北二外2012寒假听力答案

1.Why People Buy?Why are so many products displayed at the check-out counters in supermarkets? The store management has some good reasons. By the time the customer is ready to pay for a purchase, he or she has already made rational, thought-out decisions on what he or she needs and wants to buy. The customer feels that he or she has done a good job for choosing the items. The shopper is especially vulnerable at this point. The displays of candy, chewing gum, magazines and many other small things are very attractive. They persuade the shopper to buy something for emotional, not rational motives. For example, the customer is standing waiting to pay for her shopping; she may suddenly decide to buy some. This is exactly what the store and the manufacturer hope that the customer will do. The customer follows their plan.2.Test AnxietySpecial university counseling courses try to help students who are nervous when having exams. In these courses, counselors try to help students by teaching them how to manage test anxiety. At some universities, students take tests to measure their anxiety. If the tests show their anxiety is high, the students can take a short course to help them deal with their tension. These courses teach students how to relax their bodies. Students are trained to become calm in very tense situations. By controlling their nervousness they can let their minds work easily. Learned information then comes out without difficulty on a test. An expert at the University of California explains, “With almost all students, relaxation and less stress are felt after taking our program. Most of them experience better control during their tests. Almost all have some improvement. With some the improvement is very great.”3. A Social CrisisFor many people, a healthy society is dependent upon stable family life. Some would argue that in fact the stable family unit forms the foundation of civilization. Yet in Britain, for some years now, the traditional family scene has been changing. These days, sex before marriage, one-parent families, and divorce are common facts of life in almost every social sphere. Many people think that things were much better in the old days when normal family life involved one mother, one father, two children and a strict moral code. People living together instead of marrying is another big break with the tradition. In some regions and among some communities there is also great tolerance of the relationships between gay people. In Britain today an increasing number of elderly people are left to look after themselves. And one-parent families often face a hard time. Many women have limited opportunities to earn a good income while looking after children. Some social commentators blame the disintegration of the traditional family structure to waves of juvenile crime and drug abuse.4.The Cost of EducationStudents from other countries have financial problems to overcome. Because students in most international programs need to have a sponsor, they work hard to earn scholarships or special loans. International students understand the value of going to school in another country. They also know that it is difficult. However, it is usually possible for students from abroad to work on university campuses to pay for some of the costs of their education. Some people believe that students value their education more if they work for it. Students must sometimes ask themselves whether the cost of education is worth it. Each student spends great amounts of money that he or she might have to work for years to repay. The student spends years of time studying and learning. What are the benefits? How does education affect the student’s future?5.Nature Recycles waterNature has a perfect system for recycling water. Water is used again and again. It falls as rain. Then it goes to one of three places. It might sieves slowly through the soil as it soaks through into the natural reservoirs underground. It might disappear into the air by evaporating quickly. It might run off into streams, to rivers, to the oceans. There’s a problem with this recycling system. It’s a balance that can be easily upset by people. Nature’s recycling system can work well only if people work with the system, not against it. Some ways that people interfere with the nature are easy to understand. Dirty sewage water from homes and factories must not mix with the drinking water. People would get sick from drinking dirty water.6.Lighter BrainsYou may have thought that the electronic computer was the last word in modern technology. However, according to some people, the science of electronics may soon become the thing of the past. Copper cables carrying electric currents are already being replaced by glass fibers and laser beams for long-distance communication. It seems that the same optical revolution is about to take place in computer technology.A team lead by a professor of Edinburgh University in Britain has demonstrated a device which provides that a beam of light, as well as being used to carry information, can also be used to turn switches on and off. Each switch in an optical computer represents a stage in computation or processing of information. Optical computers will have two important advantages over the electronic machines in use today. First, they’ll be faster because light travels faster than electricity. Second, the optical switches will each process up to 10,000 pieces of information simultaneously. These faster, smaller, light-powered, man-made brains of the future will provide the artificial intelligence for which scientists have long been waiting.7.Old Cures Are Sometimes the BestRecent using an old medicine made from a plant has produced a promising result in treating hepatitis B victims. Hepatitis B kills 2 million people each year, and 10% of the survivors remain carriers. Some of these people may later die from cancer of the liver. Very little treatment is available, although in the west a special drug has proved of some use. In most developing countries, such treatment is generally too expensive. However, now there’s some hope. Researchers in India and the United States have been testing an ancient herbal remedy which has been widely used for over 2000 years for liver trouble. In the experiment, 37 hepatitis carriers were treated with this remedy. These results are very encouraging. Especially this herbal medicine appears to have no harmful side effect.8.No Tobacco DayPeople in all parts of the world observe No Tobacco Day. It’s the day when the World Health Organization appeals to people to stop using tobacco products. The WHO hopes if people stop smoking cigarettes for one day, they would stop permanently. Mr. Smith, an official of WHO, says that he has observed an important development in recent years. In industrial countries, the number of smokers has been falling about 1% a year. But in developing countries, the number has been rising 2% a per. He says this is the result of increased efforts by tobacco companies to sell their products in developing countries. The World Health Organization has approved plans to help reach its goal of a smoker-free world. One urges governments to offer tobacco farmers a chance to earn money by growing other crops. Another involves improved public information campaigns about the danger of smoking.9.The Flying Eye ClinicNot long ago in Jordan, a team of American doctors restored the sight of a young girl whose eye was blinded in an accident. The operation was not performed in a hospital, but on an airplane that landed only hours before. The Flying Eye Clinic was founded by private corporations and individuals as well as by the US Agency for international development. Since its first mission in Panama in 1982, the Flying Clinic has completed 98 tours in 62 countries. The plane is not just a flying hospital; it is a mobile school, too. Since 1982, nearly 10,000 doctors around the world have been trained in the airplane’s classrooms on and off the plane. There are half million blind people in the world today. And many millions more, whose eye disorders left untreated, may end in blindness. With the teaching and treatment the Flying Eye Clinic delivers, many of these people can have the hope that one day they may regain and retain their eyesight.10.Sugar Cane WasteSugar cane growers in Thailand are learning how to produce large amounts of electrical power from sugar cane waste. Many sugar factories in the world already use sugar cane waste to make some form of energy. The waste usually is burned to produce steam or small amount of electricity for use in the factory itself. However, with improved technology, much more electricity can be produced. In Hawaii, for example, sugar cane waste is used to produce more than 118 million watts of electricity. The electricity is sold to other businesses. The same technology is being tested in Thailand. The experiment will cost more than $1 million. If it’s successful, Thailand’s sugar factory could be selling electricity as well as sugar in the near future. The new technology uses more than just the waste that remains after the juice is removed in the factory. It also uses leaves and other parts of the sugar cane plant that are left in the field and burned.11.At the Grand HotelWhenever I go to Westgate, I stayed at the Grand Hotel. In spite of its name, it’s not very grand, but it’s cheap, clean and comfortable. On my last visit, the manager told me that I could have the same room that I always have. But he added apologetically that I might find it a little noisy. I did not mind this at all. During the first day, I hardly notice the noise at all. The following afternoon, I borrowed a book from the hotel library and went back to my room to read. I’d no sooner sat down than I heard someone hammering loudly at the wall. At first, I paid no attention. But after a while, I began to feel very uncomfortable. My clothes were slowly being covered with fine white powder. Soon there was so much dust in the room that I began to cough. The hammering was getting louder and bits of plaster were coming away from the wall. I went downstairs immediately to complain to the manager. We both returned to the room, but everything was very quiet. As we stood there looking at each other, I felt rather ashamed of myself for having dragged him all this way up for nothing. All of a sudden, the hammering began again and a large brick landed on the floor. Looking up we saw that a sharp metal tool had forced its way through the wall, making a very large hole right above my bed.12.Urban planners are experts on cities. They collect information about population growth, housing, transportation, water and jobs. Urban planners offer reports based on scientific facts of the living conditions in the world cities. For instance, one report says that people in Seoul work the hardest. People there generally work 46 hours a week at their jobs. Workers in Bangkok, Pompeii and Hong Kong all spend more than 40 hours a week at their jobs. In New York and Paris, the average work week is 38 hours. Which workers earn the most money? Those living in Zurich earn $446 each week. Workers in Tokyo earn $328 a week. Workers in Beijing earn $10 a week.。