现代大学英语听力UNIT原文及答案

Unit 4

Task 1

【答案】

A.

1) They are farms that grow vegetables for city people to eat fresh.

2) It’s a farm that grow plants and flowers to sell.

3) They protect the plants from the cold in the winter but let them get plenty of light, so the plants can be grown all through the year.

B.

1) canned, frozen

2) flowers, garden plants, home gardens, yards, window boxes

3) buildings, furniture, firewood

【原文】

Grain, vegetables and fruits are found on most farms. All of them are food for animals and people.

Grain can be fed to animals just as it is harvested. But before people use them grains are usually made into flour or breakfast cereal. Bread, macaroni（通心粉）, and cereals（麦片）all come from grain.

Tomatoes, beans, potatoes, beets（甜菜）, lettuce（生菜）, carrots and onions are field and garden vegetables. Can you think of any others Vegetables are good for people and for some animals such as pigs and rabbits.

Farms that grow vegetables for city people to eat fresh are called truck farms. Truck farms are usually close to big cities. Each day hundreds of loads of fresh vegetables are brought to stores on the farmers' trucks. Without the truck farmers people in cities would not eat well. And without city people who eat fresh vegetables, the truck farmers would have no work.

There are many kinds of fruit. Apples, pears, peaches, cherries, oranges, grapefruit, and berries are a few kinds. You will be able to think of other kinds that you like. Most fruit is grown on specialized farms. But many general farms have some fruit to use and sell also.

Like vegetables, fruit is sold fresh in markets. But a large part of both fruit and vegetable crops is sent to factories to be canned or frozen.

In warm parts of our country farmers grow cotton, rice, tobacco, sugar cane（甘蔗）, and peanuts.

Specialized farms raise flowers and garden plants. They are sold to florists（花商）and to families for home gardens, or yards, or window boxes. A farm that grow plants and flowers to sell is called a nursery（苗圃）. Most nurseries have glass buildings, called hothouses or greenhouses. The hothouses are heated to protect the plants from cold in the winter but let them get plenty of light, so they can be grown all through the year.

Some farms grow only trees. Some of these are Christmas tree farms. Others are large forests where trees are grown for their wood. The wood is used for buildings, furniture and firewood. Some tree farms grow only nut trees.

Task 2

【答案】

1) The UN agencies report that the market value of pesticides in developing countries last year was about three thousand million dollars.

2) The agencies called for worldwide acceptance of Food and Agriculture and World Health Organization pesticide rules. They say this would help guarantee the safe production of and trade in pesticides.

【原文】

Two United Nations agencies are expressing concern about the safety of some pesticides used to kill insects. They report that about thirty percent of all pesticides sold in developing countries fail to meet widely accepted rules for quality. They say these products are a serious threat to human health and the environment.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organization gave the warning.

In developing countries, pesticides are used mainly for agriculture. Pesticides kill insects and other organisms that threaten crops. Pesticides also are used for public health. They control insects that spread disease, such as mosquitoes that spread malaria.

The UN agencies report that the market value of pesticides in developing countries last year was about three thousand million dollars. They say the estimated market value of pesticides worldwide was thirty-two thousand million dollars.

Officials say poor quality pesticides often contain harmful chemicals. These chemicals often are banned or restricted in some countries.

Possible causes of low quality in pesticides include production problems and failure to use the right chemicals. Officials say the active chemicals in many pesticides are stronger than those permitted by many governments. They also say poor quality pesticides may contain poisonous substances or substances that are not pure.

Officials say the quality of pesticide containers and product information on the containers are other concerns. They say information on the containers often fails to explain the active chemicals and how to use the product safely.

The WHO says products listing false information have been sold for years in some areas. The agencies say the problem of poor quality pesticides is widespread in parts of Africa south of the Sahara Desert. They called for worldwide acceptance of Food and Agriculture and World Health Organization pesticide rules. They say this would help guarantee the safe production of and trade in pesticides.

Officials say the agencies' rules are especially important for developing countries. They say developing countries often lack systems for testing pesticides.

Task 3

【答案】

A.1) c) 2) d) 3) b)

That’s because they’re making an investment all the time, but are still not sure whether or not they can make profits.

【原文】

Interviewer: Cattle raising and beef in the US is big business, isn't it

Bob Beck: Yes, it's the largest business—cattle business.

Interviewer: It must be a very profitable business then.

Bob Beck: Uh, not necessarily.

Interviewer: It's not necessarily a profitable business

Bob Beck: At times, it's not profitable. Your production costs get... it's a supply and demand market, and if your supply is larger than your demand... Interviewer: So the price is fluctuating all the time...

Bob Beck: Right. It fluctuates, and it can get below production costs. Interviewer: But you never know. For instance, next year, you don't know what it'll bring on the market.

Bob Beck: No, technically it takes a year and a half from the time you breed the cow, until you get the calf, until the calf's marketable.

Interviewer: Uh-huh.

Bob Beck: You've got a year, to a year and a half, tied up there.

Interviewer: So, you're making an investment all the time.

Bob Beck: Right. So you're not sure.

Interviewer: It sounds like it might be a very insecure kind of existence. Wonder why it is that people want to be farmers or ranchers（大农场主）then... Bob Beck: I think the majority of it is you like it. It's one thing. It's a breed (kind)of people. They like it. If you don't like what you're doing, why... Interviewer: What is there about it You live essentially in a rural area. Doesn't that feeling of isolation ever bother you

Bob Beck: No. It's getting too crowded.

Interviewer: Too crowded!

Bob Beck: Too many people!

Interviewer: I can see that, for instance, in a city, you have restaurants to go to, movie theaters—all kinds of things available to people, a lot of conveniences

which you don't have in the more rural areas. What do people who farm

and ranch do for recreation and relaxation, for instance... erm...

Bob Beck: Well, I think a lot of it is if you're a livestock raiser, you'll go check your cows in the evening instead of going to a movie.

Interviewer: Uh-huh.

Bob Beck: That's as much recreation as driving through a bunch or cows, and if you like them, you enjoy that.

Interviewer: In terms of the way of life, to a lot of people, it would seem that it's a very hard life. It means a lot of hard work. I mean, you have a

schedule—whether you feel like it or not, you have to get out and feed

animals, and so forth. Would you regard that as one of the difficult

things about it, or is that...

Bob Beck: No.

Interviewer: …just sort of... part of it

Bob Beck: For me, if I had to go to a desk every morning, that'd kill me.

Task 4

【答案】

A. paid off, fall back on, a security, operating expenses, complete disaster

1) Some of them cook the meals, clean the house and take care of the kids every day.

2) Yes. That is especially so after they've had one or two bad years when they couldn’t make money.

3) When their children are small, they were with their parents to go out to work; when they are very small, Sharon didn’t go out as much as she would later.

4) She thinks that in this way the children are a lot more self-reliant. They learn to work and they learn responsibility. They learn a lot about life by being continually in life with animals.

【原文】

Bob Beck: I think, for a wife, the same as a husband, they like it or they wouldn't marry a farmer or a rancher.

Interviewer: Uh-huh.

Bob Beck: They'd get out. I think it's not at all wives. Some of them are just like suburban housewives.

Interviewer: Uh-huh.

Bob Beck: They cook the meals, and they clean the house and that's it... take care of the kids...

Interviewer: Have you known some situations like that

Bob Beck: Oh, yeah, I know situations like that!

Interviewer: Sharon, is there a problem of the feeling of security

Sharon Beck: What kind of security are you talking about—financial security Interviewer: Uh, yeah, financial security. Uh, the thing is up and down. You don't know what the market's going to bring, er... for beef. You work all year,

and so forth... Is there any problem of that sort

Sharon Beck: Sure, there's the problem of security. Especially, if you've had one or two bad years. You feel awfully insecure.

Interviewer: Uh-huh.

Sharon Beck: If you've borrowed money to buy a farm or to operate, and there's no money coming in, you feel awfully insecure.

Interviewer: Uh-huh.

Sharon Beck: But if you've got a fairly good amount of your ranch paid off, you've got that to fall back on. You can always think of that as a security. If

everything else fails, if you can’t pay for your operating expenses…Interviewer: Uh-huh.

Sharon Beck: ...you can always sell your equity in your ranch. So it isn't complete disaster.

Interviewer: But it's not something that bothers you terribly. I mean, it's a fact of life. It's sort of...

Sharon Beck: Something you live with, yeah...

Interviewer:... part of the thing. The role of the wife in this situation is quite different than that of a suburban housewife. You don't have much free time, do

you

Sharon Beck: No.

Interviewer: Because, essentially, you work in much the same way that your husband does.

Sharon Beck: Yes, I'm usually with him.

Interviewer: How do you handle the whole family-life situation—children You're out almost as much as a working mother in the city, aren't you

Sharon Beck: Yes. The only difference is we're together.

Interviewer: The children too...

Sharon Beck: The children too. When they're not in school, when they were small, they were with us. When they were very small, of course, I didn't go

out as much.

Interviewer: Do you feel that there are advantages in growing up in this way

Sharon Beck: Yeah, I definitely feel that there're advantages. There are disadvantages too, but I think the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages. Interviewer: What are some of those advantages you think the children have

Sharon Beck: The advantages

Interviewer: Uh-huh.

Sharon Beck: Well, they're a lot more self-reliant. They learn to work. Erm, they learn responsibility.

Interviewer: Uh-huh.

Sharon Beck: They learn a lot about life by being continually in life, with animals, and... I think it makes them... erm... They grow up!