2006年6月24日新四级听力原文

Section A

11.   M: What was it like working with those young stars?

W: It was a great group, I always got mad when people said that we didn’t get along, just because we’re girls, there was never a fight. We had a great time.

Q: What does the woman mean?

12.   M: Are you telling me you don’t have a housekeeper?

W: No, we don’t. if you make a mess, you clean up yourself.

Q: What do we learn from this conversation?

13.   M: I hear that the Edwards are thinking of buying another house.

W: Should they be doing that with all the other expenses they have o pay? Anyhow, they are over 70 now, their present house is not too bad.

Q: What does the man imply?

14.   W: You look like you are freezing to death. Why don’t you put this on?

M: Thank you, it was so warm at noon, I didn’t expect the weather to change so quickly.

Q: What do we learn from the conversation?

15.   W: I’ll have the steak, French fries, and let’s see, chocolate ice cream for dissert.

M: Oh, oh, you know these things will ruin your health, too much fat and sugar, how about ordering some vegetables and fruit instead?

Q: Where does the conversation most probably take place?

16.   W: What was it like growing up in New York’s Bronx District? Was it safe?

M: To me it was, it was all I knew. My mom would send me to the shop and I’d go and buy things when I was about 8 years old.

Q: What do we learn from the conversation?

17.   W: Nice weather, isn’t it? Oh, I’ve seen you around the office, but I don’t think we’ve met, I am Henry Smith, I work in the Market Research Section.

M: Nice to meet you, Henry, I am Helen Grant, I am in the Advertising Section on the ninth floor.

Q: What can we infer from the conversation?

18.   M: Ma’am, I hear you have an apartment for rent, can I take a look at it?

W: Sure, you’re welcome any time by appointment, but I have to tell you the building is close to a railways. And if you can’t put up with the noise you might as well save the trip.

Q: What do we learn from the conversation?

Conversation 1

W: Please have a seat, Mr. Saunders. I received your job resume last week, and it was very impressed.

M: Thank you!

W: We are a small financial company trading mostly stocks and bonds may I ask why you are so interested in working for us?

M: Your company has an impressive reputation and I’ve always wanted to work for a smaller company.

W: That’s good to hear. Would you mind telling me a little bit about your present job?

M: I’m currently working in a large international company in charge of a team of 8 brokers. We buy and sell stocks for major clients worldwide.

W: Why do you think you are the right candidate for this position?

M: As a head broker, I have a lot of experiences in the stock market, I deal with the clients on the daily bases, and I enjoy working with people.

W: Well, you might just be the person we’ve been looking for. Do you have any questions?

M: Aha, if I were hired, how many accounts would I be handling?

W: you will be working with two other head brokers, in another words, you will be handling about a third of our clients.

M: And who would I report to?

W: Directly to me.

M: I see. What kind of benefits package do you offer?

W: Two weeks of paid vacation in your first year employment, you are also been entitled to medical and dental insurance, but this is something you should discuss with our Personnel Department. Do you have any other questions?

M: No not at the moment.

W: Well, I have to discuss you application with my colleagues and we’ll get back to you early next week.

M: OK, thanks, it’s been nice meeting you!

W: Nice meeting you too! And thanks for coming in today.

19.   What’s the purpose of Mr. Saunders’ visit?

20.   What is Mr. Saunders’ current job?

21.   What can we conclude from the conversation?

Conversation 2

M: Hey, Karen, you are not really reading it, are you?

W: Pardon?

M: The book! You haven’t turned the page in the last ten minutes.

W: No, Jim, I suppose I haven’t. I need to get through it, though, but I keep drifting away.

M: So it doesn’t really hold your interest?

W: No, not really. I wouldn’t bother with it, to be honest, but I have to read it for a seminar. I’m at a university.

M: It’s a labor of labor then rather than a labor of love.

W: I should say, I don’t like Dickens at all really, the author, indeed, I am starting to like the whole course less an, d less.

M: It’s not just the book,, it’s the curse as well?

W: Yeah, in a way, although the curse itself isn’t really that bad, a lot of it is pretty good, in fact, and the lecturer is fine, as to me, I suppose, you see, I want to do philosophy rather than English, but my parents took me out of it.

M: So the courses are OK as such, it’s just that had if been left to you, you would choose a different one.

W: Oh, they had my best interest and heart of course, my parents, they always do, don’t they? They believe that my job prospect would be pretty limited with the degree of philosophy. Plus, they give me a really generous allowance, but I am beginning to feel that I’m wasting my time and their money. They would be so disappointed though if I told them I was quitting.

22.   Why can’t Karen concentrate on the book?

23.   Why is Karen starting to like the course less and less?

24.   Who thinks Philosophy graduates have limited job opportunities?

25.   What is Karen thinking of doing?

Section B

Passage One

In Greece, only rich people will rest in peace for ever when they die. Most of the population, however, will be undisturbed for only three years, then they will be dug up, washed, compressed into a small tin box, and placed in a bone room. If the body has only partially decayed, it is reburied in a smaller cheaper grave, but not for long, the body will be dug up again some time later when it has fully decayed. Buying a piece of land for a grave is the only way to avoid this process. The cost of the grave is so great that most p0eople choose to rent the grave for three years and even after it has been dug up, lasting peace is still not guaranteed. If no one pays for renting space in the bone room, the skeleton is removed and stored in a building in a poor part of the town. Lack of space in Athens is the main reason why the dead are dug up after the three years. The city is so overcrowded that sometimes dead bodies are kept in the hospitals for over a week until a grave is found. Athens’ city council wants to introduce cremation, that is burning dead bodies as a means of dealing with the problems. But the Greek church resists this practice, they believe the only place where people burn is hell, so burning dead bodies is against the Greek concept of life after death. To save space, the church suggested burying the bodies standing up instead of lying down. Some people proposed building multi-storey underground grave yards.

26.   What must Greeks do to keep the dead resting in ever-lasting peace?

27.   Why are most dead bodies in Athens dug up after three years?

28.   What suggestions does the church give about the burying of dead bodies?

29.   What practice does the Greek church object to?

Passage Two

If you visit a big city anywhere in the world, you will probably find a restaurant would serve the food of your own native country. Most large cities in the United States offer international sample of foods. Many people enjoy eating the food of other nations. This is probably one reason why there are so many different kinds of restaurants in the United States. A second reason is that many Americans come from other part of the world. They enjoy tasting the foods of their native lands. In the city of Detroit, for example, there are many people from western Europe, Greece, Latin America, and the Far East. There are many restaurants in Detroit which serve the foods of these areas. There are many other international restaurants too. Americans enjoy the foods in these restaurants as well as the opportunity to better understand the people and their way of life. One of the most common international restaurants to be found in the United States is the Italian restaurant. The restaurant may be a small business run by a single family. The mother of the family cooks all of the dishes, and the father and children serve the people who come to eat there. Or it may be a large restaurant owned by several different people who worked together in the business. Many Italian dishes that Americans enjoy are made with meats, tomatoes and cheese, they are very delicious and tasty.

30.   Why are there so many international restaurants in the United States?

31.   Why do Americans like to go to international restaurants apart from enjoying the foods there?

32.   How is a typical Italian family restaurant run in the United States?

Passage Three

One winter day in 1891, a class at a training school in Massachusetts, U.S.A, went into the gym for their daily exercises. Since the football season had ended, most of the young man felt they were in for a boring time.

But their teacher, James Nasmith had other ideas. He had been working for a long time on a new game that would have the excitement of the American football. Nasmith showed the men a basket he had hung at the each end of the gym, and explained that they were going to sue a round European football, at first everybody tried to throw the ball into the basket no matter where he was standing. “Pass! Pass!” Nasmith kept shouting, blowing his whistle to stop the excited players. Slowly, they began to understand what was wanted of them. The problem with the new game, which was soon called “basketball”, was getting the ball out of the basket. They used ordinary food baskets with bottoms and the ball, of course, stayed inside. At first, someone had to climb up every time a basket was scored. It was several years before someone came up with the idea of removing the bottom of the basket and letting the ball fall through. There have been many changes in the rules since then, and basketball has become one of the world’s most popular sports.

33.   What did Nasmith do to entertain his students one winter day?

34.   According the speaker, what was the problem with the new game?