学术综合英语听力材料

Unit 1 Presenting a SpeechRoad BuildingGood morning, everyone. Today I'l l be talking about the relationship between road building and the development of the American economy during the 18th century. About 300 years ago, the United States' economy was growing rapidly, mainly because of a booming trade in two important agricultural products: grain and cotton.Grain output in the eastern part of America increased quickly at that time due to the rapidly growing population and the large number of immigrants from Europe. As a result, the demand for grain almost doubled. For this reason, the trade in grain first developed in this part of the country. At the same time, the road system was gradually built up in order to transport the grain from the rural areas to various cities. The road building clearly helped develop the economy quickly in these areas and in the cities as well.During the same period, farmers in the South could get a large amount of laborers from Africa, and they started to grow cotton. As the cotton output increased, the farmers needed to sell it in other places. As a result, many roads were built to link the rural areas to the cities.At first, this trade of grain and cotton took place along the coast, or near rivers and lakes. It took place there because it was easy and cheap to transport goods from one place to another. Before 1700, it was very expensive to move the goods by road.So, farmers had to rely mainly on rivers to move their crops to markets.At that time, there was only one continuous road that existed in the US. It ran from north to south along country roads, which were linked together to make one long road. Within a short time, the first east-to-west roads were built. They were called turnpikes. Private companies built these roads and collected fees from all vehicles that traveled on them.Eventually, because of the booming trade of grain and cotton, a network of roadways was completed that connected some major cities and towns. Although traveling was still costly for farmers, they soon preferred to move their crops to cities and other areas on roadways rather than by boat because it was faster and more convenient.So here we can see a rather clear picture of road building in the United States and its impact on economic development during that period.Unit 2 Energy ConservationAn Eyewitness to Changes in China(Y: Yang Rui, anchor of Dialogue, CCTV-9R: Sidney Rittenberg, president of Rittenberg Associates, Incorporated. )Y: Mr. Rittenberg, you are a successful businessman and also a big name to the Chinese due to your close association with the first generation of the PRC leaders. How do you look at the impact that that experience has had on your current perception of China's reform and development?R: I feel in my heart that what I’m doing today is a continuation of what I was trying to do in the that is, I had this ambition, this dream, from the time that I began studying Chinese at Stanford University in 1943，I had this dream of working to build bridges between Chinese people and American people, and to help them understand each other and cooperate together. And I tried to do that in the past, working in China in Mao’sday. And that's exactly what I'm trying to do today. I really think that what I'm doing today is more effective than what I was able to do in the past.Y: At that time many foreigners came to China, but you were among the very few who got close to the Communist Party of China.R: You know, it’s quite obvious to me that the only reason that the Communist Party of China was able to win in the final stages of the Civil War is because of their extremely close relations with the people. The Chinese people that came to know them, trusted them and considered them their representatives. This small peasant army led by Mao Zedong had no tanks, no big guns, no planes, and was greatly outnumbered by the opposition, which was the most powerful armed force in Asia after the Second World War. And yet in only three and a half years, the Nationalists were completely defeated and driven off to the island province of Taiwan. Why? Because the ties that the Communists had with the Chines e people were unbreakable. They had their trust. They had their confidence and support. And that was something that the Nationalists were not able to get.You know, the Revolutionary Army was a poor army, even in terms of the food they got. The soldiers had grass sandals that they made themselves along the march. But what made them do it? The fact that they had a vision. They believed that they were fighting for their land, for their family to have their own farmland, and for a fair government that would listen to the people and do what they needed. So this is the only explanation I can think of for why they were able to win.Y: In the Long March you just talked about, the Communist army had to overcome extreme difficulties. But in the new Long March of modernization today, we are also facing difficulties, though very different. What’s your view of this new Long March? R: I agree with calling this a new Long March, only the barriers are very different. Those barriers were certainly very grim and threatening. Some of these barriers look very good and inviting but actually they are not. I mean, in the days before and during the Long March, the leaders had the task of studying the Chinese reality and getting everybody that they could influence to study reality and from it to derive a set of policies, practical strategies to guide everybody. So people had a shared vision and dream. They were motivated by this common dream to work together. And I think, during the current Long March of modernization, China would need to do the same thing, to gradually study Chinese reality and develop a set of strategies, a common vision and a set of values that most people will share. And then you'll find that you don't have a problem of disconnection between the central government and local governments, or a problem of a big gap between city and country life.Y: Still, people are wondering in this country why we were able to live with poverty but have problems living with the new wealth.R: Again it’s the lack of a practical, down-to-earth, realistic vision that everyone shares, in my opinion. I remember after the “Great Leap Forward”when there was a famine, many, many people in Beijing, including government workers, professors in schools, their faces were swollen because people weren’t getting enough food. But nobody admitted that it was because of malnutrition. No one said, “It’s because we don’t have enough food.”You know, I personally don’t think that, for most people, they weremotivated just for a distant future dream of Communism. It was because of what the new government had actually already done for the people: workers got their eight hoursa day, farmers got their own land for the first time, the public health campaigns, etc.These things raised the standards of living, especially during the first five or six years from 1949 to 1955. Tremendous social changes made people feel, "This is my government, they represent my interests, they bring me real benefits.”Y: What lessons do you think we should draw from the Cultural Revolution?R: Well, I think the Cultural Revolution pointed out one fact, which actually was articulated by Deng Xiaoping in his interview after the Cultural Revolution with an American correspondent. He said that any government that doesn’t succeed in making life better for most people in China year by year is not going to succeed. And I think that was the lesson that was taught: it’s not enough just to have growth of the economy, you’ve got to make people feel that you represent their interests and you are working for them.Y: Besides making people’s life better, there is another core idea of Deng Xiaoping’s theory, that is, the emancipation of people’s mind.R: I think the emancipation of the followed the Cultural Revolution is equally important to the development of the market economy in China today. But compared to the economic reform, I think the emancipation of the mind hasn’t gone far enough. There’s still the shadow of the old feudalistic habits of governments and individuals in their thinking and in their relationships. When I say a common vision, I don't mean a political code that everyone recites. I mean a feeling that we are working together to build a common society that’s more or less represented by the eight lines that were raised by President Hu Jintao, the moral code.Unit 3 TrafficDriving While on a Cell Phone Worse Than Driving While Drunk21:44:27 EDT June 29, 2006Thursday, June 29 —Maneuvering through traffic while talking on the phone increases the likelihood of an accident five-fold and is actually more dangerous than driving drunk, U.S. researchers report.That finding held true whether the driver was holding a cell phone or using a hands-free device, the researchers noted.“As a society, we have agreed on not tolerating the risk associated with drunk driving,”said researcher Frank Drews, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Utah. “This study shows us that somebody who is conversing on a cell phone is exposing him or herself and others to a similar risk — cell phones actually are a higher risk,” he said.His team’s report appears in the summer issue of the journal Human Factors.In the study, 40 people followed a pace car along a prescribed course, using a drivingsimulator. Some people drove while talking on a cell phone, others navigated while drunk (meaning their blood-alcohol limit matched the legal limit of 0.08 percent), and others drove with no such distractions or impairments.“We found an increased accident rate when people were conversing on the cell phone,”Drews said. Drivers on cell phones were 5.36 times more likely to get in an accident than non-distracted drivers, the researchers found.The phone users fared even worse than the inebriated, the Utah team found. There were three accidents among those talking on cell phones — all of them involving a rear-ending of the pace car. In contrast, there were no accidents recorded among participants who were drunk, or the sober, cell-phone-free group.The bottom line: Cell-phone use was linked to “a significant increase in the accident rate," Drews said.He said there was a difference between the behaviors of drunk drivers and those who were talking on the phone. Drunk drivers tended to be aggressive, while those talking on the phone were more sluggish, Drews said.In addition, the researchers found talking on the cell phone reduce reaction time by 9 percent in terms of braking and 19 percent in terms of picking up speed after braking. "This is significant, because it has an impact on traffic as a system,”Drews said. “If we have drivers who are taking a lot of time in accelerating once having slowed down, the overall flow of traffic is dramatically reduced,”he said.In response to safety concerns, some states have outlawed the use of hand-held cell phones while driving. But that type of legislation may not be effective, because the Utah researchers found no difference in driver performance whether the driver was holding the phone or talking on a hands- free model.Unit 4 Social BehaviorThe Men’s Movement: What Does It Mean to Be a Man?As a result of the Women’s Movement, more women are working outside the home, and many men are playing a more active role in family life and are taking on some of the tasks involved in child care and housework. In addition to these changes inside the home, men are today entering occupations that used to be considered women’s jobs. More men are becoming nurses and teachers of young children. Other men are finding that they have more female colleagues and bosses at work than ever before, and they are having to adapt to women’s styles of communication and management, which can differ considerably from those of men. At work, as well as at home, many men today in modern North American society have to play very different roles than their fathers did. They are, as a result, joining with other men in a countermovement called the Men’s Movement to seek to provide one another with the support they need to cope with the roles expected of men in today’s world.Exactly what forms does the Men’s Movement take, and what do men in the Men’s Movement hope to achieve by being active in the movement? To begin with, the Men’s Movement has nounified, monolithic philosophy. Although there are a number of unifying themes, there are also some interesting differences among the basic groups associated with the Men’s Movement. Several writers who write about the Men’s Movement have identified four basic groups of men active in the movement.The first group is labeled the male feminists, and these men work for women’s rights and equality between the sexes. Some of the men in this first group are vocal about blaming other men for much of the violence against women and for the inequality that exists between men and women in relationships and the job market. Not all members of the Men’s Movement, however, consider this first group of men to be an integral part of the Men’s Movement. To be sure, the other three groups focus more on men’s issues than do the so-called male feminists.The second orientation in the Men’s Movement attracts men who join men’s support groups to meet regularly and give and receive psychological support in dealing with problems created by the new roles they have to play at home and at work. These men are attempting to learn to better express their feelings and emotions, and to show sensitivity without being ashamed. A third group in the Men’s Movement consists of men who want to get back the power they feel they have lost because of the advances made by women as a result of the Women’s Movement and feminist causes. They are male activists. Finally, there is an approach to the movement called the mytho-poetic Men’s Movement. The men involved in this aspect of the Men’s Movement believe that men should be initiated into manhood as men were initiated when people still lived in small tribes and bands in more ancient cultures. This group initiates men using mythology, poetry (hence the name mytho-poetic), and other rituals, such as dancing, to explore and affirm the value of masculinity and masculine approaches to problem solving. Men who subscribe to this viewpoint worry that too much contact with women and too little contact with other men has turned men into weaklings or wimps.So, the Men’s Movement is very diverse. A man who wants to join the movement has many options of just how he will explore the question, “What does it mean to be a man in today’s world?”Unit 5 PopulationSuicide on CampusAnchor: Good morning, everybody. I’m expecting all of you to gather here for the half-hour Early Show. Today, parents and students alike are constantly reminded of the problems like drug and alcohol abuse, and unsafe sex on college campuses. But relatively few are warned about suicide. And suicide is second only to accidents as a leading cause of death among college students.Our Early Show correspondent Tracy Smith reports on this very real danger that often goes undiscussed. Hello, Tracy.Tracy Smith: Hi, Teresa. I know that today’s topic — campus suicides — is obviously weightier than the others we have talked about before. But we can not give up eating for fear of choking. It is high time we looked at the issue face to face. A study by the American College Health Association showed that 15 percent of students meet the criteria for clinical depression. Although it’s a topic cloaked in stigma and shame, more collegesand universities are choosing to confront it, rather than wait until it’s too late. They have begun to look seriously into the reasons and seek solutions to the problem and actively intervene. Now let’s watch a short film and get some hint of a young college guy's tragedy.Tracy Smith: Nathan Eisert, 20, took his own life in his college dorm two years ago.In a cemetery on the outskirts of Louisville, Kentucky, you’ll find the message Tell them, Momma, a life’s too much to lose" on his small headstone.Jan Ulrich (Nathan’s mother): The message is for Nathan’s friends. I want them to sec that message, because I think it’s from Nathan, you know, I really do. I think Nathan sent that message for me to pass along. And when they come to the gravesite, i t's what I want them to walk away with.Tracy Smith: Always a lover of basketball, the 6-foot 5-inch player secured a spot on the Western Kentucky team as a walk-on.Stephen Ulrich (Nathan’s stepfather): Every time the team got ahead in the game, y ou'd hear the guys in the crowd and everybody chanting, “Nathan, Nathan ..."Tracy Smith: But early in the second season, Nathan injured his foot. He lost his place on the team but never told his family.Stephen Ulrich: W e'r e not realizing that because he couldn’t play, because he wasn’t achieving, in his mind that he wasn't measuring up. So all of a sudden, he’s sinking. Right before everybody’s eyes, h e's sinking, and we don’t even see him sinking.Tracy Smith: Nathan hit rock bottom. And when he didn’t show up for a family event, his father went looking for him.Jan Ulrich: Then the phone rang; it was Nathan’s dad. Ulrich s aid, “Where are you?” As soon as I heard this, I replied, “Uh-oh ... Don’t tell me what you’re gonna tell me. I... Don’t tell me.” That’s when he told me, “H e's dead. He shot himself.”Tracy Smith: How did things go so horribly wrong, so quickly? Jan and Stephen say they didn’t recognize the signs and that Nathan never asked for help.Anchor: Today we have invited to our studio Mr. Phil Satow and Mrs. Donna Satow, who became experts on the topic after their son, Jed, a student at Arizona State University, committed suicide in 1998.Phil Satow: A major problem is that a large number of students are away from home for the first time in their life and that can be traumatic. There are so many pressures that they’re facing: peer pressures, expectations of parents of high grades, high unemployment. Young people don’t want to disappoint, so there’s a whole series of things that happen specifically at that time.Donna Satow: Some of them are also having trouble handling their romance. Sudden breakup of a relationship can hurt one to such a fatal extent.Tracy Smith: Just like other services on campus, parents should encourage their college kids to take advantage of counseling available there. It’s also a good idea for parents and classmates to know some of the warning signs for suicide. The Ulrichs hope that by telling their story, they’ll encourage others, including administrators, parents and the students themselves, to reach out.Stephen Ulrich: Yes, that’s right. It’s too late for us to save Nathan, but it’s not too late to save another family and another Nathan out there, because there’s another kid out there that’s screaming for help.Anchor: Thank you, Mr. Ulrich. What you said is what our talk show aims for. Thank you all so much for attending our show. Welcome you back at the same time next week. Good-bye.Unit 6 A City in ChinaWhat Does the Future Hold for Marriage?What Does the Future Hold for Marriage?Eighty years ago, Arnold Bennett, Hilaire Belloc, Rebecca West and other luminaries predicted the future of marriage — did they get it right? Despite its decline in popularity and rising divorce rates, Bel Mooney argues against the loosening of matrimonial ties. But does marriage really have a future in the 21st century?I’m Richard Right. My wife and I have recently celebrated our Sapphire Anniversary (45 years), with, hopefully, many years to come. We made a commitment to each other and, through thick and thin, have stuck by that commitment. Today’s generation is always in a hurry and doesn’t see anything beyond the next hurdle, so they give up if the wall ahead looks too high. We must encourage people in the belief that marriage is the best social institution ever invented, but we must be prepared to work at it. The government could help by reintroducing the married persons’ allowance.I feel very disappointed that so many men feel the way they appear to about marriage. To me marriage is sacred. I didn’t promise to love, care for and be with my husband until next week, or until another offer comes along. I promised to love him and be with him in sickness, health, riches or poverty for the rest of our lives. I meant it. I still mean it almost four years on. Things have not been easy, but I didn’t expect a bed of roses, or everything to be plain sailing. I have never expected someone else to support me in the style to which I would like to become accustomed. I expect to have to work hard for the things that we want. The notion that caring and sharing is somehow old-fashioned and out of tune with modern life, and living together is in any way compatible with the lifetime commitment of marriage is just wrong. Some of us do care, and some of us do commit to another and mean it.Any man that praises the delights of marriage has never experienced the agony of divorce and the loss of his children. Marriage is very much for the benefit of women.I don’t know about marriage but the future of the wedding industry is more than secure. My daughter is getting married this Sunday in a beautiful ceremony in Santa Barbara. We had to take a second mortgage on the house to pay for it. I am going to quit teaching school and become a wedding planner — she makes twice my salary!Unit 7 Dishonoring the Honor System Opening Speech for the UK’s First Disabled People’s ParliamentI am delighted and honoured to be here today to open the UK’s first Disabled People’s Parliament.I would like to begin by thanking the British Council of Disabled People for all your efforts inlaunching this important initiative and to thank you, the first members of the Parliament — disabled people who are passionate enough about the situation of the eight and a half million of us in this country — for committing yourselves to fighting in our name.Let me start by saying that I think today is one of historic importance in the emancipation of disabled people and our determination to seize control of our own lives. On 28 August 1963, before the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, Martin Luther King gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. Five years later he told us he had seen the promised land and the next day he was assassinated. So what was that dream?In many ways it was modest enough. He didn’t call for revolution. He wanted former slaves and sons of former slave owners to sit together at the table of brotherhood. He dreamt of freedom and justice. He said “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today!”If King were with us today and we asked him to speak on disability I think he might say that he has another dream. A dream of a world in which disabled people are not judged by the shape of our bodies, or in which people with learning disabilities are not to be turned away from hotels and restaurants because of prejudice. He might dream of a world in which the physical barriers to buildings, transport and the environment exist no longer, and disabled people have the right to mobility and movement. He might dream of a world in which we automatically support disabled people to live in the community, who should no longer fear being shunted into residential homes against their wishes.King had his dream. We can have ours and we can make our dream come true. This Parliament, which I am proud to open today, is one more step to achieving that dream.Let’s live the dream. Thank you.。