College English Test (Band 4)
Part III Listening Comprehension
Section A
Directions:
In this section,
you will hear 8 short conversations
and 2 long conversations.
At the end of each conversation,
one or more questions will be asked about what was said.
Both the conversation and the questions
will be spoken only once.
After each question there will be a pause.
During the pause,
you must read the four choices
marked A), B), C), and D),
and decide which is the best answer.
Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2
with a single line through the centre.
Now let’s begin with the 8 short conversations.
11. W: I ran into Sally the other day.
I could hardly recognize her.
Do you remember her from high school?
M: Yeah, she was a little out of shape back then.
Well, has she lost a lot of weight?
Q: What does the man remember of Sally?
12. W: We don’t seem to have a reservation for you, sir.
I’m sorry.
M: But my secretary said that
she had reserved a room for me here.
I phoned her from the airport this morning
just before I got on board the plane.
Q: Where does the conversation most probably take place?
13. W: What would you do if you were in my place?
M: If Paul were my son,
I’d just not worry.
Now that his teacher is giving him extra help
and he is working hard himself,
he’s sure to do well in the next exam.
Q: What’s the man’s suggestion to the woman?
14. M: You’ve had your hands full
and have been overworked during the last two weeks.
I think you really need to go out
and get some fresh air and sunshine.
W: You are right.
That’s just what I am thinking about.
Q: What’s the woman most probably going to do?
15. W: Hello, John.
How are you feeling now?
I hear you’ve been ill.
M: They must have confused me with my twin brother Rod.
He’s been sick all week,
but I’ve never felt better in my life.
Q: What do we learn about the man?
16. M: Did you really give away all your furniture
when you moved into the new house last month?
W: Just the useless pieces,
as I’m planning to purchase a new set
from Italy for the sitting room only.
Q: What does the woman mean?
17. M: I’ve brought back
your Oxford Companion to English literature.
I thought you might use it for your paper.
Sorry not to have returned it earlier.
W: I was wondering where that book was.
Q: What can we infer from that conversation?
18. W: To tell the truth, Tony,
it never occurs to me that you are an athlete.
M: Oh, really?
Most people who meet me,
including some friends of mine,
don’t think so either.
Q: What do we learn from the conversation?
Now you’ll hear the two long conversations.
Conversation One
M: Mary, I hope you are packed and ready to leave.
W: Yes, I’m packed,
but not quite ready.
I can’t find my passport.
M: Your passport?
That’s the one thing you mustn’t leave behind.
W: I know. I haven’t lost it.
I’ve packed it,
but I can’t remember which bag it’s in.
M: Well, you have to find it at the airport.
Come on, the taxi is waiting.
W: Did you say taxi?
I thought we were going in your car.
M: Yes, well, I had planned to,
but I’ll explain later.
You’ve got to be there in an hour.
W: The plane doesn’t leave for two hours.
Anyway, I’m ready to go now.
M: Now you are taking just one case,
is that right?
W: No, there is one in the hall as well.
M: Gosh, what a lot of stuff!
You are taking enough for a month instead of a week.
W: Well, you can’t depend on the weather.
It might be cold.
M: It’s never cold in Rome.
Certainly not in May.
Come on, we really must go.
W: Right, we are ready.
We’ve got the bags,
I’m sure there is no need to rush.
M: There is.
I asked the taxi driver to wait two minutes,
not twenty.
W: Look, I’m supposed to be going away to relax.
You are making me nervous.
M: Well, I want you to relax on holiday,
but you can’t relax yet.
W: OK, I promise not to relax,
at least not until we get to the airport
and I find my passport.
Questions 19 to 22 are based on
the conversation you have just heard.
19. What does the woman say about her passport?
20. What do we know about the woman’s trip?
21. Why does the man urge the woman to hurry?
22. Where does the conversation most probably take place?
Conversation Two
W: Oh, I’m fed up with my job.
M: Hey, there is a perfect job for you
in the paper today.
You might be interested.
W: Oh, what is it?
What do they want?
M: Wait a minute.
Eh, here it is.
The European Space Agency is recruiting translators.
W: The European Space Agency?
M: Well, that’s what it says.
They need an English translator
to work from French or German.
W: So they need a degree in French or German,
I suppose.
Well, I’ve got that.
What’s more, I have plenty of experience.
What else are they asking for?
M: Just that.
A university degree and three or four years’ experience as a translator
in a professional environment.
They also say the person should have a lively
and enquiring mind, effective communication skills
and the ability to work individually
or as a part of the team.
W: Well, if I stay at my present job much longer,
I won’t have any mind or skills left.
By the way, what about salary?
I just hope it isn’t lower than what I get now.
M: It’s said to be negotiable.
It depends on the applicant’s education and experience.
In addition to basic salary,
there is a list of extra benefits.
Have a look yourself.
W: Hm, travel and social security
plus relocation expenses are paid.
Hey, this isn’t bad.
I really want the job.
Questions 23 to 25 are based on
the conversation you have just heard.
23. Why is the woman trying to find a new job?
24. What position is being advertised in the paper?
25. What are the key factors that
determine the salary of the new position?
Section B
Directions:
In this section,
you will hear 3 short passages.
At the end of each passage,
you will hear some questions.
Both the passage and the questions
will be spoken only once.
After you hear a question,
you must choose the best answer
from the four choices
marked A), B), C) and D).
Then mark the corresponding letter
on Answer Sheet 2
with a single line through the centre.
Passage One
When couples get married,
they usually plan to have children.
Sometimes, however,
a couple can not have a child of their own.
In this case, they may decide to adopt a child.
In fact, adoption is very common today.
There are about 60,000 adoptions each year
in the United States alone.
Some people prefer to adopt infants,
others adopt older children.
Some couples adopt children from their own countries,
others adopt children from foreign countries.
In any case, they all adopt children for the same reason:
they care about children
and want to give their adopted child a happy life.
Most adopted children know that they are adopted.
Psychologists and child-care experts generally think
this is a good idea.
However, many adopted children or adoptees
have very little information
about their biological parents.
As a matter of fact,
it is often very difficult for adoptees
to find out about their birth parents,
because the birth records of most adoptees
are usually sealed.
The information is secret,
so no one can see it.
Naturally, adopted children have different feelings
about their birth parents.
Many adoptees want to search for them,
but others do not.
The decision to search for birth parents
is a difficult one to make.
Most adoptees have mixed feelings
about finding their biological parents.
Even though adoptees do not know
about their natural parents,
they do know that their adopted parents want them,
love them and will care for them.
Questions 26 to 29 are based on
the passage you have just heard.
26. According to the speaker,
why do some couples adopt children?
27. Why is it difficult for adoptees
to find out about their birth parents?
28. Why do many adoptees find it hard
to make the decision to search for their birth parents?
29. What can we infer from the passage?
Passage Two
Katherine Gram graduated
from the University of Chicago in 1938
and got a job as a news reporter
in San Francisco.
Katherine’s father used to be
a successful investment banker.
In 1933, he bought a failing newspaper,
the Washington Post.
Then Katherine returned to Washington
and got a job,
editing letters in her father’s newspaper.
She married Phillip Gram,
who took over his father-in-law’s position shortly after
and became a publisher of the Washington Post.
But for many years,
her husband suffered from mental illness
and he killed himself in 1963.
After her husband’s death,
Katherine operated the newspaper.
In the 1970s,
the newspaper became famous around the world
and Katherine was also recognized
as an important leader in newspaper publishing.
She was the first woman
to head a major American publishing company,
the Washington Post Company.
In a few years,
she successfully expanded the company
to include newspaper, magazine,
broadcast and cable companies.
She died of head injuries after a fall
when she was 84.
More than three thousand people attended her funeral,
including many government and business leaders.
Her friends said she would be remembered
as a woman who had an important influence
on events in the United States and the world.
Katherine once wrote,
“The world without newspapers
would not be the same kind of world.
After her death, the employees of the Washington Post wrote,
“The world without Katherine would not be the same at all.
Questions 30 to 32 are based on
the passage you have just heard.
30. What do we learn from the passage
about Katherine’s father?
31. What does the speaker tell us
about Katherine Gram?
32. What does the comment
by employees of the Washington Post suggest?
Passage Three
Obtaining good health insurance
is a real necessity while you are studying overseas.
It protects you from minor
and major medical expenses
that can wipe out not only your savings
but your dreams of an education abroad.
There are often two different types of health insurance
you can consider buying,
international travel insurance
and student insurance in the country
where you will be going.
An international travel insurance policy
is usually purchased in your home country
before you go abroad.
It generally covers a wide variety of medical services
and you are often given a list of doctors in the area
where you will travel who may even speak your native language.
The drawback might be that
you may not get your money back immediately.
In other words,
you may have to pay all your medical expenses
and then later submit your receipt
to the insurance company.
On the other hand,
getting student health insurance in the country
where you will study might allow you
to only pay a certain percentage of the medical cost
at the time of service
and thus you don’t have to have sufficient cash
to pay the entire bill at once.
Whatever you decide,
obtaining some form of health insurance
is something you should consider
before you go overseas.
You shouldn’t wait until you are sick
with major medical bills to pay off.
Questions 33 to 35 are based on
the passage you have just heard.
33. Why does the speaker advise overseas students
to buy health insurance?
34. What is the drawback of students
buying international travel insurance?
35. What does the speaker say
about students getting health insurance
in the country where they will study?
Section C
Directions:
In this section,
you will hear a passage three times.
When the passage is read for the first time,
you should listen carefully for its general idea.
When the passage is read for the second time,
you are required to fill in the blanks
numbered from 36 to 43 with the exact words
you have just heard.
For blanks numbered from 44 to 46
you are required to fill in the missing information.
For these blanks,
you can either use the exact words
you have just heard or write down the main points
in your own words.
Finally, when the passage is read for the third time,
you should check what you have written.
Now listen to the passage:
M: More and more of the world’s population
are living in towns or cities.
The speed at which cities are growing
in the less developed countries is alarming.
Between 1920 and 1960,
big cities in developed countries
increased two and a half times in size,
but in other parts of the world the growth
was eight times their size.
The sheer size of growth is bad enough,
but there are now also very disturbing signs of trouble
in the comparison of percentages of people
living in towns and percentages of people
working in industry.
During the 19th century,
cities grew as a result of the growth of industry.
In Europe,
the proportion of people living in cities
was always smaller than
that of the workforce working in factories.
Now, however,
the reverse is almost always true
in the newly industrialized world:
The percentage of people living in cities
is much higher than the percentage working in industry.
Without a base of people working in industry,
these cities cannot pay for their growth;
there is not enough money to build adequate houses
for the people that live there,
let alone the new arrivals.
There has been little opportunity
to build water supplies or other facilities.
So the figures for the growth of towns
and cities represent proportional growth
of unemployment and underemployment,
a growth in the number of hopeless
and despairing parents and starving children.
Now the passage will be read again.
W: More and more of the world’s population
are living in towns or cities.
The speed at which cities are growing
in the less developed countries is alarming.
Between 1920 and 1960,
big cities in developed countries
increased two and a half times in size,
but in other parts of the world
the growth was eight times their size.
The sheer size of growth is bad enough,
but there are now also very disturbing signs of trouble
in the comparison of percentages of people
living in towns
and percentages of people working in industry.
During the 19th century,
cities grew as a result of the growth of industry.
In Europe,
the proportion of people
living in cities was always smaller
than that of the workforce working in factories.
Now, however,
the reverse is almost always true
in the newly industrialized world:
The percentage of people
living in cities is much higher
than the percentage working in industry.
Without a base of people working in industry,
these cities cannot pay for their growth;
there is not enough money
to build adequate houses for the people
that live there,
let alone the new arrivals.
There has been little opportunity
to build water supplies or other facilities.
So the figures for the growth of towns
and cities represent proportional growth of
unemployment and underemployment,
a growth in the number of hopeless
and despairing parents and starving children.
Now the passage will be read
for the third time.
W: More and more of the world’s population
are living in towns or cities.
The speed at which cities are growing
in the less developed countries is alarming.
Between 1920 and 1960,
big cities in developed countries
increased two and a half times in size,
but in other parts of the world
the growth was eight times their size.
The sheer size of growth is bad enough,
but there are now also very disturbing signs of trouble
in the comparison of percentages of people
living in towns and percentages of people
working in industry.
During the 19th century,
cities grew as a result of the growth of industry.
In Europe,
the proportion of people
living in cities was always smaller
than that of the workforce
working in factories.
Now, however,
the reverse is almost always true
in the newly industrialized world:
The percentage of people
living in cities is much higher
than the percentage working in industry.
Without a base of people working in industry,
these cities cannot pay for their growth;
there is not enough money
to build adequate houses for the people
that live there,
let alone the new arrivals.
There has been little opportunity
to build water supplies or other facilities.
So the figures for the growth of towns and cities
represent proportional growth of
unemployment and underemployment,
a growth in the number of hopeless
and despairing parents
and starving children.
This is the end of listening comprehension.
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