20篇听写练习听力原文

英语四级历年复合式听写听力原文2012年6月：Students have been complaining more and more about stolen property. Radios, cell phones, bicycles, pocket calculators and books have all been reported stolen. Are there enough campus police to do the job? There are 20 offices in the campus security divis ion. Their job is to handle crime, accidents, lost and found items, and traffic problems on campus. More than half of their time is spent directing traffic and writing parking tickets. Responding promptly to accidents and other emergencies is important, but it is their smallest job. Dealing with crime takes up the rest of their time. Very rarely did any violent crimes actually occur.In the last five years there have been no murders, seven robberies, and about sixty other violent attacks, most of these involving fights at parties. On the other hand, there have been hundreds of thefts and cases of deliberate damaging of public property, which usually involves breaking windows or lights, or writing on walls. The thefts are not the carefully planned burglaries that you see in movies. Things get stolen when it is just easy to steal them because they are left lying around unwatched. Do we really need more police？Hiring more campus police would cost money, possibly making our tuition go up again. A better way to solve this problem might be for all of us to be more careful with our things.2011年12月：Our lives are woven together. As much as I enjoy my own company, I no longer imagine I can get through a single day much less or my life completely on my own. Even if I am on vacation in the mountains, I’m eating food someone else has grown, living in a house someone else has built, wearing clothes someone else has sewn from cloth woven by others, using electricity someone else is distributing to my house. Evidence of interdependence is everywhere. We are on this journey together. As I was growing up, I remember being carefully taught that independence not interdependence was everything. Make your own way, stand on your own two feet, or my mother’s favorite remark when I was face to face with consequences of some action, ‘now that you’ve made your bed, lie on it’. Total independence is a dominant theme in our culture.I imagine that what my parents were trying to teach me was to takeresponsibility for my actions and my choices. But the teaching was shaped by our cultural images. And instead I grew up believing that I was supposed to be totally independent, and consequently became very reluctant to ask for help. I would do almost anything not to be a burden and not require any help from anybody。

新课标三级听力训练20篇听力原文Test 1听对话，根据所听内容选出正确的答案1.M：What day is it tomorrow?W: It’s Monday. It’s my birthday. Would you like to come to my birthday party?M: Sure. I’d love to.2. M: Welcome to our shop. What can I do for you?W: Thank you. I’d like so me footballs and basketballs.3. M: Do you often read newspapers before you go to bed, Wendy?W: Not often. I usually watch TV with my parents.4. M: Mary! Mary! It’s time to get up.W: What’s the time?M: It’s seven o’clock. It’s time to go to sc hool.5. M: How often do you play computer games, Julia?W: Not often. Only on Sunday. But my friend Kate does it every day.Test 2听对话，根据所听内容选出正确的答案1. B: Are you, Millie, in Class Three?G: No, I’m Kitty, in Class Eight.2. M: Would you like some bread, Mrs Green?W: No, thanks. I’d like to eat some fruit.3. M: Hello, I’m Peter. And I’m from Beijing.W: Hello, my name is Amy. I’m from London.4. M: Nancy likes playing volleyball. How about you, Betty?W: I don’t play volleyball. I like swimming.5. M: Excuse me, Sara. Who’s that girl on the bike? .W: That’s Lucy’s twin sister Lily.Test 3听下面一段对话，完成5个小题Jeff: Hi, I’m Jeff. I’m from Tokyo. I usually play games and download music from the Internet. I don’t send e-mails.Liz: Hi, I’m Liz. I’ m from Shanghai. I’m a teacher, and I use my laptop for my lessons. I also get information for my lessons on the Internet. I don’t play games on it.Jack: Hi, I’m Jack. I’m a writer. I write my novels on my computer. I don’t send e-mails. Sometimes I watch TV and listen to music on the Internet.Julia: Hi, I’m Julia. I’m a manager. I have a computer and a laptop. I often use them to search for information and send e-mails.Test 4听下面一段对话，完成5个小题M: Mary, do you always watch TV in the evening?W: No, I never watch TV in the evening. Sometimes I read books and usually I listen to music. What about youJack?M: Oh, I usually watch TV at home in the evening, but I never listen to music. I don’t like music. I often play table tennis with my father.W: That sounds interesting. Tell me Jack, what do you do on Sundays?M: I often do the housework at home. Sometimes my mother and I go to the cinema. We love films. What about you?W: I usually stay at home. Sometimes I play football, but I never go to the cinema.Test 5听对话，根据所听内容选出正确答案听第一段对话，回答1至2小题1 B: Hello, Kitty. Nice to meet you.G: Hello, Jim. Nice to meet you too.B: You have got a basketball. Do you like playing basketball?G: Yes, I do. But I don’t like playing football. What about you?B: I like pla ying football. It’s a good sport. Jack and I both like playing basketball, too.G: That’s great. Let’s play basketball together.B: That’s a good idea.听第二段对话，回答3至5小题2 B：Hello! My name is Jim. What’s your name?G: I’m Julia. Nice to meet you.B: Nice to meet you too.G: Where are you from?B: I’m from China.G: How old are you?B: I’m 12 years old.G: Are you in Class One?B: No, I am not. I’m in the Class Two.G: We are not in the same class. I’m in Class Three.B：Do you know Sam? He is in Class Three, too. He is my friend.G: Yes, I do.B: He is an American boy.G: Yes, he is. It’s eight o’clock. Our lessons will start. Let’s go.B: OK.Test 6听下面一段对话，完成5个小题1. W: How much is that blue sweater?M: It’s eighteen dollar s.Q: How much is the sweater?2.W: Can I help you?M: Yes, please. I want a bag.Q: What does the man want?3. W: Do you want a yellow shirt?M: No, I want a white shirt.Q: What color does the man like?4.W: How much are these black shoes?M: They are 30 dollars.Q: How much are the shoes?5. M: The skirt is sixteen dollars. It is on sale.W: I want a red one.Q: How much is the skirt?Test 7听对话，根据所听内容选出正确答案听第一段对话，回答1至2小题1. M: Hi, Linda. Is there a reading room in your school?W: Yes. One is for the students, and the other is for the teachers.M: Do you like reading there?W: Yes, there are many story books, science books and picture books. I often read the books by Lu Xun. 听第二段对话，回答3至5小题2.B: You are healthy. What time do you get up in the morning?G: At 6:30.B: What time do you go to bed?G: At 9:30.B: Do you like doing sports?G: Of course. I always go to play basketball with my friends at the weekend.Test 8听下面一段对话，完成5个小题1.B: Hi, Liu Fang. Nice to meet you.G: Nice to meet you, too.B: I’m Guo Yang. I’m new in Class Three,G: I’m in Class Three, too.2.B: I’m Sam. I’m a student of Class1. I’m thirteen years old. What about you?G: I’ m Linda. I’m in Class Two. I’m 12.3.B: Miss Wang is our English teacher. Is she your English teacher, Betty?G: No. Mr Luo is. And Miss Chen is our Chinese teacher. I like her and I’m good at Chinese.4. M: Good morning, Ann. I’m Daming. I’m Chinese. Where are you from?W: Good morning, Daming. I’m from America. I’m new here.5.M: Is your father a factory manager, Ann?W: No, he isn’t. He’s a factory worker.Test 9听对话，根据所听内容选出正确答案听第一段对话，回答1至2小题W: Jim, look at those monkeys. What are they eating?M: Nuts. How many monkeys can you see, Lin Lin?W: Well, let’s count them, one, two, three, four.Q1: What are the monkeys eating?Q2: Where are Jim and Lin Lin?听第二段对话，回答3至5小题M: Hey, Sally. Can you help me fill my calendar（日程表）?W: Sure, Joe.M: How old are you?W: I’m 13.M: When is your birthday party?W: My birthday party is October 5th.M: OK, and when is the basketball game?W: The basketball game? Oh, it’s October 2nd.M: Good. And, um, how about the school trip?W: The school trip is September 26th and 27th.M: And when is the speech contest?W: Oh, that’s Friday, September 29th.Q3: How old is Sally?Q4: When is the basketball game?Q5: When is the speech contest?Test 10听下面一段对话，完成5个小题1.B: My father is a doctor and my mother is a nurse. What about you, Ann?G: My mother is a doctor, too. My father is your Maths teacher, Mike!2.B: I have my grandmother, my uncle, my parents in my family.G: So you’re the only child, Dick.3.M: Is your uncle a factory worker, Betty?W: No, he isn’t. He’s a factory manager.4.M: Let’s ride horses this Sunday, Jenny. We’ll have great fun.W: Sorry, I can’t ride a horse. But I can ride a bike.5.M: Can you speak Chinese, Mary?W：Yes. I speak English with my parents, and I speak Chinese with Uncle Chen.Test 11听对话，根据所听内容选出正确答案听第一段对话，回答1至2小题M: Jenny, wish you a good luck in Chicago.W: Thank you, Daddy. Are you driving me to the airport tomorrow afternoon?M: Sorry, dear. I have to drive to Boston with Mr. Bell tomorrow morning.W: But, I have so much luggage.M: Call a taxi and ask your mum for help.Q1: How is Jenny going to Chicago?Q2: Where is Jenny’s father going?听第二段对话，回答3至5小题M: Which season do you like best Jane?W: I think I like spring best.M: Why?W: Because it is warm. It’s the best time to fly a kite. What about you, Jim?M: I like summer best because I like swimming.Q3: Which season does Jane like best?Q4: What does Jim like doing?Q5: What is Jim’s favourite season?Test 12听短文，选择正确回答Hello! My name is Peter. My family and I are in Nanjing now. But I am an American boy. I’m twelve. There are 4 people in my family. Look! This is a photo of my family. The man on the left is my father, Mr Brown. He is a doctor. The woman on the right is my mother, Mrs Brown. She is a nurse. They work in the same hospital. Who’s the girl on the chair? Oh, she’s my sister, Ann. She is a student, too. We are very happy. I love my family. And I love Nanjing.Test 13听短文，选择正确回答People in many counries like to have tea with milk and sugar, but Chinese people don’t. They like the tea with nothing in it. People in China eat more vegetables than meat, but in America, England and Canada, people eat more meat than vegetables. In the USA, people have cold drinks when they are having supper, but Chinese people don’t. In America, people usually have eggs and milk for breakfast. So do Chinese people.Test 14听短文，选择正确回答Jim is a good student. He likes reading and he often reads lots of books. He never plays computer games too long. He doesn’t think it is good for him. He always gets up very early; then he does some sports. He has breakfast at 7. He listens to the teacher very carefully in class. After school, he sometimes watches TV. He doesn’t like to go to the cinema.Test 15听短文，选择正确回答Let me tell you something about my little dog Snoopy. Snoopy is an American dog. He looks very lovely. He has two small eyes, two big ears, four short legs and a small tail. It is great fun playing with him. I often teach him how to play games. Now he can play many kinds of games. If I say “Go to sleep”, he will go to his bed and lie down. If I say “Play basketball”, he will go to catch a ball and put it into a basket. If I say “Please dance for us”, then he will dance to the music. “Can he sing a song?” one of my friends asks me. “Of course he can, but he doesn't sing in English or Chinese. When he sings, nobody can understand him.”Test 16听短文，填入所缺单词Jack has got a big family. His grandparents are in America. His parents are in China. His father is a manager and his mother is a teacher. They have got two children. Jack is a boy and Kate is a girl. Jack is thirteen and Kate is eight. Kate and I are good friends and we are in the same class.Test 17听短文，填入所缺单词I’m Lily King. I’m in a new school now. Our school is very beautiful. There are 41 classes in our school. And there are offices, a gym, a dining hall, a library and a science lab in our school. There is a playground in our school, too. I love our school. There are 48 students in my class -- 26 boys and 22 girls. There are 49 desks in my classroom. There’s a computer on Miss Chen’s desk. Miss Chen is our head teacher. Our classroom is very new and nice.Test 18听短文，填入所缺单词London is a very big city. There are three big parks in London. They are Hyde Park, St James’ Park and Regent’s Park. London’s famous zoo is in Regent’s Park. In the zoo, there are animals from Africa, Asia and America and Europe. There are big birds and monkeys and long snakes in cages. And you can give bananas to them. In the parks you can play football, watch the magic show, read your book and run.Test 19听短文，填充下列表格Good morning, boys and girls. This is the school radio. This afternoon, there is a football match at 4:00 on the sports field. There is a magic show in the students’ stadium at 3:30 on Friday afternoon. Also there is a taijiquan lesson in the gym on Friday afternoon. On Sunday morning there is an English play at the Happy Children Theatre. We hope you can come and have a nice time.Test 20听短文，填充下列表格Thanks a lot for CCTV’s weather report. For the next 24 hours, Beijing will be windy. And Shanhai will be rainy. In Toronto, the weather will be cold. But in Boston, the weather will be the opposite. People can enjoy the sunshine. It’s sunny. As for Moscow, there will be lots of snow. The children can make a snowman!新课标三级听力训练20篇参考答案Test 1: CBAAB Test 2: BCCBA Test 3: BBCAC Test 4: ABACBTest 5: BAACA Test 6: CABCB Test 7: BABCB Test 8: CBCCATest 9: CACAA Test 10: BCACB Test 11: BCBAB Test 12: CACABTest 13: CACBA Test 14: ABCAA Test 15: BAACCTest 16: America, parents, manager, thirteen(填13错误), sameTest 17: beautiful, gym, playground, computer, headTest 18: famous, Africa, monkeys, cages, magicTest 19: 4:00, 3:30, gym, English play, morningTest 20: Beijing, Cold, Sunny/Hot, Shanghai, Snowy (注意大小写)。

Passage 1Midlife CrisisUnhappiness in middle age, also known as midlife crisis, is a universal experience. People around the world seem to share an emotional design in life. That design is shaped like the letter U. Levels of happiness are the highest when people are young and when they are old. In the middle, however, most people’s happiness and life satisfaction levels drop. Some people suffer from midlife depression more than others. But it happens to men and women, to single and married people, to the rich and poor and to those with and without children. Generally speaking, people reach their lowest levels between the ages of about forty and fifty-five. But then, as they continue into old age, their happiness starts to climb back up. Why does all this happen? One possibility is that people recognize their limitations in middle age and give up some of their long-held dreams. Passage 2Good CompanionA good companion is better than a fortune, for a fortune cannot purchase those elements of character, which make companionship a blessing. The best companion is one who is wiser and better than ourselves. Greater wisdom and goodness than we possess lifts us higher mentally and morally. It’s true that we cannot always choose all of our companions. Some are thrust upon us. But the experience is not altogether without compensation. Companion is education, good or bad; it develops manhood or womanhood, high or low; it lifts the soul upward or drags it downward; it ministers to virtue or vice. There is no half way work about its influence. It saves or destroys lustily. Nothing in the world is surer than this. Sow virtue, and harvest will be virtue. Sow vice, and the harvest will be vice. Good companions help us to sow virtue; evil companions help us to sow vice.Passage 3Global Text ProjectBooks are a high cost of higher education. But the Global Text Project hopes to create a free library of one thousand electronic textbooks for students in developing countries. The aim is to offer subjects that students may take in their first few years at a university. The books could be printed or read on a computer or copied onto a CD or DVD. The Global Text Project is a new technology, the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit on the Internet. But only one or two people will be able to make the final edits in texts. The project includes a committee of scholars, mostly from developing countries, to advice on required textbooks and their content. The group’s first book on information systems is being tested in Indonesia. Project organizers also want to offer textbooks in Arabic, Chinese and Spanish. They are working with a translation company in the United States.Passage 4HemingwayAmerican writer, Hemingway was born in Oak Park, Illinois. He started his career as a writer in a newspaper office at the age of seventeen. During the 1920s, Hemingway became a member of the group Americans living in Paris, which he described in his first important work, The Sun Also Rises. Equally successful was A Farewell to Arms, the study of an American ambulance officer’sdisillusionment in the war and his role as a deserter. Hemingway used his experience as a reporter during the Civil War in Spain as the background for his most ambitious novel, For Whom the Bell Tolls. Among his later works, the most outstanding is the short novel The Old Man and The Sea, the story of an old fisherman’s journey, his long and lonely struggle with a fish and the sea, and his victory in defeat. Now Hemingway is the classic symbol of bravery, or strong man. Passage 5Self-ConceptThe self-concept is a complex structure. This complexity is illustrated by the idea of multiple selves. We seem to be a different person in each of many different situations. An example may clarify this concept. First, picture yourself at an athletic event. Now, contrast this image with one of yourselves taking a final exam. Finally, imagine yourself at work on a very busy day. You should probably describe yourself differently in each setting. Which image is really you? Of course, all are. We have multiple selves, each dependent on a context. Together they form our self-concept. It is the context that makes certain aspects of our self-concept more important at a particular moment. Self-concept is composed of our beliefs, values, and attitudes. Our beliefs give our self-concepts their substance, our values give them aspirations and standards, and our attitudes give them motivation. These three elements provide a structure in which we develop and build ourselves.Passage 6Family Life in IndiaFamily life is equally varied in Indian states. India is a country with many states in which people are from different cultures, and so on. The languages, clothing, customs, and traditions of people are influenced by the respective regions they live in. Most of the families in India are extended ones, in which every member has his or her own role, often influenced by age and gender. Children are cherished and considered as gifts from God. Children can look forward to continual family support throughout their lives. However, they are expected to respect their elders and parents, their wishes and family relationships. The family structure in India is typical, in which there are many wedding customs, which have to be strongly followed by people. Religion, social status, traditional practices, and regional differences influence family structures. Indians are more emotionally attached to the members of their family. Husbands and wives are not allowed to openly display their affection for one another.Passage 7Causes of Forest FiresForest fires are one of the greatest natural destroyers of our forests. It has been found that about 90% of forest fires are due to human factors. The most common cause for the forest fires is the carelessness of people. Smokers may start a forest fire by carelessly dropping lighted matches and cigarettes in a forest. Tourists sometimes throw the lighted items in the bushes around or on the ground which cause fire. There are also some natural causes of forest fires. Forest fires canoccur due to lightning which burns the trees. Earthquake is also responsible for the forest fires, while other reason for fire is volcanoes and drought. High temperature and low humidity provides favorable conditions to the fire and hence it can start in forests. Since forest fires destroy valuable trees and even kill people, we need to learn the causes and to know how to prevent them. Passage 8Choosing the Perfect Hair ColorColoring your hair is one way to express your individuality. Choosing the right hair color can be confusing whether you want to cover gray hair or give yourself a new fresh look. If you are clear about what you want exactly, it can help while choosing the hair color that is right for you. You can achieve the most flattering look, if you consider your skin makeup and eye color. Hair color that balances your complexion gives the best results. For covering gray hair, you can select a shade close to your natural hair color. Hair highlights are another way to improve your overall look. Highlights can look fascinating and make an attractive impression. They add depth and dimension to the base color or natural hair. Different hair colors suit different complexions. In order to choose a suitable hair color, you need to identify the right combination.Passage 9E-educationE-education, which stands for electronic education, has at least four advantages. First, with access to the Internet, students can overcome barriers of space and time. For example, we can make educational resources in Washington available to students in Tokyo. The second is the easy access. For example, we can put multimedia resources libraries on the Internet and students can have access to these libraries just by clicking the mouse. The third is the optimization of resources. For example, we can tape the lectures given by very prominent professors and broadcast them live through the Internet. Because of these three advantages, there is another big advantage, that is, the Internet technology makes mass education possible. As you know, it is simply impossible for the whole population to receive education on campuses. And this is where the greatest advantage of E-education lies. It offers mass education and education for lifetime.Passage 10CosmeticsCosmetics are substances used to enhance the appearance or odor of the human body. A subset of cosmetics is called makeup, which refers primarily to colored products intended to alter the user’s appearance. Cosmetic use was frowned upon at many points in Western history, especially during the 19th century when social etiquette was rigid. During the 20th century, however, the popularity of cosmetics increased rapidly. Cosmetics are now in widespread use by women in nearly all industrial societies around the world. In the United States, cosmetics are used by girls at an increasingly young age. The social consequences of younger and younger beautification have had much attention in the media over the last few years. The cosmetic industry is a profitable business for most manufacturers of cosmetic products. Given the technological development and the improvement of the manufacturing process, and not least due to the constantly increasing demand of such products, this industry reported an important growth in terms of profit.Passage 11Spy Cell PhonesA spy phone is a mobile phone or a spy device that allows a user to monitor and hear or record conversations and other activities taking place over the phone. Spy phones can function in different ways. They can be used as listening devices whereby secretive conversations can be tracked. They are popularly used by secret agencies to track criminal activities that are carried out over networks. They can be used for tracking periodic calls and recording the frequency of calls from certain suspicious numbers. Also, they can be used for monitoring business and household activities while the cell phone user is away. Although spy cell phones have many positive sides, they give rise to legal as well as moral concerns, because spy cell phone software is easily available. Cell phones are easily transferable to spy phones. Their ready availability makes them subject to illegal use.Passage 12A Popular Pastime of the English PeopleOne of the best means of understanding the people of any nation is watching what they do with their non-working time. Most English men, women and children love growing things, especially flowers. Visitors to England in spring, summer or autumn are likely to see gardens all the way along the railway lines. There are flowers at the airports and flowers in factory grounds, as well as in gardens along the roads. Each English town has at least one park with beautifully kept flower beds. Public buildings of every kind have brilliant window boxes and sometimes baskets of flowers are hanging on them. But what the English enjoy most is growing things themselves. If it is impossible to have a garden, then a window box or something growing in a pot will do. Looking at each other's gardens is a popular pastime with the English.Passage 13Health Benefits of Red wineWe all know drinks containing alcohol are not good for health, but when it comes to drinking red wine, it is the other way around. Recent studies have concluded that there are no negative effects on the body, if red wine is not consumed excessively. Certain compounds in red wine can play a very important role in protecting the heart. It is a heart-healthy drink that can be enjoyed during evening meals. If you think that red wine is only good for the heart, then you are wrong. Studies have revealed that the substance found in the skin of red grapes can restrict cancer’s development. However, the ideal consumption is not 7 to 8 glasses of red wine. Scientific studies on the potential benefits of red wine recommend that women should not have more than one drink per day; whereas men can have two drinks per day. The word “moderate” is the key to maximize health benefits of red wine.Passage 14SleepWhy is it so difficult to fall asleep when you are overtired? There is no one answer that applies to every individual. It is possible to feel “tired” physically and still be unable to fall asleep, because while your body is exhausted, you do not feel sleepy. It is not so easy to simply “turn off”. Lack of sleep complicates matters even more. Experts say adults need at least seven to eight hoursof sleep a night to function properly. When you get less sleep than that on consecutive three nights, you begin to owe four “sleep debt”. As sleep debt increases your body experiences a stress response. Now a vicious cycle has been created: You experience the feeling of being more and more tired, but your body is increasingly stimulated. “Power sleeping” for more hours on weekends is only a temporary solution. There is no substitute forgetting a good night's sleep on a regular basis.Passage 15Holidays in the USLike other nations, the United States sets aside a number of days each year to commemorate events, people or public occasions. These holidays typically are marked by a general suspension of work and business activity, and by public or religious ceremonies. Technically, the United States does not celebrate national holidays. However, Congress has designated 10 legal public holidays. During such public holidays, most federal institutions are closed and most federal employees are excused from work. Although the individual states and private businesses are not required to observe these, in practice all states and nearly all employers observe the majority of them. Since 1971, a number of these holidays have been fixed on Mondays rather than on a particular calendar date so as to afford workers a long holiday weekend. Meanwhile, there are some US state holidays particular to individual US states.Passage 16Celebrity WorshipersAre you a celebrity worshiper? If so, that might say something about the kind of person you are. Psychologists have found that people who believe in a just world are more likely to worship celebrities. Whereas people more critical of society are less likely to obsess over a celebrity. People who strongly believe in a just world believe that life is fair, that good things happen to good people and bad things to bad people. People who believe in a just world are expressing acceptance of society and its institutions. Since the celebrity system is one of these institutions, researchers suggest that it makes sense that those believing in a just world would be satisfied with how celebrities are made and thus more likely to admire and even obsess over them. Vice versa, people who do not believe in a fair world might resist worshipping celebrities, and in fact question or criticize the system that produces them and decides who gets to be a celebrity.Passage 17Organic CoffeeToday many agricultural products are grown using organic methods and coffee is no exception. Organic products have a very minimal effect on the environment because there is no use of pesticides and fertilizers. All organic produces are certified to ensure that their products are grown in such a way. Organic coffee is a multimillion dollar industry and each year the sales of this coffee are increasing. Exports of organic coffee are up in most of Europe and North America. Organic coffee is usually grown in many countries such as Africa, Asia and South America. All over the world people have become organic coffee drinkers, but Americans consume the majority of it. All organic coffee products in the USA are certified for quality. The organic coffee is produced in a very specific way and all operators are at random inspected to ensure that they meetUS Department of Agriculture standards.Passage 18Red WolvesRed wolves present a characteristic red colored fur which is more obvious behind the ears and in the neck and legs. Other than these parts, the fur color of red wolves is brown with black shading in the back and tail. Their big ears help them overcome hot and humid climatic conditions. The average size of red wolves is 4 feet in length, 20 inches tall and weight about 45 to 80 pounds. Generally, red wolves attain sexual maturity at the age of 22 months; however, there are some species that attain within 10 months. The breeding season of red wolves is during February and March and their pregnancy period is about 2 months. Females give birth to about 1 to 10 children one time around March to April. The newly borns usually stay with their parents about two years, after which, they spread around the wild. The lifespan of red wolves is around 7 or 8 years in the wild and about 15 years in captivity.Passage 19Vertical FarmsBy the year 2050, nearly 80% of the earth's population will have resided in urban centers. An estimated 109 hectares of new land will be needed to grow enough food to feed them, if traditional farming practices continue as they are practiced today. So, an entirely new approach to farming must be invented, employing cutting edge technologies. The concept of indoor farming is not new. What is new is the urgent need to scale up this technology to accommodate a fast growing number of people. Vertical farming was thus invented. Rice on the seventh floor, wheat on the twelfth, and enough food within an eighteen-story tower to feed a small city of 50,000.Vertical farms must be cheap to construct and safe to operate. If successfully implemented, they will offer the promise of urban renewal, sustainable production of a safe and varied food supply, and the eventual repair of ecosystems that have been sacrificed for horizontal farming.Passage 20The NecktieThe necktie or tie is a long piece of cloth worn for decorative purposes around the neck or shoulders, resting under the shirt collar and knotted at the throat. The necktie is one of the few fashion accessories to have survived nearly 400 years of social change. Neck decorations have been worn since ancient times to signify title or wealth. Modern decorative neckwear dates from the 17th century in France. The Industrial Revolution helped spread the style to the masses, as millions of workers migrated from farmlands to factories and the business class was born. By the 1950s, it was said that a man wasn’t fully dressed until he had put on his tie. The tie had later come to symbolize individuality as much as conformity. Neckties are available in varied size. Men and boys wear neckties as part of regular office dress or formal wear. Neckties can also be worn as part of a uniform.。

Passage 1Digital Cameras[00:45.70]①According to a standard definition, /[00:48.34]a digital camera is a camera that produces digital images /[00:53.63]that can be stored in a computer, displayed on a screen and printed. / [01:00.17]②Years ago people used to possess two different devices /[01:04.47] in order to take pictures and make videos. /[01:08.42]③The creation of digital cameras was motivated mainly by two factors. / [01:14.04]④First, need to spare space. /[01:17.78]⑤Second, make it more comfortable for people[01:21.07]to do both things with higher quality results. /[01:25.49]⑥The multi-functionalism of digital cameras[01:28.62]and the combination of several devices in one /[01:32.12]make it a popular choice for a modern man. /[01:35.99]⑦For years a digital camera has been unaffordable for many families. / [01:41.39]⑧However, the variety of digital cameras and various prices nowadays / [01:47.06]make it possible for almost every single family to buy a digital camera. / [01:52.92]⑨With increasingly fierce competition, /[01:55.51] the digital camera manufacturers satisfy customers[02:00.35]with lower prices but best quality standards.Passage 2The Migration of Birds[00:48.91]①The most obvious feature of birds is that they can fly. /[00:52.81]②This facility gives them great mobility and control over their movements. /[00:58.39]③Many species can travel quickly and economically over long distances —/[01:04.28]up to thousands of kilometers, /[01:07.14]if necessary, crossing seas, deserts or other inhospitable areas. /[01:13.46]④They also have great orientation and navigational skills, /[01:18.14]and are able to remember and re-find[01:21.42]remote places they have previously visited. /[01:24.61]⑤Birds can thereby occupy widely separated areas at different seasons, / [01:30.80]returning repeatedly to the same localities from year to year. /[01:35.76]⑥Although migration is evident in other animal groups, /[01:40.09]including insects, mammals, and fish, /[01:43.49]in none is it as widely and well developed as in birds. /[01:48.22]⑦The collective travel routes of birds span almost the entire planet. / [01:53.69]⑧As a result of migration, bird distributions are continually changing—/ [02:00.05]on regular seasonal patterns, and on local, regional or global scales. Passage 3Benefits of Becoming a Teacher[00:48.55]①Becoming a teacher gives you a chance /[00:50.69]to spend a major portion of your day with children or youngsters. / [00:55.26]②With kids around,[00:56.63]you are a part of their world of innocence and purity. /[01:01.01]③It indeed creates a healthy work environment for you. / [01:05.14]④On becoming a teacher, /[01:07.19]you get a chance to be with children,[01:09.38]laugh with them, think their way /[01:12.00]and enjoy their innocently silly and healthily naughty behavior. / [01:18.17]⑤Apart from this, the nature of your job is that /[01:22.11]you do not work on weekends and you get your share of holidays. / [01:28.07]⑥Becoming a teacher entitles you /[01:31.03]for receiving private scholarships and sponsorships[01:35.23]for teaching programs. /[01:37.10]⑦However, one of the most important benefits[01:40.69]of becoming a teacher is that /[01:43.17]teachers contribute to the shaping of the future generations. / [01:48.39]⑧They make a difference to society /[01:51.09]by playing a vital role in nurturing young minds.Passage 4Computer[00:47.10]①With the development of computer technology, /[00:51.02]computers are becoming increasingly popular all over the world. / [00:55.78]②The computer is being used in many fields. /[00:59.64]③In industry, business, education, medicine,[01:04.59]nearly all walks of life, /[01:06.99]computers have made their appearance,[01:09.32]providing great speed and accuracy for our work. /[01:13.85]④Computers have been used in the home, offices,[01:17.45]laboratories and research institutions, /[01:21.25]acting as the most efficient and multifunctional instruments / [01:25.94]for calculating, sorting, filing, recording and distributing. / [01:32.70]⑤And they have also become a window[01:35.23]through which we can understand the world better. /[01:39.17]⑥During the past fifty years,[01:41.61]the computer has been rapidly advanced. /[01:45.21]⑦Ever since the computer came into being,[01:48.42]it has experienced the development of several generations. / [01:53.74]⑧The earliest computers were of great size, /[01:57.04]and had no match for the latest electronic computers[02:00.93]in speed and accuracy. /[02:03.60]⑨Now efforts are being made[02:05.83]not only to bring the hardware to perfection, /[02:08.84]but also to improve the quality of the software.Passage 5Computer Addiction[00:45.84]①Nowadays, computer users have started developing[00:49.94]some bad habits regarding using computers, /[00:53.41]which have led to significant problems in their lives. /[00:57.32]②The negative consequences from computer addiction / [01:01.30]are similar to those of many other known addictive disorders / [01:05.62]that cause mental and physical disturbances. /[01:09.00]③As a result, the term “computer or Internet addiction”[01:14.39] has come into use. /[01:16.39]④It is also known as cyberspace addiction[01:19.55]and Internet addiction disorder. /[01:22.47]⑤It's not an easy task[01:24.59]to identify which type of computer addiction[01:27.40]is responsible for most computer addicts, /[01:30.81]as there are many types of computer addictions, /[01:34.24]such as online games, chat, e-mail, online shopping,[01:39.50]online gambling and so on. /[01:42.11]⑥No one knows in the future, /[01:44.40]which technology would attract more people[01:47.31]to become computer addicts. /[01:49.29]⑦However, there are various organizations /[01:52.55]that specifically deal with computer addiction /[01:55.50]and have helped many thousands of people[01:57.95]to get rid of this damaging addiction.Passage 6Listening Skills[00:47.69]①Communication with others involves learning listening skills. / [00:52.92]②It's a good feeling when someone listens to you /[00:56.64]when you're talking to them. /[00:58.54]③It makes you feel like they care about you[01:01.04]and what you're saying. /[01:02.92]④The same respect should be given to people[01:05.33]that are speaking to you. /[01:07.03]⑤Controlling the conversation or interrupting constantly [01:11.74]with your views or suggestions /[01:14.30]is not listening to the other person. /[01:17.39]⑥Listening closely and then responding at the appropriate time [01:22.06]makes a good conversation. /[01:24.64]⑦Making comments at the correct time[01:27.10]lets the speaker know you're interested /[01:29.94]and can help you stay centered on the conversation. /[01:34.24]⑧Asking good questions about the subject[01:37.00]will show you want to know more about it. /[01:40.44]⑨Try not to ask too many questions with the word “why”. / [01:44.71]⑩People might not know the answer[01:47.12]and won't be able to respond to the question. /[01:50.65]⑪Always, let people finish what they're saying /[01:54.03]before you talk about something else.Passage 7Book Review[00:48.11]①The determination of the book review[00:50.69]is to communicate to the readers’ mind /[00:53.49]the ideas and sensations book reviewer experienced /[00:58.35] while researching the content. /[01:00.76]②Professional book reviews are important in all professions. / [01:06.17]③But they are especially important in the sciences, /[01:10.22]which define the specialization of the book reviewer. /[01:15.11]④That is because the basic unit of scientific communication, [01:20.64]the primary research paper, /[01:23.12]is typically five to eight printed pages in most fields, /[01:28.58]which is short and narrowly specific. /[01:32.50]⑤Therefore, to provide a general overview[01:36.16]of a significant slice of science, /[01:39.15]professional writers of scientific books have to[01:43.03]organize and join the reported knowledge in a field /[01:46.85]into a much larger, more meaningful package. /[01:51.26]⑥In other words, new scientific knowledge is made meaningful / [01:56.99]by sorting the bits and pieces into book reviews[02:00.81]to provide a larger picture. /[02:03.49]⑦Thus, the individual plants and flowers,[02:07.18]and even the weeds, become a landscape.Passage 8Television Advertisements[00:46.76]①A television advertisement or television commercial[00:51.00]is a span of television programming /[00:54.43]produced and paid for by an organization[00:58.32]that conveys a message. /[01:00.88]②Advertisement revenue provides[01:02.71]a significant portion of the funding /[01:06.23]for most privately owned television networks. /[01:10.14]③The vast majority of television advertisements today[01:14.33]consist of brief advertising spots, /[01:18.17]ranging in length from a few seconds to several minutes. /[01:23.45]④Advertisements of this sort have been used to[01:26.96]sell every product imaginable over the years, /[01:31.32]from household products to goods and services,[01:35.12]to political campaigns. /[01:37.79]⑤The effect of television advertisements upon the viewing public / [01:42.84]has been greatly successful and pervasive. /[01:46.97]⑥In some countries, like the United States, /[01:49.96]it is considered impossible for a politician[01:53.77]to wage a successful election campaign /[01:57.20]without the purchase of television advertising. /[02:00.97]⑦In other countries, such as France,[02:03.98]political advertising is strictly limited on television. /[02:08.76]⑧Some countries, like Norway, even completely ban it. Passage 9Waste[00:46.63]①Waste is sometimes a subjective concept, /[00:50.53]because items that some people discard may have value to others. / [00:56.78]②It is widely recognized that waste materials[01:00.77]are a valuable resource, /[01:03.41]while there is debate as to how this value is best realized. /[01:09.99]③Governments need to define what waste is /[01:14.04]in order that it can be safely and legally managed. /[01:18.65]④Different definitions need to be combined /[01:22.48]in order to ensure the safe and legal disposal of the waste. /[01:27.89]⑤The European Union has started a discussion /[01:31.60]that will end in an End-of-Waste directive. /[01:36.44]⑥It will clarify the distinction between waste[01:39.29]that shall be treated for disposal /[01:42.04]and raw materials that can be reused for other purposes. /[01:47.58]⑦All over the world, America generates more waste[01:51.36]than any other nation in the world, /[01:54.17]with 4. 5 pounds of municipal solid waste per person per day, / [02:01.38]55 percent of which is contributed as residential garbage. Passage 10Getting Paid to Shop[00:48.71]①Advertising in our days has joined our lives quite well. /[00:53.16]②Getting paid to shop is another form of advertising. / [00:57.61]③A contractor evaluates products and services[01:01.87]offered by various companies /[01:04.55]in order to become known to the public /[01:07.12]with the main purpose to increase their sales. /[01:12.56]④Getting paid to shop,[01:14.67]users have the opportunity to shop favorite products /[01:19.40]like jewelry, handbags, clothes, shoes and other things, / [01:26.26]and create an income[01:28.28] that might later lead them to financial freedom. /[01:31.74]⑤To be more clear and specific, /[01:34.34] anyone who joins a getting paid to shop program /[01:37.97]will have the opportunity to shop things that you wish for free / [01:42.50]while at the end of the campaign[01:44.63]might those things become yours. /[01:47.14]⑥In addition, those companies that offer such opportunity [01:51.63]will pay their members to do that. /[01:54.39]⑦Getting paid to shop is certainly the ideal solution / [01:58.19]that fits perfectly with most women[02:00.59]who like to shop often or see shopping as a hobby.Passage 11Negative Effects of Television[00:49.82]①Spending too many hours watching television[00:53.23]wastes the precious time /[00:55.67]that can rather be spent in fruitful and healthy activities [01:00.37]like exercise or reading. /[01:03.27]②It also uses up the time /[01:05.63]that you can rather spend with your family and friends. / [01:09.99]③Chatting with your near ones,[01:12.88]spending time with your close ones /[01:15.27]is a better way of spending time than watching TV. /[01:19.01]④People watching television,[01:21.51]especially children and youngsters, /[01:24.24]start identifying with what is shown on TV. /[01:28.06]⑤They relate to television shows and films to such an extent / [01:33.15]that they get bored of living a normal and simple life. / [01:37.70]⑥They are eager for fame and money; /[01:40.33]they long for living the lives of their favorite TV characters. / [01:44.94]⑦This may lead to a high amount of dissatisfaction[01:49.08]for the real world. /[01:51.11]⑧As real life is the contrast of the life shown on TV, / [01:56.08]such TV addicts become hungry for power, money and status.Passage 12Culture Shock[00:47.96]①Culture shock isn’t a clinical term or medical condition. / [00:51.89]②It’s simply a common way to describe[00:54.48]the confusing and nervous feelings a person may have /[00:57.87]after leaving a familiar culture[00:59.88]to live in a new and different culture. /[01:02.73]③When you move to a new place, /[01:05.25]you’re bound to face a lot of changes. /[01:07.72]④That can be exciting and stimulating, /[01:10.45]but it can also be overwhelming. /[01:13.33]⑤You may feel sad, anxious, frustrated, and want to go home. / [01:18.69]⑥It’s natural to have difficulty adjusting to a new culture. / [01:22.76]⑦People from other cultures may have grown up[01:25.69]with values and beliefs that differ from yours. /[01:28.96]⑧Because of these differences, /[01:30.97]the things they talk about, the ways they express themselves, / [01:34.53]and the importance of various ideas /[01:37.10]may be very different from what you are used to. /[01:40.88]⑨But the good news is that culture shock is usually temporary. Passage 13Environmentally Friendly Cars[00:48.54]①Environmentally friendly cars are supposed to be[00:52.42]the vehicles of future generations. /[00:55.93]②Nevertheless, such cars exist now /[00:59.29]and are becoming more popular in the modern car market [01:03.28]than traditional vehicles /[01:05.47]which work on fossil fuels. /[01:07.96]③The advantages of such cars[01:10.27]are not only in their lower harmfulness[01:13.39]for the environment and people’ s health /[01:16.29]but also in the lower fuel costs. /[01:19.28]④However, their production is rather expensive, /[01:23.14]so it is still a controversial point /[01:26.01]both for the customers and the automobile manufacturers. / [01:30.31]⑤Although they are more expensive to buy, /[01:32.95]they pay for themselves in a period of about 5 years /[01:37.47]because they consume less expensive fuels. /[01:41.31]⑥The common types of environmentally friendly cars[01:44.95]include electric cars, fuel-cell-powered cars,[01:49.79]crossbreed cars and solar cars. /[01:53.47]⑦And environmentally friendly cars[01:56.46]have become the choice of many people /[01:59.20]who decided to reduce the influence[02:01.90]of burning fossil fuels on the nature.Passage 14The Earth Day[00:47.84]①Our Planet Earth has so much to give us. /[00:50.71]②From the beautiful natural surroundings[00:53.64]to the rich types of creatures, /[00:56.16]Planet Earth has loads of things to offer /[00:59.74]that only make the life more beautiful. /[01:02.76]③However, have you given a thought to[01:05.94]how many individuals actually respect this planet? /[01:11.20]④April 22nd is known the world over as Earth Day. /[01:16.60]⑤It is celebrated to create more awareness about our planet / [01:21.81]and situations that we need to take care of /[01:24.83]to ensure our Planet Earth is well loved and cared for. /[01:29.64]⑥As things are, we need to celebrate it on one day /[01:33.84]to remind us of the responsibilities[01:36.33]we need to handle in the coming years. /[01:39.47]⑦The importance of Planet Earth is something /[01:42.44]that should be taught to children in their early years,[01:46.24]at home and in the school. /[01:49.22]⑧Only then will the young and old alike,[01:52.39]understand the issues /[01:54.37]such as global warming, energy conservation[01:59.30]and the importance of recycling.Passage 15Differences Between Chinese and Western Eating Habits[00:50.52]①There are great differences[00:52.18]between Chinese and Western eating habits. /[00:55.74]②Unlike the West, where everyone has their own plate of food, / [01:00.16]in China the dishes are placed on the table and everybody shares. / [01:05.46]③If you are being treated by a Chinese host, /[01:09.13]be prepared for a ton of food. /[01:12.45]④Chinese are very proud of their culture of cuisine /[01:16.07]and will do their best to show their hospitality. /[01:19.90]⑤And sometimes the Chinese hosts use their chopsticks [01:23.70]to put food in your bowl or plate. /[01:26.99]⑥This is a sign of politeness. /[01:30.07]⑦The appropriate thing to do would be to eat whatever-it-is / [01:34.80]and say how tasty it is. /[01:37.63]⑧If you feel uncomfortable with this, /[01:40.04]you can just say a polite thank-you and leave the food there. / [01:44.95]⑨And you should never tap on your bowl with your chopsticks, / [01:48.79]which can be very insulting to the host.Passage 16Artificial Intelligence[00:48.81]①Artificial Intelligence is the intelligence of machines[00:52.45]and the branch of computer science[00:54.47]which aims to create it. /[00:56.92]②Textbooks define it[00:58.55]as the study and design of intelligent agents, /[01:01.90]where an intelligent agent is a system[01:04.96]that perceives its environment /[01:07.03]and takes actions which maximize its chances of success. / [01:12.23]③The field was founded on the claim that[01:15.23]human intelligence can be so precisely described /[01:18.89]that it can be simulated by a machine. /[01:22.32]④The discipline of Artificial Intelligence was born[01:25.92]in the summer of 1956. /[01:29.16]⑤Half of a century has passed, /[01:31.51]and Artificial Intelligence has come a long way[01:34.86]since its beginning. /[01:37.29]⑥It has turned into an important field, /[01:39.59]whose influence on our daily lives[01:42.71]can hardly be underestimated. /[01:45.64]⑦Many specialized Artificial Intelligence systems[01:49.30]exist that are at work in our cars, /[01:51.87]in our laptop computers,[01:54.28]and in our personal and commercial technologies. /[01:57.71]⑧There is no doubt that the impact of Artificial Intelligence [02:01.96]on our lives in the future /[02:03.85]will become even more general and universal.Passage 17Idioms[00:46.45]①An idiom is defined as a group of words /[00:49.47]whose meaning must be known as a whole, /[00:53.14]because it cannot be learned from the meaning[00:56.00]of the same words used separately. /[00:58.98]②Obviously, there is a problem /[01:01.12]when you cannot look up individual words in a dictionary [01:04.96]and find the meaning, /[01:06.87]the usual strategy we all employ[01:09.60]when we come across a word or words that are unfamiliar. / [01:14.10]③With idioms, however, we must learn the group of words. / [01:18.69]④In everyday English, idioms are in common use. /[01:23.16]⑤In fact, idioms are so common /[01:26.13]that most native speakers do not even realize[01:30.02]that they are using idioms. /[01:32.62]⑥It is particularly important to recognize idioms /[01:36.83]when you hear them or read them. /[01:38.92]⑦When you are able to use them comfortably[01:41.39]in your own speech and writing, /[01:43.46]then you have achieved a higher level of mastery /[01:47.43]and fluency in the language.Passage 18Chi ldren’s Health[00:49.40]①It seems we have developed[00:50.95]such a fast paced society of convenience /[00:55.01]that kids today don’t play outside much anymore. /[00:59.08]②They would rather stay inside and have things done for them. / [01:04.04]③They spend too much time inside on the sofa /[01:07.87]and neglect any kind of physical activity, /[01:11.46]which causes a state of being inactive and unhealthy. /[01:16.94]④Inactive kids have a higher risk of becoming obese, /[01:21.56]having high blood pressure and a higher risk of heart disease. / [01:26.12]⑤Along with being inactive, /[01:29.62]kids today don’t get enough personal interaction with other kids, / [01:35.16]causing them to have a lack of interpersonal skills. /[01:39.31]⑥Besides, their parents and grandparents[01:42.77]allow children to have everything they want. /[01:45.99]⑦Parents’spoiling only makes for an attitude of selfishness. / [01:51.93]⑧To avoid this situation, parents should encourage their kids [01:56.53]to spend more time out of the house, /[01:59.86]such as playing basketball in a community basketball team. Passage 19Customer Service[00:49.90]①Good customer service is the lifeblood of any business. / [00:55.65]②You can offer promotions and slash prices[00:59.30]to bring in as many new customers as you want. /[01:02.92]③But unless you can get some of those customers to come back, / [01:07.49]your business won’ t be profitable for long. /[01:11.34]④Good customer service is all about bringing customers back / [01:16.45]and about sending them away happy, /[01:19.00]happy enough to pass positive feedback[01:21.91]about your business along to others, /[01:24.55]who may then try the product or service you offer for themselves / [01:29.77]and in their turn become repeat customers. /[01:33.80]⑤If you’re a good salesperson, /[01:36.72]you can sell anything to anyone once. /[01:40.66]⑥But it will be your approach to customer service that determines / [01:45.55]whether or not y ou’ ll ever be able to sell that person anything else. / [01:51.24]⑦The essence of good customer service[01:54.20]is forming a relationship with customers, /[01:57.60]a relationship that the individual customer feels[02:01.37]that he would like to pursue.Passage 20AIDS[00:48.48]①When AIDS first emerged, /[00:50.77]no one could have predicted[00:52.80]how the epidemic would spread across the world /[00:56.01]and how many millions of lives it would change. /[00:59.75]②There was no real idea what caused it /[01:03.08]and consequently no real idea how to protect against it. /[01:08.42]③Now we know from bitter experience /[01:11.33]that AIDS is caused by the virus HIV, /[01:15.61]and that it can destroy families,[01:17.75]communities and whole continents. /[01:20.98]④However, experience has also shown us[01:24.56]that the right approaches can[01:26.78]and do result in lower national HIV infection rates /[01:32.48]and less suffering for those affected by the epidemic. /[01:36.98]⑤Already, more than twenty-five million people[01:39.93]around the world have died of AIDS-related diseases. /[01:45.02]⑥33 million people around the world are now living with HIV, / [01:50.86]and most of these are likely to die over the next decade or so. / [01:56.84]⑦It is disappointing that the global numbers of people[02:00.43]infected with HIV continue to rise, /[02:04.22]despite the fact that effective prevention strategies already exist. Passage 21[00:44.73]Homeschooling[00:46.67]①More and more parents are feeling /[00:48.95]that the schools are not up to a suitable standard[00:52.36]required to meet their children’s needs. /[00:55.51]②Therefore, homeschooling becomes[00:58.32]an appealing prospect for parents /[01:00.78]who want to remain in control of their children’s learning. / [01:04.82]③There are both benefits and drawbacks[01:07.78]to homeschooling a child, /[01:09.94]but the positives seem to outweigh the negatives[01:13.67]in the minds of parents. /[01:15.55]④In UK homeschooling has increased in recent years [01:20.36]as the gap between the best-[01:22.33]and worst-performing schools has grown. /[01:25.67]⑤Parents increasingly feel excluded from[01:29.24]their children’s education, /[01:31.02]for schools have turned into examination factories. / [01:35.06]⑥In schools, teaching to the test is the norm, /[01:39.40]instead of allowing children to explore their own creativity. / [01:43.72]⑦Schools need to achieve good examination results [01:47.88]in order to have their higher status recognized, /[01:51.94]which obviously has implications[01:54.17]for the level of funding they receive. /[01:57.42]⑧Hence, it would almost seem that[01:59.62]students are seen as a means to an end, /[02:03.58]rather than as the whole reason for a school’s existence. Passage 22Mail Fraud[00:49.47]①Mail fraud occurs when someone asks for[00:53.00]something of value to be sent through the mail, /[00:55.37]promising something in return, then fails to deliver. / [01:00.37]②Fraud can also be committed by wire, phone, or e-mail, / [01:05.39]but is only considered mail fraud /[01:08.21]when it involves things being sent by mail. /[01:11.93]③This fraud can take the form of[01:14.07]offering a product or service /[01:16.09]which is then not provided or offering employment[01:20.33]that turns out to be a scam. /[01:23.05]④It can also be offering a product or service for a price / [01:27.39]that is already provided for free by the government. / [01:31.76]⑤Sometimes, you may receive an advertisement[01:35.55]for something designed to look like an invoice. /[01:39.53]⑥Some Internet domain registration providers[01:43.07]are known for sending mail to owners of domains /[01:47.27]registered through competing companies, /[01:50.71]urging them to renew their domains. /[01:54.11]⑦But in the process of renewing, /[01:56.18]the domain registration would be transferred[01:59.18]to the provider sending the mail, /[02:02.30]often at a higher cost.Passage 23Online Shopping[00:47.90]①With just a click of the mouse, /[00:50.58]shoppers can buy nearly any product online, /[00:54.31]from groceries to cars, /[00:56.34]from insurance policies to home loans. /[01:00.07]②The world of electronic commerce,[01:02.79]also known as e-commerce, /[01:05.17]enables consumers to shop at thousands of online stores [01:09.79]and pay for their purchases /[01:12.10]without leaving the comfort of home. /[01:14.82]③For many, the Internet has taken the place of[01:17.90]Saturday afternoon window shopping at the mall. /[01:22.63]④Consumers expect merchants to[01:25.08]not only make their products available on the Web, /[01:28.28]but to make payments a simple and secure process. /[01:33.10]⑤However, the same things can go wrong[01:35.90]in cyberspace as in the real world. /[01:39.16]⑥Sometimes it is simply a case of a computer bug[01:42.69]or poor customer service. /[01:45.64]⑦Other times, shoppers are cheated by clever scam artists. / [01:51.80]⑧Therefore, online shoppers need to[01:54.74]take sensible precautions /[01:57.53]to make their online shopping experiences enjoyable and safe. Passage 24Aliens[00:49.54]①For a long time, aliens have often been in the news. / [00:53.33]②They have always been surrounded by mystery /[00:56.42]and interest of people all around the world. /[00:59.72]③People have claimed to have been abducted by aliens. / [01:04.59]④Some have claimed to have actually seen them. /[01:08.25]⑤But is there a sound proof that can prove aliens to be real? / [01:14.03]⑥Alien sightings have mostly been accompanied by[01:17.76]sightings of lights in the night sky. /[01:21.36]⑦Some of them have also believed /[01:23.66]that the lights came from the spaceships used by the aliens. /。

英语听力考试第30到50听写的听力文本30,American's Leisure Activities 美国人的休闲活动Leisure activities include things like watching television, seeing friends or exercising. 休闲活动包括看电视，H拜访朋友或运动这类的事。

Both men and women reported that they spent about half their leisure time watching television. 据报告，男性和女性会花大约一半的休闲时间在电视上。

Visiting friends and attending social events was the next most common leisure activity for both sexes. 拜访朋友和参加社会活动则摆在第二位。

The average adult spends almost two hours a day on household activities like cooking, cleaning and paying bills. 一般人会花将近两小时在煮饭，清洁，付账单等家事上。

Women spend more time on child care and housework than men do even when the women are employed. 比起男性来说，女性花更多的时间在照顾孩子和做家务，即使她们也在工作。

Men, however, spend more time at work. 男性的大部分时间则在工作。

Men also spend more time on leisure activities and sports. 当然，他们也花时间在休闲活动和运动上，They average five hours twenty minutes a day, half an hour more than women. 一天一般5小时20分钟，比女性多了半小时。

01 SaltWe do not know when man first began to use salt, / but we do know that it has been used in many different ways throughout history. / Historical evidence shows, for example, that people who lived over 3000 years ago ate salted fish. / Thousands of years ago in Egypt, salt was used to preserve the dead. /Stealing salt was considered a major crime during some periods of history. / In 18th century, for instance, / if a person was caught stealing salt, he can be put in jail. / History records that about ten thousand people were put in jail during that century for stealing salt! / About 150 years before, in the year 1553, / taking more salt that one was allowed to was punishable as a crime. / The offender’s ear was cut off. /Salt was an important item on the table of royalty. / It was traditionally placed in front of the king when he sat down to eat. / Important guests at the king’s table were seated near the salt. / Less important guests were given seats farther away from it. / (175 words)02 PerceptionsAsk three people to look out of the same window at a busy street and tell you what they see. / Probably you will receive three different answers. / Each person sees the same scene, but each perceives something different about it. /Perceiving goes in our minds. / Of the three people who look out of the window / one may say that he sees a policeman giving a driver a ticket. / Another may say that he sees a rush-hour traffic jam at the street corner. / The third may tell you that he sees a woman trying to cross the street with four children. / For perception is the mind’s interpretation / of what the senses — in this case our eyes tell us. /Many psychologists today are working to try to explain / just how a person experiences or perceive the world around him. / Using a scientific method these psychologists set up experiments: / they are trying to find out what makes different people / perceive totally different things aboutthe same scene. / (164 words)03 BalloonsBalloons have been used for sport for about one hundred years. / There are two kinds of sport balloons: gas and hot air. / Hot air balloons are safer than gas balloons / which may catch fire. / Hot air balloons are preferred by most balloonists in the United States because of their safety. / They are also cheaper and easier to manage than gas balloons. / Despite the ease of operating a balloon, / pilots must watch the weather carefully. / Sport balloon flights are best early in the morning / or late in the afternoon, when the wind is light. / Over the years, balloonists have tried unsuccessfully to cross the Atlantic. / It wasn’t until 1978 that three American balloonists succeeded. / It took them just six days to make the trip / from their homes in the United States to Paris, France. / Their voyage captured the imagination of the whole world. / (143 Words)04 You Found a Job, Now How do You Save Money? Saving your hard earned money can be difficult, / as most of us enjoy spending rather than saving, / I certainly has a tough time holding onto my money every payday. / When I got my first few paychecks, / right away I spent the cold, hard cash I’d earned by hard work. /But I quickly realized that this sort of spending wouldn’t really help me get the things I wanted. / So I made a pact with myself. / I promise that before I did anything with the money, / I would deposit at least 50% of the money into my saving account. / That way, I eliminated the temptation to spend that money. /After I got used to saving my money, / it was much easier for me not to be tempted to buy things when I saw them. / When I saw a CD or video game that looked appealing, / I learned to ask myself, ―Do I really need this?‖ / Asking this question helped me appreciate my money and not let it slip out of my wallet quite so fast. / (173 words)05 Online Health ForumThere are many aspects to health, illness and healing. / Among allthe teachings there is one theme that is universal to them all / and that is the unquestionable benefit achieved by communicating with others about health and its related issues. / It is with this single philosophy in mind / that we have developed this site as a forum for communication. / Dealing with a medical concern is often difficult. / Connecting with others who are going through the same thing / can make a world of difference. / Our mission is to develop online communities to help you make those connections. / Y ou can post questions, comments and respond to messages from others. / We’ve got various topics, and we’re adding more all the time. / If you don’t see the topic you are looking for, / just let us know and we will consider a message board for it. / We hope you decide to become a regular participant / and help to make this a great resource! / (158 Words)06 WordsHow men first learn to invent words is unknown, / in other words, the origin of language is a mystery. / All we really know that is men, unlike animals, / somehow invented certain sounds to express thoughts and feelings, / actions and things, so that they can communicate with each other; / and that later they agreed upon certain signs, called letters, / which could be combined to represent those sounds, and which could be written down. / Those sounds, whether spoken or written in letters, we call words. /The power of words, then lies in their associations, / that is, the things they bring up before our minds. / Words become filled with meaning for us by experience; / and the longer we live, the more we reminded of the glad and sad events / of our past by certain words we read and learn, / the more the number of the words / that means something to us increase. / (149 words)07 Teacher-student RelationshipThe relationship between a teacher and a student can be either good or bad, helpful or harmful. / Either way, the relationship can affect thestudent for the rest of his life. / A good teacher-student relationship will make the teacher’s job worthwhile. / A bad relationship can discourage the student from learning / and make teaching an unpleasant task. / In order to have a good teacher-student relationship, / respect between teacher and student is very important. / If the teacher is too strict, he frightens the students. / If the teacher is too friendly, the student may become lazy and stop learning hard. / The teacher’s attitude and approach should be in between those two extremes. / As for the student, his proper respect to the teacher must be shown all the time. / He should be eager to learn and willing to working hard. /In conclusion, a good teacher-student relationship can be beneficial to both. / The student absorbs knowledge eagerly and enjoyable, / and the teacher gains satisfaction from his work. /08 NearsightednessWeak eyesight is a term that is generally used to refer to nearsighted eyes. / People who are nearsighted can see well at a short range, / but anything very far away is likely to be unclear. / The term ―weak eyesight‖is misleading, / for in nearsighted eyes the lens of the eye is actually too strong. / The nearsighted lens is so powerful that it focuses the light coming onto the eye too quickly. / Nearsightedness is common, and its growth may be graded; / often the unclearness of distant object is so slight at first / that a person may not recognize the condition. / Nearsightedness is frequently discovered first at school. / It is here that a student first realizes the difficulty of seeing words on the blackboard, / whereas others in the class have no trouble reading the blackboard at all. / After discovery, nearsightedness can easily be corrected. / Y ou just need a pair of glasses / which can decrease the power of the lens of the eye. / (158 Words)09 Rice CookingRice is very much under appreciated in the United States. / With the exception of Asian cooking, / rice is usually a side dish or combined withother ingredients. / Rice is very nutritious, low cost and easy-to-prepare food. / There are different types of rice available and the cooking time varies by type of rice. / Follow the package instructions for the amount of liquid necessary and the cooking times. / Both vary for each type of rice. / Regular white rice has been milled / to remove the hull comes in long, medium and short grains. / Long grained rice is the best for all-purpose use. / Brown rice has a pleasant nutty flavor and a firmer texture. / While white rice is cooked in about 15 minutes, / brown rice takes 45 to 50 minutes to cook. / When cooking rice do not be concerned if you have cooked rice left over. / There are some excellent recipes, which use cooked rice. / (151 Words)10 First Sign of AIDSThe virus causing AIDS enters the blood and quickly penetrates certain white cells in the body. / At first there is often little or no trace of the virus at all. / This situation usually lasts for six to twelve weeks. / During this time the person is free of symptoms / and antibody tests are negative. / The first thing that happens after infection / is that many people develop a flue-like illness. / This may be severe enough to look like glandular fever / with swollen glands in the neck and armpits, / tiredness, fever and night sweats. / Some of those white cells are dying, / virus is being released, / and for the first time the body is working hard to make correct antibodies. / At this stage the blood test will usually become positive. / Most people do not realize what is happening, / although when they later develop AIDS they look back / and remember it clearly. Most people have produced antibodies in about twelve weeks. / (156 Words)11: The Library of Congress The Library of Congress is the national library of the United States. / It was founded in 1800 to serve the needs of the congressmen. / Today, it contains books, articles and documents on every subject imaginable. / Besides senators, congressmen and other government officials, / it serves libraries, researchers, artists and scientists throughout the country and theworld. /The Library is one of the largest libraries in the world. / It has a collection of 74 million items which are housed in three buildings. / The bookshelves stretch for 350 miles. / Of the 18 million books, more than half are in languages other than English. /The main reading room is a great hall of marble pillars. / It is the center of activity in the library. / There is a computer catalog center with six terminals for quick access to information. / For greater speed and efficiency, / the library has installed an electric book – carrying system / that carries books from one building to another in only a few seconds. / (160 Words)12 A Car Soccer RaceAmerican football is different from the European football / and some people think that it is better. / Now ther e’s a new kind of football or soccer which is played in America. / It’s called car soccer. / The players drive small cars, which are called Beetles. / The players try to catch the ball in their cars. / The cars are protected all since they often crash into each other. / The ball is larger than the usual one and the players are protected too. /In 1985 the first European car soccer match took place in West Germany. / Teams from some countries in Europe played in the match, / The Beetles raced around the ground madly / while the spectators shouted ―The ball is behind you!‖. / When the match ended, three cars had been crashed into pieces. / And the players as well as many of the spectators were badly hurt and had to be taken to hospital. / Will this car soccer become as popular as football? I doubt. /13: Changes of Family Life The concept of family life has changed considerably over the years. / In earliest times, several generations lived together in clans, / which consisted of all living descendents and their husbands or wives. / These clans were almost totally self-sufficient, / every member contributing insome way toward the survival of the group. / The men hunted and fished for food or sometimes maintained flocks of sheep or goats. / The women baked bread and roasted the meat their men provided. / Special members of the community were selected to make products like pottery, baskets and home weapons. / But with the development of greater varieties of food, clothing and shelter, / a single clan could no longer develop all the individual skills. / Clans merged into larger societies and at the same time broke into smaller units consisting of married couples and their children. / Later the Industrial Revolution brought about even more important changes in family life. / New inventions brought shorter working hours for men and easier housekeeping routines for women. / Today a productive family life suggests not the group’s cooperative efforts of working together, / but the pleasant and meaningful sharing of its leisure. / (185 Words)14: VitaminsIt was not until the beginning of this century that it was recognized / that certain substances were essential in the diet to prevent or cure some diseases. / These substances are now known as vitamins. / They are vital for growth, good health, / and maintenance of the normal functions of the body. / A well-balanced diet should provide all the vitamins we normally require. / Those of us who are fortunate enough to be able to buy sufficient food / should not suffer from vitamin deficiency. / However, for various reasons, / some people do not maintain a balanced diet. / People often lose their appetite because of illness. / People living alone may not bother to eat proper meals, / and people on a diet may not eat sufficient quantities of necessary foods. / Moreover, modern methods of preserving, freezing and long-time storage of food, / together with over cooking, can destroy many of the vitamins. / (145 Words)15: CometsIn recent years scientists’investigation of comets has increased / because of a growing interest in the origin of the sun and planets. /Scientists want to learn how comets are formed. / They think that such information will help explain the origin of the solar system. / The word ―comet‖ comes from Greek and means ―hairy object‖. / In history comets have a special place. / People believed that they brought news of death, destruction or military victories. /The tails of comets provide viewers with spectacular sights at night. / Comet tails are millions of kilometers long. / The tails frequently reach lengths of 250 million kilometers and more. /The most famous comet of history is called Halley’s Comet, which appears every 76 years. / It was named for Edward Halley, a British astronomer. / He predicted the appearance of the comet in 1758, 16 years after his death. / Halley’s Comet is extremely bright and has two tails. / In the 20th century it returned in 1910 and 1986. / (159 Words)16: Mobile Phone Etiquette The mobile phone has created a new way of life. / It gives us the opportunity to reach people when and wherever we like. / But when mobile phones become as commonplace as wristwatches, / it seems they are creating embarrassing situations. /People let their phones ring in restaurants, theaters or business meetings. / People loudly discuss very personal issues over their phones while strangers are around them. / People spend all their time in the presence of friends / paying more attention to those at the other end of their mobile phones. / By now, everyone knows that mobile phone etiquette is a real problem. /These are tips for being a good mobile citizen. / Firstly, remember to check your phone is off at activities. / Secondly, respect the people around you when you make or take calls in public. / Thirdly, don’t answer your cell phone while talking with another person / unless that phone call is more important than the person you are with. / Follow these rules and you’ll be a responsible mobile phone user by being considerate to others! / (172 Words)17: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle In recent years there has been an increase awareness of the importance of recycling. / The three Rs to keep in mind / for a cleaner environment are: reduce, reuse and recycle. / Reducing is the vest way to protect the environment. / However, if you can’t reduce something, reuse it, and if you can’t reuse it, recycle it. / Reducing waste means shopping with the environment in mind. / Consider the environmental impact of each product before you buy it. / Make a list of what you need before you go shopping; / this will reduce impulse buying. / Avoid buying things that can’t be recycled. /Learning to reuse is easy after a little practice. / For example, you can reuse shopping bags. / Buy durable, high quality goods for a longer life outside the landfill. / Although durable goods may cost a little more at first, / they will save your money and help save the environment in the long run. / Before throwing anything away, think about how each item can be reused. / (162 Words)18: Mercy KillingSome people hold that for patients with painful and terminal disease mercy killing is a solution, / for it will allow them to die a peaceful death and it seems to benefit everybody: / the patients themselves, their relatives, the medical staff, / and the patients who are waiting for hospital beds. /But mercy killing is still a controversial issue. / Those who are strongly against it hold / that the possibility of abuse will expose sick people to all kinds of danger. /At presents, many societies and organization have been formed in the world to promote mercy killing / but in no country has it been legalized. / However, in the Netherlands the society and the courts tend to tolerate doctor-assisted suicide / if strict criteria are met. / In 1995 about 2.3% of all Dutch deaths, or 3118 cases, / were attributed to mercy killing by government studies. / A few cases of mercy killings are also reportedin the US / although the majority of the public are against it. / (161 Words)Passage 19 WorryWorry is like blood pressure: / you need a certain level to live, but too much can kill you. / People who worry too much suffer. / For all their hard work, for all their humor and willingness to laugh at themselves, / for all their self-awareness, worries just cannot achieve peace of mind. / Worry is amazingly common. / At least one in four of us—about 65 million Americans / —will meet the criteria for an anxiety disorder at some point in our lifetime. / Even those individuals whose lives are going well / may worry excessively on occasion. /And yet, worry is a very treatable condition. / Most people today are not aware of all that we have learned about worry in the last 50 years. / We’ve come to understand different types of worry and the underlying triggers. / Worry may accompany simple shyness, depression or generalized anxiety disorder. / Each kind of worry responds to specific and powerful techniques. / (151 words)20 The Attitude of Gratitude Thanksgiving Day is a day for giving thanks to family and friends in the United States. / Some people think Thanksgiving is the most important holiday of the year / because they believe the two most important words in English are ―thank you‖. / For business success, a ―thank you‖ tells a prospect or partner / that you are appreciative of what he has just done. / And that means you have an interest in that person / and the business relationship as well. / For social interaction, expressing gratitude is equally important to show / how you value the other person and the social relationship you have with him. / Therefore, ―thank you‖is a bonding phrase. / Additionally, giving thanks is most important for our own pursuit of happiness. / Whatever you have, you can either appreciate or not. / If you appreciate it and really notice that you have it, it will bringyou happiness. / However, if you take it for granted, and focus on things you don’t have, / what you do have won’t bring you happiness. / (169 words)21 Wages and SalaryOne of the most difficult functions of personnel management / is to develop a fair system of wages. / Since labor costs represent a certain percentage of total product costs, / wages that are too high may result in too expensive products in the market. / But inadequate wages may not attract good workers, and promote production. / A satisfactory program should attract well-qualified workers, / keep them satisfied in their jobs, and inspire them to produce. /The term wages and salary are often used interchangeably, / but they do have slightly different meanings. / Wages are employee’s pay based on the number of hours worked. / They generally are paid to production employees. / Salary is emp loyee’s pay calculated on a weekly, monthly or yearly basis. / It is usually paid to white-collar workers such as office personnel, managers and professional employees. /The wage policy of most companies is based on wages paid by other companies / in the area that compete for the same labor, the cost of living, the workers’ productivity and so on. / (169 words.)。

50. ReadingNowadays few of us read books after we leave school.This is rather disturbing, for one should know that books are no less necessary to one’s mental life than fresh air is to one’s physical life. From good reading we can derive companionship, experience and instruction. A good book is our faithful friend. It can increase our contentment when we are cheerful and happy, and lessen our pain when we are sad or lonely. Books can also offer us a wide range of experience. Few of us can travel far from home or live long over 100, but all of us can live many lives through the pages of books. What’s more, reading books can increase our intellectual ability, broaden our minds and make us wise.With the coming of TV, books are no longer read as widely as they once were. However, nothing can replace the role that books play in our lives.Useful words and expressions:1. leave school 离校，中学毕业2. disturbing 烦扰的3. mental 精神的4. derive 得到5. companionship 伴侣6. intellectual 智力的49. Natural ResourcesThrough the changes in the ways of making a living in a family over several generations, the cartoon aims at sounding a warning against man’s wast eful use of natural resources and emphasizing the urgent need to preserve these resources.Ever since man appeared on the earth, man’s survival has been heavily dependent on nature. Almost everything we use in our everyday life comes from nature, ranging from the food we eat, the water we drink, to the wood which is turned into furniture. With the development of technology and population growth, the amount and range of materials used has increased at an alarming rate.However, natural resources are not inexhaustible. Some reserves are already on the brink of exhaustion and there is no hope of replacing them. The widespread water shortage is an example in point. If man continued to squander natural resources with no thought for the future, the whole world would be in a mess.Useful Words and Expressions:1. make a living 谋生2. aim at 瞄准3. aim high 胸怀大志4. alarming使人惊动的5. inexhaustible 无穷无尽的6. squander 浪费7. be in a mess 乱七八糟48. Population GrowthIt is well-known that there has been a drastic increase in world population. But it is probably les well-known that the extinction rate of wildlife species is experiencing a parallel trend.Take the United States for instance. In 1990, U.S. population reached an unprecedented level of 250 million, which is approximately 250 times of that of 1800. On the other hand, wildlife species are disappearing from the country at an alarming rate. By 1990, about 70 wildlife species would never be seen in U.S. We are fully justified in declaring that the explosive population growth has had an adverse effect on the survival of wildlife species and will be a constant threat to the wildlife resources if no immediate actions are taken.Nothing has ever equaled the magnitude and speed with which the human species is altering the physical and chemical world. It has been demolishing the environment we are living in.Useful words and expressions:1. drastic 激烈的 2. parallel 平行的 3. trend 倾向 4. unprecedented 空前的5. magnitude 大小，数量6. alter 改变7. demolish 毁坏47．House and Home“House” and “home” are two words that have similar meanings.“House” and “home” both refer to places where people live. However, there is a diff erence between them. “Home” is often referred to as the place that we live in with our families. Sadly, in our society, people can hardly distinguish a home from a house because they often see no difference between them. This confusion can be traced back to the indifference between family members. Therefore, we can say that love is an important factor in a home. A home is a shelter, not only for our bodies but also for our minds. Whenever we are depressed, we can go home for comfort. Everyone in the family will do his best to take care of each other and share their happiness as well as sorrow. Without love, a home is merely a house where loneliness is all that can be found. And a house can never be a home unless there is love.Useful words and expressions:1. refer to 提到2. distinguish区别，辨别3. confusion 混乱，混淆4. trace back 追溯到5. indifference 不关心6. depressed 沮丧的46．AutomobilesIt is impossible to say that any one man invented the automobile. Many individuals living and working in different countries and at different times contributed to its development. Many of the discoveries that went into the creation of the automobile were small in themselves. But together they were important. Here are two examples.“Carriage is running at a speed of 8 to 9 miles an hour.” It was almost unheard of in those days. According to automobile historians, this was the first practical use of mechanical power to move a vehicle. After its first run, the machine reportedly burned up while the inventor and his friends were celebrating its success at a pub.Henry Ford is considered the father of modern automobiles mass production. His famous Model-T car, because of its low price, made it possible to produce cars on a large scale and his efforts made it accessible to ordinary people.Useful words and expressions:1. reportedly 据传说，据传闻2. mass production大规模生产3. on a large scale 大规模地4. accessible 易接近的，可到达的accessible to 与……接近45. The Influence of LifeIn the early times when human beings hunted and gathered food, they were not in control of their environment. They could only interact with their surroundings as the other lower animals did. When they learned to make fire, however, they became capable of altering their environment. To provide themselves with fuel, they cut down trees. They also burned clearings in forests to increase the growth of grass and to provide a greater grazing area for the wild animals that human beings fed upon. This development led to farming and the domestication of animals. Fire provided the means for cooking plants which had previously been inedible. Only when the process of meeting the basic need for food reached a certain level was it possible for humans to follow other pursuits such as setting up families, forming societies and founding cities.Useful words and Expressions:1. interact with 与……组合2. clearing 空旷地3. grazing 放牧，牧草4. domestication 驯养，驯服5. previously 先前，以前6. inedible 不能吃的，不适于食用的7. pursuit 追击8. set up 设立44．Gardening in AmericaBelieve or not, 43,000,000 Americans are gardening. That is about one in six. Gardeners, of course, come in many varieties. Not surprisingly, most of them are people who live in the suburbs, and enjoy planting flowers, or maybe a small vegetables garden.The average age of gardeners in America is about 45 years old; they usually fall somewhere in the middle class. But the fastest growing groups are city dwellers. Urban residents are finding ways of gardening even in their crowded areas. Many go to large public gardens, as a place designed by the city for garden, and you can actually ranch your own plot.Still other people use their balconies or roof tops, wherever they can find the space to plant small patches of green.Useful Words and Expressions:1. suburb 郊区2. dweller 居民3. ranch 经营牧场4. balcony 阳台5. patch小块地43．Our ConcernThe history of life on earth has been a history of interaction between living things and their surroundings. To a large extent, the physical form and the habits of the earth’s vegetation and its animal life have been molded by the environment. Only in the present century has one species of man acquired significant power to alter the nature of his world.The rapidity of change follows the pace of man rather than the pace of nature. Radiation is now the unnatural creation of man’s tampering with the atom. The chemicals are the creations of man’s inventive mind, having no counterparts in nature.We have put poisonous and biologically potent chemicals into the hands of persons largely ignorant of their potentials for harm. We have subjected enormous numbers of people to contact with these enormous numbers of people to contact with these poisons, without their consent and often without their knowledge. We have allowed these chemicals to be used with little or no advance investigation of their effect. Future generations are unlikely to forgive our lack of concern.Useful Words and Expressions:1. interaction 交互作用，交感2. vegetation 植被3. mold 塑造，浇铸4. species 种类5. unnatural 不自然的6. temper with 损害，影响7. counterpart 配对物8. poisonous 有毒的9. potent 有力的，有效的10. consent 同意，赞成42．SleepWhy is it so difficult to fall asleep when you are overtired? There is no one answer that applies to every individual. It is possible to feel “tired” physically and still be unable to fall asleep, because while your body may be exhausted, you do not feel sleepy. It is not so easy to simply “turn off”. Lack of sleep complicates matters even more. Experts say adults need at least seven to eight hours of sleep a night to function properly. When you get less sleep than that on consecutive three nights, you begin to accrue four “sleep debt”. As sleep deb t increases your body experiences a stress response. Now a vicious cycle has been created: You experience the feeling of being more and more tired, but your body is increasingly stimulated. “Power sleeping” for more hours on weekends is only a temporary so lution. There is no substitute for getting a good night’s sleep on a regular basis.Useful Words and Expressions:1. overtire 使过度疲劳2. apply to 将……应用于3. consecutive连续的，连贯的4. accrue 自然增加，产生5. vicious恶的vicious cycle 恶性循环6. stimulate 刺激，激励7. substitute for 代替……，替换……41．Apology HelpsIt is never easy to admit you are in the wrong. Being human, we all need to know the art of apologizing. Look back with honesty and think how often you have judged roughly, you said unkind things, and pushed yourself ahead at the expense of a friend. Then count the occasions when you indicated clearly and truly that you were so sorry. A bit frightening, isn’t it? It is frightening, isn’t it? It is frightening because some deep wisdom in us knows that when even a small wrong has been committed, some mysterious moral feeling is disturbed; and it stays out of balance until fault is acknowledged and regret expressed.A heartfelt apology can not only heal a damaged relationship but also make it stronger. If you can think of someone who deserves an apology from you, someone you have wronged, or judged too roughly, or just neglected, do something about it right now.Useful Words and Expressions:1. push ahead 捉紧进行2. at the expense of 在损害……的情况下3. mysterious神秘的4. moral 道德的5. disturbed 扰乱的6. stay out of 不参与……，置身于……之外7. heartfelt 衷心的，真心真意的8. roughly粗糙地，概略地40. How High Can You Jump?Flea’s trainers have observed a strange habit of fleas while training them.Fleas are trained by putting them in a cardboard box with a top on it. The fleas will jump up and hit the top of the cardboard box over and over and over again. As you watch them jump and hit the lid, something very interesting becomes obvious. The fleas continue to jump, but they are no longer jumping high enough to hit the top.When you take off the lid, the fleas continue to jump, but they will not jump out of the box. They will not jump out because they cannot jump out. Why? The reason is simple. They have conditioned themselves to jump just so high. Once they have conditioned themselves to jump just so high. Once they have conditioned themselves to jump just so high, that is all they can do! Many times, people do the same thing. They restrict themselves and never reach their potential. Just like the fleas, they fail to jump higher, thinking they are doing al they can do.Useful Words and Expressions:1. cardboard 纸板2. lid 盖子3. conditioned 有条件的，习惯于……的 4. restrict 限制，约束be restricted within narrow limits 限于狭窄的范围内be restricted in one’s movements 行动受限制39. Don’t give upIf we would ever accomplish anything in life, let us not forget that we must persevere. If we would learn our lessons in school, we must be diligent and not give up whenever we come to anything difficult. We shall find many of our lessons very hard, but let us consider that the harder they are the better they will do to us if we will preserve and learn them thoroughly.But there are some among us who are ready to give up when they come to a hard example in mathematics, and say, “I can’t do this.” They never will if they feel so. “I can’t” never does anything worthwhile, but “I’ll try” accomplis hes wonders.Let us remember that we shall meet with difficulties all through life. They are in the pathway of everyone. If we will only try and keep trying, we shall be sure to conquer and overcome verydifficulty we merely.38. “How to” BooksBooks which give instructions on how to do things are popular in the United States today. Thousands of these “how to” books are available. In fact, there are about for thousand books with titles that begin with the words “how to’.Many “how to” books give advice on c areers. They tell you how to choose a career and how to succeed in it. Many of these books help people to use their free time better. Some people want book which will give them useful information about sports, hobbies and travel. Other people use their free time to make repairs and improvements on their homes. They prefer books which give step-by-step instructions on how to repair things like plumbing and electrical wiring or on how to redecorate or enlarge a house.Why have “how to” books become so popular? Probably because life has became more complex. Today people have far more free to use, more choices to make, and more problems to solve, “how to” books help people to deal with modern life.Useful words and Expressions:1. step-by-step 按部就班的2. redecorate 重新装饰，再装饰3. complex 复杂的，综合的37. Professional Sports in the U.S.Professional sports are not only very popular in the United States, but also a big business. The most popular sports are baseball, football and basketball. Each sport has its own season and individual teams have millions of supporters. Professional teams are named for the cities where they are located. For example, the Lakers are in Los Angeles. The strongest supporters of the Lakers are residents of Los Angeles and Southern California. When the Lakers play, many people in Los Angeles enthusiastically follow the game. When we mention “NBA”, almost every one knows it ahs some relationship with U.S. professional basketball. However, what does it really stand for? N.B.A is gaining new fans and supporters around the world. Basketball has been called the “national pastime”. However, football is the most popular professional sport in the U.S. American football is different from international football, which Americans call “soccer”. Both games require strength and specialized skills.Useful Words and Expressions:1. be named for 被指定为 2. be short for 是……的简称3. stand for代表36. ArtistsEvery artist knows in his heart that he is saying something to the public. Not only does he want to say it well, but he wants it to be something which has not been said before.What visual artists, like painters, want to say is easy to make out but difficult to explain, because painters translate their experiences into shapes and colors, not words. They seem to feel that a certain selection of shapes and colors, out of the countless billions of possible, is exceptionally interesting for them and worth showing to us.Most artists take their shapes and colors from the world of nature and from human bodies in motion and response; their choices indicate that these aspects of the world are worth looking at, that they contain beautiful sights. Contemporary artists might say that they merely choose subjects that provide an interesting pattern, that there is nothing more in it. Yet even they do not choose entirely without reference to the character of their subjects.Useful words and Expressions:1. visual artist 视觉艺术家2. selection 挑选，选择3. exceptional 例外的，异常的4. motion 运动，动作5. indicate显示，象征6. contemporary 当代的，同时代的7. without reference to 不论，与……无关34．Will Computers Replace Human Beings?We are in the computer age today. The computers are working all kinds of wonders now. They are very useful in automatic control and data processing. At the same time, computers are finding their way into the home. They seem to be so clever and can solve such complicated problems that some people think sooner or later they will replace us.But I do not think that there is such a possibility. My reason is very simple: computers are machines, not humans. And our tasks are far too various and complicated for any one single kind of machine to perform.Probably the greatest difference between man and computer is that the former can do things of his own while the latter can do nothing without being programmed. In my opinion, computers will remain nothing but an extension of our human brains, no matter how clever and complicated they may become.33. Where Do the British Live?Nearly everyone in Britain would like to own their own home and, whether they do or not, they are prepared to put time and money into decorating and furnishing it or even making structural alterations to it. Because of the climate and because of the expense involved in going out for the evening, the British spend a lot of time at home and a large part of their social life takes place there.Young people tend to stay with their families longer these days as accommodation is expensive but, when they move away to a job or college, there are various options open to them. They can get lodgings with a landlady. This means that they rent a room in someone’s house and have breakfast with the family. They can also get a bed-sitting room, that is to say one self-contained room in which they can cook, live and sleep. Alternatively, they can share a rented flat or house with a group of young people, perhaps the most popular option of all.Useful Words and Expressions:1. lodging 寄宿处2. bed-sit 卧室兼起居室3. bed-sitting 卧室兼起居室的4. self-contained 设备齐备32. Making a ComplaintComplaining about faulty goods or bad services is never easy. But if something you have brought is faulty or does not do what was claimed for it, you are not asking for a favor to get it put right. Complaints should be made to a responsible person. Go back to the shop where you bought the goods, taking with you any receipt you may have. In a small store the assistant may also be the owner so you can complain direct. In a chain store, ask the manager. If you telephone, ask the name of the person, who handles your enquiry, otherwise you may never find out who dealt with the complaint later. If you do not want to do it in person, write a letter. Stick to the facts and keep a copy of what you write. At this stage you should give any receipt numbers, but you should not need to give receipts or other papers to prove you bought the article.31. Water PollutionWater is very important to us. Factories and plants need water for industrial uses and large pieces of farmland need it for irrigation. Without water to drink, people die in a short time.Today most water sources are so dirty that people must purify water before drinking. Water becomes dirty in many ways: industrial pollution is one of them. With the development of industry, plants and factories pour tons of industrial wasters into rivers every day. The rivers have become seriously polluted, and the water is becoming unfit for drinking or irrigation. The same thing has also happened to our seas and oceans. So, the problem of water pollution is almost worldwide. Scientists of many countries have done a lot of work to stop pollution. The polluted water in some places has become clean and drinkable again. Perhaps one day the people in all towns and cities will be drinking clean water. That day, we believe, is not very far off.30. CartoonistsIn a good cartoon, the artist can tell in a few lines as much as a writer can tell in half a dozen paragraphs. The cartoonist not only tells a story but he also tries to persuade the reader to his way of thinking. He has great influence on public opinion. In a political campaign, he plays an important part. Controversial issues in Congress or at meetings of the United Nations may keep the cartoonist well-supplied with current materials.A clever cartoonist may cause laughter because he often uses humor in his drawings. If he is sketching a famous person, he takes a prominent feature and exaggerates it. Cartoonists, for instance, like to lengthen an already long nose and to widen an already broad grin. This exaggeration of a person’s characteristics is called caricature. The artist uses such exaggeration to put his message eful Words and Expressions:1. cartoonist 漫画家2. campaign 活动3. controversial 争论的，争议的 4. sketch 素描5. prominent 卓越的6. exaggerate 夸张7. lengthen 延长8. grin 露齿笑29. TimeTime is tangible. One can gain time, spend time, waste time, save time, or even kill time. Common questions in American Engli sh reveal this concrete quality as though time were a possession. “Do you have any time?”, “Can you get some time for this?”, “How much free time do you have?” The treatment of time as a possession influences the way that time is carefully divided.Generally, Americans are taught to do one thing at a time and may be uncomfortable when an activity is interrupted. In businesses, the careful scheduling of time and the separation of activities are common practices. Appointment calendars are printed with 15-,30-, and 60-minute time slots. The idea that “there is a time and place for everything” extends to American social life. Visitors who drop by without prior notice may interrupt their host’s personal time. Thus, calling friends on the telephone before visiting them is generally preferred to visitors’ dropping by.Useful words and expressions:1. tangible 切实的2. kill time 消磨时间3. reveal 显示，揭示4. scheduling 行程安排5. slot 缝隙6. drop by 随便访问7. preferred 首选的28. A Free Dress Every WeekThe temptation to steal is greater than ever before especially in large shops and people are not so honest as they once were.A detective recently watched a well-dressed woman who always went into a large store on Monday mornings. One Monday, there were fewer people in the shop than usual when the womancame in, so it was easier for the detective to watch her. The woman first bought a few small articles. After a little time, she chose one of the most expensive dresses in the shop and handed it to an assistant who wrapped it up for her as quickly as possible. The woman simply took the parcel and walked out of the shop without paying. When she was arrested, the detective found out that the shop assistant was her daughter. Believe it or not, the girl “gave” her mother a free dress every week!27. IntelligenceAre some people born clever and others born stupid? Or is intelligence developed by our environment and our experience?Strangely enough, the answer to these questions is yes. To some extent our intelligence is given us at birth, and no amount of special education can make a genius out of a child born with low intelligence. On the other hand, a child who lives in a boring environment will develop his intelligence less than one who lives in rich and varied surroundings. Thus, the limits of a person’s intelligence are fixed at birth, whether or not he reaches those limits will depend on his environment. This view, held by most experts now, can be supported in a number of ways. As is easy to show that intelligence is to some extent something we are born with. The closer the blood relationship between two people is, the closer they are likely to be in intelligence.26. Travel for WorkYou can see them in every airport in the world. They are businessmen and women who have to travel for their work.When they first applied for the job, they may have thought of good food and hotels, huge expense accounts and fashionable cities. Now they have to sit in airport lounges, tired and uncomfortable in their smart clothes, listening to the loudspeaker announce “The fight of Tokyo, or Berlin, or New York is delayed for another two hours.” Some people say to me, “How lucky you are to be able to travel abroad in your work! You can go sightseeing without paying any money by yourself!” They think that my job is like a continual holiday. It is not.There are advantages, of course, and I do thin I am lucky, but only because I can go to places I would never visit if I was a tourist.25. A Place of Our OwnWe are all usually very careful when we buy something for the house. Why? Because we have to live on it for a long time. We paint a room to make it brighter, so we choose the colors carefully. We buy new curtains in order to match the newly decorated room, so they must be the right color. We move the furniture round so as to make more space—or we buy new furniture—and so on. It is an endless business.Rich or poor, we take time to furnish a room. Perhaps some people buy furniture in order to impress their friends. But most of us just want to enjoy our surroundings. We want to live as comfortably as we can afford to. We spend a large part of our lives at home. We want to make a small corner in the world which we can recognize as our own.24. Great Depression in the U.S.In 1929, the bills started to come in. American industry had produced too many goods. Americans could not afford to buy all of them. So factories had to cut down on their production. Many workers lost their jobs. Investors tried to get their money back. But businesses did not haveenough money to pay them. Banks tried to get their money back from investors. But the investors could not pay, either. Too many people owed money. And few of them could pay their bills. During the next few years, business got worse and worse. By 1932, banks all over the country were closing.People without money could not buy goods. So many businesses closed. More and more people lost their jobs. By 1932, more than 12 million Americans were jobless. Millions more were earning barely enough to live on. The country was in a great depression they had never experienced before.Useful Words and Expressions:1. bill 帐单，票据foot the bill付账，负责2. cut down on 减少3. depression 沮丧，萧条Great Depression大萧条23. A merica’s Worst SurpriseDecember 7, 1941 was one of the worst days in American history. Nearly all Americans who are old enough to remember that day can still remember what they were doing at the moment they heard “the news”. The news was that America had been attacked!Shortly before 2:00 P.M., a radio dispatch came into Washington from Honolulu, Hawaii. “Air Raid, Pearl Harbor—this is no drill.” Japanese planes h ad begun an attack on the largest American military base in the Pacific. They first destroyed planes on the ground. Then they bombed the ships in the harbor.No one had expected the attack. So no one was prepared for it. And it did not take long for Japanese to do their damage. When the smoke cleared, the Navy counted its losses. Eighteen ships had been sunk or badly damaged. Nearly 150 planes had been destroyed. More than 2,400 Americans had been killed and more than 1,200 wounded.Useful Words and Expressions:1. dispatch 派遣，急件2. air raid 空袭3. drill 军事训练，操练4. Pearl Harbor 珍珠港22．. CrisisLife is a contest! Who will win? A bluebird and sparrow both compete for space to build their nests. A fast-growing maple tree and slower-growing dogwood compete for the sunlight they both need. Oil competes with coal and nuclear power as an energy source for electric power plants! There is a problem. There is a limited amount of space for birds, sunlight for trees, and energy for people! If we do not cut back on our uses of some of our resources, someday they will be gone! How can we use energy today and know we will have enough to go around in the future? We can choose alternate, or replacement, energy resources. It takes the earth millions of years to create coal, oil, and gas. They are nonrenewable resources.Solar energy, wind energy and water energy are renewable resources. It takes the earth millions of years to create coal, oil, and gas. They are nonrenewable resources.Solar energy, wind energy and water energy are renewable. What other ways can we conserve our sources? How can we make sure there is always enough to go around?Useful words and expressions:1. bluebird 蓝知更鸟2. sparrow 麻雀3. dogwood 山茱萸4. power plant 发电厂，发电站5. alternate 替换物6. nonrenewable resources 不可再生资源7. conserve 保存，保藏21. Soils。

Last week, my youngest son and I visited my father at his new home.My earliest memories of my father are of a tall, handsome, successful man devoted to his work and family but uncomfortable with his children. As a child, I loved him；as a school girl and young adult, I feared him and felt bitter about him.On the first day of my visit, we did some shopping，ate on the street table，and laughed over my son's funny facial expressions. Gone was my father's critical air and strict rules. Who was this person I knew as my father who seemed so friendly and interesting to be around?The next day, my dad pulled out his childhood pictures and told me quite a few stories about his own childhood. Although our times together became easier over the years, I never felt closer to him until that moment. After so many years, I'm at last seeing another side of my father.2、Different "Styles" of DirectionsI travel a lot, and I find out different “styles” of directions every time I ask “How can I get to the post office?”In Japan, people use landmarks in their directions instead of street names. For example, the Japanese will say to travelers, " Go straight down to the corner. Turn left at the big hotel and go past a fruit market. The post office is across from the bus stop."In the countryside of the American Midwest, instead of landmarks, people will tell you directions and distances. For example, people will say, “Go north two miles. Turn east, and then go another mile.”People in Los Angeles, California, have no idea of distance on the map; they measure distance in time, not miles. “How far away is the post office?” you ask. “Oh,” they answer, “it’s about five minutes from here.” You say, “Yes, but how many miles away is it?” They don’t know.(155 words)3、Differences Between Television and Radio AnnouncersWhen television first began to expand, very few of the people who had become famous as radio announcers were able to be equally effective on television. Some of the difficulties they experienced when they were trying to adjust themselves to the new medium were technical. When working on radio, for example, they had become used to seeing on behalf of the listener. This art of seeing for others means that the announcer has to be very good at talking.In the case of television, however, the announcer sees everything with the viewer. His duty, therefore, is completely different. He is there to make sure that the viewer does not miss any pointof interest, to help him focus on particular things, and to help him understand the images on the television screen. Unlike his radio colleague, he must know the value of silence and how to use it at those moments when the pictures speak for themselves. (157 words)4、Can't"Can't" is the worst word that can be written or spoken, and can do more harm than lying. Many strong spirits have been broken by it. It springs from the lips of thoughtless people each morning and robs us of the courage we need that day. It rings in our ears like a timely sent warning and laughs when we fall by the way."Can't" is the father of weak effort, and the parent of fear and half-hearted work. It weakens the efforts of clever craftsmen, and makes people work less. It poisons the soul of a person with an illusion. It laughs at people's hopes and dreams.Whatever the goal you are seeking, keep trying, and answer by saying, "I can!" "Can't" is the enemy that is ready to ruin your will. It will only give way to courage, patience and skill. Treat it with strong and continuous hate, for once it is welcomed it can break any man. (160 words)5、Light PollutionWe usually think of pollution as a harmful waste substance that threatens the air and water. But some people have become concerned about another kind of pollution. It can be everywhere, depending on the time of day. And it is not thought of as a substance. It is light.The idea of light pollution has developed with the increase of lights in cities. In many areas, this light makes it difficult or impossible to observe stars and planets in the night sky. Light pollution threatens to reduce the scientific value of research telescopes.Light pollution is the result of wasted energy. Bright light that shines into the sky is not being used to provide light where it is needed on Earth. Lights that are brighter than necessary also cause light pollution. Recently, two Italian astronomers and an American environmental scientist created a world map of the night sky. The map shows that North America, Western Europe and Japan have the greatest amount of light pollution. (165 words)6、Town and Country Life in EnglandThere is a big difference between town life and country life in England. In the country, everybody knows everybody else. They know what time you get up, what time you go to bed and what you have for dinner. If you want help, you will always get it and you will be glad to help others.In a large town like London, however, it can sometimes happen that you have never seen your next door neighbor and you do not know his name or anything about him. People in London areoften very lonely. This is because people go to different places in the evenings and at weekends. If you walk through the streets in the centre of London on Sunday, it is like a town without people. One is sorry for old people living on their own. They could die in their homes and would not be discovered for weeks or even months.7、A Change in Women’s LifeThe important change in women’s life-pattern has only recently begun to have its full effect on women’s economic position. Even a few years ago most girls lef t school at the first opportunity, and most of them took a full-time job. However, when they married, they usually left work at once and never returned to it. Today the school-leaving age is sixteen, many girls stay at school after that age, and though women tend to marry younger, more married women stay at work at least until shortly before their first child is born. Very many more afterwards return to full-time or part-time work. Such changes have led to a new relationship in marriage, with the husband accepting a greater share of the duties and satisfactions of family life and with both husband and wife sharing more equally in providing the money, and running the home, according to the abilities and interests of each of them.8、A Popular Pastime of the English PeopleOne of the best means of understanding the people of any nation is watching what the do with their non-working time. Most English men, women and children love growing things, especially flowers. Visitors to England in spring, summer or autumn are likely to see gardens all they way along the railway lines. There are flowers at the airports and flowers in factory grounds, as well as in gardens along the roads. Each English town has at least one park with beautifully kept flower beds. Public buildings of every kind have brilliant window boxes and sometimes baskets of flowers are hanging on them.But what the English enjoy most is growing things themselves. If it is impossible to have a garden, then a window box or something growing in a pot wil l do. Looking at each other’s gardens is a popular pastime with the English.10. All About EyesToday's program is all about eyes. When it comes to relationships, people's eyes can be a window into their hearts. This means that their eyes can tell a lot about how they feel. We will tell a story about a man and woman who are teachers at the same school. The woman is interested in the man. She uses many methods to catch his eye, or get him to notice her. Once he sets eyes on her, or sees her, she might try to get him interested in her by acting playful. In other words, she might try to make eyes at him or give him the eye.Let us suppose that this man gets hit between the eyes. In other words, the woman has a strong affect on him. He wants to spend time with her to get to know her better. He asks her out on a date.She is so happy that she may walk around for days with stars in her eyes. She is extremely happy because this man is the apple of her eye, a very special person. She might tell him that he isthe only person she wants, or "I only have eyes for you."ON TIMEThe Germans have a good reputation of being on time. They are very proud of this habit. Many people say German people work like a clock. This is because they do everything according to their plans they make. They develop this good habit when they are very small. In Germany if a person often fails to keep an appointment, he is not respected, trusted and has no true friends.To fail to be punctual is a sign that you do not respect other people. It is very bad and harmful not to be punctual. If a teacher is often late for his class, it is not likely that his students will respect him. The same is true with a student. His teacher and classmates will not respect him and trust him. If a business man often fails to keep appointments or deliver goods on time, he will certainly suffer a great deal. In the end he will lose his customers and will be out of business.Unfortunately, there are still a lot of people who do not realize the importance of being punctual. Perhaps an effective way to teach them is to let them suffer. (195) LESSON 11LIVE HAPPILYRecently, China Youth did a survey to find out people’s ideas about living happily. Their findings are very interesting. There are many different ideas about living happily. There is one group whose idea about a happy life is quite different from the others. Take Xiao Shu for example. She works in a big business company. Every day she rides a bicycle to her office. Under her influence many of her colleagues and friends also do the same. She is also a leader of a group who tries to do as many good things as possible for the society. This group organizes many different kinds of activities to tell people not to waste, to protect our environment, to love animals, to eat healthy food and eat less meat.The members are all hard working, kind and polite. They travel by public transport. They eat healthy food. The clothes they wear are all made from natural fibers. Another thing they all have in common is that they don’t have a lot of desires. All of them are patient and don’t easily get excited. They are happy with what they have. (188)LESSON 12A SUPERMARKET SHOPLIFTERIt is really hard to say whether it is a sad story or an interesting one. But it is a true story. It happened on the morning of July 10th 2008 in a small chain store in Zhengzhou. A woman in her 40s was caught shoplifting. The store called the police and three minutes later two policemen arrived. She was taken to an office. The things she stole were pork, dried beef and sausages, which all together cost about 200 Yuan. She looked ashamed and guilty. The policemen told her that she had to come to the police station with them. She refused to go. For twice, she tried to kill herself by knocking her head against the wall. The policemen finally managed to calm her down.When questioned why she wanted to do that, she told the policemen her story. For two months she and her son had had no meat at all for meals because she couldn’t afford it. Like the other kids, her son needed some good food. As she didn’t know where to find the money to buy meat, she decided to steal it from the store. (191)LESSON 13A TENT HOTELAiling, aged 29, came back from San Francisco in 2002 after she had completed her university courses there. She was offered a well-paid job in Shenzhen. Soon she found that her job was too demanding and stressful. Two years later, she left the company. Before finding a new job, she decided to take a holiday in her hometown Hainan. Her house is in a small town at the foot of a hill, which is a part of Wuzhi Mountain. Looking out of the window she can see a fine view of a river and green hills covered with tall trees. After seeing the wonderful view, she felt so relaxed and peaceful. Suddenly, an idea came to her mind. This is an ideal place for people who want to escape stress and to relax. A tent hotel would be the thing to meet their needs.Wasting no time, she and her boyfriend started to plan. They rented a large piece of land to build their tent hotel. Each room is a tent. Guests live a life that people lived a century ago. They can pick fresh vegetable from the garden and make their own food. They can also go fishing or boating. Guests can completely forget about their problems and enjoy the natural beauty. (213)CHINA HIGH SPEED TRAINSJapan built the world’s first high speed rail in 1964. As high speed railways have many advantages over airplanes and super speed high ways, France, Germany and America quickly followed the Japanese example. Our country didn’t start building the high speed railway until 2005. The first high speed railway is from Beijing to Tienjin. It went to operation on the 1st of August 2008, just 8 days before the BIG EVENT. The train runs about 320 km/h. It only takes 30 minutes from Beijing to Tienjin. The second high speed railway is from Beijing to Shanghai. It is now under construction and will be put to use in 2010. By that time you can have breakfast in Beijing and lunch in Shanghai. It is estimated that the ticket is between 600 and 800 Yuan, much cheaper than the air ticket.China has planned to build 8 high speed railways, four from the east to the west and four from the north to the south. This high speed rail net work will cost altogether about 25 thousand billion Yuan to build. It needs 15 years to complete. In 15 years all the major cities will be connected by this net work. (197)LESSON 15JAPANESE SENIOR CITIZENS KEEP THEMSELVES BUSYI just came back from my first visit to Japan. The thing I found most interesting was that most taxi and coach drivers are senior citizens. I also found that parking lot attendants, street cleaners, gardeners are mostly old people. It is not unusual to be served by old waiters or waitresses in restaurants or hotels.It is not a joke to say that Japan is a country of old people, because 20 percent of its population is people over 65. Everywhere I went, I could meet people over 80. Japan is also a country that has a big shortage of laborers. It is not difficult to understand this problem. People born after the war have reached the age of retirement. Nowadays, young people marry late and many of them don’t want to have children after being married.Most healthy retired people don’t want to sit around doing nothing. They want to keep active. The Japanese government also encourages them to work. It is good for both the retired people and the country. For a lot of senior citizens, money is not the main thing. What counts is that they can feel they are still needed. (197)A RECORD-FREE CAR DRIVERThe total number of private cars in China now is over 12 million. The number of people who died in car accidents last year was over 100 thousand. No other countries in the world where there were so many people killed in car accidents. Most car accidents can be avoided if the drivers are careful and have good sense of responsibility.Zhou Chunrong is a well-respected car driver. Next year he’ll retire. He has been with his job for 42 years. He has driven many different types of motor vehicles. During the 42 years he has never violated any traffic rules. He doesn’t only use his eyes to drive but also his heart. He regards driving as an art, more than a skill. He never uses rude or dirty language with his customers and co-drivers. He is patient and has got a lovely easy-going nature. What is more, he has first-class driving skill. He never goes beyond the speed limit he is allowed to goDrivers need a good mental state. With a good mental state, drivers will be able to drive carefully. All drivers should have a moral responsibility to keep other people safe.(196)LESSON 17BICYCLES ARE COMING BACKIt used to be a quite common thing for students to ride bicycles to school in England. In 1960s, a law was passed to ensure the safety of the school children. By the law the local education authorities must provide home to school transport free of charge for the students. Since 1980 there has been a big increase in the number of students who travel to school by car. As a result, bicycles are no longer a part of the students’ everyday life.In the recent years the price of oil has been going up all the time. This is mainly because the world oil resources are disappearing fast. One solution of the problem is to bring back the bicycle. The British government advises people to switch from four wheels to two wheels. Students are encouraged to go to school by bicycle. Take the city of Bedford for example. The local government has spent about 55 million pounds on schools. Schools use the money to employ people to teach the children how to ride bicycles and how to repair them when something goes wrong. Students like bicycles because they are a cheap and healthy way to get around. (198)READINGReading is very important. People become knowledgeable through reading. Reading is a good habit. If a person doesn’t read, his mind is empty. Reading can broaden one’s mind. All successful people read.There are so many books in the world. Even if a person spends his whole life reading, he cannot read all the books. Some books are not useful. Some books are harmful. Therefore, it is quite necessary for a person to decide what to read.In order to learn more one, has to read fast. Reading fast is a skill, which is developed through reading. Many our students cannot read fast because they don’t read a lot. They only read what is given by their teacher in class. As an English language learner, he has to read as much as possible. Through reading he understands and learns how English people express their ideas. This is a very important way to learn English language. (155)LESSON 19IT HAS CHANGEDIn Britain traditionally, men are the bread-winners and women are home-makers. But this has changed. Take Mr. Sterling for example. He is 31 and his wife is 29. They have three sons aged 9, 8 and 5. Mr. Sterling has not worked since he lost his job 5 years ago. Mrs. Sterling took a full-time job a year ago. She has no time to look after the home. Mr. Sterling has to take over almost everything his wife did in the house. Every morning he takes the children to school and fetches them at five in the afternoon. He does the grocery shopping and the laundry. He plans and makes the dinner. He says he doesn’t have much free time between 7:30 am to 5:00pm. He’s quite happy to do all these. But still he hopes one day he can be working while his wife staying at home and taking care of the house. (154)。

英语听力听写练习原文〈〉第一集1.Ocean Plastic Particles Could Get in GillsSea creatures eat plastic dumped in the ocean, but they also might be accumulating plastic by sucking up tiny particles with their siphons and gills. Christopher Intagliata reports.There are now at least five major garbage patches in the world's oceans, and much of that trash is plastic. But last month researchers said they can only account for one percent of the plastic they'd expect to find in the oceans. So, where'd the rest of it goWell, animals eat some of it. Plastic has been found in turtles, seabirds, fish, plankton, shellfish, even bottom-feeding invertebrates. But there's another way sea creatures might be accumulating plastic: by sucking up tiny plastic particles with their siphons and gills.Researchers added common shore crabs—Carcinus maenas—to tanks of seawater containing millions of tiny plastic particles, just 10 microns in diameter. After 16 hours, all the crabs had plastic lodged in their gills. And the particles stuck around for up to three weeks, too. The results are in the journal Environmental Science and Technology. [Andrew J. R. Watts et al, Uptake and Retention of Microplastics by the Shore Crab Carcinus maenas]The longer plastic sits in an animal, researchers say, the better the chances it will travel up the food chain. Meaning all our plastic waste could come back to bite us—or rather be bitten by us."Of course we eat mussels whole, without the shells. But we're potentially eating plastic, if they're from a site where there's plastic present." Lead researcher Andrew Watts, of the University of Exeter. "We don't know how much plastic we have in our stomachs… chances are we do have some."—Christopher Intagliata2.Salmonella's Favorite Food Could Be Its Achilles' HeelSalmonella's primary fuel source is the molecule fructose-asparagine. Starving it of that fuel in an infected person could kill it without harming beneficial gut bacteria. Karen Hopkin reportsSummer’s here and with it come picnic s, barbecues and of course salmonella. The germ is notorious for contaminating a variety of favorite warm-weather foods. But the bacteria’s palate is more limited than ours. Once salmonella makes its way into your system, it relies on a single unusual nutrient to survive. That’s according to a study in the journal PLoS Pathogens. [Mohamed M. Ali et al, Fructose-Asparagine Is a Primary Nutrient during Growth of Salmonella in the Inflamed Intestine]Most people tough it out when they get food poisoning from salmonella. That’s because treatment with antibiotics would eliminate the infection, but also get rid of the gut bacteria that promote good health.To figure out how to target salmonella specifically, researchers screened for genes vital for the microbe’s survival during the active phase of infection. And they identified a cluster of five genes that work together to allow the bacteria to digest a molecule called fructose-asparagine. No other organisms are known to use this chemical for fuel, so starving salmonella of it could be a new strategy for fighting this foodborne bug while leaving desirable intestinal inhabitants unharmed.Next, the researchers plan to see which foods contain large amounts of salmonella’s go-to snack. But please, don’t send unsol icited samples of Aunt Agnes’s egg salad.—Karen Hopkin3.Education Level Linked to NearsightednessIn a German study, half of those with a university degree were myopic compared with less than a quarter of folks who quit after high school or secondary school. Karen Hopkin reportsNothing says “overeducated egghead” like a pair of coke-bottle glasses. But even clichés sometimes hit the nerd on the head. Because a new study finds that nearsightedness is linked to the number of years spent in school. The findings can be viewed in the journal Ophthalmology. [Alireza Mirshahi et al, Myopia and Level of Education]In the past century, the prevalence of myopia—science-speak for being able to see only what’s right in front of you—has been on the rise. So much so that it can’t all be blamed on geeky genes.To nail down the potential environmental influences, researchers focused on the classroom. They gave eye exams to nearly 5000 German subjects in a project called the Gutenberg Health Study.The researchers found that individuals with 13 years of education were more myopic than those who didn’t get past primary school. And more than half of those with a university degree could use a set of specs, compared to less than a quarter of the folks who quit after high school or secondary school.All that learning takes a lot of reading. Which itself is associated with nearsightedness. Or the nearsighted may gravitate toward pursuits easier to see—like hitting the books. Either way, seems that being a good student may not require great pupils.—Karen Hopkin4.Give Us This Day the Bread Wheat GenomeA preliminary map of the bread wheat genome includes the locations of more than 75,000 genes. Cynthia Graber reportsWheat helped cre ate civilization in the Middle East. It’s a staple crop for 30 percent of the world’s population. And now, with the publication of four articles in the journal Science, we’re close to a detailed understanding of the bread wheat genome. [Kellye Eversole et al, Slicing the wheat genome]Wheat is tough to sequence. It’s gone through multiple hybridizations, making its genome five times larger than a human one. Plus there are many redundancies: more than 80 percent of the genome is made of repeated DNA sequences. So the typical whole-genome shotgun approach—breaking genomes into segments and then reassembling them—doesn’t work for wheat.Instead, an international consortium devised another strategy, involving physically mapping individual chromosomes and chromosome arms.One paper details a draft of the entire genome of bread wheat. Another identifies all the genes on the largest of the plant’s 21 chromosomes. Some 75,000 genes have been mapped. The methods in the second paper will help scientists map the remaining chromosomes. They say it should take another three years.Knowing exactly which genes are responsible for talents such as tolerating drought or improving yields should allow researchers to mine the genome and to quickly produce new and better wheat varieties to bring us our daily bread.—Cynthia Graber5.Supercooled Organs Could Stretch Time to TransplantLiver transplant time from human donor to patient is limited to 12 hours, but rats that got livers specially stored for three days were going strong three months later. Cynthia Graber reportsIf you need a new liver, doctors have about twelve hours to transport it from a donor. That ticking clock severely limits the ability of doctors to get organs to patients.Now researchers have demonstrated a method that kept rat livers viable up to four days.The scientists lowered the livers to below freezing temperatures, while flooding the tissue with antifreeze chemicals to prevent the formation of damaging ice crystals.But such cooling alone is not sufficient, due in part to the liver’s wide variety of cell types and functions. So the researchers also used machine perfusion: as the livers were cooled they were flushed with solutions that kept them operational. They were perfused again as they were brought back to above-freezing temps.All the rats that were implanted with 3-day-old livers survived for three months. Nearly 60 percent of the rats with four-day-old livers survived. In contrast, no rats that received 3- and 4-day-old livers preserved by currently used methods survived. [Tim A. Berendsen et al, Supercooling enables long-term transplantation survival following 4 days of liver preservation, in Nature Medicine]This work is an early step toward creating a system that could work in humans, which would dramatically improve the chances of getting organs to people who desperately need them.—Cynthia Graber6.Space-Based Data Collection Better Predicts FloodsSatellite data can help geologists predict major floods up to 11 months in advance in areas where snow melt or groundwater is a significant contributor. Cynthia Graber reportsWant to know where—and when—the next major river flood will hit Just look up, to the satellites.Conventional estimates of river volume come from rainfall, of course, and from measurement of the water that seeps from soil and groundwater reserves.But NASA’s GRACE satellites, for Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment, can pick up changes in the gravity field in a given river basin. The more water in the basin, the higher the gravity signal.Scientists used GRACE results from 2003 to 2012 to see if they could have predicted the 500-year flooding event in the Missouri River basin in 2011. Preceding the flood were two significant storms, record snow melt, saturated soils and particularly high groundwater.With GRACE data, the researchers found that they could have predicted the Missouri River floods months before current prediction models. They say that the technique could be used to forecast floods up to 11 months before such events take place in areas where snow melt or groundwater is a significant contribution.The research was published in the journal Nature Geoscience. [J. T. Reager, B. F. Thomas and J. S. Famiglietti, River basin flood potential inferredusing GRACE gravity observations at several months lead time]Snow melt and major rain storms are predicted to increase with climate change. Which puts a premium on better flood prediction.—Cynthia Graber7.Mobile Phones Carry Owners' MicrobiomesThe bacteria found on someone's mobile phone is a good match for the most common kinds of bacteria that live on their hands. Christopher Intagliata reportsThis year, the number of mobile phones on cell networks is expected to surpass the Earth's population. "More people now own cell phones than actually have access to working toilets." James Meadow, a microbial ecologist at the University of Oregon. Hidden in the data is the reality that some people work on their phones…on toilet s.If that grosses you out, consider this: "So it turns out we're just really leaky animals. We just, we leave our bacteria everywhere we go." Including, of course, our phones.Meadow and his colleagues took a census of the bacteria on thumbs and index fingers of 17 volunteers—and on their smartphone touch screens. Overall, they ID’ed over 7,000 types.Looking at just the most common bacteria, those that appear more than percent of the time, they found an 82 percent similarity between the microbiomes of fingers and phones. Meaning our phones are a pretty good mirror of ourselves, microbially, at least. The results appear in the journal PeerJ. [James F. Meadow, Adam E. Altrichter and Jessica L. Green, Mobile phones carry the personal microbiome of their owners]"We have always been covered in bacteria… and we will always be covered in bacteria." So the fact that our phones are also covered in bacteria is no reason for concern. In fact, the researchers say that mobile phones may hold untapped potential as personal microbiome sensors. App developers, take note.—Christopher Intagliata8.Malarial Mice Smell Better to MosquitoesMice infected with the parasites that cause their type of malaria produce odorous compounds that attract mosquitoes, increasing the odds that the parasites will be spread to the next victimsGetting malaria stinks. Literally. According to a new study, malaria victims give off odors that attracts mosquitoes. And the insects that feed on the infected sufferer are then more likely to spread the disease. The work appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. [Consuelo M. De Moraes et al, Malaria-induced changes in host odors enhance mosquito attraction]Malaria is caused by plasmodium parasites, which are transmitted by mosquitoes. A decade ago, scientists found that Kenyan kids infected with plasmodium were more attractive to mosquitos than were kids who were parasite-free. But they did not know what drew the bloodsuckers to the unfortunate infected children.To find out, researchers took mice that harbored the rodent version of malaria and put the animals in a wind chamber. And they found that mosquitos flocked toward the infected animals, attracted by their smell alone.By chemically analyzing the animals’ scents, the researchers found that the parasites boost the levels of a variety of odorous compounds that attract mosquitoes. So plasmodium is manipulating both its victim and its carrier to get itself spread far and wide.The finding may help with malaria prevention: if we can mask or harness the eau d’ infection, maybe we could nose the mosquitoes away from people.—Karen Hopkin9.Professors Still View MOOCs SkepticallyA survey of professors finds that most see online courses as inferior to in-class lessons--but those who have taught online are more open to their potential. Larry Greenemeier reports.The New York Times calls 2013 “the year of the MOOC.” But massive open online courses still fail to get high marks from most educators.In a recent survey of more than 2,200 professors, only one in five thought that online courses could be as effective as classroom curricula. Their biggest concern: limited interaction between teachers and students. The survey was done by Gallup and the website Inside Higher Ed.Respondents linked MOOC credibility to whether an online course was offered by an accredited school and to a student’s ability to receive credits.Faculty skepticism isn’t surprising. New technologies often turn crafted products and services into bland commodities, something no teacher wants. On the other hand, resistance to change, especially when it involvescomputers, tends to be a losing strategy in most fields.An important wrinkle in the data: much MOOC criticism comes from faculty who’ve never taught an online course. Of the 30 percent of professors polled who had taught a MOOC, most thought that online coursework can deliver roughly the same results as the classroom.—Larry Greenemeier10.Electronic Skin Could Bring Touchy RobotsPaper-thin sensor networks might someday give machines the ability to feel their surroundings. Larry Greenemeier reportsOur skin tells us about our surroundings by detecting temperature, pressure and other external conditions. If a pot handle is too hot to touch, we can feel this heat before burning our hand.Robots may someday have this protection too. A team of researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, has developed a large-area sensor network integrated into a thin plastic film that acts like an electronic skin. They demonstrated the concept with an e-skin sample about the size of a postage stamp that lights up in the specific places it’s touched. The work is in the journal Nature Materials. [Chuan Wang et al., User-interactive electronic skin for instantaneous pressure visualization]The harder the e-skin gets pressed, the brighter the light.The researchers envision that flesh and blood users could have an e-skinsmart bandage that monitors wounds. A large sheet of the material covering the wall of a room could even operate like a display screen. And a robot with such a surface could more effectively interact with its environment.Of course, we don’t want our robots to be too sensitive. Then they might balk at cleaning up nuclear waste or spending years at a time all alone on Mars.—Larry Greenemeier。

新标准短文听写听力原文Unit 1-Listening inOxford and Cambridge - two universities so similar that they are often spoken of together as "Oxbridge". They're both in the UK, fairly near London, and both regularly come top in any ranking of the world's best universities.The two universities began within a century of each other. Oxford University, now 900 years old, was founded towards the end of the 11th century. In 1209 there was a dispute between the university and the townspeople of Oxford. As a result, some of the Oxford teachers left and founded a university in the town of Cambridge, some 84 miles away. Ever since then, the two institutions have been very competitive.Unlike most modem universities, both Oxford and Cambridge consist of a large number of colleges. Oxford has 39 and Cambridge 31. Many of these colleges have old and very beautiful architecture, and large numbers of tourists visit them.In all UK universities, you need good grades in the national exams taken at 18. But to get into Oxford and Cambridge, it's not enough to get A grades in your exams. You also have to go for a long interview. In these interviews, students need to show that they are creative and capable of original thinking.Through the centuries, both universities have made huge contributions to British cultural life. They have produced great writers, world leaders and politicians. Cambridge, in particular, has produced scientists whose discoveries and inventions have changed our lives.Among the great university institutions is the world's most famous debating society, the Oxford Union, where undergraduates get a chance to practise speaking in public. Cambridge's comedy club Footlights has produced many first-class comedians, while some of the UK's most famous actors and actresses began their careers at The Oxford University Dramatic Society, known as OUDS. Then there's the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race, which takes place every year in March or April, and is watched on television all over the UK.So with all this excellence in so many fields, it's not surprising that the ambition of clever students all over the world is to attend either one of these great universities.Unit 5-Listening inThere are many war novels but the novel I'm going to talk about today is unusual because it's war seen through the eyes of a child. The "eyes" are those of JG Ballard, one of Britain's most respected novelists.Let's begin with some information about Ballard. He was born in 1930, in Shanghai, where his father was a businessman, and he was only 11 years old when the city was occupied during World War II. Ballard and his family were placed in a prison camp and he has said that his experiences there affected him so deeply that it was 40 years before he felt able to write about them. "Twenty years to forget and 20 years to remember."The result of Ballard's experiences was a semi-autobiographical novel called Empire of the Sun, published in 1984. It quickly became a success and in 1987 it was made into a movie by Hollywood director, Steven Spielberg.Let's move on to the novel itself. Empire of the Sun tells the story of how a young boy, JimGraham, survives the Japanese occupation. Interestingly, Jim is J G Ballard's first name and his second name is Graham. Also, Jim is the same age as Ballard - 11 -when the occupation begins.At the start of the story, Jim is living with his parents in a wealthy part of Shanghai. When the invasion begins, many of Shanghai's inhabitants flee from the city and Jim's parents do the same. But the boy becomes separated from them and finds himself all alone. He goes back to their empty home and lives alone there. Inevitably, he's found and then he's sent to a prison camp.It's a terrible four years, but the boy somehow survives. He steals food, finds ways of getting in and out of the camp, and is befriended by some Americans and a Japanese boy.Is there a happy ending? Yes and no. Jim sees many people die; his Japanese friend is killed by the Americans. But at the end of the war, he gets back to Shanghai and is reunited with his parents.Jim's experiences are terrible, as a child who discovers the depths of human cruelty. But he learns also about the strength and courage that is possible, even in these circumstances.Both the great power and the truth of the novel come from the fact that it's based on the author's own experiences. The general opinion of critics is that Empire of the Sun is one of the best war novels ever written - so read it, it's worth it.Unit 7-Listening inIt's hard to believe but in America there are 68 million dog owners and 73 million cat owners. In the UK, which has a human population of 61 million, there are 6.8 million dogs and 9.58 million cats.All over the developed world, the pet population is increasing. At the same time, people are spending more and more money on their pets, particularly on their dogs.The most extraordinary example to date is that of Leonara Helmsley, a childless American billionaire. When she died, she left her dog, a white Maltese called Trouble, 12 million dollars. While Helmsley was alive, nothing was too good for her little dog. He shared her bed, was dressed in expensive clothes and wore a diamond collar. His meals were prepared by a chef and presented to him on a silver tray.The problem was that Trouble lived up to his name and bit people. But Leonara didn't mind - she loved him and he loved her. And so after her death, he got his reward - a lot of money that he didn't know he had and couldn't use anyway.Americans were shocked by this story, but the fact is that more and more rich Americans are leaving their dogs money when they die - $ 250,000 is not unusual. In Britain, people don't spend as much money on their dogs as Americans but they do spoil them. At Christmas, 46 per cent of dogs can expect to receive toys, and biscuits. And one in ten dog owners say they dress their pet up for the special day.One woman was in the news in America for designing 120 outfits for her dog, which has its own wardrobe, and a $17,000 bed that it doesn't actually sleep in. Its owner has a very successful dog boutique that sells - yes, you guessed it - designer clothes for dogs.Now dogs may enjoy all this attention, but spoilt dogs can create problems for their owners. Dogs need a master and if their master acts like their friend or parent, they start behaving badly, attacking other animals, and damaging property - often their owner's homes. Yet, often, this doesn't make their owners love them less - dogs are their children, after all.Unit 10-Outside viewWhen we talk about technology, we usually think small. However, we're going to look at one of the biggest technological marvels of the 21 st century. The Airbus A380 is the world's biggest commercial aircraft. New technologies were used in the design, engineering and manufacture of this amazing "superjumbo". The Airbus A380 is assembled in Toulouse in France, but parts of the aircraft are built in several European countries. They are brought to Toulouse by various means of transport. This is a ship which was built in China especially to transport the huge sections of the plane. Parts of the main body are built in Germany. Special carbon fibre materials are used to give the plane great strength with less weight than usual. The wings are made in Britain of the same carbon fibre material. They are much lighter than aluminum and steel. Several parts of the plane are built in factories in Spain. Finally, some sections are built in France, so Airbus has its own factories in Britain, France, Germany and Spain.One of the most important pieces of technology for such a huge aircraft is the landing gear. This is built in Canada where extensive tests are carried out to ensure that it can land under any conditions. The engines were developed by Rolls-Royce at Derby in Britain. Finally, pilots have to learn to fly the plane. This flight simulator at Toulouse uses the latest digital technology. Now for the moment of truth, with 154 planes ordered by the world's airlines, the big question was: "Will it fly at all?" On the day of the first flight, thousands of people gathered at Toulouse Airport to see the superjumbo fly for the first time. They were not disappointed. The biggest airliner in the history of aviation took to the air as planned.。