F【原文】John is British but has worked in Japan. Etsuko is Japanese from Osaka, but she is studying in Britain. In the following passage you are going to hear, they are comparing life as they see it in the two countries. But before listening to it, think of the two countries and try to answer the following pre-listening questions.John: I found that living in Japan, people were busier. They seem to workthe whole day.Etsuko: Yes, that’s right. We work from Monday through Saturday, even in summer. You know, summer in Japan is just horrible. It’s very, very humid and hot, and you need to shower three times a day.John: So you find it cooler in England?Etsuko: Yes, that’s right.John: Where I was living in Japan, in the North, it was much colder than England, especially in winter, minus thirty degrees centigrade. Does the winter in Osaka last longer than the winter in England?Etsuko: No, I don’t think so. December, January, February, March.John: Yes. It’s a little bit shorter if anything.Etsuko: Ever since I came here, I noticed that the countryside here in England is very beautiful.John: It’s much flatter than in Japan.Etsuko: Yes. Japan is a mountainous country and our cities are full of people. There are lots of people in a limited flat area.John: Yes, I found Japan much more mountainous than Britain, especially in the north. The mountains are much higher and much more rocky. I found itmore beautiful than Britain, I think.Etsuko: Yes, if you like mountains.John: And therefore the towns and villages tend to be more crowded.Etsuko: Yes, that’s right.John: Yes. So because the cities are more crowded, the houses tend to be smaller, don’t they?Etsuko: Yes, they are very compact, and we don’t hav e a lot of space. In big cities we have a lot of taller buildings now.John: Is this a problem because there are more earthquakes in Japan?Etsuko: Yes, that’s right and…Task 3【答案】A.1) In the US, people usually dance just to enjoy themselves; they don’t invite other people to watch them.2)Usually eight people dance together.3)Because people form a square in dancing with a man and a woman on eachside of the square.4) He usually makes it into a song.5) They wear old-fashioned clothes.B.1) F 2) T 3) F 4) F 5) TC.1) eight people form a square; on each side of the square2) what they should do; makes it into a song; sings it3) don’t have much time to think4) old-fashioned clothes【原文】Rosa: Why don’t you have folk dances in the United States? Most countries have special dances that the people have done for many years. Thedancers wear clothes from the old days. Everyone likes to watch them dance.Steve: We have folk dances, too. A lot of people belong to folk dancing groups.But when they dance, they usually do it just to enjoy themselves.They don’t inv ite other people to watch them.Rosa: Is there a folk dancing group here?Steve: I think so. There must be. There’s one in almost every city, and some big cities have several.Rosa: What are the dances like?Steve: Usually eight people dance together, four men and four women. When they start, they form a square, with a man and a woman on each sideof the square. That’s why it’s called square dancing.Then there’sa man who tells the dancers what they should do. He usually makesit into a song. He sings it while they dance.Rosa: Oh, that should make the dances easy!Steve: Yes, but they are very fast. They don’t have much time to think.I like to watch them, though. The dancers wear old-fashioned clothes.That makes the dances pretty to watch.Rosa: I’d like to watch a group dance.Steve: I’ll take you sometime.Task 4【答案】1) It was a time to celebrate the end of winter and the beginning of spring.2) They burned the picture of their kitchen god to bring good luck.3) The custom said the brides must wear “something old, something new,something borrowed, and something blue” to bring good luck.4)Because they could not eat meat, eggs or dairy products during Lent, sothey tried to use up these things before Lent began.5)It was a straw man made by children in Czech; it was a figure of death.6)People brought their animals to church. And before the animals went intothe church people dressed them up in flowers and ribbons.【原文】1) On the evening of February 3rd, people in Japanese families took one driedbean for each year of their age and threw the beans on the floor, shouting "Good luck in! Evil spirits out!" This was known as "Setsubun", a time to celebrate the end of winter and the beginning of spring.2) Before the Chinese Lunar New Year in the old days, many Chinese familiesburned the picture of their kitchen god to bring good luck. When Lunar NewYear's Day came, they put ancw picture of the kitchen god on the wall. 3) When American women got married, they sometimes followed an old customin choosing what to wear on their wedding day. The custom said the bride must wear "something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue". This was to bring good luck.4) Before Lent (a time on the Christian calendar), the people of Ponti, Italyate an omelet made with 1,000 eggs. People could not eat meat, eggs or dairy products during Lent, so they tried to use up these things before Lent began.5) When winter ended in Czech, the children made a straw man called "Smrt",which was a figure of death. They burned it or threw it in the river. After they destroyed it, they carried flowers home to show the arrival of spring. 6) January 17th was St. Anthony's Day in Mexico. It was a day when peoplebrought their animals to church. But before the animals went into the church, the people dressed them up in flowers and ribbons. This ceremony was to protect people's animals.Task 5【答案】A.1) F 2) T 3) F 4) T 5) F 6) T 7) T B.【原文】Man: Well, I think life used to be much more fun than it is now. I mean, look at the Victorians. They had lots of servants to do all the work;they never had to do any cooking or cleaning; they just wore those beautiful dresses and went to tea parties.Woman: You must be joking! Their clothes were terribly uncomfortable and their tea parties were very formal and boring. They used to wear their hats and long gloves even when they were eating cakes and biscuits.And men were not usually invited.Man: Really? Weren't they?Woman: And think of the poor servants. What a terrible life —just cleaning and cooking for other people all the time!Man: But you hate housework!Woman: Yes, I know, but there are lots of machines now to help you with the housework. People don't need servants.Man: Maybe they don't, but life then was much slower than it is now-people nowadays are always rushing, and they never have time to stop and enjoy themselves.Woman: Life then was fine for the rich, but it was dreadful for the poor.There was much more illness. They didn't have the money to pay doctors,and they often used to die of illnesses that don't exist in England now.Man: Maybe. But people used to talk to each other, play the piano or play cards together. Nowadays people just sit in front of the television for hours and never talk to each other.Woman: I agree with you about television; but what about their children? They left their Children with the servants all day. Children hardly ever saw their parents! And the clothes they had to wear! Horrible, tight, uncomfortable, grown-up clothes. Children have a much better life now than they used to, and schools and education are much better too. Man: I hate school.Woman: And look at opportunities for women. In those days, women used to stay at home, play the piano, change their clothes several times a day and have tea parties. What a life! They didn't have any freedom at all.I'm very happy living now. I can work, have a career, do what I want to.Man: You mean you can work hard all your life like a Victorian servant. Woman: Life isn't all tea parties, you know.Task 6【答案】A.1) b 2) a 3) c 4) aB.1) family unit; process; change; used to be; the extended; the nuclear2) job patterns; progressed; agricultural; industrial; forced; job opportunities; split up3) traditional; family; expanded; other living arrangementsC.1) mother, father, children, and some other relatives, such as grandparents, living in the same house or nearby2)only the parents and the children3)previously married men and women marry again and combine the children fromformer marriages into a new family【原文】The American family unit is in the process of change. There used to be mainly two types offamilies: the extended and the nuclear. The extended family most often included mother, father, children, and some other relatives, such as grandparents, living in the same house or nearby. Then as job patterns changed and the economy progressed from agricultural to industrial, people were forced to move to different parts of the country for job opportunities. These moves split up the extended family. The nuclear family became more prevalent; this consisted of only the parents and the children. Now besides these two types of traditional groupings, the word "family" is being expanded to include a variety of other living arrangements.Today's family can be made up of diverse combinations. With the divorce rate nearly one in two, there is an increase in single parent homes: a father or mother living with one or more children. "Blended families" occur when previously married men and women marry again and combine the children from former marriages into a new family. On the other hand, some couples are deciding not to have any children at all, so there is an increase in childless families. There are also more people who live alone: single, widowed, divorced. Now one in five Americans lives alone.Task 7【答案】A.B.1) c 2) c 3) a 4) b 5) c 6) c 7) c【原文】In Japan both men and women go to university and both men and women study the arts such as history or English. But very few women study science, medicine or engineering. In engineering classes of thirty or forty students, there may be only one or two women. Men and women both go to university in order to get good jobs: men want to work for a big company, be successful, earn a lot of money and support a family; women, on the other hand, want to work for a big company because they have a better chance of meeting a successful man and getting married. This is changing, however, as Japanese women begin to think about their own careers. They have began to take jobs which they like rather than jobs in order to find a husband.Men work for their whole lives and usually stay with the same company.A woman may work up to ten years, but after that she usually gets married. Most women are married by the age of twenty seven, then they stay at home and look after the children. A man does not cook or look after the children. When he comes home, his meal must be ready. The woman may go out in the afternoon, shopping with her friends or having a chat, but she must go back home by four o'clock to prepare the meal. Then she may have to wait a long time for her husband to come home. Often he has to go out for a drink after work: if he doesn't he may not rise very high in the company. After her children grow up, a woman can go back to work, but it is not easy. If her former company takes older women back, she might be lucky. But most women find it difficult to find a job when they are older.Task 8【答案】A.1) a 2) c 3) b 4) c 5) c 6) b 7) c 8) bB.1) T 2) T 3) F 4) F 5) T 6) F 7) F 8) F 9) T 10) F【原文】Matthew: Geth, how do people set about getting married in England?Geth: I suppose the most common way is still for people to go home. For example, people who live in London now will go back to their homesin the provinces where they'll meet all their relatives and theirparents, and they'll get married in a church, with the bride wearingwhite, the traditional white. Then they'll go off and have a booze-upwith their relatives and friends and a jolly good time will be hadby all. Otherwise you can get married in a registry office, whichmeans you turn up with your bride-to-be or bridegroom-to-be with twowitnesses only. The ceremony takes about five minutes, I suppose.You sign the form and that's it.Matthew: There are many today who say that marriage is a complete waste of time. What's your view of marriage in the twentieth century?Goth: Well, I live in London as you know. I think in London, the tendency is to... for a... boy and girl, man or woman to live together beforemarriage and often to live together without any prospect of marriageat all. I think this probably is... is true of London and the otherbig cities than elsewhere, because after all people in London areliving in a big place where home ties are obviously less restrictive.They can do more or less as they please and I think this is thepattern.Matthew: But do you think it helps for people to live together before taking their vows?Geth: I think in a sense the habit of living together before marriage may, in a strange sort of way, make marriage stronger, because after allthe people will know each other better when they do get married andit might be suggested that divorce would be less likely between sucha couple.Matthew: Sue, you've been married for two or three years now. How's it working out?Sue: I think it's a successful marriage. It's... I mean, it's difficult to say why, because we basically suit each other very much. We havea good friendship, apart from anything else, and, you know, we justgo together very well because we respect each other's freedom andindividuality, but on the other hand we really need each other, youknow, it's...Matthew: What about.., have you thought of having children?Sue: Well, obviously, like most young couples, we have thought about it, but, you know, we both feel rather, sort of, loath to lose our freedomjust yet. I think we'll probably wait another few years. Matthew: Is it easy in England today to people to get divorced, or is thatquite difficult?Chris: I think technically it's probably fairly easy, I think, because I'm not English but, I think technically it's fairly easy to be... to getdivorced. But it's not just the technicality of it which is the problem.Divorce is... is a social stigma which people can probably Cope withto varying degrees, but it's also a lot easier for the man becausethe woman, after she is divorced is, in fact, frowned upon by... bya lot of people in society. She is... is... at a... a much moredifficult social position in terms of... of meeting other men, orwhatever, simply because she is a divorcee.Task 9【原文】Social customs and ways of behaving change. But they do not necessarily always change for the better. Things which were considered impolite many years ago are now acceptable. Just a few years ago, it was considered impolite behaviour for a man to smoke on the street. No man who thought of himself as being a gentleman would make a fool of himself by smoking when a lady was in the room.The important thing to remember about social customs is not to do anything that might make other people feel uncomfortable — especially if they areyour guests. There is a story about a rich nobleman who had a very formal dinner party. When the food was served, one of the guests started to eat his peas with a knife. Other guests were amused or shocked, but the nobleman calmly picked up his knife and began eating in the same way. It would have been bad manners to make his guest feel foolish or uncomfortable.。

y, too. They are active, but not as active as the thi nner mice. But they only live about two years, not the three years or more of the thi nner mice.The last group of mice is receiving more food than the other two groups. Most of the day, these mice are eat ing or sleep ing. They ' re n ot very active. These mice are livi ng Ion ger tha n the scientists thought —about a year and a half. But they are not healthy. They ' re sick more ofte n tha n the other two groups.The experiment is still going on. The scientists hope to finish their studies in two years.Task 2【答案】A.1) People keep fish in a certain place just as they keep sheep and cattle.2) By educatio n.3) Waste pollutes the sea, and pla nkton dies. Other sea ani mals that live on pla nkton cannot findeno ugh food.4) They n eeded to kill whales for their meat, their bones and the oil from their fat. But they have othermaterials now.B.People on land'Large fishSmaller fishZoo pla nktonPla nt pla nkton【原文】Mike: Good morning, and welcome to Radio Time. For our mon thly programme, Science Today, rve in vited a group of scie ntists to the studio to talk about sea life —Professor Adams, Dr.Brow n and Dr. Church. It's good to have you with us. Professor Adams, I've read in thepapers that sea life is in dan ger. Is this trueAdams: I'm afraid so, very true. As the world population grows, we need more food, so we catch more fish. We're overfish ing the sea, and soon there won't BE any fish.Brown: The answer is to start more fish farms on land.Church: I agree. We must keep fish, like we keep sheep and cattle.Adams: Fish farms are a good idea, but I don't think they will solve the problem of overfish ing the sea. We have to stop people fishi ng in certa in parts of the ocea n.Church: Yes. We need international rules to protect fish, and all the countries of the world must agree to obey them.Brown: We have rules now, and people don't obey them. I agree that we must stop fishing in certain parts of the ocean...Adams: And we must only allow each country to catch a certain number of fish —but how do we make people obey these rulesChurch: I don't know. By education perhapsMike: You mean, teach people about sea lifeChurch: Exactly. We must explain how everything depends on everything else. If people want to eat fish in the future, then they must stop killing so many fish now.Brown: Waste is another problem. We're filling the oceans of the world with our rubbish. The sea can no longer clean itself. It's not safe to swim near the beaches, and out at sea plankton isstarting to die.Adams: And without plant plankton for the zoo plankton, and zoo plankton for small fish and shellfish, the large fish can't find any food, and so it goes on.Church: One reason why whales are disappearing is that they can't find enough food.Mike: Whales eat plankton, don't theyChurch: Yes. And some people still want to eat whale meat. In the past people needed to kill whales for their meat, their bones and the oil from their fat. But we have other materials now. People must stop killing whales.Brown: I agree. We mustn't lose the largest sea mammal in the world.Adams: Everyone must work to save the whale. It's a wonderful animal, and it has a right to life. Mike; And everyone must try to understand about sea life and protect it. Well, thank you for coming on the program me and I hope our listeners will remember what you said. Don't let our oceans die, and remember, no food for the fish means no fish for food!Task 3【答案】A.1) b2) a3) b4) cB.1) Measure; Mix; Pour; Put on; Pack2) late; sick; vacations; strike; 24 hours; 7 days; 365 daysC.1) A worker will program the robots. She/He will type the orders into a computer, telling the robots what ingredients to use, how long to mix them, and which labels to use.2) A technician from the robot company will come within an hour to fix it.3) No.【原文】Boss: Robots Why are you talking about robots We're a small company, we make cough syrup. We only have twenty workers. Robots are fine for large factories, not small ones like ours. Assistant: Boss, small companies can use robots, too. They're great workers.Boss: I don't know. Talk to me about them ten years from now.Assistant: Boss, listen, this is a simple operation here. We make 10 different kinds of cough syrup.But each operation only has 5 steps, so we'll only need 5 robots. One robot will measurethe ingredients, and a second robot will mix them. A third robot will pour the syrup into thebottles. Then a fourth robot will put the labels on. The last robot will pack the bottles intoboxes. Right now, we have 20 workers doing these jobs.Boss: But each kind of syrup is different. How will these robots know what to doAssistant: We'll tell them. One worker will program the robots. She'll just type the orders into a computer, tell the robots what ingredients to use, how long to mix them, and which labels touse.Boss: And what happens when one of the robots breaks downAssistant: They don't break down very often. And the robot company will have a technician here within an hour.Boss: I just can't picture it. What will we have here A quiet building with robots rolling around doing the workAssistant: That's it! And these robots are great workers. They'll never come to work late, they won't call in sick, they won't take vacations, they won't go on strike, and they'll work 24 hours aday, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.Boss: I don't know. It sounds like a good idea, but I need time to think. What about the men and women who work here now Most of them are good workers. They have families to support. Assistant: Boss, that's the only problem. We won't need them anymore.Task 4【答案】A.inventions; immediate; manufactured goods; growth; farms; grew up; coal; iron; pleasant; over-crowdedB.Part 2FactoryA.1. Long2. LowB. commonC. childrenPart 3women and childrenA. 10 years old; minesB. 10 working hours/day for women and for boys under 18C. form unionsC.1) Socialists demanded complete changes in the system of Government and the way people earned their living.But other social reformers only wanted to achieve their goals by peaceful means, particularly by passing new laws.2) The Consequences of the Industrial Revolution in Britain【原文】Part 1The early inventions and discoveries which began the Industrial Revolution had important consequences. One immediate result was the great increase in the quantity of manufactured goods available. Another important result was the rapid growth of cities. Many country people left their farmsto work in factories. Gradually, new towns grew up around these factories which were built near the sources of coal, iron and waterpower. Some of the great cities of England, such as Manchester, Leeds and Birmingham, started in this way.The industrial towns were not pleasant places to live in. The workers' quarters were over-crowded and the people lived in the midst of filth and disease.Part 2The Industrial Revolution also brought about what was later called the factory system. Working conditions in factories were bad. The people had to work long hours for small wages. Accidents were common and the employer took no responsibility for them. The most unfortunate victims of the factory system were children. Children only four or five years old were employed in factories and mines.Part 3Many influential people began to protest against the terrible conditions under which the people lived and worked. Gradually, the English Parliament made new laws to protect workers, particularly women and children. In 1842, it was made illegal to employ women, and children under ten years old, to work in the mines. Another law was passed in 1847 allowing only ten hours of work per day for women and for boys under eighteen years of age. After 1824, working men were also allowed to form unions to bargain peacefully with their employers for better working conditions and better wages. Strikes were, however, forbidden for many years. Part 4As the factory system grew, a number of men criticized its evils. Some of these men merely wanted new laws to protect the workers. Others, who were later known as Socialists or Communists, demanded complete changes in the system of Government and the way people earned their living.Task 5【答案】A.1) T2) T3) F4) T5) F6) F7) T8) T 【原文】Miranda went to one side of the control room and touched a button. The door of the safety room slid open. Miranda went inside and closed the door. She had a plan of her own.The large blue capsules were on the tray which had come out of the wall. Miranda picked up a capsule and opened it carefully. It was full of white powder. She emptied the white powder into some water. Then she poured the liquid into an injecti on gun.Mira nda put the gun carefully into a pocket i n her overalls. She now had a weap on of her own."Garth will not think of search ing me," Mira nda said to herself. "He does n't know I have a differe nt pla n for the crystals."Miranda went back to the control room. Omega was silently charging the power banks. The visual display showed the sleep ing bodies of Garth and Varon."Whe n will the ship be ready to leave for Zeron" she asked Omega eagerly."I n three and a half hour's time," was Omega's reply."Keep watch ing Garth," Mira nda ordered. "But you can stop watch ing Varon. He is lockedin his cab in. He cannot get out un til I ope n the door.""It will be don e," Omega an swered.He pressed the butt on on the con trol pan el. The picture of Varon disappeared and the picture of the sleep ing body of Garth filled the scree n.Mira nda went out in to the corridor and walked the short dista nce to Varo n's cab in. She touched a butt on in the wall and the door ope ned immediately. Varon was lyi ng asleep on the bunk.Mira nda looked dow n at him."You're a fool," she thought. "How can you lie there sleeping Anyone who trusts Garth is a fool."She shook Varon by the shoulder un til he woke up."What's wrong" he asked sleepily. "Are we ready to leave""Not yet," replied Mira nda. "I have come to talk to you. I want you to help me.""I am going to help you to get the Zeron crystals. What more help do you want" asked Varo n."You know very little about me and Garth," began Miranda."I know eno ugh," in terrupted Varon. "You are thieves. And you are murderers!""I am not a murderer," said Miranda. "I helped Garth on Earth. But I did not kill the owner of this spaceship."Task 6【答案】A.1) c2) b3) cB.【原文】Potts: Now, Mr. Macadam, what makes you so sure that there is a monster in Loch Ness Macadam: I've seen it, Professor Potts! I've seen it with my own eyes, I tell you! I was there byLoch Ness very early one mornin g. I was sta nding by the edge of the lake. Sudde nly Isaw a pair of eyes in the water. They were look ing at me. Then a head came up out of thewater, and this thing bega n to swim towards me. I was really frighte ned, you know!I was holding a bottle in my hand at the time. I threw it at the monster. Then the mon sterdived and swam away un derwater. But I know you don't believe my story, do you,Professor PottsPotts: Well, I believe that you saw something. But are you certain that it was a monster Could you see it clearly Are you sure that it was n't just some kind of ani mal or bird You see, Idon't believe in mon sters. And I don't think there's anything stra nge or unu sual in LochNess. If there are any mon sters there, why has n't anyone caught one yet Why aren'tthere any really clear photos or films of oneMacadam: Ah, well let me expla in. Loch Ness is very deep, you know —more tha n 200 metres deep in some places. And the water's a dark brown colour. These monsters don't come to thesurface of the lake very often. They live in deep water, near the bottom of the lake. Youcan't see much dow n there. So it's very hard to find these mon sters. And it's harder tocatch one. Dr. Hunt knows a lot about Loch Ness. You believe there's a mon ster there,don't you, DoctorDr. Hunt: Well, actually, I used to think that the whole idea of "Nessie" was just a joke. But now rm not so sure. Nowadays we know a lot about land animals, but the underwater world is stillfull of mysteries. I don't like the word "mon ster", but I believe there may be somethingunusual in Loch Ness. It may be a big animal. It may be a fish that scie ntists don't knowabout. It could even be a kind of dino saur that did n't die 65 milli on years ago. Whoknows It's an excit ing idea, but we can't be certa in un til we have some better pictures,or, best of all, un til some one catches one of these thi ngs so that scie ntists can study itproperly.Task 7【答案】A.1) F2) T3) F4) F5) TB.1) Dispute over the gen etically modified crops.2) Biotech foods come from material that has been genetically modified by scientists to resistin-sects or disease.3) European consumers feared possible health risks of these new foods.4) First the foods must be labeled clearly. Second, producers will have to trace GMOs at all stages ofproduction.5) Because the aid contained biotech grain, which Africans feared could be used as seed and therebythreaten future exports to the EU.【原文】The European Parliament on Wednesday passed two laws that could open the way for European Union nations to lift an unofficial ban on genetically modified crops. This is a major trade issue with the United States, whose farmers claim the ban has cost almost $300 million a year in lost corn exports.The new laws, expected to be adopted by EU governments before the end of the year, would allow the distribution of genetically modified foods as long as they are clearly labeled. The rules would also force producers to trace genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, at all stages of production.The new laws require the 15 nations of the EU to establish their own measures to prevent seeds from farms growing genetically modified crops from blowing into fields of conventional farms.European consumers fear possible health risks from genetically modified products, but EU Health Commissioner David Byrne insists this is not a concern."The purpose of this legislation is to inform consumers about the exact nature and characteristics of the food, to enable them to make informed choices. The purpose of labeling is not to inform the consumer about the safety or lack of safety of a food. If a food is unsafe, it cannot be placed on the market at all."The United States has filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization in an attempt to have the unofficial EU moratorium on so-called biotech foods lifted.Washington has also said previously it is unhappy with the new labeling rules and other requirements, which it believes are too costly and restrictive.Biotech foods come from material that has been genetically modified by scientists to resist in-sects or disease. Such foods have been widely grown in North America for years.The EU imposed its unofficial moratorium on new biotech foods five years ago because of fears by European consumers about possible health risks.The issue has worldwide implications. Last year, several African nations rejected US food aid because it contained biotech grain, which Africans feared could be used as seed and thereby threaten future exports to the European Union.Task 8【答案】A.1) b2) a3) b4) cB.1) It's the largest anywhere in the world.2) They built two different types of power station side by side. They want to find which is the bestsystem for harn ess ing the power of the sun.3) Water is con verted to steam to drive the turb ines in the usual way.4) The sun ofte n disappears.C.Japan is the land of the rising sun. And by the sea on one of the Japanese islands at the little town of Neo, they're taking the national symbol seriously. The town now has its own power stati on, and it's the largest any where in the world to be powered by the sun.This massive in stallatio n is clear evide nee of the Japa nese commitme nt to solar power. And perhaps only they could have gone this far, to stage what's in effect a solar energy competition.There are, in fact, two totally differe nt types of power stati on here, side by side, and each one of them is capable of generating one megawatt of electricity. And although they began this year feeding electricity into the power network to supply about 2,000 local houses, this is basically just one enormous experiment to find the best way of harnessing the sun.The mirrors here are part of just one of the solar power stations, and each one is made of specially treated glass which reflects 95 perce nt of the sun light falli ng on them. They the n focus that light up to the top of a central tower. Altogether, there are 800 of these mirrors arranged in a circle around the tower, and to make sure they're always reflect ing the sun light onto the collecting surface at the top, a series of computers dotted amongst the mirrors adjusts their positi on so they follow the moveme nt of the sun across the sky.As they heat the collecting surface to over 400~ Centigrade, water in concealed pipes is converted to steam and returns back down the tower to drive a turbine and generator in the usualway.But the obvious problem with solar energy is that the sun often disappears, even here where the site was carefully chosen because it's one of the sunniest spots in Japan. Completely overcast days are a write-off, but this station does cope very well with those days where there are some sunny spells, and that's because enough steam can be stored in these tanks to run the generators for three hours. And they expect the station to be able to operate for more than 200 days a year.So much for system one. It's a Western design, but only the Japanese have completed a station this big. And it's only half of their experiment.Beside it is the other entry in the competition, and this whole concept is completely home-grown. It uses mirrors again--2,500 of them--arranged on vast structures rather like football stands. Each of the stands faces south and every single mirror is individually controlled to track the sun across the sky. But this time there's no central tower.Instead, the mirrors reflect the light onto a second set of parabolic mirrors facing them. These focus the sunlight and its heat onto a water pipe clearly visible in its protective vacuum tube. In the pipe the water is converted to steam and used to generate electricity as before.It's a little early in the two-year test period to be certain yet which of the two designs is most effective. But it does look as though between the autumn and the spring, when the sun's at an angle, this parabolic type is better. But in the summer, when the sun's overhead, that central tower seems to have the advantage.But when they have got the results of the tests, the next stage is to go on and build a power station ten times bigger than either of these. Coming to the right conclusions about solar power is even more important in Japan than it is in most countries. 75 percent of their energy comes from imported oil. They are determined to reduce that to 50 percent. And that will mean building a whole string of solar power stations throughout the country.Task 9【原文】The future will not determine itself. The future is determined by the actions of the present day.Edward Cornish, the editor of The Futurist magazine published by the World Future Society, says:The responsibility we have for the future begins when we recognize that we ourselves create the future —that the future is not something imposed upon us by fate or other forces beyond our control. We ourselves build the future both through what we do and what we do not do. A novel way of teaching may change the way universities are run. An engineering teacher at the American University of Illinois has had great success without textbooks, without exams and without deadlines. His students won nine of the top ten engineering awards in a university competition.The engineering professor, Ricardo Uribe, let his engineering students express themselves, in-stead of telling them what to do. His students all focused on the problems that interested them, not what their teacher told 'them. They worked their own hours, not hours set by the university. They did not have to sit tests, and they helped each other in open classes.。

《现代大学英语听力2》听力原文及题目答案Unit--13A.1) It is Victorian brass.2) The stallholder says it's worth twenty quid.3) The stallholder is asking fifteen for it.4) It means “pound”.5) He says that Lucy must be joking, and he paid more than that for it himself.B.1) Fifteen, fourteen, thirteen, and twelve fifty.2) Ten, eleven, twelve and twelve fifty.【原文】Lucy: Excuse me.Stallholder: Yes, Miss?Lucy: How much do you want for this plate?Stallholder: Let me see. Oh, yes.., that's a lovely example of Victorian brass. It'sworth twenty quid.Lucy: Twenty pounds! Oh, that's too much for me. It's a pity. It's really nice. Stallholder: Ah, I said it's worth twenty quid. I'm only asking fifteen for it.penny.Lucy: Well, perhaps I could give you eleven.Stallholder: Thirteen. That's my final offer.Lucy: Twelve.Stallholder: Twelve fifty.Lucy: All right, twelve fifty. Stallholder: There you are, love. You've got a real bargain there.Lucy: Yes, thank you very much.Task 3【答案】A.1) make out2) draw out3) letters4) ONLY; words5) amount; numbers6) last, signatureB.3, March, 2011; Cash; Twenty pounds only;￡20----00; signature【原文】Alex: Good morning.Cashier: Good morning.Alex: I would…I would like to know how to make out this check?Cashier: Right. Em... Do you want to draw out some money?Alex: Yes. £200.Cashier: £200. OK. Well, the first thing you need to do is write today's date in the topright-hand corner where you see the line,at the top you write just today'sdate...and the year. You must put the yearin. And if you want to draw out moneyafter it says PAY...can you see over on theleft-hand side?Alex: The first...line?Cashier: That's it. On the first line it says PAY and you write CASH afterwards.Alex: In letters?Cashier: Yes. CASH, you write CASH, OK?Then below that, right below that, you haveto write the amount of money you want. So just two hundred pounds and then you write ONLY at the end in words. Then at the end of that line where you can see the box, see over on the right-hand side, you have to write the amount you want in numbers. And then below the box, the last thing you have to do in the bottom right-hand corner is just write your signature.Alex: Thank you very much.Cashier: Okay. Bye-bye then.Alex: Bye.Task 4【答案】A.1) $7.562) $0.6 for 8 percent sales tax.3) $8.164) $10.165) 2 bucks.B.1) tube; $1.09; bars; $.85; tube; $1.39; bottle;$.79; box; $.99; $.29; stick; $.98; tube; $.89; package; $.692) Here's your change【原文】Cashier: Next?Li: I'm next.Cashier: Let's see now. You have one family-size tube of tooth paste: $1.09. Three bars ofsoap: $.85. A tube of shampoo: $1.39. Abottle of aspirin: $.79. One box ofKleenex: $.99. A comb: $.29. One stickof deodorant: $.98. A tube of shavingcream: $.89. A package of razor blades:$.69. That's $7.56, and 8 percent salestax. Total: $8.16.Li: Here's a 10-dollar bill.Cashier: Got 16￠, Mister?Li: Just a minute. I'll look. Yes. Here you are, 16￠.Cashier: Thanks. Here's your change. Next, please. Please step up.Li: Excuse me, Miss. You gave me $1 inchange. My bill was $8.16 and I gaveyou a 10-dollar bill.Cashier: Oh, yeah. Sorry, Mister. Here's your buck. Next, please.Task 5【答案】A1) There are 10 denominations, namely $10,000;$5,000, $1,000; $500; $100; $50, $20, $10, $5 and $1.2) They are the same size and the same green color.3) The best bet is to forget the pictures andconcentrate on the large numbers in all four comers on the front and back.4) There are five denominations of coins: $.01 or1￠; $.05 or 5￠; $. 10 or 10￠; $.25 or 25￠;and $.50 or 50￠.5) No, they aren’t. Because a dime is smaller than either a nickel or a penny.B.1) $1; $5; $10; $202) White House; Treasury Building; LincolnMemorial; “ONE”; American insignia3) cash; bucks; dough; bread; moolah; greenbacks; a dollar; a single; a buck; a bill; five dollars; a fiver; a five spot; five bucks; singles; a ten; ten bucks; ten spot4) penny; cent; one cent; nickel; five cents; dime; ten cents; quarter; two bits; twenty-five cents; fifty-cent piece5) change; small change; silver; silver【原文】The US government prints paper money in the following denominations: $10,000; $5,000; $1,000; $500; $100; $50; $20; $10; $5 and $1.You, and almost everybody else, will never see some of these bills; twenties, tens, fives and ones are the most commonly used. You will find a picture of George Washington on the $1 bill, Abraham Lincoln on the $5, Alexander Hamilton on the $10 and Andrew Jackson on the $20. There are also pictures on the back: the White House on the $20, the Treasury Building on the $10, the Lincoln Memorial on the $5 anda big "ONE" and the American insignia on the $1. However, all paper bills are the same size and the same green color, so you have to look carefully before handing someone money and when receiving change. Your best bet is to forget the pictures and concentrate on the large numbers in all four comers of the front and back.Money in general is referred to as: "cash", "bucks", "dough", "bread", "moolah", "greenbacks", etc. A one-dollar bill is most often called "a dollar", "a single", "a buck" or "a bill"; a five-dollar bill is "five dollars", "a fiver", "a five spot" or "five bucks". Five singles make five dollars. A ten-dollar bill might be "a ten", "ten bucks" or a "ten spot".There are, of course, 100 cents in a dollar. Coins come in the following denominations: $.01 or 1￠; $.05 or 5￠; $. 10 or 10￠; $.25 or 25￠; and $.50 or 50￠. They are referred respectively to a penny, a cent, or one cent; a nickel or five cents; a dime or ten cents; a quarter, two bits ortwenty-five cents; and a fifty-cent piece.Coins are called "change", "small change" or "silver", though they aren't made of silver anymore. Coins are generally recognized by their size, but somebody "goofed" on the dime, which is smaller than either a nickel or a penny. All the others are in size order.Task 6【答案】1) It means we don't carry most of our weekly or monthly wage around in our pockets, and we don't leave it at home where it might easily be stolen.2) Because we don't want to travel around the city with hundreds of dollars in cash to pay these bills, nor do we want to waste the time and carfare.3) The author recommends an account that is a savings and a checking account in one.4) Because often commercial banks have many offices in a city or town.5) You sign your name on the back of the check, mark it "for deposit only" and deposit themoney in your account.6) It is generally about $4 per month or 15￠for every check you write.7) You should have received in the mail all your bills, such as the rent, the gas and electricity, the phone, perhaps a doctor or dentist bill, etc.8) You can use a small plastic card to tell the computer to transfer the same amount of money from your savings to your checking account.9) No, it doesn’t.10) The computer will oblige as long as you have the amount you're asking for in your account.【原文】We have a rule of thumb: "Don't carry around any more cash than you can afford to have stolen." This means we don't carry most of our weekly or monthly wage around in our pockets, and we don't leave it at home where it might easily be stolen.Furthermore, we have to pay certain billsevery month. We don't want to travel around the city with hundreds of dollars in cash to pay these bills, nor do we want to waste the time and carfare. So we need bank accounts. And so do you.The kinds of savings and checking accounts available in the US are numerous and complex, but as you will have only a small amount of money to deal with each month, your choices are limited. Let us recommend to you an account that is both a savings and a checking account in one. Though they are called by a wide variety of names — each bank gives its account a different name —they all follow essentially the same pattern. We think that savings banks generally give slightly better deals to people like you with little money, but you should ask people in your area what's the best, cheapest and most convenient. Often commercial banks have many, many more offices in a city or town, and that makes banking easier for you.How does all this work? You receive yourmonthly money from the Chinese government, probably in the form of a check, a piece of paper with your name on it and the amount you are entitled to, say $420. You sign your name on the back of the check, mark it "for deposit only" and deposit the money in your account. Then you withdraw, say, $50 to pay for groceries, carfare and other daily expenses, "spending money" or "pocket money". The remaining $370 will earn about 5 percent interest from the day it is deposited until the day you take it out. In this way, your interest on the savings account may be enough money to cover the cost of the account, generally about $4 per month or 15￠for every check you write.By about the 10th of every month you should have received in the mail all your bills —the rent, the gas and electricity, the phone, perhaps a doctor or dentist bill, etc. You sit down with your check book and write a check to pay each person. Put each check in the proper envelope, which generally has a return envelope with it,stamp them and mail them. You add up the checks — let's say it's $220, and go to your bank. With a small plastic card you can give a computer directions regarding your account: you can tell the computer to transfer $220 from your savings to your checking account. That $220 will no longer earn any interest; it will sit in your checking account until the landlord and the others take your checks and deposit them in their banks. Then, the proper amount will be deducted from your checking account and everybody will be happy. If your original $50 cash runs out, you can take your little plastic card and ask the computer to give you some cash. The computer will oblige as long as you have the amount you're asking for in your account. If you don't —computers are very smart!Task 7【答案】A.1) F2) F3) T4) F5) TB.1) The goods bought by hire purchase are, in almost every case, goods that will last — radio and television sets, washing machines, refrigerators, motor-cars and motor-cycles, and articles of furniture.2) It helps newly-married couples with small incomes to furnish their homes; increases the demand for goods, and in this way helps trade and employment; and by hire purchase, families can spend less money, or perhaps no money, in useless or perhaps harmful ways, for example, on too much alcohol drink.3) There is the danger that when trade is bad,hire purchase buying may end suddenly and make trade much worse, with, as a result, a great increase in unemployment.【原文】This system of buying goods became verycommon during the first half of the twentieth century. Today a large proportion of all the families in Great Britain buy furniture, household goods and cars by hire purchase. In the USA, the proportion is much higher than in Great Britain, and people there spend over 10 percent of their income on hire purchase installments.The goods bought by hire purchase are, in almost every case, goods that will last —radio and television sets, washing machines, refrigerators, motor-cars and motor-cycles, and articles of furniture.The price of an article bought in this way is always higher than the price that would be paid in cash. There is a charge for interest. The buyer pays a proportion, perhaps one quarter or one third, of the price when the goods are delivered to him. He then makes regular payments, weekly or monthly, until the full price has been paid. The legal ownership of the goods remains with the seller until the final payment has beenmade.Hire purchase has advantages and disadvantages. It helps newly married couples with small incomes to furnish their homes. It increases the demand for goods, and in this way helps trade and employment. If families are paying each month installments on such household goods as a washing-machine and a car, they spend less money, or perhaps no money, in useless or perhaps harmful ways, for example, on too much alcohol.There is, however, the danger that when trade is bad, hire purchase buying may end suddenly and make trade much worse, with, as a result, a great increase in unemployment. This is why, in some countries, the government controls hire purchase by fixing the proportion of the first payments and the installments.Task 8【答案】A.Form BCURRENT ACCOUNT FORMFULL NAME HELEN ANDREWSADDRESS 33 BEDFORD ROADLONDON E 14AMOUNT & 2,000CHECK BOOK YES□√NO□RATE OF INTEREST YES□NO□√B.1) The money comes from the premium bonds2) She has only had a post office savings account until now.3) He thinks most people have current accountsif they have not got an awful lot of money and they need to use it regularly.4) Because the bank doesn’t give a cheque carduntil one has had an account with the bankfor six months.5) The fact that no one would accept her checkswithout a check card makes her reconsider everything again.【原文】Bank Manager: Now, Miss Andrews, how much do you actually want to deposit with us in your new account?Helen Andrews: Well, it's just around two thousand pounds that I won on the premium bonds.Bank Manager: Right. I now need your full name and address.Helen Andrews: Helen Andrews. 33 Bedford Road ...Bank Manager: Helen Andrews: Would you please spell that?Helen Andrews: A-N-D-R-E-W-S.Bank Manager: Address?Helen Andrews: 33 Bedford, that's B-E-D-F-O--R-D ....Bank Manager: So 33 Bedford ....Helen Andrews: Road, London El4.Bank Manager: Right, er ... now do you want a deposit or a current account?Helen Andrews: Well, I want to be able to take my money out at any time.Bank Manager: I see. So you probably want a current account.Helen Andrews: Well, if you say so. I've only had a post office savings account until now. Bank Manager: Well, with a current account you can ... have a cheque book, or you can come into the bank and take the money out as you like. Of course, there's no interest on a current account.Helen Andrews: Not at all?Bank Manager: No. If you put it into a seven day's deposit account,of course, you get interest, but in a current account,none.Helen Andrews: Well, most people have current accounts, don't they?Bank Manager: Well, they do if they've not got an awful lot of money and they need to use itregularly.Eh ... so that's probably the best thing for you. Helen Andrews: Well, you'll give me a cheque book, won't you?Bank Manager: I'll give you a cheque book immediately, yes, er...Helen Andrews: Do you need my signature?Bank Manager: Ah yes, we'll need er ... two or three specimen signatures ...Helen Andrews: OK. And I will get a cheque card ...I mean one of those cards which I'm allowed to use for up to fifty pounds a day.Bank Manager: Eh, eh, now we don't actually give a cheque card until you've had an account with us for six months.Helen Andrews: Six months?Bank Manager: Yes, we have to see how the account's going, you see.Helen Andrews: But that's crazy. I mean I used to work in a shop and we’d never accep t cheques without a cheque card, I mean no one will accept my money.Bank Manager: Well, er ... this is how we work, I'm afraid.Helen Andrews: Well, I’ll have to reconsider everything again, I think. I had no idea you were as strict as this ...Task 9【答案】A.1) 100 pence2) 12 pence3) 1 penny4) "two shillings" coin5) one year6) 19717) 19848) 1983; smallB.Since(y ear) Made of LargestSizeSmallest SizeNOT&5ES &10 Paper &50 &5&21970&51980COI NS 1/2p50p1/2p(before1984) 1p/2p19711p 5p 197110p 197120p Copper/nickel50p Copper/nickel&1 1983【原文】The British have only had decimal currency for a very short time. In fact it was onlyintroduced in 1971. Before that, there were 12 pence in a shilling and 20 shillings in a pound. Now, of course, there are 100 pence in a pound, and Britain is more like its European neighbours.Like other countries, Britain has both coins and notes. The common notes are five pounds and ten pounds. The E20 note came out in 1970 and the E50 note has been around since 1981.There are several coins. The country stopped making the 1/2 pence in 1984. The l p (or one penny) is the smallest coin. Like the 2p it is made of copper. There are two types of 5p and two types of 10p. The 5p coins before 1971 have the words "one shilling" on them. The 10p coins before 1971 have the words "two shillings" on them. Both the one shilling coin and the 5p coin have the same value.Other coins are the 20p, the SOP and the E 1 coin. The 20p and the 50p coins are made of copper and nickel. The El coin has been around since 1983 and the El note was discontinued in1984, but people will continue to use it for some time. The coin is not very popular as it is very small.Task 10【原文】An old man died and left his son a lot of money. But the son was a foolish young man, and he quickly spent all the money, so that soon he had nothing left. Of course, when that happened, all his friends left him. When he was quite poor and alone, he went to see Nasreddin, who was a kind, clever old man and often helped people when they had troubles.“My money has finished and my friends have gone,”said the young man. “What will happen to me now?”“Don’t worry, young man,”answered Nasreddin. “Everything will soon be all right again. Wait and you will soon feel much happier.”The young man was very glad. “Am I going to get rich again then?” he asked Nasreddin.“No, I didn’t mean that,” said the old man.“I meant that you would soon get used to being poor and to having no friends.”。

Task 1News Item 1The United States central bank, the Federal Reserve, has raised interest rates for the third time this year. The Federal Reserve raised the overnight bank lending rate by 0.25 percent (one fourth of one percent) to 5.5 percent. It raised the discount rate also by 0.25 percent to 5 percent. The Federal Reserve said it had no plans to raise interest rates again any time soon. It said the increase today should reduce the danger of inflation.News Item 2The merce Department says the American economy has shrunk for the first time in eight years. The total value of goods and services produced in the United States fell by four tenth of one percent (0.4 percent) in the period of July through September. A recession is monly defined as at least six months where the economy shrinks.News Item 3A fall in the New York market had been widely predicted following Friday's better than expected US employment figures. US bonds from which the government funds long-term borrowing fell nearly two points on the news that more jobs had been created in March than had been expected. The Dow Jones Index was closed on Friday for the Easter holiday, so today was the first chance for the share market to react.News Item 4And we go straight to Wall Street where share prices closed higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up nearly 1 percent or 89 points at 10,205. Shares made up for some of the losses they incurred in the past week, thanks to what was interpreted as "signs the US inflation is under control".Task 2News Item 1China has launched a manned space flight, being the third country to do so 40 years after the Soviet Union and the United States. A single astronaut was on board the Shenzhou V Craft, which took off from the Gobi Desert. It's expected to go round the earth 14 times during a 24-hour period before landing in Inner Mongolia. President Hu Jintao watched the launch, a sign of the importance China attaches to its space programme. Francis Marguez reports from Beijing.Half an hour after the spacecraft blasted off, China's state television showed footage of the launch, the rocket climbing slowly into the clear blue sky. And many Chinese will feel their country has taken a proud step towards modernity.News Item 2China's first man in space has returned to Earth. Reports say Chinese officials declared the space flight a success. Astronaut Yang Liwei is also reported to be in good health. On Tuesday, China became only the third nation to send a person into orbit. Astronaut Yang and his spacecraft landed in China's Inner Mongolia early Thursday. He had orbited the earth 14 times in about 20 hours. The United States and Russia praised China for the launch. Russia and the United States were the first two nations to send people into space.Task 3Negotiators have agreed to the wording of a proposed international treaty on tobacco control. Delegates from more than 170 countries approved the final wording earlier this month in Switzerland. This came after four years of negotiations. The proposed treaty is called the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. It will be presented in May at the yearly meeting of the World Health Organization, a UN agency. The final version approved there will also require individual approval by WHO members. Once 40 nations have approved it, the treaty will go into effect in those countries.Member states cannot make any amendments once the WHO approves a final version of the treaty. They must either accept or reject the agreement as it is written. The proposed Framework Convention on Tobacco Control is part of the efforts to reduce deaths and diseases from smoking.The WHO estimates that almost five million people die each year from lung cancer and other tobacco-related diseases. That number could rise to ten million a year by 2020. Developing nations are the biggest growth areas for tobacco-related diseases. These nations are calling for the strongest laws possible to control tobacco. The treaty would ban advertising and other marketing campaigns for tobacco products, where doing so would not violate a country's constitution. It also calls for high tobacco taxes. It would even require panies to make public all the substances they use to make cigarettes.In addition, tobacco panies would have to place health warnings on at least thirty percent of their products. These warnings could not include information that might lead people to believe that some cigarettes are less harmful than others. In addition, governments would have to support treatment programs to help people stop smoking. And, there would have to be education campaigns to get people not to start. The proposed treaty also calls for measures to protect non-smokers from secondhand smoke, that is, smoke from other people's tobacco.Task 4Thank you. And thank you for asking me to share in your weekly address to the American people.Britain and America have so much in mon: language, values, belief in family and munity, in a real sense of national pride. We share many problems, too. And it has been clear from our discussions thatwe are agreed, in general terms, about some of the solutions.You took the tough decisions needed for long-term economic stability. We are doing so. You have focused on education, welfare reform, a new approach to crime. So are we. Together, we are breaking down boundaries of left and right and creating a new politics of the radical centre.Task 5Each year, the Nobel mittee in Oslo, Norway announces the winners of its famous Nobel Prizes. Most winners of the Nobel Peace Prize have been men. Only ten percent have been women since the prize was first presented in 1901.Now the United Nations Development Fund for Women and the human rights group International Alert have presented a new award to honor women peacemakers. It is called the Millennium Peace Prize for Women. Officials will present the award every three years. The award recognizes women's actions in building peace, protecting women's human rights and supporting munity life during and after war.Experts say women are usually not as involved in the peace process as men are. However, their work to reestablish normal munity life after peace has been reached is very important. Because of this, International Alert says women also need to be recognized as leaders in peace building.Earlier this month, six women and organizations received the Millennium Peace Prize for Women. One of the winners is the Colombian group "Ruta Pacifica de las Mujeres", or Women's Road to Peace. This group has organized protests against the violence between rebel groups and the Colombian government.The group "Leitana Nehan Women's Development Agency" also won the peace prize. It helped in the peace process between the military and rebel forces in Papua New Guinea. Another winner is the group "Women in Black". It is an international organization that organizes protests against violence, aggression and war.Flora Brovina also received the peace prize. She organized the "League of Albanian Women of Kosovo". Doctor Brovina has taught emergency medical skills to people in Kosovo.Asma Jahangir and Hina Jilani are also peace prize winners. They worked to support human rights and women's rights in Pakistan. And the leader of the women's movement in Rwanda also won the Millennium Peace Prize, after her death. Veneranda Nzambazamariya helped rebuild Rwanda after the mass killings in 1994. She died in a plane crash last year.Task 6News Item 1Brazil's new Health Minister Hosein Selar has sacked two senior health officials in Rio de Janeiro amid growing concern about the epidemic of dengue fever. More than 80,000 people in southeast Brazil have caught the mosquito-born disease which causes severe headaches, fever and vomiting. In some cases, it can be fatal. Our Brazil correspondent Steven Switch reports that President Fernando Henrique Cardoso regards the issue of health care as his government's biggest political weakness.News Item 2In agriculture news. The European Union has banned all imports of animal products from the Netherlands. The ban was ordered after the Dutch government confirmed four cases of foot-and-mouth disease there. Dutch officials have had all infected animals destroyed. Until now, only Britain and France have been affected by the animal disease. Also, in the American State of Vermont, officials seized some sheep suspected of having mad cow disease. More than 230 sheep were taken from a farm. The animals will be destroyed and tested for the disease.Task 7Announcer: ... in Garderers' Question Time at 2 o'clock. And now over to Gordon Chartwell in the newsroom.Newsreader: Here is the news, read by Gordon Chartwell. The cruise liner, Princess of Wales , which ran aground last night off the island of St. Catherine in the Caribbean, is reported to be sinking. Here's a report from our correspondent in Jamaica, Graham Smith.Graham Smith: A weak radio signal was received here in Kingston a few hours ago from the radio operator on the 28,000-ton luxury cruise ship, the Princess of Wales. According to this message, the ship is taking in water and is starting to sink. All the passengers have been ordered into the lifeboats and told to make for the nearby island of St. Catherine, the coast of which is some 20 miles from the scene of the accident. In normal circumstances this would be an easy 3-hour trip, but with Hurricane Zelda approaching fast and blowing away from the island, it's feared that some boats may not make it in time to the safety of the island. Once on the island, it would be possible for passengers and crew to shelter from the wind and await rescue. The Royal Navy frigate Steadfast is heading for St. Catherine at full speed but it may take her up to 24 hours to get there. So things look pretty grim for the 700 passengers and 420 crew at the moment. This is Graham Smith in Kingston, Jamaica. Newsreader: As soon as we have any further news we will interrupt our programmes to bring it to you. And now the rest of the news. In Liverpool today the Prime Minister said in a speech...Part TwoAnnouncer: We interrupt this programme to take you over to the newsroom for a newsflash. Newsreader: This is Gordon Chartwell in the newsroom with a further report from our correspondent Graham Smith in Jamaica about the stranded liner, Princess of Wales.Graham Smith: A further signal has been picked up from the Princess of Wales within the past few minutes. According to this, the ship is now out of danger. Apparently the damage to the liner is not as serious as was originally thought and she is still pletely seaworthy and out of danger. However, before this was realized, 5 of the lifeboats had been launched and about 200 passengers and crew had made their way to the island of St. Catherine where they are reported to be safe. For the time being they are likely to remain on the island. The remaining 920 people are still on board the liner and in no danger. Although Hurricane Zelda has reached the island, the wind seems to have blown itself out tosome extent and although there are heavy seas, there is no danger for a ship of the size of the Princess of Wales. The ship is now clear of the rocks. The passengers and crew sheltering on the island will be brought off by the Royal Navy frigate Steadfast, which is now close to the area. Apart from a few minor injuries there are no casualties. This is Graham Smith returning you to the studio. Newsreader: There will be a further report in our main news at one o'clock. And now back to Down Your Way...Task 8News Item 1The European Union has officially approved the Kyoto Treaty on climate change. Officials from all 15 EU states attended a ceremony Friday at the United Nations in New York. However, the treaty still needs the approval of more countries to e into effect. The treaty limits the release by industrial countries of gases blamed for trapping heat in the atmosphere. The United States was one of the first countries to sign the Kyoto Treaty, but has since withdrawn. President Bush says the treaty could harm the American economy.News Item 2Wele to BBC World News, I'm Nick Gowing. Environment ministers from 180 countries will start trying to rescue the Kyoto Treaty on global warming shortly. They join their officials who have been meeting all week in the German city of Bonn. The 1997 Kyoto agreement mits industrialized countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The protocol was undermined in a major way in March when US President George W. Bush said it would weaken America's economy.It's Beethoven who dominates the town square here and it's unlikely that he'll have to give up his place to a monument celebrating a conference which halted global warming. Ministers from over 180 countries have already agreed to global cuts in emissions of greenhouse gases 5 percent below the 1990 levels. But here they must decide how this will be achieved. Since George Bush pulled out of the deal, the argument is between Japan and Europe. The Japanese want flexible rules allowing them to plant more trees in place of steep cuts in pollution and weaker penalties for missing targets. Europe doesn't like it but really wants a deal.News Item 3A major international conference on climate change is to open in Moscow shortly with Russia ing under renewed pressure to sign the Kyoto Protocol. That's the agreement to limit the industrial pollutants that are believed to contribute to global warming. The Kyoto Protocol of 1997 can only e into force when 55 percent of countries have signed up to it. With United States refusing to sign, ratification by Russia is crucial to the treaty's success. From Moscow our environment correspondent Tim Hersch reports.President Putin himself called this conference in his own capital to discuss the latest signs of climatechange and it had been thought he might use the opportunity to announce that his government was finally prepared to sign up to Kyoto, but ments from senior Kremlin officials have played down expectations, saying Russia wanted firm guarantees of foreign investment in clean technology before pressing ahead with ratification. The European Union and UN bodies have been putting pressure on Mr. Putin to end the delays so that international action against global warming could finally start six years after the Kyoto agreement was signed.Task 9The United Nations General Assembly will hold a special session on children beginning September 19th. The meeting will bring together government leaders, child activists, non-governmental organizations and many young people. The three-day gathering will give officials a valuable chance to change how the world thinks about children.Eleven years ago, the UN held a similar meeting called the "World Summit for Children". During that conference, seventy-one heads of state and government signed a treaty aimed at improving the lives of children around the world. Efforts to reach the goals established in that treaty have made the rights of children an important issue.The UN agency for children, UNICEF, is supporting the special session. Officials are expected to produce a plan of action to guarantee that three important goals are reached. The goals are the best possible start in life for all children, a good education for all children and the chance for all children to bee an important part of their munities. The session will also examine progress made since the 1990 World Summit for Children.Former South African President and Nobel Peace Prize winner Nelson Mandela is working toward these goals. He is joined by his wife Graca Machel who is an activist for children. They are calling on munity, business and government leaders to form an international movement aimed at improving the world for young people.The movement is hoping to build international support for a public campaign to help children. Several world leaders have joined the movement. Movie stars, professional sports teams, and the creators of children's television programs and books also have joined the movement.The group's public campaign lists ten ways to improve the lives of young people. These include educating children, protecting them from war and fighting the disease AIDS. UNICEF officials say the goal of the movement is for people around the world to get involved, take action and work for change. They say that for every child who es into the world, the hopes and dreams of the human race are reborn.Task 10The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization says hunger kills millions of people each year—especially children. The UN organization says millions more people will die unless more money is invested to fight against hunger.This is based on the results of a new UN study called "The State of Food Insecurity in the World, 2002". It found that more than nine million people die each year from hunger. Six million of them are children younger than age five. Researchers also found that the number of starving people is growing in some parts of the world.The report says that about eight hundred and forty million people around the world are not getting enough food to eat. Ninety-five percent of these people are in developing countries.。

《现代大学英语听力2》听力原文及题目答案《现代大学英语听力2》听力原文及题目答案《现代大学英语听力2》听力原文及题目答案Unit 3Unit 3Task 1【答案】A.1) Stress on the job costs American companies as much as $150 billion a year in lower productivity, unnecessary employee sick leave, and higher medical costs.2) The most stressful professions are those that involve danger and extreme pressure and those that carry a lot of responsibility without much control.3) The best way to deal with stress is through relaxation, but sometimes the only answer is to fight back or walk away.B.1) Three-quarters2) psychologists, doctors3) nervousness, anger, frequent illness, forgetfulness, mental problems【原文】Stress on the job costs American companies as much as $150 billion a year in lower productivity, unnecessary employee sick leave, and higher medical costs. Three-quarters of the office workers today say they suffer from stress at work. Recently, psychologists and doctors have begun to study the problem more closely. They have discovered that the most stressful professions are those that involve danger, extreme pressure and those that carry a lot of responsibility without muchcontrol.The sign of stress range from nervousness, anger, and frequent illness to forgetfulness or even mental problems. The best way to deal with stress is through relaxation, but sometimes the only answer is to fight back or walk away.Task 2【答案】A.1)give in so easily to hijackers’ demandsa) threaten to blow up a plane, commit some other outageb) hold out against this kind of blackmail, always have terrorists, Start executingterrorists automaticallyc)be prepared to face the consequences of evil2)a) It’s the lesser of two evils. Terrorists have proven often enough that they really mean business.b)Innocent lives, threatening the innocent will achieve its ends.B.She implies that if the first speaker was one of the victims of terrorism, she would want the government to give in to the demands so that she wouldn’t die.【原文】Margaret: Governments give in so easily to hijackers’ demands. A hijacker only has to threaten to blow up a plane or commit some other outrage, and a government gives in to his demands.Valerie: Naturally. It’s the less er of the two evils. What government would risk innocent lives just to see if terrorists will really do what they threaten to do Terrorists have proven often enough that they really mean business. Margaret: Yes, but i f a government doesn’t hold out against this kind of blackmail,we will always have terrorists. Governments are afraid to punish these people. They almost always let them go free. Start executing terrorists automatically wherever they land, and terrorism will stop.Valerie: And what about the innocent lives that will be lost in the process Terrorism is based on the simple idea that threatening the innocent will achieve its ends.Margaret: You can’t get rid of evil without being prepared to face the consequences of evil.Valerie: So long as you’re not one of the victims!Task 3【答案】A.1)thirty-five, natural light, a small window, hot, airless, very noisy2) Mexico3) ought to, shouldn’tB.1)It is located in a narrow street with five-and six-storey buildings eightkilometers from downtown Los Angeles.2) This factory makes shirts and jeans3) She’s already been working for ten hours, but won’t stop for another two hours.4) She can’t complain about those things because she is an illegal immigrant.【原文】Eight kilometers from downtown Los Angeles there is a narrow street with five- and six-storey buildings. Inside one of these buildings there is a small factory making shirts and jeans. The women working in the factory sit close together, each with a small table, each with their own sewing machine. The women say nothing, and work hard. In one of the rooms there are thirty-five women. There is only a littlenatural light, and this comes from a small window in the roof. The room is hot, airless, and very noisy. On the left-hand side of the room there is a young girl sitting next to the wall. Every now and again she closes her eyes, and her fingers stop working. She's already been in her chair for ten hours, but she'll be here until the bell rings — and that won't be for another two hours. Her name is Maria, and she comes from Mexico. She won't complain about her work. She won't say that the working hours ought to be changed; she won't say that the working conditions shouldn't be permitted.Task 4【答案】A.Every year the British government publishes statistics about social trends. Their findings show definite patterns in the British way of life.1)marked differencesa)one hour more every day, three hours more every weekb) 1 percent, cleaning and ironing, keep household accounts, do repairs orimprovementsc)30 percent2)leisure activities, watching television, 20 hours a week, going for walks,Swimming, British womenB.Unlike the other couples, Carla has always kept her won accounts and Adrian has always done his own housework. Neither of them like watching television very much and they both like swimming.【原文】When Adrian Hutton and Carla Leone get married they will move into a new housethat they have bought. But what sort of life will they have What can they expect in modern Britain Every year the British government publishes statistics about social trends. Their findings show definite patterns in the British way of life.In most marriages there are some marked differences between husbands and wives. Working wives, for example, sleep (on average) one hour more a day than working husbands. Housewives, on the other hand, sleep only about three hours more every week than their working husbands. And what about housework The government survey showed that only 1% of men do the household chores — like cleaning and ironing. But they do usually keep household accounts and it is always men who do repairs or improvements in the house. 30% of all marriages end in divorce.The government survey also looked at leisure activities. They found that the two most popular leisure activities in Britain are watching television (the average family spends 20 hours a week in front of the TV set) and going for walks. Swimming is an especially popular activity among British women.Carla and Adrian's life, though, will probably be different from the average marriage. In the first place Carla has always kept her own accounts and Adrian has always done his own housework. Neither of them like watching television very much and they both like swimming.Task 5【答案】A.Topic: How a city in Japan solve the problem of garbage disposal.Supporting details: 160 million, every year, 10 percent, 10 percent, the rest, public cooperation1) garbage that can be easily burned, kitchen and garden trash2) electrical appliances, plastic tools, plastic toys3) are poisonous, cause pollution, batteries4) bottles and glass containers that can be recycled5) metal containers that can be recycled6) furniture and bicycledon different days, on request, fertilizer, to produce electricity, recycled, cleaned, repaired, resold cheaply, give awayB.1) The garbage will be taken to a center that looks like a clean new office buildingor hospital. Inside the center, special equipment is used to sort and process the garbage.2) Official from cities around the world visit Machida to see whether they can use some of these ideas and techniques to solve their own garbage disposal problems.【原文】Disposing of the garbage we produce every day is a major problem in cities around the world. In the United States, over 160 million tons of garbage are produce every year. Ten percent is recycled, ten percent is burned, and the rest is put in landfills. But finding land for new landfills is becoming more difficult.A city that has solved this problem in an unusual way is Machida, in Tokyo, Japan. They have developed a totally new approach to garbage disposal. The key to the operation is public cooperation. Families must divide their garbage into six categories:1. garbage that can be easily burned (that is, combustible garbage) such as kitchen and garden trash
;2. noncombustible garbage, such as small electrical appliances, plastic tools, and plastic toys
;3. products that are poisonous or that cause pollution, such as batteries and fluorescent lights
;4. bottles and glass containers that can be recycled
;5. metal containers that can be recycled
;6. large items, such as furniture and bicycles.The items in categories1 to 5 are collected on different days. Large items are only collected upon request. Then the garbage is taken to a center that looks like a clean new office building or hospital. Inside the center, special equipment is used to sort and process the garbage. Almost everything can be reused: garden or kitchen trash becomes fertilizer; combustible garbage is burned to produce electrical; metal containers and bottles are recycled; and old furniture, clothing, and other useful items are cleaned, repaired, and resold cheaply or given away. The work provides employment for handicapped person and gives them a chance to learn new skills.Nowadays, officials from cities around the world visit Machida to see whether they can use some of these ideas and techniques to solve their own garbage disposal problems.Task 6【答案】1) They were talking about Mrs. Carter.2) She was a tall, handsome woman who used to come into the shop at least twice a week.3) She lived alone in a large house on an old farm---about three miles from the shop.4) He was absolutely certain, otherwise he would never call the police. His evidence was this: First, he saw her do it; second, he found the things in her bag; third, she had done it before.5) Because two young people saw her. The shopkeeper believed that if they didn’t punish her, young people would think that stealing didn’t matter.6) The judge thought that it was difficult case from a humanitarian point of view. The excuses her found for her were: First, the woman was old and she livedalone---she was lonely. Second, she wasn’t poor---she was well-known for her generosity to charities and she didn’t need to steal. Te items were only worth a pound or two. Third, she pleaded not guilty and she didn’t know that she had done it.【原文】Shopkeeper: I knew Mrs. Carter very well. She was a tall, handsome woman who used to come into the shop at least twice a week. She lived alone in a largehouse on an old farm — about three miles from here. People ask me if Iam certain she did it. The answer is yes. I was absolutely certain,otherwise I would never have called the police. In the first place, I sawher do it. I watched her put the things into her bag and I watched her walkout of the store. In the second place, we found the things in her bag, andfinally, she had done it before. It wasn't the first time. I think she wasin such a confused state that she didn’t know what she was doing, but twoother people say her —two young people. We had to punish her, otherwiseyoung p eople would think that stealing didn’t matter.Judge: It was a difficult case from a humanitarian point of view. The woman was old and she lived alone —she was lonely. She wasn’t poor— she was well-known for her generosity to charities and she didn’t nee d to steal. The items were only worth a pound or two. She pleaded not guilty and said she didn’t know that she had done it. From the legal point of view the case was straightforward.The woman stole; she was caught and reported. There were witnesses. She had to be punished or else no one could be punished for stealing.Task 7【答案】A. not all modern cities are alike; modern city.1) a single high-density center, skyscrapers, motorways, as far as you can see2) the low-density multi-center city, a large collection of a number of small centers, shopping centers, factories, businesses, skyscrapersB.1) He thinks that the second type( the Los Angeles model) is more sensible.2) He considers it highly likely that the kind of city we know now will completely disappear.【原文】Interviewer: Would you say then that all modem cities are pretty much alike Urban Planner: Quite definitely not. There seem to be two types of modem city. In type one there is a single high-density centre, and that's where you'llfind the skyscrapers. This is surrounded by motorways. And all aroundthis centre, low-density suburbs stretch as far as you can see. Thisis like Houston, or Calgary, or Toronto. Interviewer: And the secondtypeUrban Planner: The other type is like Los Angeles — the low-density multi-centre city. As I'm sure you know Los Angeles is really a large collectionof a number of small centres, each with its shopping centres, factories,businesses, and skyscrapers scattered everywhere. In a way it's almostone enormous suburb.Interviewer: Do you. think one type is better than the otherUrban Planner: I think the Los Angeles model is more sensible.Interviewer: And so do you think Los Angeles is the city of the futureUrban Planner: Well, it is arguable that the next step after Los Angeles is the complete disappearance of the city, with no real centre, wherewell-designed forms of urban life-modem factories and office blockswhich are clean and quiet, and beautiful forms of rural life — thetrees and parks of suburbs, live side by side.Interviewer: So are you saying that the city as we know it will disappear...Task 8【答案】A.1) He thinks that this country’s problems all come from inflation, which is theresult of the Democrat’s careless spending.2) No, she doesn’t agree with Ned. She believes that the problem is unemployment.If the government cuts spending too much, people will fall into a vicious circle of more unemployment and fewer taxpayers to share the burden.3) She agrees with Barbara. She believes that unemployment is a big problem, especially in the big industrial cities. And the government isn’t doing very much to help the big industries out.4) He believes in the free market system rather than government regulation or protection. He thinks that without a lot of government interference everything will be okay.5) No, they think it’s bad for the weak, the poor and the unprotected/ it’s bad for the underprivileged.B.more and more money, come from somewhere, higher taxes and higher prices【原文】Ned: ... you know, I think this country's problems all come from inflation. That's the main cause of our troubles right now. And what's causing the inflation It's the reckless spending of the Democrats! Every year they spend more and more money, and that money has to come from somewhere. So we pay it in the form of higher taxes and higher prices on the goods we buy.Barbara: Well, I'm not sure that I agree with you. It seems to me that inflation is only one of our problems. What about unemployment If people don't havejobs because the government cuts spending too much, they can't buy things;and then you have a vicious circle of more unemployment and fewer taxpayersto share the burden.Ellen: You know, I think Barbara may have something there. Unemployment is a big problem, especially in the big industrial cities. The auto industry isfighting for its life right now, and the government isn't doing very muchto help it.Ned: Well, it's true that the auto industry is in a mess, but I don't think the answer is in government regulation or protection. I believe in the freemarket system —let the system work without a lot of government interference, and everything will be okay.Ellen: So the strong will win, and the weak will be defeated. Is that what you meanNed: Well, that's the way it goes. The survival of the fittest.Barbara: And too bad about the weak, the poor, the unprotected...Ned: Now you're getting emotional. You have to remain objective about these things. Let me give you an example of what I'm talking about...Task 9【答案】A.1) The problem is whether or not the inner city — the core of most urban areas —will manage to survive at all.2) They moved to the suburbs in search of fresh air, elbow room, and privacy.3) As a result, suburbs began to sprawl out across the countryside. Many cities beganto fall into disrepair. And many downtown areas existed for business only.4) The result was that urban centers declined even further and the suburbs expanded still more.5) Because from the decision of the Taylors and many other young couples, we cansee that some people may be tired of spending long hours commuting, and they may have begun to miss the advantages of culture and companionship provided by city life.B.1) F 2) T 3) F 4) F 5) T 6) TC.1) middle-class, tax money, neighborhoods2) Crime, public transportation3) housing construction costs, was allowed to, constructed【原文】A few years ago, Ann and Walter Taylor thought it might be time to move out of their New York City apartment to the suburbs. They had one young son and another child on the way. But after months of looking, they became discourage and decided to buy an old townhouse right in the middle of Brooklyn, which is a part of New York City. To their delight, they discovered that they weren’t the only young couple to have made such a decision. In fact, their entire area in Brooklyn had been settled by young families. And as a result, the neighborhood, which had been declining for years, was now being restored.Brooklyn isn’t the only city in the United States to experience this kind of renewal. So are Philadelphia and . And Charleston, South Carolina, has so successfully rebuilt its old central area that it now ranks as one of America’s most charming cities. The restoration of the old port city of Savannah, Georgia, is also living proof that downtown areas do not need to die. But encouraging as these developments may be, they are among the few bright spots in a mass of difficulties that today’s cities face. Indeed, their woes are so many that it is fair to ask whether or not the inner city the core of most urban areas will manage to surviveat all.In the 1940s, urban Americans began a mass move to the suburbs in search of fresh air, elbow room, and privacy. Suburbs began to sprawl out across the countryside. Since most of those making the move were middle-class, they took with them the tax money the cities needed to maintain the neighborhoods in which they had lived. The people left in the cities were often those who were too old or too poor to move. Thus, many cities began to fall into disrepair. Crime began to soar, and public transportation was neglected.( In the past sixty years San Francisco is the only city in the United States to have completed a new mass transit system.) Meanwhile, housing construction costs continued to rise higher and higher. Middle-class housing was allowed to decay, and little new housing was constructed.Eventually, many downtown areas existed for business only. During the day they would be filled with people working in offices, and at night they would be deserted. Given these circumstances, some business executives began asking, “Why bother with going downtown at all Why not move the offices to the suburbs so that we can live and work in the same area” Gradually, some of the larger companies began moving out of the cities, with the result that urban centers declined even further and the suburbs expanded still more. This movement of business to the suburbs is not confined to the United States. Businesses have also been moving to the suburbs in Stockholm, Sweden, in Bonn, Germany, and in Brussels, Belgium, as well.But it may well be that this movement to the suburbs has reached its peak. Some people may be tired of spending long hours commuting, and they may have begun to miss the advantages of culture and companionship provided by city life. Perhaps the decision made by the Taylors is a sign that people will return to the cities and begin to restore them. It begins to look as if suburban sprawl may not have been the answer to man’s need to create an ideal environment in which to live and work.Task 10【答案】A.1) 54, 20, 1980, £70,000.2) 30, 19803) a newspaper article, to research the market4) another few months, in April 1981, a 1,500 sq ft5) third, Canada, America, 20 percent, £1 million6) 20, 70, 3B.1) F 2) T 3) F 4)F 5)TC.1) He was deeply involved in the present job and rather enjoyed himself. He thoughtthe shop was his own little baby and thought it was fun to serve behind the counter.However, he also thought that there was a lot more hard work than he was used to; he was working over the weekend doing his books. He called his old job “boring trips to Manchester to sell vast quantities of PVC”.2) He thought that there are far more job satisfaction; and believed that he wasmaking money, rather than making money for other people.3) He was about to diversify into commercial distribution of imported anddomestically produced wine and wines he’s produced himself.【原文】William Rudd, 54, worked for ICI petrochemicals for 20 years until 1980 when he took early retirement with &70,000. He opened his own delicatessen and butcher's shop in Kensington and has just bought a second London shop.I knew about a year before I left that I was going to go, so I looked around for office jobs. I had one of those frustrating periods where I nearly got some jobsbut then I didn't. Actually it was a dinner party conversation which got me into the shop. A woman I knew said she was going to open a delicatessen and thought it sounded fun. So ! said, "Super, I'll come in with you." I'd always thought retailing would be amusing, after a lifetime of industrial selling.We found that the lease of the building stipulated we had to keep it as a butcher's and I added fish and cheese and things like that. I ended up spending far more than I'd ever intended.I didn't really do much research, except for fish, about which I knew nothing.I was clearly going to be the person standing behind the counter filleting, so I talked to one person who showed me a little, supplied me, and kept me under his wing for a little while. But it's quite easy to learn about fish; once you get used to gutting salmon you're on your way. Meat is more difficult; the skill is in the butchery, so I employ people for that. I had to learn about equipment by trial and error.I started in July — the worst time of the year for a shop like this — and the overdraft kept going up. That was rather frightening because there was no one between me and the bank manager. My reaction early on was that it was bound to come right. At the same time I was deeply involved and rather enjoying myself. It was my own little baby and it was fun to serve behind the counter —completely different from boring trips to Manchester to sell vast quantities of PVC. There was a lot more hard work than I was used to; I was working over the weekend doing my books.I remember my accountant saying to me when I was starting up, "What are you going to do for mental stimulation" In fact there's quite a lot of mental stimulation in the sheer terror of losingmoney: I couldn't have conceived of doing this 20 years ago. It was a great leap in the dark. I don'tknow if I'm brave or foolish, or a bit of both I suppose. But I do know that if I'dlistened to anyone I would never have done it.Les Shield, 30, a boiler technician, was made redundant from British Steel at Consett in 1980. 145'th Mike Heywood, a Consett transport manager made redundant at the same time, he started British Brewing Products, manufacturing beer kits and now diversifi2ing into wine production.I read a newspaper article about a company which had done quite well in home brew, and I started to research the market 18 months before the closure at Consett. By the time the steelworks were due to close I had a business plan ready. We bought some products which we had made for us and went out into the wilds of Yorkshire and Lancashire and sold them as a test. It took two months before we got any repeat business and that was a nail-biting period. It took another few months to fend premises and to get financial assistance from BSC industry and the bank. We went into production in April 1981 manufacturing home-brewing kits in a 1,500 sq ft factory.Let's face it, in this area, there wasn't a lot of choice. You could sit and vegetate and spend your redundancy money, you could move away and find new employment, or you could use your redundancy money to sink or swim.We're swimming. We're actually doing very well. I like being self-employed; there's far more job satisfaction. You know that at the end of the day you're getting the full value, personally, of the work you do. That's what you're in business for —to make money, rather than make money for other people. It was obviously a strain when I spent 5 days a week training, but after 18 months, we were able to afford our first salesman.I think my wife was happy for me to do what I've done. She accepted that there would be a certain amount of stress during the early days, but she probably realized that if I was successful the rewards would be there at the end of the day.We're now in our third factory since we started. We export our products to theRepublic of Ireland, Canada and America; exports account for 20 percent of production. Our turnover will exceed &1 million for the first time this year.We're about to diversify into commercial distribution of imported and domestically produced wine and wines we're producing ourselves. We employ 20 people at the moment but that will rise to 70 in the next 3 months.Task 11【原文】I could hear the guard blowing his whistle, so I ran onto the platform and upto the train. Luckily someone saw me coming, a door opened, and I jumped on while the train was mov ing out of the station. “Phew!” I thought. “That was hard work!” I was sure the other passengers could hear my heart beating; it was so loud, and I was in a cold sweat.After a while, I recovered, and had a look at the other passengers. The compartment was full, but I was the only one standing. The people in the carriage turned their eyes away as they noticed me looking at them; all except one, a beautiful woman sitting in the corner. I saw her watching me in the mirror.Automatically, I adjusted my tie. She had seen me running for the train: maybe this was my lucky day after all. I prepared to say hello.She spoke first, however. “Would you like my seat” she asked. “You look rather ill.” That was the day on which I realized I was getting middle-aged.。

《现代大学英语听力2》听力原文及题目答案Unit 2Unit 2Task 1【答案】1) b 2) a 3) d【原文】Texas was the biggest state before Alaska became the forty-ninth state in 1959. One good way to understand the size of Texas is to learn about its weather. Different parts of the state have very different kinds of weather.Laredo is one of the hottest cities in the United States in summer. The best time to visit Laredo is in winter, when it is pleasantly warm.Amarillo gets very cold in winter. Sometimes there is more snow in Amarillo than in New York, which is a northern city. Summers are better, but sometimes it gets quite hot. The best time to visit Amarillo is in the autumn when it is cool.If anyone asks you about the weather in Texas, ask him, “What part of Texas do you mean？”Task 2【答案】A.1)T 2) F 3) FB.1) d 2) c 3) cC.climate, reputation, extraordinary, unreliable, dry, wet, clear, dull, hot, cold, bad, mild【原文】Our friend, Nick, whose English gets better and better, declared solemnly the other day that he thought that the British climate was wonderful, but the British weather was terrible. He went on to explain by pointing out that the British climate was a temperate one. This meant, he said, "that you could always be certain that the weather would never be extreme — at any rate not for any length of time — never very hot and never very cold." He quite rightly pointed out that the rainfall in Britain, according to the statistics, was not very heavy. "Why then," he asked, "has the British climate such a bad reputation?" He answered by saying it was because of the extraordinary, unreliable weather. There was no part of the year at which you could be certain that the weather would be dry or wet, clear or dull, hot or cold. A bad day in July could be as cold as a mild day in January. Indeed you could feel cold at almost any time of the year. Nick blamed drafty British houses for this, but agreed you could also blame the small amount of sunshine and a great amount of dampness. He advised every student coming to Britain to bring an umbrella and to understand the meaning of that splendid word "drizzle".Task 3【答案】I.the country; Trees, grass, lakes and steamsII.A.1. concrete, iron, steel2. take in the heat during the day and throw off heat into the air at nightB. Warmer winters, car engines; electrical applianceⅢ.A. air pollution may stop sunlight from reaching the earthB.1. Ice near the North and South poles to melt2. to be slowly flooded and people living in these cities to move to higher land【原文】Cities change the climate around you. In the country, there are trees, grass, lakes, and streams. In hot weather, the trees and grass cool the area around them. Lakes and rivers also cool the area around them.But cities are not cooled in these natural ways. Cities are built of asphalt, concrete, iron, and steel. There are few trees and usually not much grass. Rain falls onto the streets and into the sewers.When the summer sun shines, streets and buildings take in the heat; after the sun sets, the streets and buildings throw off heat into the street. Once the sun sets, the countryside cools off, but a city may stay hot all night.Cities are hotter than the countryside in winter, too. Standing near a car with its motor running, winter or summer, you will feel the heat thrown off by the engine. The heat comes from the gasoline burned by the engine. This heat warms the air and the ground around the car. Thousands of running cars are almost like thousands of small fires burning.Carefully put your hand near a light bulb or television set. As you can see, electricity creates a lot of heat. This heat from electricity warms the house and the outside air.The heat given off by cities can affect the climate. Some experts even believe that cities can change the climate of the whole world. They think that air pollution may stop sunlight from reaching the earth. If less sunshine reaches the earth, the earth may become cooler.Still other experts think the world will get warmer. If the world did get warmer, great changes would occur. Ice near the North and South poles would melt. This would make the oceans rise. Cities near oceans — like Los Angeles, Boston, and Miami — would slowly be flooded. People living in these cities would have to move to higher land.Task 4【答案】A.1) b 2) cB. night, delight; morning, warning; gray, way, red, headC.1) F 2) T 3) F【原文】A red sky at either dusk or dawn is one of the spectacular and beautiful weather predictors we have in nature. By closely observing this phenomenon, you can achieve short-range accuracy of the weather as good as, or better than your local weatherman. In the Bible, Jesus in Matthew 16, 2-3 is quoted as saying, “When it is evening, it will be fair weather: for the sky is red. And in the morning it will be foul weather today: for the sky is red” when speaking to the Pharisees. An old English weather proverb based on this passage is:Red sky at night, sailors delight.Red sky at morning, sailors take warning.OrEvening red and morning gray,Sends the traveler on his way.Evening gray, morning red,Brings the rain down on his head.At dusk, a red sky indicates that dry weather is on the way. This is due to the sun shining through dust particles being pushed ahead of a high pressure system bringing in dry air. A red sky in the morning is due to the sun again shining through dust. In this case however, the dust is being pushed on by an approaching low reassure system bringing in moisture. Don't confuse a red sky in the morning with a red sun in the morning. If the sun itself is red and the sky is a normal color, the day will be fair.Task 5【答案】1) c 2) b 3) d 4) c 5) c【原文】Mark: I am an avid fly fisherman and frequently find myself on the river in a raft during lightning storms. We always have a debate at these times on where weare safest — pulling into shore or staying on the water. Since I have heard oneis safe in a car when lightning strikes I wonder if the raft floating on the wateris insulated, and therefore the safest place to be.Meteorologist A: We spoke with some scientists about your question, and they all agreed that under no circumstances should you remain on the water during a lightningstorm. If your raft is made of rubber, you might feel that you're .well insulated,but don't kid yourself. Typical lightning flashes travel 10 to 15 kilometers andcan deliver as much as 100,000 amps of current. In comparison, a toaster usesabout 10 amps of current. If lightning strikes the water near you, it will have notrouble traveling through a few extra centimeters of rubber.Meteorologist B: So, if you're on the water and a thunderstorm approaches, get to the shore and seek shelter on land. Try a building or car. If neither is available, look for a cave,cliff, wall, or a group of trees. Never take shelter under an isolated tree-it's also agood target for lightning.Task 6【答案】A.1) F 2) T 3) F 4) T 5) F 6) TB.Incredible, one minute, one kilometer, destroyed, lifted up, carried away, killed, injured【原文】Every spring and summer many inland areas are hit by tornados. A tornado is a kind of storm. It's a revolving, funnel-shaped column of air that moves through the sky at very high speeds. A tornado looks like a huge, black ice cream cone whirling through the sky. The speed of a tornado is very fast-it is believed to be between 200 and 700 kilometers per hour.Tornados form under very special weather conditions, and these special weather conditions occur most often in inland areas, such as the central United States. A tornado forms when a layer of warm, dry air is on top of a layer of cooler, moist air. This combination of dry, warm air above wet, cool air creates a condition that causes the lower layer of air to lift up. As the lower air rises, both layers of air begin to rotate, to turn around and around. The air begins to rotate faster and faster because of centrifugal force. The tornado has a center called an “eye” and the air rotates quickly around this eye.As the air begins to rotate faster and faster, the tornado cloud begins to grow downward; that is, it begins to form a funnel or cone, and this cone goes down toward the ground.The cone of air is dark because it develops from a dark rain cloud. As the cloud gets longer, as the cloud gets closer to the ground, it begins to pull up dirt from the ground. Then the funnel of rotating air becomes very dark because of the dirt in it. As the tornado funnel gets longer, it begins to drag along the ground.When the tornado touches the ground, it does incredible damage. It usually touches the ground for only about one minute, and it usually travels along the ground for only about one kilometer, but during that one minute, buildings are destroyed, trees are lifted up out of the ground, small objects are carried away, and sometimes people are injured or killed.Task 7【答案】A.1) b 2) a 3) bB.1) It has been nice weather during the day, but it is going to change at night.2) Fine weather in southern Europe and not so nice in northern EuropeFor todaySoutheast England---26 degrees Celsius by mid-afternoonSouthern Scotland---Maximum temperatures of around 21 degreesBrighton---15 hours of lovely sunshineMidlands---23 degrees Celsius by early afternoonNorthwest of Scotland---Light showers around middayFor the weekendSpain---34 degrees CelsiusGreece---32 degrees CelsiusFrance---Cloudy with rain, maximum temperatures of 22 degreesNorthern Ireland---Heavy rain, 17 degrees CelsiusMost of England---Cloudy but mainly dry with sunny periods, 23 degrees Celsius【原文】Radio Announcer: You’re listening to Radio Metro. It’s two minutes to nine, and time for the latest weather for cast from Dan Francis at the London Weather Centre.Francis: Hello. It's been another warm and fine day for most of us. Temperatures in southeast England reached 26 degrees Celsius by mid-afternoon, and Brighton had 15 hours of lovely sunshine. Further north it was a little cooler with maximum temperatures of around 21 degrees in southern Scotland, and in the far northwest of Scotland there were some light showers around midday. But the rest of the country, as I said, has been warm and dry with temperatures in theMidlands reaching 23 degrees Celsius by early afternoon though it was a little cooler along the west coast and in Northern Ireland. But already the weather is beginning to change, I'm afraid, and during the night showers will slowly move in from the Atlantic to reach south-west England and the southern coast of Wales by early morning.The rest of the country will have a very mild, dry night with minimum temperatures no lower than 15 degrees in the south, a little cooler — 11degrees or so — in the north. Any remaining showers in northwest Scotland will pass quickly to leave a mild, dry night there too.And now the outlook for Friday and the weekend. Well, southern Europe will, once again, get the best of the weekend weather, and if your holiday starts this weekend, then southern Spain is the place to go, with temperatures of 34 degrees along the Mediterranean coast. At the eastern end of the Med, too, you can expect uninterrupted sunshine and temperatures of up to 32 degrees Celsius in Greece and southeast Italy, but further north the weather's not so settled. Much of France, Belgium and the Netherlands will be cloudy with occasional rain, and maximum temperatures will be around 22 degrees — very disappointing for this time of the year.Scotland and Northern Ireland will have heavy rain for much of the weekend and temperatures will drop to a cool 17 degrees. Across most of England the weather will be cloudy but mainly dry with sunny periods. And when the sun does come out, temperatures could rise to a maximum of 23 degrees.Task 8【原文】As the air pressure around you either rises or falls, many changes in nature occur. Most of these are very obvious changes while others are of a more subtle nature.Mountains and other far away objects will appear to be much closer and more sharply focused as wet weather approaches and the air pressure drops. The dust particles in the air begin to settle to the ground and the air clears, allowing you to see more details of faraway objects. As a high pressure front approaches and the air becomes “thicker,” more dust particles become suspended in air and things take on their normal somewhat hazy appearance.“Sharp horns on the moon threaten bad weather.” This and a bright, clear moon are good indicators that wet weather is on the way. As the air clears of dust particles ahead of a low pressuresystem, the moon appears to come closer and be more sharply focused due to the lack of dust.Sound also becomes sharper and more focused prior to stormy weather. Instead of traveling upward and outward into the atmosphere sound waves are bent back to the earth and their range extended. Bird calls sound sharper, and, at my house, we can hear the blowing of the train horn as it rumbles through the valley below.If you find yourself out in a marsh or swamp and the air really seems to stink more than normal, expect rainy weather. This happens when the pressure drops and the methane trapped on the bottom of the swamp is released in greater quantities. In reverse, as fair weather approaches and the pressure rises, things won't smell quite so strong.Birds and bats have a tendency to fly much lower to the ground right before a rain due to the “thinning” of the air. They prefer to fly where the air is the most dense and they can get greater lift with their wings. With high pressure and dry air, the atmosphere becomes denser and they can easily fly at higher altitudes.Smoke rising straight into the air means fair weather and smoke hanging low means rain is on the way. This is pretty much the same as with the birds and methane in the swamp. When high pressure approaches, smoke will rise whereas with low pressure it can't rise and tends to lay low.Remember a grandparent talking about how their corns, bunions, or joints ached right before a rain? Again, this is due to the decreasing atmospheric pressure allowing the gas in our bodies to expand.Task 9【答案】A. Statements 3, 6, 7 are true.B.f—c—a—d—b—eC.1) F 2) T 3) F 4) FD.1) d 2) b【原文】It was 1974. Richard Nixon was still president. Kidnapped heiress Patty Hearst was still missing. In Xenia, a pretty spot of 25,000 people amid fields of soybeans and corn, American Graffiti was held over at the Cinema. The Xenia Hotel offered a chicken and dumpling dinner for $2.25, but everyone flocked to the A&W drive-in for burgers and root beer floats. That's where five of the bodies were found after the storm.In all, 33 people died in Xenia's tornado, the deadliest of 148 storms that raged through 13 states during the infamous "Super Outbreak'' of tornadoes April 3 to 4, 1974. In 16 hours and 10 minutes, 330 people were killed and nearly 5,550 were injured from Illinois to Georgia.Though the Xenia death toll has been matched by other killer storms, the degree of devastation makes the city's tornado among U.S. history's most destructive. The storm still is studied in colleges by aspiring meteorologists, a textbook case of a rare Category F-5, the most intense of tornadoes.On that fateful day, I was a young boy of 8 years old. We lived in the Arrowhead Subdivision. That afternoon I was around the corner playing with some neighbor kids. I thought I could hear my father calling me, so I ran back to the house. Thinking back now, there is no way I would havebeen able to hear him. I was too far away for a voice to have traveled in the afternoon noise. Besides, Dad had a very bad case of tonsillitis that day. Like I was saying, I went back home and got through the door just in time to answer the ringing phone. On the other end of the phone was my Mother. Mom was working. She told me she heard a bad storm was on the way. She told me to make sure the garage door was shut and to stay inside. After I hung up the phone, I settled down to watch The Dennis Show. To this day I can vividly remember the electricity going out. I looked out the large window in the living room and didn't have a clue as to what I was looking at.Dad was asleep on the couch, so I woke him up to look. Dad looked and said to get into the bathroom. We sat on the floor. Dad had his back to the door and his feet pushing against the wall opposite the door. I remember that as soon as we sat down, the windows broke. Glass blew under the door, and the sound was tremendous. I know it really didn’t take too long for the tornado to go past, but I do remember the conversation we had in the process. I could feel the cool air rushing under the floor through the crawlspace vents. I asked if we were flying. He said he wasn't sure, but he didn't think we were. He said the house was tearing apart. I asked him how he knew. He said he just knew it was.When things calmed down, we opened the door. The odd feeling I had, looking up the street from inside what once was my hallway, is still with me today.I think back often to that day. I think back and wonder what would have happened if my Dad hadn't been sick that day. Like a lot of kids, I stayed home by myself after school back then. I seriously doubt I would be able to tell you my story, if I had been alone that day. I still live in Xenia and wouldn’t trade this town for any other.Task 10【原文】Undoubtedly, Tibet is one of the harshest places for human existence. It is cool in summer but freezing cold in winter. In Lhasa, the mildest city temperature may exceed 29C in summer while plummeting to -16C in winter! Sun radiation is extremely strong in Tibet. The sunlight in Lhasa is so intense that the city is called Sunlight City. The thin air can neither block off nor retain heat so that the temperature extremes can be met in daytime and the same night respectively in Tibet. However it is not impossible to visit the holy snow land. April to October is the best time to visit Tibet, out of the coldest months, which are from December to February usually. The average temperature in north Tibet is subzero and winter arrives in October until the following May or June. July and August are the best time to visit the area, enjoying warm temperature, intense sunshine, beautiful scenery and festive events. May, June and September is the tourist season in east Tibet. In winter, roads are all blocked by heavy snow. Landslides and rock falls frequently occur, which will make travel difficult.。

现代大学英语听力2原文及答案Unit 1Task 1【答案】A.1) She wanted to see St. Paul’s Cathedral.2) She was so surprised because she saw so many Englishmen who looked alike.3) They were all wearing dark suits and bowler hats, carrying umbrellas and newspapers.4) Because she had often read about them and seen photographs of them, who all looked as if they were wearing a uniform.5) No, he didn’t.6) He used the English saying “It takes all kinds to make a world” to prove his opinion.B.If all the seas were one sea, what a great sea it would be! And if all the trees were one tree, what a great tree it would be! And if this tree were to fall in the sea, what a great splash there would be!【原文】Yesterday morning Gretel went to the City of London. She wanted to see St. Paul's Cathedral. She was surprised to see so many Englishmen who looked alike. They were all wearing dark suits and bowler hats. They were all carrying umbrellas and newspapers. When she returned home she asked Mr clark about these strange creatures. "They must be typical English gentlemen," she said." I have often read about them and seen photographs of them. They all look as if they are wearing a uniform. Does the typical English gentleman still exist?"Mr. Clark laughed. "I've never thought about it," he answered." It's true that many of the men who work in the City of London still wear bowler hate and I suppose they are typical Englishmen. But look at this." Mr. Clark picked up a magazine and pointed at a photo of a young man. "He's just as typical, perhaps. It seems as if there is no such thing as a 'typical' Englishman. Do you know the English saying 'It takes all kinds to make a world'? That's true of all countries-including England."“Oh, just like the poem ‘If All the Seas Were One Sea’,” Gretel began to hum happily. If all the seas were one sea, what a great sea that would be! If all the trees were one tree, what a great tree that would be! And if this tree were to fall in the sea, w hat a great splash that would be!”Task 2【答案】A.1) people were much busier2) colder than England; minus thirty degrees; last longer3) much more mountainous; much higher and much more rocky; more beautiful4) tend to be more crowded5) the houses; smallerB.1) T 2) T 3) F 4) F 5) F【原文】John is British but has worked in Japan. Etsuko is Japanese from Osaka, but she is studying in Britain. In the following passage you are going to hear, they are comparing life as they see it in the two countries. But before listening to it, think of the two countries and try to answer the following pre-listening questions.John: I found that living in Japan, people were busier. They seem to work the whole day.Etsuko: Yes, that’s right. We work from Monday through Saturday, even in summer. You know, summer in Japan is jus t horrible. It’s very, very humid and hot, and you need to shower three times a day.John: So you find it cooler in England?Etsuko: Yes, that’s right.John: Where I was living in Japan, in the North, it was much colder than England, especially in winter, minus thirty degrees centigrade. Does the winter in Osaka last longer than the winter in England?Etsuko: No, I don’t think so. December, January, February, March.John: Yes. It’s a little bit shorter if anything.Etsuko: Ever since I came here, I noticed that the countryside here in England is very beautiful.John: It’s much flatter than in Japan.Etsuko: Yes. Japan is a mountainous country and our cities are full of people. There are lots of people in a limited flat area.John: Yes, I found Japan much more mountainous than Britain, especially in the north. The mountains are much higher and much more rocky. I found it more beautiful than Britain, I think.Etsuko: Yes, if you like mountains.John: And therefore the towns and villages tend to be more crowded.Etsuko: Yes, that’s right.John: Yes. So because the cities are more crowded, the houses tend to be smaller, don’t they?Etsuko: Yes, they are very compact, and we don’t have a lot of space. In big cities we have a lot of taller buildings now.John: Is this a problem because there are more earthquakes in Japan?Etsuko: Yes, that’s right and…Task 3【答案】A.1) In the US, people usually dance just to enjoy themselves; they don’t invite other people to watch them.2)Usually eight people dance together.3)Because people form a square in dancing with a man and a woman on each side ofthe square.4) He usually makes it into a song.5) They wear old-fashioned clothes.B.1) F 2) T 3) F 4) F 5) TC.1) eight people form a square; on each side of the square2) what they should do; makes it into a song; sings it3) don’t have much time to think4) old-fashioned clothes【原文】Rosa: Why don’t you have folk dances in the United States? Most countries have special dances that the people have done for many years. The dancers wearclothes from the old days. Everyone likes to watch them dance.Steve: We have folk dances, too. A lot of people belong to folk dancing groups. But when they dance, they usually do it just to enjoy themselves. They don’tinvite other people to watch them.Rosa: Is there a folk dancing group here?Steve: I think so. There must be. There’s one in almost every city, and some big cities have several.Rosa: What are the dances like?Steve: Usually eight people dance together, four men and four women. When they start, they form a square, with a man and a woman on each side of thesquare. That’s why it’s called square dancing.Then there’s a man who tellsthe dancers what they should do. He usually makes it into a song. He singsit while they dance.Rosa: Oh, that should make the dances easy!Steve: Yes, but they are very fast. They don’t have much time to think. I like to watch them, though. The dancers wear old-fashioned clothes. That makesthe dances pretty to watch.Rosa: I’d like to watch a g roup dance.Steve: I’ll take you sometime.Task 4【答案】1) It was a time to celebrate the end of winter and the beginning of spring.2) They burned the picture of their kitchen god to bring good luck.3) The custom said the brides must wear “something old, something new, somethingborrowed, and something blue” to bring good luck.4)Because they could not eat meat, eggs or dairy products during Lent, so they triedto use up these things before Lent began.5)It was a straw man made by children in Czech; it was a figure of death.6)People brought their animals to church. And before the animals went into thechurch people dressed them up in flowers and ribbons.【原文】1) On the evening of February 3rd, people in Japanese families took one dried bean for each year of their age and threw the beans on the floor, shouting "Good luck in! Evil spirits out!" This was known as "Setsubun", a time to celebrate the end of winter and the beginning of spring.2) Before the Chinese Lunar New Year in the old days, many Chinese families burned the picture of their kitchen god to bring good luck. When Lunar New Year's Day came, they put ancw picture of the kitchen god on the wall.3) When American women got married, they sometimes followed an old custom in choosing what to wear on their wedding day. The custom said the bride must wear "something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue". This was to bring good luck.4) Before Lent (a time on the Christian calendar), the people of Ponti, Italy ate an omelet made with 1,000 eggs. People could not eat meat, eggs or dairy products during Lent, so they tried to use up these things before Lent began.5) When winter ended in Czech, the children made a straw man called "Smrt", which was a figure of death. They burned it or threw it in the river. After they destroyed it, they carried flowers home to show the arrival of spring.6) January 17th was St. Anthony's Day in Mexico. It was a day when people brought their animals to church. But before the animals went into the church, the people dressed them up in flowers and ribbons. This ceremony was to protect people's animals.Task 5【答案】A.1) F 2) T 3) F 4) T 5) F 6) T 7) T【原文】Man: Well, I think life used to be much more fun than it is now. I mean, look at the Victorians. They had lots of servants to do all the work; they never had to doany cooking or cleaning; they just wore those beautiful dresses and went totea parties.Woman: You must be joking! Their clothes were terribly uncomfortable and their tea parties were very formal and boring. They used to wear their hats and longgloves even when they were eating cakes and biscuits. And men were notusually invited.Man: Really? Weren't they?Woman: And think of the poor servants. What a terrible life — just cleaning and cooking for other people all the time!Man: But you hate housework!Woman: Yes, I know, but there are lots of machines now to help you with the housework. People don't need servants.Man: Maybe they don't, but life then was much slower than it is now-people nowadays are always rushing, and they never have time to stop and enjoythemselves.Woman: Life then was fine for the rich, but it was dreadful for the poor. There was much more illness. They didn't have the money to pay doctors, and they oftenused to die of illnesses that don't exist in England now.Man: Maybe. But people used to talk to each other, play the piano or play cards together. Nowadays people just sit in front of the television for hours andnever talk to each other.Woman: I agree with you about television; but what about their children? They left their Children with the servants all day. Children hardly ever saw theirparents! And the clothes they had to wear! Horrible, tight, uncomfortable,grown-up clothes. Children have a much better life now than they used to,and schools and education are much better too.Man: I hate school.Woman: And look at opportunities for women. In those days, women used to stay at home, play the piano, change their clothes several times a day and have teaparties. What a life! They didn't have any freedom at all. I'm very happyliving now. I can work, have a career, do what I want to.Man: You mean you can work hard all your life like a Victorian servant. Woman: Life isn't all tea parties, you know.Task 6【答案】A.1) b 2) a 3) c 4) aB.1) family unit; process; change; used to be; the extended; the nuclear2) job patterns; progressed; agricultural; industrial; forced; job opportunities; split up3) traditional; family; expanded; other living arrangementsC.1) mother, father, children, and some other relatives, such as grandparents, living in the same house or nearby2)only the parents and the children3)previously married men and women marry again and combine the children fromformer marriages into a new family【原文】The American family unit is in the process of change. There used to be mainly two types offamilies: the extended and the nuclear. The extended family most often included mother, father, children, and some other relatives, such as grandparents, living in the same house or nearby. Then as job patterns changed and the economy progressed from agricultural to industrial, people were forced to move to different parts of the country for job opportunities. These moves split up the extended family. The nuclear family became more prevalent; this consisted of only the parents and the children. Now besides these two types of traditional groupings, the word "family" is being expanded to include a variety of other living arrangements.Today's family can be made up of diverse combinations. With the divorce rate nearly one in two, there is an increase in single parent homes: a father or mother living with one or more children. "Blended families" occur when previously married men and women marry again and combine the children from former marriages into a new family. On the other hand, some couples are deciding not to have any children at all, so there is an increase in childless families. There are also more people who live alone: single, widowed, divorced. Now one in five Americans lives alone.Task 7【答案】A.B.1) c 2) c 3) a 4) b 5) c 6) c 7) c【原文】In Japan both men and women go to university and both men and women study the arts such as history or English. But very few women study science, medicine or engineering. In engineering classes of thirty or forty students, there may be only one or two women. Men and women both go to university in order to get good jobs: men want to work for a big company, be successful, earn a lot of money and support a family; women, on the other hand, want to work for a big company because they have a better chance of meeting a successful man and getting married. This is changing, however, as Japanese women begin to think about their own careers. They have began to take jobs which they like rather than jobs in order to find a husband.Men work for their whole lives and usually stay with the same company. A woman may work up to ten years, but after that she usually gets married. Most women are married by the age of twenty seven, then they stay at home and look after the children.A man does not cook or look after the children. When he comes home, his meal must be ready. The woman may go out in the afternoon, shopping with her friends or having a chat, but she must go back home by four o'clock to prepare the meal. Then she may have to wait a long time for her husband to come home. Often he has to go out for a drink after work: if he doesn't he may not rise very high in the company. After her children grow up, a woman can go back to work, but it is not easy. If her former company takes older women back, she might be lucky. But most women find it difficult to find a job when they are older.Task 8【答案】A.1) a 2) c 3) b 4) c 5) c 6) b 7) c 8) bB.1) T 2) T 3) F 4) F 5) T 6) F 7) F 8) F 9) T 10) F【原文】Matthew: Geth, how do people set about getting married in England?Geth: I suppose the most common way is still for people to go home. For example, people who live in London now will go back to their homes in the provinceswhere they'll meet all their relatives and their parents, and they'll getmarried in a church, with the bride wearing white, the traditional white.Then they'll go off and have a booze-up with their relatives and friends anda jolly good time will be had by all. Otherwise you can get married in aregistry office, which means you turn up with your bride-to-be orbridegroom-to-be with two witnesses only. The ceremony takes about fiveminutes, I suppose. You sign the form and that's it.Matthew: There are many today who say that marriage is a complete waste of time.What's your view of marriage in the twentieth century?Goth: Well, I live in London as you know. I think in London, the tendency is to...for a... boy and girl, man or woman to live together before marriage andoften to live together without any prospect of marriage at all. I think thisprobably is... is true of London and the other big cities than elsewhere,because after all people in London are living in a big place where home tiesare obviously less restrictive. They can do more or less as they please and Ithink this is the pattern.Matthew: But do you think it helps for people to live together before taking their vows?Geth: I think in a sense the habit of living together before marriage may, in a strange sort of way, make marriage stronger, because after all the people will knoweach other better when they do get married and it might be suggested thatdivorce would be less likely between such a couple.Matthew: Sue, you've been married for two or three years now. How's it working out? Sue: I think it's a successful marriage. It's... I mean, it's difficult to say why, because we basically suit each other very much. We have a good friendship,apart from anything else, and, you know, we just go together very wellbecause we respect each other's freedom and individuality, but on the otherhand we really need each other, you know, it's...Matthew: What about.., have you thought of having children?Sue: Well, obviously, like most young couples, we have thought about it, but, you know, we both feel rather, sort of, loath to lose our freedom just yet. I thinkwe'll probably wait another few years.Matthew: Is it easy in England today to people to get divorced, or is that quite difficult?Chris: I think technically it's probably fairly easy, I think, because I'm not English but, I think technically it's fairly easy to be... to get divorced. But it's not justthe technicality of it which is the problem. Divorce is... is a social stigmawhich people can probably Cope with to varying degrees, but it's also a loteasier for the man because the woman, after she is divorced is, in fact,frowned upon by... by a lot of people in society. She is... is... at a... a muchmore difficult social position in terms of... of meeting other men, or whatever, simply because she is a divorcee.Task 9【原文】Social customs and ways of behaving change. But they do not necessarily always change for the better. Things which were considered impolite many years ago are now acceptable. Just a few years ago, it was considered impolite behaviour for a man to smoke on the street. No man who thought of himself as being a gentleman would make a fool of himself by smoking when a lady was in the room.The important thing to remember about social customs is not to do anything that might make other people feel uncomfortable — especially if they are your guests. There is a story about a rich nobleman who had a very formal dinner party. When the food was served, one of the guests started to eat his peas with a knife. Other guests were amused or shocked, but the nobleman calmly picked up his knife and began eating in the same way. It would have been bad manners to make his guest feel foolish or uncomfortable.Unit 2Task 1【答案】1) b 2) a 3) d【原文】Texas was the biggest state before Alaska became the forty-ninth state in 1959. One good way to understand the size of Texas is to learn about its weather. Different parts of the state have very different kinds of weather.Laredo is one of the hottest cities in the United States in summer. The best time to visit Laredo is in winter, when it is pleasantly warm.Amarillo gets very cold in winter. Sometimes there is more snow in Amarillo than in New York, which is a northern city. Summers are better, but sometimes it gets quite hot. The best time to visit Amarillo is in the autumn when it is cool.If anyone asks you about the weather in Texas, ask him, “What p art of Texas do you mean？”Task 2【答案】A.1)T 2) F 3) FB.1) d 2) c 3) cC.climate, reputation, extraordinary, unreliable, dry, wet, clear, dull, hot, cold, bad, mild 【原文】Our friend, Nick, whose English gets better and better, declared solemnly the other day that he thought that the British climate was wonderful, but the British weather was terrible. He went on to explain by pointing out that the British climate was a temperate one. This meant, he said, "that you could always be certain that the weather would never be extreme — at any rate not for any length of time — never very hot and never very cold." He quite rightly pointed out that the rainfall in Britain, according to the statistics, was not very heavy. "Why then," he asked, "has the British climate such a bad reputation?" He answered by saying it was because of the extraordinary, unreliable weather. There was no part of the year at which you could be certain that the weather would be dry or wet, clear or dull, hot or cold. A bad day in July could be as cold as a mild day in January. Indeed you could feel cold at almost any time of the year. Nick blamed drafty British houses for this, but agreed you could also blame the small amount of sunshine and a great amount of dampness. He advised every student coming to Britain to bring an umbrella and to understand the meaning of that splendid word "drizzle".Task 3【答案】I.the country; Trees, grass, lakes and steamsII.A.1. concrete, iron, steel2. take in the heat during the day and throw off heat into the air at nightB. Warmer winters, car engines; electrical applianceⅢ.A. air pollution may stop sunlight from reaching the earthB.1. Ice near the North and South poles to melt2. to be slowly flooded and people living in these cities to move to higher land【原文】Cities change the climate around you. In the country, there are trees, grass, lakes, and streams. In hot weather, the trees and grass cool the area around them. Lakes and rivers also cool the area around them.But cities are not cooled in these natural ways. Cities are built of asphalt, concrete, iron, andsteel. There are few trees and usually not much grass. Rain falls onto the streets and into the sewers.When the summer sun shines, streets and buildings take in the heat; after the sun sets, the streets and buildings throw off heat into the street. Once the sun sets, the countryside cools off, but a city may stay hot all night.Cities are hotter than the countryside in winter, too. Standing near a car with its motor running, winter or summer, you will feel the heat thrown off by the engine. The heat comes from the gasoline burned by the engine. This heat warms the air and the ground around the car. Thousands of running cars are almost like thousands of small fires burning.Carefully put your hand near a light bulb or television set. As you can see, electricity creates a lot of heat. This heat from electricity warms the house and the outside air.The heat given off by cities can affect the climate. Some experts even believe that cities can change the climate of the whole world. They think that air pollution may stop sunlight from reaching the earth. If less sunshine reaches the earth, the earth may become cooler.Still other experts think the world will get warmer. If the world did get warmer, great changes would occur. Ice near the North and South poles would melt. This would make the oceans rise. Cities near oceans — like Los Angeles, Boston, and Miami — would slowly be flooded. People living in these cities would have to move to higher land.Task 4【答案】A.1) b 2) cB. night, delight; morning, warning; gray, way, red, headC.1) F 2) T 3) F【原文】A red sky at either dusk or dawn is one of the spectacular and beautiful weather predictors we have in nature. By closely observing this phenomenon, you can achieve short-range accuracy of the weather as good as, or better than your local weatherman. In the Bible, Jesus in Matthew 16, 2-3 is quoted as saying, “When it is evening, it will be fair weather: for the sky is red. And in the morning it will be foul weather today: for the sky is red” when speaking to the Pharisees. An old English weather proverb based on this passage is:Red sky at night, sailors delight.Red sky at morning, sailors take warning.OrEvening red and morning gray,Sends the traveler on his way.Evening gray, morning red,Brings the rain down on his head.At dusk, a red sky indicates that dry weather is on the way. This is due to the sun shining through dust particles being pushed ahead of a high pressure system bringing in dry air. A red sky in the morning is due to the sun again shining through dust. In this case however, the dust is being pushed on by an approaching low reassure system bringing in moisture. Don't confuse a red sky in the morning with a red sun in the morning. If the sun itself is red and the sky is a normal color, the day will be fair.Task 5【答案】1) c 2) b 3) d 4) c 5) c【原文】Mark: I am an avid fly fisherman and frequently find myself on the river ina raft during lightning storms. We always have a debate at thesetimes on where we are safest — pulling into shore or staying on thewater. Since I have heard one is safe in a car when lightning strikesI wonder if the raft floating on the water is insulated, and thereforethe safest place to be.Meteorologist A: We spoke with some scientists about your question, and they allagreed that under no circumstances should you remain on the waterduring a lightning storm. If your raft is made of rubber, you mightfeel that you're .well insulated, but don't kid yourself. Typicallightning flashes travel 10 to 15 kilometers and can deliver as muchas 100,000 amps of current. In comparison, a toaster uses about 10amps of current. If lightning strikes the water near you, it will haveno trouble traveling through a few extra centimeters of rubber. Meteorologist B: So, if you're on the water and a thunderstorm approaches, get to the shore and seek shelter on land. Try a building or car. If neither isavailable, look for a cave, cliff, wall, or a group of trees. Never takeshelter under an isolated tree-it's also a good target for lightning.Task 6【答案】A.1) F 2) T 3) F 4) T 5) F 6) TB.Incredible, one minute, one kilometer, destroyed, lifted up, carried away, killed, injured【原文】Every spring and summer many inland areas are hit by tornados. A tornado is a kind of storm. It's a revolving, funnel-shaped column of air that moves through the sky at very high speeds. A tornado looks like a huge, black ice cream cone whirling through the sky. The speed of a tornado is very fast-it is believed to be between 200 and 700 kilometers per hour.Tornados form under very special weather conditions, and these special weather conditions occur most often in inland areas, such as the central United States. A tornado forms when a layer of warm, dry air is on top of a layer of cooler, moist air. This combination of dry, warm air above wet, cool air creates a condition that causes the lower layer of air to lift up. As the lower air rises, both layers of air begin to rotate, to turn around and around. The air begins to rotate faster and faster because of centrifugal force. The tornado has a center called an “eye” and the air rotates quickly around this eye.As the air begins to rotate faster and faster, the tornado cloud begins to grow downward; that is, it begins to form a funnel or cone, and this cone goes down toward the ground.The cone of air is dark because it develops from a dark rain cloud. As the cloud gets longer, as the cloud gets closer to the ground, it begins to pull up dirt from the ground. Then the funnel ofrotating air becomes very dark because of the dirt in it. As the tornado funnel gets longer, it begins to drag along the ground.When the tornado touches the ground, it does incredible damage. It usually touches the ground for only about one minute, and it usually travels along the ground for only about one kilometer, but during that one minute, buildings are destroyed, trees are lifted up out of the ground, small objects are carried away, and sometimes people are injured or killed.Task 7【答案】A.1) b 2) a 3) bB.1) It has been nice weather during the day, but it is going to change at night.2) Fine weather in southern Europe and not so nice in northern EuropeFor todaySoutheast England---26 degrees Celsius by mid-afternoonSouthern Scotland---Maximum temperatures of around 21 degreesBrighton---15 hours of lovely sunshineMidlands---23 degrees Celsius by early afternoonNorthwest of Scotland---Light showers around middayFor the weekendSpain---34 degrees CelsiusGreece---32 degrees CelsiusFrance---Cloudy with rain, maximum temperatures of 22 degrees。

《现代大学英语听力2》听力原文及题目答案Unit 2Unit 2Task 1【答案】1) b 2) a 3) d【原文】Texas was the biggest state before Alaska became the forty-ninth state in 1959. One good way to understand the size of Texas is to learn about its weather. Different parts of the state have very different kinds of weather.Laredo is one of the hottest cities in the United States in summer. The best time to visit Laredo is in winter, when it is pleasantly warm.Amarillo gets very cold in winter. Sometimes there is more snow in Amarillo than in New York, which is a northern city. Summers are better, but sometimes it gets quite hot. The best time to visit Amarillo is in the autumn when it is cool.If anyone asks you about the weather in Texas, ask him, “What part of Texas do you mean？”Task 2【答案】A.1)T 2) F 3) FB.1) d 2) c 3) cC.climate, reputation, extraordinary, unreliable, dry, wet, clear, dull, hot, cold, bad, mild【原文】Our friend, Nick, whose English gets better and better, declared solemnly the other day that he thought that the British climate was wonderful, but the British weather was terrible. He went on to explain by pointing out that the British climate was a temperate one. This meant, he said, "that you could always be certain that the weather would never be extreme —at any rate not for any length of time —never very hot and never very cold." He quite rightly pointed out that the rainfall in Britain, according to the statistics, was not very heavy. "Why then," he asked, "has the British climate such a bad reputation?" He answered by saying it was because of the extraordinary, unreliable weather. There was no part of the year at which you could be certain that the weather would be dry or wet, clear or dull, hot or cold. A bad day in July could be as cold as a mild day in January. Indeed you could feel cold at almost any time of the year. Nick blamed drafty British houses for this, but agreed you could also blame the small amount of sunshine and a great amount of dampness. He advised every student coming to Britain to bring an umbrella and to understand the meaning of that splendid word "drizzle".Task 3【答案】I.the country; Trees, grass, lakes and steamsII.A.1. concrete, iron, steel2. take in the heat during the day and throw off heat into the air at nightB. Warmer winters, car engines; electrical applianceⅢ.A. air pollution may stop sunlight from reaching the earthB.1. Ice near the North and South poles to melt2. to be slowly flooded and people living in these cities to move to higher land 【原文】Cities change the climate around you. In the country, there are trees, grass, lakes, and streams. In hot weather, the trees and grass cool the area around them. Lakes and rivers also cool the area around them.But cities are not cooled in these natural ways. Cities are built of asphalt, concrete, iron, andsteel. There are few trees and usually not much grass. Rain falls onto the streets and into the sewers.When the summer sun shines, streets and buildings take in the heat; after the sun sets, the streets and buildings throw off heat into the street. Once the sun sets, the countryside cools off, but a city may stay hot all night.Cities are hotter than the countryside in winter, too. Standing near a car with its motor running, winter or summer, you will feel the heat thrown off by the engine. The heat comes from the gasoline burned by the engine. This heat warms the air and the ground around the car. Thousands of running cars are almost like thousands of small fires burning.Carefully put your hand near a light bulb or television set. As you can see, electricity creates a lot of heat. This heat from electricity warms the house and the outside air.The heat given off by cities can affect the climate. Some experts even believe that cities can change the climate of the whole world. They think that air pollution may stop sunlight from reaching the earth. If less sunshine reaches the earth, the earth may become cooler.Still other experts think the world will get warmer. If the world did get warmer, great changes would occur. Ice near the North and South poles would melt. This would make the oceans rise. Cities near oceans — like Los Angeles, Boston, and Miami —would slowly be flooded. People living in these cities would have to move to higher land.Task 4【答案】A.1) b 2) cB. night, delight; morning, warning; gray, way, red, headC.1) F 2) T 3) F【原文】A red sky at either dusk or dawn is one of the spectacular and beautiful weather predictors we have in nature. By closely observing this phenomenon, you can achieve short-range accuracy of the weather as good as, or better than your local weatherman. In the Bible, Jesus in Matthew 16, 2-3 is quoted as saying, “When it is evening, it will be fair weather: for the sky is red. And in the morning it will be foul weather today: for the sky is red” when speaking to the Pharisees. An old English weather proverb based on this passage is:Red sky at night, sailors delight.Red sky at morning, sailors take warning.OrEvening red and morning gray,Sends the traveler on his way.Evening gray, morning red,Brings the rain down on his head.At dusk, a red sky indicates that dry weather is on the way. This is due to the sun shining through dust particles being pushed ahead of a high pressure system bringing in dry air. A red sky in the morning is due to the sun again shining through dust. In this case however, the dust is being pushed on by an approaching low reassure system bringing in moisture. Don't confuse a red sky in the morning with a red sun in the morning. If the sun itself is red and the sky is a normal color, the day will be fair.Task 5【答案】1) c 2) b 3) d 4) c 5) c【原文】Mark: I am an avid fly fisherman and frequently find myself on the river in a raft during lightning storms. We always have a debate at thesetimes on where we are safest —pulling into shore or staying on thewater. Since I have heard one is safe in a car when lightning strikesI wonder if the raft floating on the water is insulated, and thereforethe safest place to be.Meteorologist A: We spoke with some scientists about your question, and they all agreed that under no circumstances should you remain on the waterduring a lightning storm. If your raft is made of rubber, you mightfeel that you're .well insulated, but don't kid yourself. Typicallightning flashes travel 10 to 15 kilometers and can deliver as muchas 100,000 amps of current. In comparison, a toaster uses about 10amps of current. If lightning strikes the water near you, it willhave no trouble traveling through a few extra centimeters of rubber. Meteorologist B: So, if you're on the water and a thunderstorm approaches, get to the shore and seek shelter on land. Try a building or car. If neitheris available, look for a cave, cliff, wall, or a group of trees. Nevertake shelter under an isolated tree-it's also a good target forlightning.Task 6【答案】A.1) F 2) T 3) F 4) T 5) F 6) TB.Incredible, one minute, one kilometer, destroyed, lifted up, carried away, killed, injured【原文】Every spring and summer many inland areas are hit by tornados. A tornado is a kind of storm. It's a revolving, funnel-shaped column of air that moves through the sky at very high speeds. A tornado looks like a huge, black ice cream cone whirling through the sky. The speed of a tornado is very fast-it is believed to be between 200 and 700 kilometers per hour.Tornados form under very special weather conditions, and these special weather conditions occur most often in inland areas, such as the central United States. A tornado forms when a layer of warm, dry air is on top of a layer of cooler, moist air. This combination of dry, warm air above wet, cool air creates a condition that causes the lower layer of air to lift up. As the lower air rises, both layers of air begin to rotate, to turn around and around. The air begins to rotate faster and faster because of centrifugal force. The tornado has a center called an “eye” and the air rotates quickly around this eye.As the air begins to rotate faster and faster, the tornado cloud begins to grow downward; that is, it begins to form a funnel or cone, and this cone goes down toward the ground.The cone of air is dark because it develops from a dark rain cloud. As the cloud gets longer, as the cloud gets closer to the ground, it begins to pull up dirt from the ground. Then the funnel ofrotating air becomes very dark because of the dirt in it. As the tornado funnel gets longer, it begins to drag along the ground.When the tornado touches the ground, it does incredible damage. It usually touches the ground for only about one minute, and it usually travels along the ground for only about one kilometer, but during that one minute, buildings are destroyed, trees are lifted up out of the ground, small objects are carried away, and sometimes people are injured or killed.Task 7【答案】A.1) b 2) a 3) bB.1) It has been nice weather during the day, but it is going to change at night.2) Fine weather in southern Europe and not so nice in northern EuropeFor todaySoutheast England---26 degrees Celsius by mid-afternoonSouthern Scotland---Maximum temperatures of around 21 degreesBrighton---15 hours of lovely sunshineMidlands---23 degrees Celsius by early afternoonNorthwest of Scotland---Light showers around middayFor the weekendSpain---34 degrees CelsiusGreece---32 degrees CelsiusFrance---Cloudy with rain, maximum temperatures of 22 degreesNorthern Ireland---Heavy rain, 17 degrees CelsiusMost of England---Cloudy but mainly dry with sunny periods, 23 degrees Celsius 【原文】Radio Announcer: You’re listening to Radio Metro. It’s two minutes to nine, and time for the latest weather for cast from Dan Francis at the London Weather Centre. Francis: Hello. It's been another warm and fine day for most of us. Temperatures in southeast England reached 26 degrees Celsius by mid-afternoon, and Brighton had 15 hours of lovely sunshine. Further north it was a little cooler with maximum temperatures of around 21 degrees in southern Scotland, and in the far northwest of Scotland there were some light showers around midday. But the rest of the country, as I said, has been warm and dry with temperatures in the Midlands reaching 23 degrees Celsius by early afternoon though it was a little cooler along the west coast and in Northern Ireland. But already the weather is beginning to change, I'm afraid, and during the night showers will slowly move in from the Atlantic to reach south-west England and the southern coast of Wales by early morning.The rest of the country will have a very mild, dry night with minimum temperatures no lower than 15 degrees in the south, a little cooler — 11degrees or so —in the north. Any remaining showers in northwest Scotland will pass quickly to leave a mild, dry night there too.And now the outlook for Friday and the weekend. Well, southern Europe will, once again, get the best of the weekend weather, and if your holiday starts this weekend, then southern Spain is the place to go, with temperatures of 34 degrees along the Mediterranean coast. At the eastern end of the Med, too, you can expect uninterrupted sunshine and temperatures of up to 32 degrees Celsius in Greece and southeast Italy, but further north the weather's not so settled. Much of France, Belgium and the Netherlands will be cloudy with occasional rain, and maximum temperatures will be around 22 degrees — very disappointing for this time of the year.Scotland and Northern Ireland will have heavy rain for much of the weekend and temperatures will drop to a cool 17 degrees. Across most of England the weather will be cloudy but mainly dry with sunny periods. And when the sun does come out, temperatures could rise to a maximum of 23 degrees.Task 8【答案】【原文】As the air pressure around you either rises or falls, many changes in nature occur. Most of these are very obvious changes while others are of a more subtle nature.Mountains and other far away objects will appear to be much closer and more sharply focused as wet weather approaches and the air pressure drops. The dust particles in the air begin to settle to the ground and the air clears, allowing you to see more details of faraway objects. As a high pressure front approaches and the air becomes “thicker,” more dust particles become suspended in air and things take on their normal somewhat hazy appearance.“Sharp horns on the moon threaten bad weather.” This and a bright, clear moon are good indicators that wet weather is on the way. As the air clears of dust particles ahead of a low pressure system, the moon appears to come closer and be more sharply focused due to the lack of dust.Sound also becomes sharper and more focused prior to stormy weather. Instead of traveling upward and outward into the atmosphere sound waves are bent back to the earth and their range extended. Bird calls sound sharper, and, at my house, we can hear the blowing of the train horn as it rumbles through the valley below.If you find yourself out in a marsh or swamp and the air really seems to stink more than normal, expect rainy weather. This happens when the pressure drops and the methane trapped on the bottom of the swamp is released in greater quantities. In reverse, as fair weather approaches and the pressure rises, things won't smell quite so strong.Birds and bats have a tendency to fly much lower to the ground right before a rain due to the “thinning” of the air. They prefer to fly where the air is the most dense and they can get greater lift with their wings. With high pressure and dry air, the atmosphere becomes denser and they can easily fly at higher altitudes.Smoke rising straight into the air means fair weather and smoke hanging low meansrain is on the way. This is pretty much the same as with the birds and methane in the swamp. When high pressure approaches, smoke will rise whereas with low pressure it can't rise and tends to lay low.Remember a grandparent talking about how their corns, bunions, or joints ached right before a rain? Again, this is due to the decreasing atmospheric pressure allowing the gas in our bodies to expand.Task 9【答案】A. Statements 3, 6, 7 are true.B.f—c—a—d—b—eC.1) F 2) T 3) F 4) FD.1) d 2) b【原文】It was 1974. Richard Nixon was still president. Kidnapped heiress Patty Hearst was still missing. In Xenia, a pretty spot of 25,000 people amid fields of soybeans and corn, American Graffiti was held over at the Cinema. The Xenia Hotel offered a chicken and dumpling dinner for $, but everyone flocked to the A&W drive-in for burgers and root beer floats. That's where five of the bodies were found after the storm.In all, 33 people died in Xenia's tornado, the deadliest of 148 storms that raged through 13 states during the infamous "Super Outbreak'' of tornadoes April 3 to 4, 1974. In 16 hours and 10 minutes, 330 people were killed and nearly 5,550 were injured from Illinois to Georgia.Though the Xenia death toll has been matched by other killer storms, the degree of devastation makes the city's tornado among U.S. history's most destructive. The storm still is studied in colleges by aspiring meteorologists, a textbook case of a rare Category F-5, the most intense of tornadoes.On that fateful day, I was a young boy of 8 years old. We lived in the Arrowhead Subdivision. That afternoon I was around the corner playing with some neighbor kids.I thought I could hear my father calling me, so I ran back to the house. Thinking back now, there is no way I would have been able to hear him. I was too far away for a voice to have traveled in the afternoon noise. Besides, Dad had a very bad case of tonsillitis that day. Like I was saying, I went back home and got through the door just in time to answer the ringing phone. On the other end of the phone was my Mother. Mom was working. She told me she heard a bad storm was on the way. She told me to make sure the garage door was shut and to stay inside. After I hung up the phone, I settled down to watch The Dennis Show. To this day I can vividly remember the electricity going out. I looked out the large window in the living room and didn't have a clue as to what I was looking at.Dad was asleep on the couch, so I woke him up to look. Dad looked and said to get into the bathroom. We sat on the floor. Dad had his back to the door and hisfeet pushing against the wall opposite the door. I remember that as soon as we sat down, the windows broke. Glass blew under the door, and the sound was tremendous.I know it really didn’t take too long for the tornado to go past, but I do remember the conversation we had in the process. I could feel the cool air rushing under the floor through the crawlspace vents. I asked if we were flying. He said he wasn't sure, but he didn't think we were. He said the house was tearing apart. I asked him how he knew. He said he just knew it was.When things calmed down, we opened the door. The odd feeling I had, looking up the street from inside what once was my hallway, is still with me today.I think back often to that day. I think back and wonder what would have happened if my Dad hadn't been sick that day. Like a lot of kids, I stayed home by myself after school back then. I seriously doubt I would be able to tell you my story, if I had been alone that day. I still live in Xenia and wouldn’t trade this town for any other.Task 10【原文】Undoubtedly, Tibet is one of the harshest places for human existence. It is cool in summer but freezing cold in winter. In Lhasa, the mildest city temperature may exceed 29C in summer while plummeting to -16C in winter! Sun radiation is extremely strong in Tibet. The sunlight in Lhasa is so intense that the city is called Sunlight City. The thin air can neither block off nor retain heat so that the temperature extremes can be met in daytime and the same night respectively in Tibet. However it is not impossible to visit the holy snow land. April to October is the best time to visit Tibet, out of the coldest months, which are from December to February usually. The average temperature in north Tibet is subzero and winter arrives in October until the following May or June. July and August are the best time to visit the area, enjoying warm temperature, intense sunshine, beautiful scenery and festive events. May, June and September is the tourist season in east Tibet. In winter, roads are all blocked by heavy snow. Landslides and rock falls frequently occur, which will make travel difficult.。