英语四级听力高分指导(4)：对话题的解析

　　新听力考试Section A中增设了2个长对话，这也体现出整个听力考试题型的主要变化，短对话由原来的10个减少到8个，增加了2个长对话。长对话共计7道题，Conversation One为4道题，Conversation Two为3道题。如样题中给出的两篇长对话：

　　Conversation One

　　19.The benefits of strong business competition.

　　A proposal to lower the cost 0f production.

　　Complaints about the expense of modernization.

　　_Suggestions concerning new business strategies.

　　20.It cost much more than its worth.

　　It should be brought up-to-date.

　　It calls for immediate repairs.

　　It can still be used for a long time.

　　21.The personnel manager should be fired for inefficiency.

　　A few engineers should be employed to modernize the factory.

　　The entire staff should be retrained.

　　Better-educated employees should be promoted.

　　22.Their competitors have long been advertising on TV.

　　TV commercials are less expensive.

　　Advertising in newspapers alone is not sufficient.

　　TV commercials attract more investments.

　　W：Hello，Gary.Howre You?

　　M：Fine!And yourself?

　　W：Cant complain.Did you have time tO look at my proposal?

　　M：No，not really.Can we gO over it now?

　　W：Sure.Ive been trying to come up with some new production and advertging strategies.First of all，if we want to stay competitive，we need tO modernize our factory.New equipment shouldve been installed long ago.

　　M：How much will that cost?

　　W：We have several options ranging from one hundred thousand dollars all the way up to half a million.

　　M：OK.Well have to discuss these costs with finance.

　　W：We should also consider human resources.Ive been talking to personnel as well as our staff at the factory.

　　M：And whats the picture?

　　W：Well probably have to hire a couple Of engineers tO help us modernize the factory.

　　M：What about advertising?

　　W：Marketing has some interesting ideas for television commercials.

　　M：TV?Isnt that a bit too expensive for us?Whats wrong with advertising in the papers，as usual?

　　W：Quite frankly，its just not enough anymore.We need to be more aggressive in order to keep ahead of our competitors.

　　M：Will we be able tO afford aU this?

　　W：Ill look into it，but I think higher costs will be justified.These investments will result in higher profits　for our company.

　　M：Well have tO look at the figures more closely.Have finance draw up a budget for these investments.

　　W：All right.Ill see tO it.

　　Questions 19 t0 22 are based on the conversation you have just heard.

　　19.What are the two speakers talking about?

　　20.What does the woman say about the equipment of their factory?

　　21.What does the woman suggest about human resources?

　　22.Why does the woman suggest advertising on TV?

　　Conversation One篇幅较长，这给考生在短时间内从大量信息中寻找答案制造了困难。不过，如果考生再回过头仔细去看看对话中加底纹的部分，就可以发现这些部分就是4道题目的答案出处，而且每次答案的出现几乎都伴随着一个问题。这首先就说明了一点，几乎每每遇到问答的形式都是考官青睐的考点，而且考试的重点往往落在答语上。这一点和短对话中体现的原则不谋而合，而且短对话中的建议请求原则也和此处的情况极相似。另外，还有一个特点考生观察后不难发现，并不是每一组问答都被作为考点，而作为考试重点的几组问题之间关联性是不大的。换句话来说，一个问题考查了对话的主题，从第二个问题开始分别考查了new business strategy所呈现的3方面问题。其中每一个方面选择了一个最重要的问题来考查，这一点又和以往的短文理解考查方法很相似，特别是人物生平发展或者故事类的题目很相似，每一方面的内容只考查一道题目，而且出题的顺序和对话或短文的顺序基本上是一致的。