大学体验英语(第四版)一周一练(提高目标·上册)Listening Scripts (5)[5页]

Listening Scripts for Midterm Test

Part II Listening Comprehension

Section A

Directions: In this section, you will hear three news reports. At the end of each news report, you will hear two or three questions. Both the news report 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 write the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 1.

News Report One

This is Housecall for Health.

So, not only could skimping on your sleep hurt your mental health or give you bags under your eyes, but it could also add some pounds to your waist line. This new study, which followed 1600 adults who self reported sleeping habits, found that those who got an average of six hours of shuteye had a waist circumference three centimeters larger than those who slept for nine hours a night. Those who were skimping on sleep also had higher BMI and lower good-cholesterol levels.

There was a group who fell in between six and nine hours, with participants getting an average of 7.5 hours of shuteye. Those adults still fared better than those who were only getting six hours. Researchers emphasized that they didn’t find a link between less sleep and poorer diets, nor did they prove a direct explanation as to whether less sleep caused you to gain weight or was the result of weight gain. For more on this story, check https://www.360docs.net/doc/5d19340153.html,. Housecall for Health, I’m Alex Hein, FOX News.

Questions 1 and 2 are based on the news report you have just heard.

1.What did the new study about sleep find?

2.Which of the following statements is true?

News Report Two

The Toyota Motor Company says it’s temporarily stopping its test of self-driving cars. The Boston Department of Transportation has asked autonomous car companies to pause testing there. This all follows an incident that happened on Sunday in Tempe, Arizona. That night, a self-driving Uber SUV hit and killed a pedestrian. The victim was walking her bicycle across a road when she was struck by an autonomous Volvo.

Police say the pedestrian was not using a crosswalk and that there’s also no indication that the self-driving vehicle slow down beforehand. It was travelling at about 40 miles per hour. Uber says it’s fully cooperating with the police investigation and that the company’s hearts go out to the victim's family.

This is believed to be the first time someone was killed by a fully autonomous vehicle. The SUV did have a test-driver inside, but the car was in self-driving mode when the crash occurred. Police say there were no signs that the test driver was

injured in any way after the collision.

Questions 3 and 4 are based on the news report you have just heard.

3.Which of the following statements is true?

4.What is the Uber company’s response to the accident?

News Report Three

Walmart taking deliveries to a new level and testing a service that will not only drop off groceries to a customer’s front door, but will have the driver carry them inside and load them into the fridge.

Walmart announcing a partnership with August Home, which makes the key-less locks that can be controlled with a smart phone, as well as other “smart”' devices.

Right now it’s being tested with some August home customers in Silicon Valley.

A driver will be dispatched to drop the order off, and if the customer is not home, the driver will enter a one-time pass code onto the house’s smart lock keypad. The driver can then walk in, leave the packages in the hallway, or if there are perishable items in the refrigerator or freezer. Customers get a notification when the driver rings the doorbell and August Home security cameras allows them to watch the entire process from an app if they wish.

Questions 5 to 7 are based on the news report you have just heard.

5.What is the news report mainly about?

6.What do you know about the August Home?

7.How can Walmart’s customers’ orders be delivered according to the speaker? Section B

Directions: In this section, you will hear two long conversations. At the end of each conversation, you will hear four questions. Both the conversation 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 write the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 1.

Now you will hear two long conversations.

Conversation One

W: You don’t look smart this morning. I can see you’re not happy.

M: I had never expected this would happen to me. We had a power failure at home last night.

W: How come? Did anyone in the family do anything wrong?

M: You’ve guessed it. It was all my father’s fault.

W: What did he do?

M: I was just watching a wonderful football feature program on TV when the lights suddenly went out.

W: Why was that?

M: You see, we’d just had our dinner. My mother was washing my jeans in the

washing machine. And the air-conditioners were on in both rooms. I was in my room watching TV.

W: What was your father doing then?

M: He wanted to warm his tea in the microwave oven. He plugged it in and the fuse broke. And everything stopped all of a sudden.

W: Your next-door neighbor is an electrician, isn’t he?

M: Yes. Luckily, he happened to be at home. He came and fixed it up. But it was half an hour later. I had already missed a lot.

W: It was an annoying experience for a sports fan like you. But don’t miss the basketball final this evening. Make sure there is no power failure tonight. Questions 8 to 11 are based on the conversation you have just heard.

8.Why does the man look unhappy?

9.What was the man’s mother doing at the time of power failure?

10.How many household appliances are mentioned in the conversation?

11.Who fixed the fuse?

Conversation Two

W: Hello, Gary. How’re you?

M: Fine! And yourself?

W: Can’t complain. Did you have time to look at my proposal?

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

W: Sure. I’ve been trying to come up with some new production and advertising strategies. First of all, if we want to stay competitive, we need to modernize our factory. New equipment should have 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. We’ll have to discuss these costs with finance.

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

M: And what’s the picture?

W: We’ll 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? Isn’t that a bit too expensive for us? What’s wrong with advertising in the papers, as usual?

W: Quite frankly, it’s just not enough any more. We need to be more aggressive in order to keep ahead of our competitors.

M: Will we be able to afford all this?

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

M: We’ll have to look at the figures more closely. Have finance draw up a budget for

these investments.

W: All right. I’ll see to it.

Questions 12 to 15 are based on the conversation you have just heard.

12.Which statement is true according to the conversation?

13.What does the woman suggest about the equipment of their factory?

14.What does the woman suggest about human resources?

15.What does the woman say about advertising?

Section C

Directions:In this section, you will hear three passages. At the end of each passage, you will hear three or four 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 write the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 1.

Passage One

There are many reasons why family life in Britain has changed so much in the last fifty years. The liberation of women in the early part of the twentieth century and the social and economic effects of World War II had a great impact on traditional family life. Women became essential to industry and the professions. During the war they had worked in factories and proved their worth, now, with the loss of millions of men, their services were indispensable to the nation.

More recently, great advances in scientific knowledge, and particularly in medicine, have had enormous social consequences. Children are better cared for and are far healthier. Infant death rate is low. Above all, parents can now plan the size of their family if they wish through more effective means of birth control.

Different attitudes to religion, authority and tradition generally have also greatly contributed to changes in family life. But these developments have affected all aspects of society. It is particularly interesting to note that the concept of “the family” as a social unit has survived all these challenges.

Questions 16 to 19 are based on the passage you have just heard.

16.What is the main topic of the passage?

17.Which is not the influence of World War II on Britain?

18.What do advances in medicine bring to Britain?

19.What hasn’t been influenced by the challenges?

Passage Two

Most people have recognized the benefits of learning a foreign language: You can travel to foreign countries and feel comfortable, be a more productive employee in today’s competitive job market, and immerse yourself in the vast cultures that surround you. Scientific studies have even shown that learning a new language helps to keep memories sharp and naturally enhances overall brain function.

But did you know that you can learn a new language in as little as 10 days? The Pimsleur Approach to learning new languages helps users pick up new languages quickly. Even the FBI has purchased the Pimsleur Approach.

Your brain is already wired to start speaking a language in 10 days. You just need to activate it. Dr. Pimsleur, a Ph.D. and specialist in the field of applied linguistics, devoted his life and career to learning languages and understanding the psychology of language acquisition. Dr. Pimsleur was a language educator for more than 20 years. He noticed that children have an amazing ability to learn new languages quickly. He recognized through extensive researches that effective communication in any language depends on mastery of a relatively limited number of words. And, trying to learn too many words at first can actually slow the language learning process. However, once this “core vocabulary” is mastered and used consistently, it provides a framework for accelerated language learning. The Pimsleur Approach aims to teach you to use the core vocabulary of the language, so you can speak the most in the least amount of time. What counts is not how many words you know, but rather, how many words you can use.

Questions 20 to 22 are based on the passage you have just heard.

20.What findings have scientific studies about learning a new language?

21.Which statement is true about Dr. Pimsleur?

22.What is the key factor to start speaking a new language in 10 days?

Passage Three

Tourism was one of the fastest growing social and economic phenomena of the last century, and there is no sign of slowdown in the current century. The number of tourists will continue to increase, and they will come from wider socio-economic groups and a wider geographic spread than at present.

More leisure time, cheaper travel and rising curiosity about other lands promise a bright future for the tourism industry. For developing countries, tourism offers the hope of economic stability and a better future for their citizens.

Compared with other industries, tourism is thought of as a “smokeless industry”. Its positive impacts are self-evident. To begin with, the economic effects of tourism can be categorized into four groups: the effects on income, on employment, on investment, and on development. The evidence can be summarized in this way: if tourism to an area increases, rapid success and expansion may lead to yet more investment in both tourism and other industries in that area.

Apart from its economic effects, tourism is also valuable in personal and social aspects because it satisfies the objectives of direct contact between people. Last but not least, the greatest social value of tourism lies in cross-cultural exchange. Questions 23 to 25 are based on the passage you have just heard.

23.Which statement is true according to the passage?

24.Why will tourism have a promising future?

25.What does the greatest social value of tourism lie in?