Lesson 9

听力部分

听力练习

一级练习：［难度系数★］

本课的主题“politics”在英语专业四级听力里出现。先听一段简单的新闻，试一试！

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ______.

A. has been prosecuted by the Justice Ministry

B. may be prosecuted by the Justice Ministry

C. has been prosecuted by the police

D. will be prosecuted on Monday

听力原文如下：

Israeli prosecutors are reviewing charges against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after Israeli police called off his indictment. Justice Ministry officials say they hope a decision on whether to bring charges against the Israeli leader will be announced Sunday. The case stems from the appointment of Runny Barong as Israeli Attorney General. Critics charged the appointment was part of a conspiracy to end the trial of Netanyahu's political ally.

二级练习：［难度系数★★］

这次的主题“politics”在较长的英语专业四级听力段落题里出现。依然是你熟悉的主题和词汇，挑战一下吧！

1. The winners of the reported elections are ______.

A. the left-wing Conservatives

B. the left-wing Socialists

C. the centre-right Conservatives

D. the centre-right Socialists

2. If the left secures the parliamentary majority, ______.

A. Chirac will share his presidential power with Jospin

B. Jospin will share his prime ministerial power with Chirac

C. Jospin will become Prime Minister, and Chirac will remain President

D. Jospin will become Prime Minister, and Chirac will resign

听力原文如下：

The combined left-wing opposition in France has defeated President Jacques Chirac's ruling conservative coalition in the first round of the country's parliamentary elections. Projections by French TV give the Socialist-led opposition 40% of the vote and Mr. Chirac's center-right coalition 37%. If the left secures the majority of seats in parliament, Socialist leader Lionel Jospin would likely become Prime Minister in the power-sharing arrangement with President Chirac.

听说练习

一级练习：听写填空［难度系数★］

这次的主题“British history”在段落听写练习里出现。在这里我们加大了段落听写题的难度，加入了口语练习，但录音的速度适当放慢了。依然是你熟悉的主题和词汇，先用听写填空的方式挑战一下吧！

Many nations around the world have____________________________________. With each passing year, English _________________________________ for all educated people, ________________. The prominence of English can be traced to _________________________ during the last three centuries. In the early 20th century, ______________________ and _______________________ were controlled in some way by Britain. Some parts of the world ______________________________________ and __________________________________________. These colonies eventually became ___________________ called dominions. _____________________________ fit this pattern.

二级练习：口语复读与背诵［难度系数★★］

刚才段落听写填空练习的答案是“history”主题的关键表达，一定要积累成自己的口语素材。在今后同类主题的听力口语考试中，回忆起来，从容应对。

第一步：看着上面的听力原文跟读一遍。

第二步：自己试着完整地背诵一遍。（计时3分钟，背诵开始…）

词汇部分

一级练习：［难度系数★］

本课新学的词汇出现在六级、专业四级、考研考试中。这些词汇如果在题干里出现，是否减轻了你的阅读负担呢？如果在选项里出现（可它们不一定是正确选项），你能选对吗？试一试吧！

临考情境模拟：每题控制在1分钟内，本级测试限时13分钟，请把计时器调到13分钟。计时开始！

考查词汇：act

1. If the value-added tax were done away with, it would act as a ______ to consumption.

A. progression

B. prime

C. stability

D. stimulus

［六级真题］

考查词汇：passport

2. Mike just discovered that his passport had ______ three months ago.

A. abolished

B. expired

C. amended

D. constrained

［六级真题］

考查词汇：penetration

3. The new technological revolution in American newspapers has brought ______ increase, a wider range of publications and an expansion of newspaper jobs.

A. manipulation

B. reproduction

C. circulation

D. penetration

［六级真题］

考查词汇：caution

4. Others viewed the findings with ______, noting that a cause-effect relationship between passive smoking and cancer remains to be shown.

A. caution

B. passion

C. optimism

D. deliberation

［六级真题］

考查词汇：assemble

5. Now the cheers and applause ______ in a single sustained roar.

A. mingled

B. concentrated

C. assembled

D. permeated

［六级真题］

6. The idea is to ______ the frequent incidents of collision to test the strength of the wind-shields.

A. assemble

B. simulate

C. accumulate

D. forge

［六级真题］

考查词汇：trivial

7. The manager tried to wave aside these issues as ______ details that would be settled later.

A. versatile

B. trivial

C. preliminary

D. alternate

［六级真题］

8. Frankly speaking, your article is very good except for some ______ mistakes in grammar.

A. obscure

B. glaring

C. trivial

D. rare

［六级真题］

9. Don't let such a ______ matter as this come between us so that we can concentrate on the major issue.

A. trivial

B. slight

C. partial

D. minimal

［六级真题］

考查词汇：surrender

10. Good news was sometimes released prematurely, with the British recapture of the port ______ half a day before the defenders actually surrendered.

A. to announce

B. announced

C. announcing

D. was announced

［考研真题］

考查词汇：trivial

11. The vocabulary and grammatical differences between British and American English are so trivial and few as hardly ______.

A. noticed

B. to be noticed

C. being noticed

D. to notice

［考研真题］

考查词汇：passport

12. He is planning another tour abroad, yet his passport will ______ at the end of this month.

A. expire

B. exceed

C. terminate

D. cease

［考研真题］

考查词汇：assemble

13. She was so fat that she could only just ______ through the door.

A. assemble

B. appear

C. squeeze

D. gather

［专四真题］

二级练习：［难度系数★★］

这次新学的词汇在较难的GRE考试里出现，挑战一下吧！

临考情境模拟：每题控制在2分钟内，本级测试限时18分钟，请把计时器调到18分钟。计时开始！

考查词汇：act as

1. The new biological psychiatry does not deny the contributing role of psychological factors in mental illnesses, but posits that these factors may act as a catalyst on existing physiological conditions and ______ such illnesses.

A. disguise

B. impede

C. constrain

D. precipitate

E. consummate

［GRE真题］

考查词汇：discipline

2. Opponents of the expansion of the market economy, although in ______, continued to constitute ______ political force throughout the century.

A. error...an inconsequential

B. retreat...a powerful

C. disarray...a disciplined

D. jeopardy...an ineffective

E. command...a viable

［GRE真题］

3. The current demand for quality in the schools seems to ask not for the development of informed and active citizens, but for disciplined and productive workers with abilities that contribute to civic life only ______, if at all.

A. indirectly

B. politically

C. intellectually

D. sensibly

E. sequentially

［GRE真题］

考查词汇：precaution; caution

4. If efficacious new medicines have side effects that are commonly observed and ______, such medicines are too often considered ______, even when laboratory tests suggest caution.

A. unremarkable...safe

B. unpredictable...reliable

C. frequent...outdated

D. salutary...experimental

E. complicated...useful

［GRE真题］

5. As early as the seventeenth century, philosophers called attention to the ______ character of the issue, and their twentieth-century counterparts still approach it with ______.

A. absorbing...indifference

B. unusual...composure

C. complex...antipathy

D. auspicious...caution

E. problematic...uneasiness

［GRE真题］

考查词汇：trivial

6. Politeness is not a ______ attribute of human behavior, but rather a central virtue, one whose very existence is increasingly being ______ by the faddish requirement to “speak one' s mind”.

A. superficial...threatened

B. pervasive...undercut

C. worthless...forestalled

D. precious...repudiated

E. trivial...affected

［GRE真题］

考查词汇：assail

7. When theories formerly considered to be ______ in their scientific objectivity are found instead to reflect a consistent observational and evaluative bias，then the presumed neutrality of science gives way to the recognition that categories of knowledge are human ______.

A. disinterested...constructions

B. callous...errors

C. verifiable...prejudices

D. convincing...imperatives

E. unassailable...fantasies

［GRE真题］

8. Although their initial anger had ______ somewhat, they continued to ______ the careless worker who had broken the machine.

A. blazed...assail

B. diminished...appease

C. abated...berate

D. subsided...condone

E. intensified...torment

［GRE真题］

9. The fortresslike facade of the Museum of Cartoon Art seems calculated to remind visitors that the comic strip is an art form that has often been ______ by critics.

A. charmed

B. assailed

C. unnoticed

D. exhilarated

E. overwhelmed

［GRE真题］

阅读部分

一级练习：［难度系数★］

本课的主题“espionage”在考研阅读里出现。下面的文章和题目中有你熟悉的主题和词汇，试一试！

临考情境模拟：请在5分钟内读完文章，4分钟做完题。请把计时器调到9分钟。计时开始！

Wild Bill Donovan would have loved the Internet. The American spymaster who built the Office of Strategic Services in World War II and later laid the roots for the CIA was fascinated with information. Donovan believed in using whatever tools came to hand in the “great game” of espionage—spying as a “profession.” These days the Net, which has already re-made such everyday pastimes as buying books and sending mail, is reshaping Donovan's vocation as well.

The latest revolution isn't simply a matter of gentlemen reading other gentlemen's e-mail. That kind of electronic spying has been going on for decades. In the past three or four years, the World Wide Web has given birth to a whole industry of point-and-click spying. The spooks call it “open-source intelligence,” and as the Net grows, it is becoming increasingly influential. In 1995 the CIA held a contest to see who could compile the most data about Burundi. The winner, by a large margin, was a tiny Virginia company called Open Source Solutions, whose clear advantage was its mastery of the electronic world.

Among the firms making the biggest splash in this new world is Straitford, Inc., a private intelligence-analysis firm based in Austin, Texas. Straitford makes money by selling the results of spying （covering nations from Chile to Russia） to corporations like energy-services firm McDermott International. Many of its predictions are available online at www. straitford. com.

Straitford president George Friedman says he sees the online world as a kind of mutually reinforcing tool for both information collection and distribution, a spymaster's dream. Last week his firm was busy vacuuming up data bits from the far corners of the world and predicting a crisis in Ukraine. “As soon as that report runs, we'll suddenly get 500 new Internet sign-ups from Ukraine,” says Friedman, a former political science professor. “And we'll hear back from some of them.” Open-source spying does have its risks, of course, since it can be difficult to tell good information from bad. That's where Straitford earns its keep.

Friedman relies on a lean staff of 20 in Austin. Several of his staff members have military-intelligence backgrounds. He sees the firm's outsider status as the key to its success. Straitford's briefs don't sound like the usual Washington back-and-forthing, whereby agencies avoid dramatic declarations on the chance they might be wrong. Straitford, says Friedman, takes pride in its independent voice.

1. The emergence of the Net has ______.

A. received support from fans like Donovan

B. remolded the intelligence services

C. restored many common pastimes

D. revived spying as a profession

2. Donovan's story is mentioned in the text to ______.

A. introduce the topic of online spying

B. show how he fought for the US

C. give an episode of the information war

D. honor his unique services to the CIA

3. The phrase “making the biggest splash” (line 1, para. 3) most probably means ______.

A. causing the biggest trouble

B. exerting the greatest effort

C. achieving the greatest success

D. enjoying the widest popularity

4. It can be learned from paragraph 4 that ______.

A. Straitford's prediction about Ukraine has proved true

B. Straitford guarantees the truthfulness of its information

C. Straitford's business is characterized by unpredictability

D. Straitford is able to provide fairly reliable information

5. Straitford is most proud of its ______.

A. official status

B. nonconformist image

C. efficient staff

D. military background

［考研真题］

二级练习：［难度系数★★］

本课的主题“history”在专业四级阅读里出现。下面的文章和题目中有你熟悉的主题和词汇，试一试！

临考情境模拟：请在5分钟内读完文章，4分钟做完题。请把计时器调到9分钟。计时开始！

Predicting the future is always risky. But it's probably safe to say that at least a few historians will one day speak of the 20th century as America's “Disney era”. Today, it's certainly difficult to think of any other single thing that represents modern America as powerfully as the company that created Mickey Mouse. Globally, brands like Coca-Cola and McDonalds may be more widely-known, but neither encapsulates 20th-century America in quite the same way as Disney.

The reasons for Disney's success are varied and numerous, but ultimately the credit belongs to one person—the man who created the cartoon and built the company from nothing, Walt Disney. Ironically, he could not draw particularly well. But he was a genius in plenty of other respects. In business, his greatest skills were his insight and his management ability. After setting himself up in Hollywood, he single-handedly pioneered the concepts of branding and merchandising—something his company still does brilliantly today.

But what really distinguished Disney was his ability to identify with his audiences. Disney always made sure his films championed the“little guy”, and made him feel proud to be American. This he achieved by creating characters that reflected the hopes and fears of ordinary people. Some celebrated American achievements—Disney's very first cartoon Plane Crazy, featuring a silent Mickey Mouse, was inspired by Charles Lindbergh's flight across the Atlantic. Others, like the Three Little Pigs and Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, showed how, through hard work and helping one's fellow man, ordinary Americans could survive social and economic crises like the Great Depression.

Disney's other great virtue was the fact that his company—unlike other big corporations—had a human face. His Hollywood studio—the public heard—operated just like a democracy, where everyone was on firstname terms and had a say in how things should be run. He was also regarded as a great patriot because not only did his cartoons celebrate America, but, during World War II, studios made training films for American soldiers.

The reality, of course, was less idyllic. As the public would later learn, Disney's patriotism had an unpleasant side. After a strike by cartoonists in 1941, he became convinced that Hollywood had been infiltrated by Communists. He agreed to work for the FBI as a mole, identifying and spying on colleagues whom he suspected were subversives.

But, apart from his affiliations with the FBI, Disney was more or less the genuine article. A new book, The Magic Kingdom: Walt Disney and the American Way of Life, by Steven Watts, confirms that he was very definitely on the side of ordinary Americans—in the 30s and 40s he voted for Franklin Roosevelt, believing he was a champion of the workers. Also, Disney was not an apologist for the FBI, as some have suggested. In fact, he was always suspicious of large, bureaucratic organizations, as is evidenced in films like That Darned Cat, in which he portrayed FBI agents as bungling incompetents.

By the time he died in 1966, Walt Disney was an icon like Thomas Edison and the Wright Brothers. To business people and filmmakers, he was a role model; to the public at large, he was“Uncle Walt”—the man who had entertained them all their lives, the man who represented them all their lives, the man who represented all that was good about America.

1. Walt Disney is believed to possess the following abilities EXCEPT ______.

A. painting

B. creativity

C. management

D. merchandising

2. According to the passage, what was the pleasant side of Disney's patriotism?

A. He sided with ordinary Americans in his films.

B. He supported America's war efforts in his own way.

C. He had doubts about large, bureaucratic organizations.

D. He voted for Franklin Roosevelt in the 30s and 40s.

3. In the sixth paragraph the sentence “Disney was more or less the genuine article” means that ______.

A. Disney was a creative and capable person

B. Disney once agreed to work for the FBI

C. Disney ran his company in a democratic way

D. Disney was sympathetic with ordinary people

4. The writer's attitude toward Walt Disney can best be described as ______.

A. sympathetic

B. objective

C. critical

D. skeptical

［专四真题］

写作部分

本课向我们介绍了Alfred大帝。在人类历史上还有许多英语学习者应该了解的著名人物，这里给大家提供这方面的写作素材，方便大家积累下来，在以后遇到的历史类话题时结合课文使用。

真题举例

1. The greatness of individuals can be decided only by those who live after them, not by their contemporaries.

［GRE真题］

2. The study of history places too much emphasis on individuals. The most significant events and trends in history were made possible not by the famous few, but by groups of people whose identities have long been forgotten.

［GRE真题］

写作素材

1. Scholars have long debated whether individuals—such as Napoleon or Hitler—were driving motors of history, or if in fact they were simply“thrown up” by pre-existing social forces. Some scholars have argued that individuals function only as results of their particular social networks. Others have argued strongly for individuals' abilities to transcend their social networks and to create unprecedented changes.

2. Social historians, however, have cautioned against seeing the relationship between individuals and social context in such oppositional terms. Instead, they argue that it is important to understand the ways that social structures and human agency are fundamentally interrelated. That is, persons who act as historical agents are themselves educated, indoctrinated, shaped, and informed by the cultures and societies that they are acting to revise or reshape.

3. Indeed, just because world history often focuses on the “big picture” does not mean it should ignore the critical roles individuals have played in shaping the past. The twentieth century alone has many examples of individuals whose efforts and actions have effected dramatic structural changes.