听力文字材料（1）
PART Ⅰ DICTATION
Listen to the following passage. Altogether the passage will be read to you four times. During the first reading, which will be done at normal speed, listen and try to understand the meaning. For the second and third readings, the passage will be read sentence by sentence, or phrase by phrase, with intervals of 15 seconds. The last reading will be done at normal speed again and during this time you should check your work. You will then be given 2 minutes to check your work once more.
Please write the whole passage on ANSWER SHEET ONE.
Bicycles or Cars
Thirty years ago, the bicycle was the king of China’s city streets./ Rivers of bike riders streamed through every city and town,/ and a bicycle was one of the most desired wedding presents./ Today, a shiny new car is the choice./
Shanghai is a city of almost 10 million bicycles./ Because of China’s new love affair with the motor vehicle,/ bike riders are being edged off the crowded streets.
Last December, Shanghai officials announced a plan/ that would prevent cyclists from riding on many of the city’s major routes./ Angry letters to newspapers followed./ In February, the government bowed to public displeasure,/ and promised to build a network of paths for cyclists throughout the city./
But it is still tough for cyclists in Shanghai,/ as they fight for space with aggressive motorists,/ many of whom have only just obtained their licenses./
PART Ⅱ LISTENING COMPREHENSION
In sections A, B, and C you will hear everything ONCE ONLY. Listen carefully and then answer the questions that follow. Mark the best answer to each question on Answer Sheet Two.
SECTION A CONVERSATIONS
In this section you will hear several conversations. Listen to the conversations carefully and answer the questions that follow.
Questions 1 to 3 are based on the following conversation. At the end of the conversation, you will be given 15 seconds to answer the questions.
Now, listen to the conversation.
W: Hello, Jeff.
M: Hello, Cindy.
W: Do you know that Argentina’s former football player Maradona is back in the news?
M: What’s happened?
W: He’s been hospitalized for heart and respiratory problems.
M: Is it serious?
W: Well, he’s on a respirator and in intensive care.
M: I hope he’ll get well. Anyway, Maradona is a football legend. He’s ranked among such names as Michael Jordan, Muhammad Ali, and Pele.
W: I don’t know. At least others don’t abuse drugs.
M: Don’t you know he’s just a human being?
W: People often held, and still hold, him as a role model, but he seems to have let us down.
M: It all depends on how you look at it. Aren’t you impressed with his talents? Do you still remember his finest moment when he danced through the defense of England to score possibly the greatest individual goal in the history of the sport back in 1986?
W: That moment cannot be exaggerated, but what makes a great athlete is more than his or her professional skills.
M: You may have a point there, but…
W: He’s also blamed for scandal, corruption and weird behaviors.
M: Well, you seem to have a strong case, but, as they say, no man is perfect.
Questions 4 to 7 are based on the following conversation. At the end of the conversation, you will be given 20 seconds to answer the questions.
Now, listen to the conversation.
W: My brother Mike has just done a course at the Green Park Camping School.
M: Really! What made him decide to do that?
W: Well, for one thing, some boys in his class decided to do it and they dared him to gowith them!
M: You mean he didn’t really want to go?
W: I think he wanted to go, but I think he was also a little frightened. Of course, now that he’s done it, he’s very pleased with himself and he’s always talking about it.
M: So he enjoyed it, didn’t he?
W: Not exactly. I think he’s enjoying the feeling of having done it more than he enjoyed actually doing it!
M: What sort of things did he do?
W:Oh,all sorts of open-air activities: hiking, camping, canoeing（划小木舟） . One thing he had to do was to capsize a canoe and then right it again without getting out. He said the water was very cold but that he hardly noticed it at the time.
M: Why not?
W: He was too busy righting the canoe!
M: That doesn’t sound very comfortable at this time of the year.
W: Yeah. On another occasion he had to spend a day and a night by himself in the open country.
M: Was he frightened?
W:He was at first, apparently, but then he got used to it.
M: It seems to me that the course did him a lot of good. I expect it’s made him more self-reliant.
W: That’s what he says—and now he wants me to go!
Questions 8 to 10 are based on the following conversation. At the end of the conversation, you will be given 15 seconds to answer the questions.
Now, listen to the conversation.
M: Cathy, have you ever dated on the Internet?
W: Yes. I met several men in chat rooms.
M: Did you meet someone face to face?
W: Well, I did meet one man in person.
M: Wow. Can you tell me about it?
W: Before we met, we chatted a lot on the Internet. And then I saw his photograph and I immediately liked the look of him.
M: What was it like when you actually met him? Was he the man that you thought you knew on the Internet? Or was this someone different, had he put on a mask at all?
W: No, certainly there wasn’t a mask and when we did meet, there was a bit of shock for me.
M: What was the shock?
W: Before we met in person, I was so familiar with his persona. And all of a sudden there was the physical representation of it, and, don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t put off in any way. Quite the contrary, because all of a sudden you saw the real person with your own eyes, and there was touching and hearing somebody’s voice. It was a totally different experience.
M: But many people in chat rooms are anonymous. They can wear any mask they want. So how often is it that you’re likely to meet someone that is real?
W: Well I think there are masks and there’s a risk, but as long as you approach this cautiously I don’t think that’s too much a risk.
SECTION B PASSAGES
In this section, you will hear several passages. Listen to the passages carefully and then answer the questions that follow.
Questions 11 to 14 are based on the following passage. At the end of the passage, you will be given 20 seconds to answer the questions.
Now, listen to the passage.
Cursive handwriting is disappearing from the list of required courses at US schools, so one New Jersey grandmother is making sure her grandson’s schoolmates know how to loop their Ls and curl their Qs.
At first, 45 students signed up for the cursive club that Sylvia Hughes founded lastfall at Nellie K. Parker Elementary School. But then the club grew to 60 8-and 9-year-olds.
Some states require cursive handwriting instruction, but in New Jersey, it’s optional. That was news to Hughes. She was shocked because every legal document requires a signature, but it’s unlikely that parents will teach it and kids will learn on their own.
Hughes says she learned this while helping her grandson with his homework. She asked Principal Lillian Whitaker why cursive handwriting wasn’t part of the curriculum. The principal said it’s not that they don’t want to. It’s just that with all the state mandates, they don’t have time.
Mike Yaple of the New Jersey School Boards Association says the state adopted theCommon Core State Standards Initiative to provide consistent learning requirements for students across the nation. Common Core has been adopted by nearly every state and the District of Columbia, and the standards don’t require cursive. She said even New Jersey’s state standards have said students are expected to write legibly in manuscript or cursive, but there really never was a mandate for cursive to be taught in all schools.
Students are now required to take nine subjects in preparation for a state-issued standardized test this spring. He says many people support teaching cursive handwriting to improve eye-hand coordination and teach students how to understand documents in cursive.
Questions 15 to 17 are based on the following passage. At the end of the passage, you will be given 15 seconds to answer the questions.
Now listen to the passage.
Bookworms are insects that feed on the covers and glue of books. Human bookworms feed on words and ideas contained in books. Human bookworms probably got their not so attractive name because of the one quality they share with real bookworms, that is, they spend most of their time around books.
Most people think of bookworms as passive, dull, even lazy—a lot like real worms. The only reason they move is to turn a page. People who view bookworms as passive don’t realize how rapidly bookworms’ minds are moving and how far these “passive” people are traveling. Through their reading, bookworms encounter other cultures and get to understand controversial issues.
Reading is very much an individual hobby. Many nonreaders believe that because bookworms spend so much time alone, they are disconnected and antisocial. Though bookworms may spend large amounts of time glued to the pages of a book, they are connected to the universe in extremely responsible ways. Many bookworms use what they have learned from books to do a lot of good in the world.
Like the creatures they were named after, bookworms don’t seem to lead very exciting lives. Don’t be too hasty in judging bookworms by their appearance, though. For one thing, bookworms are usually interested in more than one subject and therefore are more interesting to talk to than someone who focuses on only one special interest.
Questions 18 to 20 are based on the following passage. At the end of the passage, you will be given 15 seconds to answer the questions.
Now listen to the passage.
Advertising offers some great advantages to consumers. For example, in order to keep prices low through mass production, companies must have a mass market for their products. Mass advertising creates mass markets. Producers cannot afford to develop new products and wait for the customers to discover them. This would take too long. Demand for some products must be created. This is done through advertising.
But advertising sometimes makes it difficult for customers to make wise decisions.The fact is that when people are constantly flooded with messages through mass media,persuading them to buy particular products, many respond by buying them.
Advertising is designed to influence an individual to buy a product. Sellers often study human behavior to discover what will convince consumers to buy a certain item. This reason for buying is called a buying motive.
Buying motives are usually broken down into two categories: rational and emotional. Rational buying motives include the desire to save money, the desire for comfort, or the desire for good quality. Emotional buying motives include buying out of fear, wanting to feel good, or wanting to have something better than your friends have.
Most customers believe that they are not easily influenced by emotional appeals. However, corporations that sell consumer products obviously think differently. They spend many millions of dollars every day on radio, television, newspaper and magazine ads that use these appeals.
SECTION C NEWS BROADCAST
In this section you will hear several news items. Listen to them carefully and then answer the questions that follow.
Questions 21 and 22 are based on the following news. At the end of the news item, you will be given 10 seconds to answer the questions.
Now listen to the news.
At only 14 years old, Chinese golf player Guan Tianlang is set to become the youngest player ever to play at the prestigious Masters tournament in Augusta, Georgia, which begins Thursday.
Ninety-three golfers representing 23 countries are competing in the 2013 Masters tournament. And while much of the focus is on American Tiger Woods, who recently reclaimed the world’s No. 1 ranking after winning three tournaments this year, many eyes will also be on China’s Guan Tianlang. No doubt millions of kids across Asia willbe following him this week and by doing so begin their introduction to the great game of golf.
Guan said he has confidence and believes he will play well in the Masters, but addedhe will not try to do too many things and just play like he knows how. Woods said the young Chinese golfer’s game is “so consistent,” and the way he’s handled himself so far this week in preparing has been “just unbelievable.”
Questions 23 and 24 are based on the following news. At the end of the news item, you will be given 10 seconds to answer the questions.
Now listen to the news.
Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard says the Australian dollar will be traded directly with the Chinese yuan under a landmark currency deal. The move is part of Canberra’s efforts to strengthen Australia’s burgeoning economic relationship with China.
The currency deal will lower transaction costs for Australian companies doing
business in China. No longer will they have to convert their finances into US dollars, and
then into Chinese yuan.
China is Australia’s biggest trading partner, with combined two-way commerce worth $120 billion. Chinese demand for natural resources, most notably iron ore and coal, helped insulate Australia from the worst of the global financial crisis, although trade incommodities is beginning to slow.
Questions 25 and 26 are based on the following news. At the end of the news item, you will be given 10 seconds to answer the question.
Now listen to the news.
About 100 people are now known to have died in what have been described as
the worst storms ever to hit the eastern US this century. The hurricane-force winds first
struck the Gulf of Mexico, and have now spread across the Canadian border, continuing
to bring record snowfalls, severe flooding and causing millions of dollars of damage. All
major airports have now reopened and airlines are beginning to cope with the backlog of thousands of stranded passengers. The storms also paralyzed areas of Cuba where several people were killed and property and crops destroyed.
Questions 27 and 28 are based on the following news. At the end of the news item, you will be given 10 seconds to answer the questions.
Now listen to the news.
According to a survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),more women than men said they felt very tired or exhausted every day. Overall, about 15 percent of women said they were worn out compared with 10 percent of the men.
The biggest difference in tiredness by sex is in the 18-44 age group. Women in the group were about twice as likely as men to feel exhausted: 16 percent versus 9 percent.
Another CDC data offers a clue to this big difference. While it’s true that US women are, on average, waiting longer to have kids, that first birth happens at about 25.
As people grow older, the gender gap in fatigue fades. Among people 45-64, about 16 percent of women are exhausted compared with 12 percent of men.
Questions 29 and 30 are based on the following news. At the end of the news item, you will be given 10 seconds to answer the questions.
Now listen to the news.
The South African government has introduced a new single pill to treat HIV/AIDS this week, claiming it will be the cheapest such treatment in the world. For HIV positive South Africans, this could mean a drastic change in their daily life, for the better.
The South African government started prescribing the new product on the 1st of April. Instead of taking 3 tablets each time, twice a day, HIV positive patients now only have to take 1 small pill per day.
The equivalent of $10 a month is the cheapest HIV/AIDS treatment in the world, and the new pill also is supposed to reduce side effects compared to other combined tablets.
South Africa still has the world’s largest number of people living with HIV/AIDS, but the country has made tremendous progress in the treatment of the disease over the last few years. Today, 1.9 million South Africans are under ARV treatment, ten times more than in 2005.