大学英语附加听力听力原文3

Unit 3

Warm-up exercise

1. The animal with the largest brain in proportion to its body size is the ant.

2. A horse can sleep standing up.

3. Honey is the only food that does not spoil.

4. Cats have no ability to taste sweet things.

5. The American lobster can move through the water at a rate of 25 feet a second.

6. A queen bee may lay as many as 3,000 eggs in a single day.

7. Snails sleep a lot. Desert snails may even doze for three or four years.

8. A whale’s heart beats only nine times a minute.

9. Male sea lions may have more than 100 wives and sometimes go for three months without

eating.

10. A rat can fall from a five-story building without injury. Two rats can become the progenitors

of 15,000 rats in less than a year.

A.

Man: Excuse me. I’m new in this apartment building. Could I ask you about some of the

regulations here?

Woman: Yes, of course.

Man: First, about parking. Is it OK to leave my car behind the building?

Woman: Sure. You’ll see some parking spaces there for residents.

Man: And what about when I have guests?

Woman: Well, guests aren’t allowed to leave their cars in the back. They have to park in the guest

parking area in the front.

Man: I see. How about the garbage?

Woman: garbage has to be taken to the trash disposal room. There’s one on each floor next to the

elevator.

Man: All right, fine. And do I have to use those special plastic bags for the garbage?

Woman: No. that’s not necessary. You can use the paper ones you get from the supermarket.

Man: And are there any rules about house pets? Am I allowed to have a dog, for instance?

Woman: Cats are allowed, but I’m afraid dogs aren’t permitted. You see, they make a mess all

over the place and they bark at night, so the residents decided against it.

Man: I understand.

B

Woman: Wasn’t that a wonderful class? Of all the animals in the sea, the sea cucumber, with its

strange self-defense way, has always interested me.

Man: Dr. Smith was sure about what he was talking about, but I still don’t understand why the sea

cucumber defends itself by spitting out its organs in its body.

Woman: That was the wonderful part of the lecture. When the sea cucumber feels threatened, it

spits out its organs towards the attacker. That usually confuses the attacker enough to leave the sea

cucumber alone.

Man: That’s certainly a strange way to defend yourself from danger. Isn’t it just as bad as being

attacked if you spit out all the organs in your body?

Woman: The sea cucumber can grow its organs back in a few days and it only gives up a few

digestive organs. Man: Okay, so the cucumber doesn’t really just give up its most important parts of the body.

Woman: No, not at all. These organs are almost like people’s hair. If you cut it off, it doesn’t hurt

the animal.

Man: It’s still an interesting idea. The next time somebody gives me trouble, I’ll remember what I

would do if I were a sea cucumber.

Passages One

A

There are no longer any really dangerous wild mammals in Britain, except the wild cat,

occasionally found in the Scottish forests. The wolf died out several centuries ago and there are no

bears or wild boars, as in some parts of continental Europe. Our largest wild animal is the stag, for

wild deer are found in Scotland and in southwest England. Deer are shy beasts, but, like almost

any wild animal, will attack a man in defence of their young.

Foxes are found all over Britain, though chiefly in England. The rabbit, a natural prey of the fox,

used to live in the countryside in millions. However, a terrible disease spread and wiped out a

large number of rabbits. As a result, the foxes takes even greater interests in domestic animals, and

are of course much disliked by farmers and hunted even today.

Only two snakes are found in Britain; both are small. The grass snake is harmless but the adder

is poisonous, though its bite is rarely fatal. There are no adders in Ireland.

There are various kind of fresh-water fishes, whether in lakes and rivers or in the sea, where

there are also many kinds of sea fishes. Pollution of both inland waters and the sea is being slowly

bought under control. Trout and salmon are present in many rivers, particularly in Scotland.

Birds are numerous in Britain and many of them are protected by law, such as the eagle and the

osprey. Of sea birds the most common are the various kinds of gulls.

B

The class teacher encouraged all her pupils to have a hobby. She arranges for their parents to

come and see their work.

So on Friday afternoon, those of the pupils who had nothing to show did their usual lessons, the

lucky ones who had made something were allowed to go home, on condition that they returned