英语专业四级听写120篇
专四听写200篇
四级听写1. InsectsNobody likes insects. They are annoying and sometimes dangerous. Some of them bite us and give us diseases; others bite us and give us big red spots. Some do not bite, but just fly around our heads or crawl around our houses and gardens. /Indeed, we do not like most of them except those lovely butterflies. / But insects are interesting. Firstly, they are very old animals. Three hundred and twenty million years ago, there were no man in the world, but there were insects. Today, on every square mile of land there are millions of them flying and crawling about. Secondly, insects are very adaptable to their surroundings, so that today there are about a million different species in the world.Why then do some people try to kill insects? After all, not many of them hurt us. The reason is that they eat so much of man’s food and there are so many of them. (158 words)2. A Protest against InjusticeIt all started on a bus one day in 1955. A black woman was returning home from work after a long hard day. She sat near the front of the bus because she was tired and her legs hurt. But in those days, black people could sit only in the back of the bus. So the driver ordered the woman to give up her seat. But the woman refused, and she was arrested.Incidents like this had happened before. But no one had ever spoken out against such treatment of blacks. This time, however, a young black preacher organized a protest. He called on all black citizens to stop riding the buses until the laws were changed. He led the protest movement to end such injustice to the blacks. The protest marked the beginning of the civil rights movement in the United States. (146 words)3. Foolish TestsCenturies ago, a man accused of a crime / often had to go through a strange test. / In one country, for instance, a metal bar was dropped into boiling oil. / The prisoner had to put his hand into the oil and take out the bar. / It was believed that the oil would not burn an innocent man. / If the prisoner got his hand burned, he would be found guilty of the crime he was accused of. / Another foolish method was used in Europe. / When a man was accused of a crime, he was thrown into a pool or river. / If he floated, people declared that he was guilty. / They took him out of the water and punished him. / However, if the man sank, people claimed that he was innocent. / They pulled him out of the water quickly and released him. / We do not know what would have happened / if the man had learned to swim under the water. (160 words)4. Why Do People Want Work?People work because they need money to live. / They need money for food and clothes and to pay for their houses, flats or the rooms where they live. / People need money formany different things / and they can earn money if they work. / Work makes people feel important. / Work makes them feel that they are useful. /But machines can not do many things that people used to do. / Technology is giving us more cars, roads and food but less work. / Many businessmen believe that we will soon have robots / which will work all the time. / The robots will never complain or stop work. / Some scientists think that by the year 2025 / intelligent animals will do the work that many people do now. /In tomorrow’s world, / people will need to learn new things / because life will be changing so fast. / People will have to change their ideas about work. / (152 words)5. The Great DepressionThe stock market crash in October 1929 / marked the beginning of the worst economic crisis in American history. / For the first year, the economy fell very slowly. / But it dropped sharply in 1931 and 1932. / By the end of 1932, the economy collapsed almost completely. /During the three years following the stock market crash, / the American gross national product dropped by almost half. / Millions of people lost their jobs. / Tens of thousands lost their homes. / Men with wives and children begged for money on the streets. / During the next several years, / a large part of the richest nation on earth / learned what it meant to be poor. /Hard times found their way into every area and every job. / Workers struggled as factories closed. / Farmers hit with falling prices and natural disasters / were forced to give up their farms. / Businessmen lost their stores, and sometimes their homes. / All the gains of the 1920s were washed away. (154 words)6. Learning to describeAll through my boyhood and youth, I was known as an idle person, / and yet I was always busy with my own private affairs, / which was to learn to write. / I always kept two books in my pocket, / one to read, and the other to write in. / As I walked, my mind was busy / fitting what I saw with appropriate words. / When I sat by the roadside, / I would either read, / or note down the features of the scene / or write some lines of verse. / Thus I lived with words. / What I wrote was not for future use, / but was written consciously for practice. / Description was the principal field of my exercise. That was a proficiency that tempted me, and I practiced to acquire it. To anyone with sense, there is always something worth describing. (138 words)7. Angel FallsAngel Falls, deep in the jungles of Latin America, is the highest waterfall in the world. / It is over 1,000 feet higher / than any other fall in the world. / Imagine that you are goingthere by plane. / For hundreds of miles you fly southeast over green plains, / mountains with forests, and high plateaus. / Suddenly you see a silver thread in the distance. / As your plane flies closer, / you see water falling over half a mile straight down the cliff. / It is such an impressive sight that you will never forget it. /No one knew about the waterfall until 1930, / when James Angel, an American pilot, / was flying over the mountains and canyons in the area. / He suddenly saw a waterfall. / The water seemed to be dropping straight out of the clouds. /In 1941 an American expedition explored and measured the falls. / From the top to the bottom, / the water falls more than 3,200 feet. / (152 words)8. Fixing a Flat TireI was coming home along the motorway the other night / when I heard a sudden bang. / Immediately I realized that I had a flat tire. /I managed to stop without falling off, / but I still had the problem of what to do about the tire. / With a motorbike, you have to take the wheel off, / find the hole, cover it with a little piece of rubber, / then put the whole lot hack together again. / It takes ages and you get very dirty. / As I didn't have any choice, I set to work. / It didn't take long to get the wheel off / and it wasn't too hard to remove the tire from the wheel. / Finding the hole took longer / but the fun really began / when I had to put the wheel back on the bike. / You’ve no idea how easy it is to lose / small pieces of a motorbike in the dark. / (155 words)9. Pace of Public SpeechPace refers to how fast or how slow you speak. / If you speak too fast, you may be difficult to follow. / If you speak too slow, / you risk losing the attention of your audience. / If audience attention seems to be drifting away, / try picking up your pace. / Usually you don't know / that you have been going too fast until someone tells you so / after your speech is over. / If you are told this, guard against this mistake in the future. / In your next speech / write reminders on your note cards to slow down. /Ideally the speaker varies his or her pace. / Speaking fast and then slowing down helps keep the attention of the audience. / Also, don't forget the benefits of pausing. / A pause before or after a dramatic moment is a highly effective technique. / The next time you are watching a comedian on television, / watch how he or she uses pauses. / (154 words)10. The Wolf and the ShepherdA wolf had long hung about a flock of sheep, / and had done them no harm. / The shepherd, however, had his suspicions, / and for a while was always on the lookout for him / as a dangerous enemy. / But as the wolf continued for a long time to follow his flock / without making any attempt to annoy them, / the shepherd began to look upon him more as a friend than an enemy. / One day the shepherd happened to have to go into the city, / sohe entrusted the sheep to the care of the wolf. / The wolf saw his opportunity and fell upon the sheep and ate them up. / On his return, the shepherd saw his flock destroyed / and exclaimed: "What a fool I am! / I deserve no less for trusting my sheep to a wolf! " / The moral of the fable is: / There is more danger from a pretended friend than from an open enemy. / (159 words)11. A Strange ManThere is a story about a man who behaves very strangely. / What others like, he dislikes, / and what most people enjoy, he doesn’t care for. /He is extremely particular about selecting the correct tie to wear with his suit, / but it doesn't bother him if his shirt is dirty / or his suit isn’t pressed. /He always sees the negative side of things. / He finds fault with the best movie of the year, / but stays awake until two o’clock in the morning / watching very old movies on television. / Even his taste in food is peculiar. / He drinks warm water and cold tea, / eats raw eggs and can't stand fresh fruit.Last week his uncle died and left him a million dollars. / In his will, the old man insisted that the nephew spend / half the inheritance within the next five years. / If he didn’t, the money would be given to a university. / Everyone is anxious to know what the nephew will do. / (163 words)12. Why Should I Take a Part-time job?The first obvious reason is the money. / I am not one of those rich kids / whose parents could give them cars as birthday presents. / My parents have worked all their lives / and saved every penny to pay my tuition and living expenses. / Although they would be willing to give me some pocket money, / if I asked, I prefer to earn it myself. / I feel good that I can in a way / lighten the burden of my parents.The second reason is the experience my part-time job provides. / Sooner or later, I'll have to enter the job market and sell myself. / And if I am to sell myself for a good price, / experience will make a difference. / While working, I get to know people / employers as well as workers. / I learn how to deal with the bosses / and how to get along with my fellow workers. / All this experience gained from my part-time job / will be valuable to my future. / (169 words)13. BadmintonBadminton is a fast game played by two or four persons. / It can be played both indoors and outdoors. / The outdoor game is more suitable for family enjoyment at home. / Badminton is an ancient game, which took its name from the place where the game was played indoors for the first time. / There are several explanations of how the modern game began. / One is that English army officers brought the game home from India in the1870s and it soon became popular in England. /Badminton trains the player's ability to react quickly with his eyes, his mind, his feet and his hand. / Becoming a good player requires physical fitness and mental effort. / Constant practice and habits of concentration and confidence are necessary. / The great players of the game have often been great sportsmen. / This is apparent in their conduct both on and off the court. / (146 words)14. Animated CartoonsWhen we see Mickey Mouse on the screen, / we all know that he is not a real mouse at all. / Yet like a living creature, he moves and talks. / How can Mickey Mouse move around, / tell jokes and do tricks in an animated cartoon? /The first thing that needs to be done / is to divide the script or the movie story into sections / and illustrate each section separately. / A full-length cartoon feature needs hundreds of thousands of drawings. / When all the drawings are completed, they are photographed by a motion picture camera. /There is much more to a cartoon film than drawings. / It sometimes takes hundreds of artists to work for years to produce one. / Actors and singers are selected to give voices to the drawn pictures. / Music is specially composed and fitted into the movie. / No wonder cartoon characters are fun to watch, / whether seen at home on television or in a movie theater. / (158 words)15. The Nursing StaffThe physicians in a hospital form the core of the medical staff. / But they could not provide effective medical care to their patients without the help of numerous nurses. / For the patients, the nursing staff is particularly important. / Nurses are usually in close contact with patients / as long as they are in the hospital. /The nursing staff is usually quite large and diverse. / The general term “nurse” refers to a person / trained to offer bedside care to sick persons. /A nurse does not study for as many years as a doctor. / However, she must be very dedicated. / Caring for the sick requires a great deal of patience and concern. / Most nurses work long days, / and they often must work at odd hours or during the night. / Serving as a nurse in a hospital can be a very rewarding job. / But not every person is suited to become one. / (151 words)16. The SupermarketIn almost all supermarkets there are shopping carts with a special space to put the baby. In the early days, before there were carts, it was noticed that as soon as a woman shopper had her arms full of goods, she stopped buying. Thus carts were introduced. Later a space for the baby was provided in the cart because it was observed that with the babysitting comfortably in the cart the mother felt less need to hurry through the store and consequently bought more.The average American housewife goes to the supermarket twice a week. On the average she spends one or two hours there each week. Women don’t go to the supermarket just to buy food. Visiting the supermarket is the housewife's chance to get away from home for a while. In the supermarket she feels that she is part of the outside world. She gets to know all the new products. Frequently she meets a number of her friends in the supermarket. (167 words)17. Changes in FashionsWomen's fashions tend to change more rapidly and radically than men’s. In the early 1900s, all women wore their skirts down to the ankle. Today, skirt length varies from floor-length to ten inches above the knee. Women’s shoes have also gone through all sorts of changes in the last seventy years. For example, boots for women were very common around the turn of the century. Then, for years, they were not considered fashionable. Today they are back in style again in all colors, lengths, and materials. In fact, today's women can wear all sorts of clothes, even slacks and shorts, on almost any occasion. While all of these changes were taking place in women's fashions, men's clothing remained pretty much the same until a couple of years ago. In fact, most men still wear the traditional suit though bright colors and varieties in cut are now more common. (153 words)18. The Future of the CinemaThe cinema became the greatest entertainment industry in the world because millions of people paid to see films. But today, in many countries, more and more people prefer to watch television. In countries where a lot of people watch television, fewer and fewer films are made, and there are fewer and fewer cinemas to show them. But this does not mean that there will come a time when no films are made and there are no cinemas left.The cinema did not really become a form of art for many years. Most films were made for entertainment only. But a number of film directors have always tried to do more than entertain. And their films have been works of art. In the future this kind of film will become more and more important. The cinema, which began as entertainment, may perhaps live on as art. (151 words)19. Football in EnglandWhat is surprising about football in England is the great knowledge of the game which even the smallest boys seem to have. They can tell you the names of the players on most of the important teams. They know the results of large numbers of matches. They will tell you, with an air of authority, who will win such and such a match, and their opinion is usually as valuable as that of men three or four times their age.Most schools in England take football seriously. They believe that education is not merely a matter of filling a boy's mind with facts in the classroom. It also means character training. And one of the best ways of training character is by means of games, especially such team games as football. The schools, therefore, regularly arrange games and matches for their pupils. (145 words)20. LifeLife is difficult. Life is a series of problems. What makes life difficult is that the process of facing and solving problems is a painful one. Problems, depending on their nature, cause in us sadness or loneliness or regret or anger or fear. And since life poses an endless series of problems, life is always difficult and full of pain as well as joy.Yet, it is in this process of solving problems that life has its meaning. It is only because of problems that we grow mentally. When we desire to encourage the growth of the human spirit, we challenge and encourage the human capacity to solve problems, just as in school we set problems for our children to solve. It is through the pain of meeting and working out problems that we learn. It is for this reason that wise people learn not to dread but actually to welcome the pain of problems. (157 words)21. Going on a TourHave you ever been a tourist? If so, did you enjoy every part of your tour? Your tour was almost certainly easier and more comfortable than the journeys of a hundred years ago. Today you can fly in comfortable planes and stay in good hotels. The countries that you visit all try to make your tour as enjoyable as possible.Not very long ago, a tourist had to be either rich or ready to bear very rough conditions. Today it is not necessary to be rich in order to be a tourist. More and more people leave their own countries for holidays in foreign lands. The tourist industry has become very important.At present most of these tourists go to countries in Europe. Italy usually attracts most tourists. Mountain lovers go to Switzerland in winter and sun-lovers from northern lands crowd the shores of the Mediterranean Sea in summer. (153 words)22. My First Day AbroadWhen the plane finally touched down on the runway, I was terribly scared. I didn't know how they were going to receive me. At the airport I passed through immigration and customs, and entered a big hall. Sitting next to me were a young man and a woman and three children running about. A singing group sang a welcome song for a group of students from America. I was green with jealousy and was very disappointed since nobody was there waiting for me! I found a telephone, called Friendship Ambassadors, and told them I had arrived. Later that night the founder of the organization told me that they hadn'treceived my telegram, so they couldn't meet me on my arrival. I felt better when some warm-hearted people treated me very kindly that night. I will never forget my first experience going abroad. (147 words)23. Senior CitizensPeople over the age of sixty-five in the United States are called senior citizens. The number of these people is increasing rapidly because people are living longer than before. Their life is different from that of younger Americans. Most of them are retired or no longer work full time.For many senior citizens, the years after sixty-five are not enjoyable. They feel that their lives lose meaning after retirement. In addition, they may feel lonely being away from their families and the contacts they had in their work. Moreover, they become more worried about their health as they grow older, and about their safety if they live in big cities. Other senior citizens enjoy their lives. They feel free to do what they were not able to when they were working and raising families. They now have time to enjoy hobbies and sports and travel. (148 words)24. Thanksgiving DayThe American Thanksgiving Day goes back to 1621. In that year a special feast was prepared in Plymouth, Massachusetts. The colonists who had settled there had left England to find religious freedom. They experienced many difficulties in coming across the Atlantic. After arriving in the new land, they were assisted by the Indians. They had much to be thankful for. Their religious practices were no longer forbidden. They learned to adjust their farming habits to the climate and soil. When they selected the fourth Thursday of November for their Thanksgiving celebration, they invited the Indians to join them in dinner and a prayer of gratitude for the new life. They recalled the group of 102 men, women and children who left England. They remembered their dead who did not live to see the shores of Massachusetts. They reflected on the 35-day journey which tested their strength. (146 words)25. Chinese FoodThe first time I ever ate Chinese food I loved it. From then on, it tasted better and better. The first thing I noticed was the fresh taste of the meat and vegetables. When I learned more about the food, I began to understand why it is so.In ancient times, China lost much of its wood due to overpopulation and poor management of its forests. Wood became very expensive and hard to get, so the Chinese had to either find something else to use, or learn how to use wood better. In order to use as little wood as they could, they started cutting their meat and vegetables into small pieces before they put them into the hot oil. In that way the food cooked faster and they savedwood. The food kept its fresh flavor, and it’s this flavor that attracts people to the art of Chinese cooking. (152 words)26. SugarSugar has been known to man for at least 3,000 years, but has come into common use only in modern times. Until quite recently, it was considered a medicine and a luxury for the very rich.But what exactly is sugar? Of course, most of us recognize it immediately as the sweet material we put in coffee or cakes. This common form of sugar is derived from such plants as the sugar cane. But in fact there are many kinds of sugar, and the chemist recognizes hundreds of different varieties.About 90% of the sugar produced is used as food. Only 10% is used in industry for purposes other than food production. Yet sugar has great possibilities for use as the basis of chemicals. It can even be used for making plastics. In the future, these potential uses of sugar will certainly be developed more fully than in the past. (149 words)27. Working WivesShould married women work outside the home? The question seems almost odd today although it was a serious one in the past. More and more married women are working and for most of them the reason is obvious. They must work if their families are to survive in an age of soaring inflation and unemployment. But what about those who don't really have to work? Do the rewards justify their efforts? The answer is pretty clearly yes.In families in which the wife has a choice, the extra paycheck may ease the financial burden on her husband. For young couples, it may mean the possibility of buying a house of their own. Unless the wife works, buying a house is simply out of the question. Another important reason is that a job provides a wife with additional security, psychological as well as financial, in the event of the illness or death of her husband. (157 words)28. Benefits of Urban LifeIn spite of the city's image as an unhealthy place, city living often provides benefits that country living lacks. That's why people living in urban areas often live longer than those in the country.One factor which seems to contribute to their long life is exercise. In the cities it is often faster and less frustrating to walk short distances than to wait for a bus. Even taking public transportation often requires some walking. Smaller apartment houses have no elevators and so tenants must climb stairs. City dwellers usually have to walk to local supermarkets. Since parking space is hard to find, there is often no alternative to walking.On the other hand, those who live in the country do not have to walk every day. In fact, the opposite is often true. To go to work, school or almost anywhere else, they must ride incars. (152 words)29. Disadvantages of Living in Big CitiesAlthough big modern cities provide people with many facilities, they certainly have their disadvantages.The first serious problem is the traffic. During the rush hours, wherever you look it’s people, people, people. All the streets are jammed with packed buses and endless lines of cars. As a result, traffic accidents often occur. Next comes the problem of pollution. Factories and vehicles are constantly giving off harmful smoke, so that urban people seem to have forgotten what fresh air is like. Every year, millions of people die of cancer or other diseases caused by air-pollution.Apart from these, there are many more. For example, there is the housing problem. And another is the high crime rate. Finally, urban dwellers are so far away from nature that most of them just lose track of seasons !(140 words)30. The Great American GameBaseball is called the great American game. Hardly a boy in the U. S. has grown up without playing it. The game is so much a part of American life that its terms have become the common everyday speech of the people. Scores of baseball terms are used by people who may never have seen a game in their life.During World War II, Germans dressed in American uniforms turned up behind the American lines. Many of them spoke English so well that they passed themselves off as American soldiers. However, the U. S. Army found a way to tell which were false and which were real. They halted strange soldiers at check-points and asked them questions about baseball and some of the star players. Genuine Americans could answer the questions easily. But the Germans, who couldn't, were promptly made prisoners of war. (146 words)31. The U.S. Coast GuardThe U. S. Coast Guard does what its name says. It has responsibility for many different duties. The Coast Guard can be found at many large lakes in America and in coastal waters. It enforces laws controlling navigation, immigration, and fishing. It enforces other laws that affect the thousands of privately-owned boats in the United States. Coast Guard planes, boats, and helicopters search for missing boats and rescue people in dangerous situations. It also does scientific research on the ocean and clears ice from rivers or lakes, so boats can travel safely.One of the Coast Guard's most important duties now is to stop drug trafficking into the United States. Armed Coast Guard boats use radio and radar to find boats that may carry drugs. They stop the boats suspected of carrying drugs and search them. They seizethe drugs and arrest the people if they find any illegal drugs aboard. (158 words)32. Encounter with StrangersTalking with a stranger will often enrich our knowledge. For instance, a gardener I met in a park told me more about how plants grow than I had ever learned before. Once a taxi driver invited me to tea at his home and helped me learn about a way of life different from my own.Through talking with strangers, we can learn something about ourselves, for an encounter with a stranger, at its best, is a meeting of hearts and minds. To a stranger, we may say things that we have always wanted to say, but never dared mention to our family members or friends, and thus see ourselves through new eyes.Meeting a stranger by chance can result in a life-long friendship. Thirty years ago I met a stranger at a station while waiting for a train, and we’ve been friends ever since. Come to think of it, weren't nearly all our friends once strangers? (160 words)33. LawsBefore laws were written, there was no sure way of knowing what was permitted and what was forbidden. One judge might apply one set of rules to a case while another judge might apply completely different rules to a similar case. It all depended on the personal judgment of one person.Today we follow the custom of recording our laws. Rules passed by our lawmakers are printed and available for everyone to see. Unless laws are publicly available, we do not regard them as binding.Each of us is subject to many different sets of laws. Some laws say what is permitted, such as how fast you may drive. Other laws say what is required, such as paying a federal income tax. Still other laws say what is prohibited, such as smoking in elevators. In the United States, federal laws apply to everyone and state laws apply to activities within each state. (154 words)34. What Can We Do about the Water Pollution Problem?Water pollution has become a serious problem. Industrial wastes have already made many rivers lifeless. Oil spills in the seas are killing enormous numbers of fish and birds. What is more, polluted water is an increasing danger to public health. It causes people to become ill with all kinds of diseases.What can we do about it in order to survive on earth? First, we can make great efforts to clean up polluted water and limit further pollution. Second, we can insist that water pollution control laws be passed and strictly enforced. Third, we can personally help to prevent water pollution by not throwing anything into streams or lakes. Finally, we can also protect ourselves against polluted water. If we go on a camping trip, for instance, we。
2023年6月英语专四听写原文
2023年6月英语专四听写原文[注意：以下是2023年6月英语专四听写原文，请仔细阅读并准确听写。
]Passage 1:Good morning, everyone. Today, I would like to talk about the importance of time management in our daily lives. Time management refers to the ability to plan and control how we spend our time effectively. It is a crucial skill that can greatly impact our productivity and overall well-being.Firstly, effective time management allows us to prioritize tasks and allocate our time wisely. By setting clear goals and deadlines, we can focus on the most important and urgent tasks, ensuring that we make progress towards our objectives. This helps us avoid procrastination and ensures that we complete our tasks in a timely manner.Secondly, time management helps reduce stress and improve work-life balance. When we manage our time effectively, we can allocate sufficient time for work, leisure, and personal activities. This allows us to maintain a healthy balance between our professional and personal lives, leading to increased satisfaction and overall well-being.Furthermore, effective time management enhances our efficiency and productivity. By organizing our tasks and creating a schedule, we can eliminate distractions and stay focused on the task at hand. This enables us to complete tasks more efficiently and achieve better results in a shorter amount of time.In addition, time management enables us to make better decisions. When we have a clear understanding of how we spend our time, we can identify areas where we may be wasting time or engaging in unproductive activities. This awareness allows us to make adjustments and prioritize activities that align with our goals and values.To conclude, time management plays a crucial role in our daily lives. It helps us prioritize tasks, reduce stress, improve work-life balance, enhance efficiency, and make better decisions. By developing effective time management skills, we can maximize our productivity and overall well-being. Thank you.Passage 2:Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Today, I would like to discuss the impact of social media on society. Social media has become an integral part of our lives, revolutionizing the way we communicate, share information, and interact with others. However, it also brings about various challenges and concerns that need to be addressed.Firstly, social media has greatly facilitated communication and connectivity. It allows us to stay connected with friends and family, regardless of geographical barriers. We can easily share updates, photos, and videos, and engage in real-time conversations. This has undoubtedly enriched our social lives and expanded our networks.Secondly, social media has become a powerful platform for information dissemination. News and events can be shared instantly, reaching a wide audience within seconds. This has democratized the flow of information andempowered individuals to voice their opinions and raise awareness about important issues.However, social media also poses certain challenges. One major concern is the spread of misinformation and fake news. With the ease of sharing information, it becomes difficult to distinguish between reliable sources and false information. This can lead to the spread of rumors and the distortion of facts, which can have serious consequences on individuals and society as a whole.Another challenge is the impact of social media on mental health. The constant exposure to carefully curated and idealized versions of others' lives can lead to feelings of inadequacy and low self-esteem. Moreover, the addictive nature of social media can result in excessive screen time and a decrease in real-life social interactions, leading to feelings of isolation and loneliness.In conclusion, social media has revolutionized the way we communicate and share information. It has brought numerous benefits, such as enhanced connectivity and information dissemination. However, it also poses challenges, including the spread of misinformation and negative effects on mental health. It is important for individuals and society to be aware of these challenges and find ways to mitigate their impact. Thank you.。
淘金币英语专业四级听写120篇 第五部分 91--94
91. The American DreamEach individual may define the American dream differently. But the general idea is that a person in the United States has the freedom to carry out his or her goals. It usually means a person has the chance to work hard, earn money and create a secure life. For many people, this means being able to get a good education, have a good job and own a house. The expression is often linked to immigrants who have come to this county seeking more freedom or a better life than they could have in their own countries.Some people would say that the United States Declaration of Independence first defined the American dream. It expressed why the American colonies decided to fight British colonial rule in order to become an independent nation. The Declaration of Independence states that all men are created equal, and that they have the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.92. How to Apply to an American CollegeThe American university system is one of the best in the world, but competition for admission can be steep. The application process itself is a labyrinth that most American students approach only with the help of school councilors, parents and peers. Above all else, applying to American colleges and universities requires patience and persistence.The application process consists of filling out the common application, writing a personal statement, and any necessary supplemental assays. In addition, all applicants are required to submit standardized test scores, letters of recommendation, high school transcripts, along with an application fee.You should study the web sites of schools that interest you. You can find information about how and when to apply, how much it will cost and whether any financial aid is available. And you may be able to apply online and pay the application charge with a credit card.93. Credit Cards on CampusMost undergraduates in the United States last year had at least one credit card. Half dad four or more. Borrowers who do not pay their credit card debt in full each month have to pay interest on whatever balance remains. In a time of economic downturn, college students are depending on credit cards more than ever. Many seem to use them to live beyond their means---to spend more than they have.However, a new law makes it harder for banks to give credit cards to people under 21. To get a credit card, they need a parent or other adult over 21 to accept joint responsibility. Or they need toshow they can repay their debts independently.Also, schools are urged to consider limiting the number of places on campus where companies can market credit cards. And they are urged to offer credit card and debt education and counseling sessions to all new students.94. AllowanceMany children first learn the value of money by receiving an allowance. The purpose is to let children learn from experience at an age when financial mistakes are not very costly.The amount of money that parents give to their children to spend differs from family to family. Timing is another consideration. Some children get a weekly allowance. Others get a monthly allowance. In any case, parents should make clear what, if anything, the child is expected to pay for with the money.At first, young children may spend all of their allowance soon after they receive it. If they do this, they will learn the hard way that spending must be done within a budget. Parents are usually advised not to offer more money until the next allowance. The object is to show young people that a budget demands choices between spending and saving. Older children may be responsible enough to save money for larger costs.。
专四听力练习原文[新版]
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专四听力训练原文专业四级标准听写二十篇TEM 4 Dictation PracticesPassage 1 SaltWe do not know when man first began to use salt, / but we do know that it has been used in many different ways throughout history. / Historical evidence shows, for example, that people who lived over 3,000 years ago ate slated fish. / Thousands of years ago in Egypt, salt was used to preserve the dead. /Stealing salt was considered a major crime during some periods of history. / In 18th century, for instance, / if a person was caught stealing salt, he can be put in jail. / History records that about ten thousand people were put in jail during that century for stealing salt. / About 150 years before, in the year 1553, / taking more salt that one was allowed to was punishable as a crime. / The offender’s ear was cut off.Salt was an important item on the table of royalty. / It was traditionally placed in front of the king when he sat down to eat. / Important guests at the king’s table were seated near the salt. / Less important guests were given seats farther away from it. / (175 words)Passage 2 PerceptionsAsk three people to look out of the same window at a busy street and tell you what they see. / Probably you will receive three different answers. / Each person sees the same scene, but each perceives something different about it. /Perceiving goes in our minds. / Of the three people who look out of the window / one may say that he sees a policeman giving a driver a ticket. / Another may say that he sees a rush –hour traffic jam at the street corner. / The third may tell you that he sees a woman trying to cross the street with four children. / For perception is the mind’s interpretation / of what the senses – in this case our eyes – tell us. /Many psychologists today are working to try to explain / just how a person experiences or perceive the world around him. / Using a scientific method these psychologists set up experiments: / they are trying to find out what makes different people / perceive totally different things about the same scene. / (164 words)Passage 3 BalloonsBalloons have been used for sport for about one hundred years. / There are two kinds of sport balloons: gas and hot air. / Hot air balloons are safer than gas balloons, / which may catch fire. / Hot air balloons are preferred by most balloonists in theUnited States because of their safety. / They are also cheaper and easier to manager than gas balloons. / Despite the ease of operating a balloon, / pilots must watch the weather carefully. / Sport balloon flights are best early in the morning / or late in the afternoon, when the wind is light. / Over the years, balloonists have tried unsuccessfully to cross the Atlantic. / It wasn't until 1978 that three American balloonists succeeded. / It took them just six days to make the trip / from their homes in the United States to Paris, France. / Their voyage captured the imagination of the whole world. / (143 words)Passage 4 You Found a Job, Now How do You Save Money?Saving your hard earned money can be difficult, / as most of us enjoy spending rather than saving, / I certainly had a tough time holding onto my money every payday. / When I got my first few paychecks, / right away I spent the cold, hard cash I’d earned by hard work. /But I quickly realized that this sort of spending wouldn’t really help me get the things I wanted. / So I made a pact with myself. I promise that before I did anything with the money, / I would deposit at least 50% of the money into my saving account. / That way, I eliminated the temptation to spend that money. /After I got used to saving my money, / it was much easier for me not to be tempted to buy things when I saw them. / WhenI saw a CD or video game that looked appealing, / I learned to ask myself, “Do I really need this?” / Asking this question helped me appreciate my money and not let it slip out of my wallet quite so fast. / (173 words)Passage 5 Online Health ForumThere are many aspects to health, illness and healing. / Among all the teachings there is one theme that is universal to them all / and that is the unquestionable benefit achieved by communicating with others about health and its related issues. / It is with this single philosophy in mind / that we have developed this site as a forum for communication. / Dealing with a medical concern is often difficult. / Connecting with others who are going through the same thing / can make a world of difference. / Our mission is to develop online communities to help you make those connections. / You can post questions, comments and respond to messages from others. / We’ve got various topics, and we’re adding more all the time. / If you don’t see the topic you are looking for, / just let us know and we will consider a message board for it. / We hope you decide to become a regular participant / and help to make this a great resource. / (158 words)Passage 6 WordsHow men first learn to invent words is unknown, / in other words, the origin of language is a mystery. / All we really knowthat is men, unlike animals, / somehow invented certain sounds to express thoughts and feelings, / actions and things, so that they can communicate with each other; / and that later they agreed upon certain signs, called letters, / which could be represent those sounds, and which could be written down. / Those sounds, whether spoken or written in letters, wer call words. / The power of words, then lies in their associations, / that is, the things they bring up before our minds. / Words become filled with meaning for us by experience; / and the longer wer live, the more we reminded of the glad and sad events / of our past by certain words wer read and learn, / the more the number of the words / that means something to us increase. / (149 words)Passage 7 Teacher-student RelationshipThe relationship between a teacher and a student can be either good or bad, helpful or harmful. / Either way, the relationship can affect the student for the rest of his life. / A good teacher-student relationship will make the teacher’s job worthwhile. / A bad relationship can discourage the student from learning / and make teaching an unpleasant task. /In order to have a good teacher-student relationship, / respect between teacher and student is very important. / If the teacher is too strict, he frightens the student. / If the teacher is too friendly, the student may become lazy and stop lear ning hard. / The teacher’s attitude and approach shouldbe in between those two extremes. / As for the student, his proper respect to the teacher must be shown all the time. / He should be eager to learn and willing to work hard. /In conclusion, a good teacher-student relationship can be beneficial to both. / The student absorbs knowledge eagerly and enjoyable, / and the teacher gains satisfaction from his work. / (163 words)Passage 8 NearsightednessWeak eyesight is a term that is generally used to refer to nearsighted eyes. / People who are nearsighted can see well at a short range, / but anything very far away is likely to be unclear. / The term “weak eyesight” is misleading, / for in nearsighted eyes the lens of the eye is actually too strong. / The nearsighted lens is so powerful that it focuses the light coming onto the eye so quickly. / Nearsightedness is common, and its growth may be graded; / often the unclearness of distant object is so slight at first / that a person may not recognize the condition. /Nearsightedness is frequently discovered first at school. / It is here that a student first realizes the difficulty of seeing words on the blackboard, / whereas others in the class have no trouble reading the blackboard at all. / After discovery, nearsightedness can easily be corrected. / You just needs a pair of glasses / which can decrease the power of the lens of theeye. / (161 words)Passage 9 Rice CookingRice is very much under appreciated in the United States. / With the exception of Asian cooking, / rice is usually a side dish or combined with other ingredients. / Rice is very nutritious, low cost and easy-to prepare food. / There are different types of rice available and the cooking time varies by type of rice. / Follow the package instructions for the amount of liquid necessary and the cooking times. / Both vary for each type of rice. / Regular white rice has been milled / to remove the hull comes in long, medium and short grains. / Long grained rice is the best for all-purpose use. / Brown rice has a pleasant nutty flavor and a firmer texture. / While white rice is cooked in about 15 minutes, / brown rice takes 45 to 50 minutes to cook. / When cooking rice do not be concerned if you have cooked rice left over. / There are some excellent recipes, which use cooked rice. / (151 words)Passage 10 First Sign of AIDSThe virus causing AIDS enters the blood and quickly penetrates certain white cells in the body. / At first there is often little or no trace of the virus at all. / This situation usually lasts for six to twelve weeks. / During this time the person is free of symptoms / and antibody tests are negative. / The first thing that happens after infection / is that many people develop a flue-like illness. / This may be severe enoughto look like glandular fever / with swollen glands in the neck and armpits, / tiredness, fever and night sweats. / Some of those white cells are dying, / virus is being released, / and for the first time the body is working hard to make correct antibodies. / At this stage the blood test will usually become positive. / Most people do not realize what is happening, / although when they later develop AIDS they look back / and remember it clearly. / Most people have produce antibodies in about twelve weeks. / (156 words)Passage 11 The Library of CongressThe Library of Congress is the national library of the United States. / It was founded in 1800 to serve the needs of the congressmen. / Today, it contains books, articles and documents on every subject imaginable. / Besides senators, congressmen and other government officials, / it serves libraries, researchers, artists and scientists throughout the country and the world. /The Library is one of the largest libraries in the world. / It has a collection of 74 million items which are housed in three buildings. / The bookshelves stretch for 350 miles. / Of the 18 million books, more than half are in languages other than English. /The main reading room is a great hall of marble pillars. / It is the center of activity in the library. / There is a computer catalog center with six terminals for quick access toinformation. / For greater speed and efficiency, / the library has installed an electric book –carrying system / that carries books from one building to another in only a few seconds. / (160 words)Passage 12 A Car Soccer RaceAmerican football is different from the European football / and some people think that it is better. / Now there’s a new kind of football or soccer which is played in America. / It’s called car soccer. / The players drive small cars, which are called Beetles. / The players try to catch the ball in their cars. / The cars are protected all since they often crash into each other. / The ball is larger than the usual one and the players are protected, too. / In 1985, the First European car soccer match took place in West Germany. / Teams from some countries in European played in the match. / The Beetles raced around the ground madly / while the spectators shouted “The ball is behind you”. / When the match ended, three cars had been crashed into pieces. / And the players as well as many of the spectators were badly hurt and had to be taken to hospital. / Will this car soccer become as popular as football? I doubt. / (160 words)Passage 13 Changes of Family LifeThe concept of family life has changed considerably over the years. / In earliest times, several generations lived togetherin clans, / which consisted of all living descendents and their husbands or wives. / These clans were almost totallyself-sufficient, / every member contributing in some way toward the survival of the group. / The men hunted and fished for food or sometimes maintained flocks of sheep or goats. / The women baked bread and roasted the meat their men provided. / Special members of the community were selected to make products like pottery, baskets and home weapons. / But with the development of greater varieties of food, clothing and shelter, / a single clan could no longer develop all the individual skills the group required. / Clans merged into larger societies and at the same time broke into smaller units consisting of married couples and their children. / Later the Industrial Revolution brought about even more important changes in family life. / New inventions brought shorter working hours for men and easier housekeeping routines for women. / Today a productive family life suggests not the group’s cooperative efforts of working together, / but the pleasant and meaningful sharing of its leisure. / (185 words)Passage 14 VitaminsIt was not until the beginning of this century that it was recognized / that certain substances were essential in the diet to prevent or cure some diseases. / These substances are now known as vitamins. / They are vital for growth, good health, / and maintenance of the normal functions of the body. / A well-balanced diet should provide all the vitamins we normally require. / Those of us who are fortunate enough to be able to buy sufficient food / should not suffer from vitamin deficiency./ However, for various reasons, / some people do not maintain a balanced diet. / People often lose their appetite because of illness. / People living alone may not bother to eat proper meals, / and people on a diet may not eat sufficient quantities of necessary foods. / Moreover, modern methods of preserving, freezing, and long-term storage of food, / together with overcooking, can destroy many of the vitamins. / (145 words)Passage 15 CometsIn recent years scientists’ investigation of comets has increased / because of growing interest in the origin of the sun and planets. / Scientists want to learn how comets are formed. / They think that such information will help explain the origin of the solar system. / The word “comet” comes from Greek and means “hairy object”. / In history comets have a special place. / People believed that they brought news of death, destruction or military victories. / The tails of comets provide viewers with spectacular sights at night. / Comet tails are millions of kilometers long. / The tails frequently reach lengths of 250 million kilometers and more. / The most famous comet of history is called Halley’s Comet, which appears every 76 years. / It was named for Edward Halley, a British astronomer. / He predicted the appearance of the comet in 1758, 16 years after his deat h. / Halley’s Comet is extremely bright and has two tails. / In the 20th century it returned in 1910 and 1986. / (159 words)Passage 16 Mobile Phone EtiquetteThe mobile phone has created a new way of life. / It gives us the opportunity to reach people when and wherever we like. / But when mobile phones become as commonplace as wristwatches, / it seems they are creating embarrassing situations. / People let their phones ring in restaurants, theaters or business meetings. / People loudly discuss very personal issues over their phones while strangers are around them. / People spend all their time in the presence of friends / paying more attention to those at the other end of their mobile phones. / By now, everyone knows that mobile phone etiquette is a real problem. / These are tips for being a good mobile citizen. / Firstly, remember to check your phone is off at activities. / Secondly, respect the people around you when you make or take calls in public. / Thirdly, don’t answer your c ell phone while talking with another person / unless that phone call is more important than the person you are with. / Follow these rules and you’ll be a responsible mobile phone user by being considerate to others.Passage 17 Reduce, Reuse and RecycleIn recent years there has been an increase awareness of the importance of recycling. / The three Rs to keep in mind / for a cleaner environment are: reduce, reuse, and recycle. / Reducing is the best way to protect the environment. / However, if you can’t reduce something, reuse it and if you can’t reuse it, recycle it. / Reducing waste means shopping with the environment in mind. / Consider the environmental impact ofeach product before you buy it. / Make a list of what you need before you go shopping; / this will reduce impulse buying. / Avoid buying things that can’t be recycled. / Learning to reuse is easy after a little practice. / For example, you can reuse shopping bags. / Buy durable, high quality goods for a longer life outside the landfill. / Although durable goods may cost a little more at first, / they will save your money and help save the environment in the long run. / Before throwing anything away, think about how each item can be reused. / (162 words)Passage 18 Mercy KillingSome people hold that for patients with painful and terminal disease mercy killing is a solution, / for it will allow them to die a peaceful death and it seems to benefit everybody: / the patients themselves, their relatives, the medical staff, / and the patients who are waiting for hospital beds. / But mercy killing is still a controversial issue. / Those who are strongly against it hold / that the possibility of abuse will expose sick people to all kinds of danger. / At present, many societies and organization have been formed in the world to promote mercy killing / but in no country has it been legalized. / However, in the Netherlands the society and the courts tend to tolerate doctor-assisted suicide / if strict criteria are met. / In 1995 about 2.3% of all Dutch deaths, or 3118 cases, / were attributed to mercy killing by government studies. / A few cases of mercy killing are also reported in the U.S. / although the majority of the public are against it. / (161 words)Passage 19 WorryWorry is like blood pressure. / You need a certain level to live, but too much can kill you. / People who worry too much suffer. / For all their hard work, for all their humor and willingness to laugh at themselves, / for all theirself-awareness, worries just cannot achieve peace of mind. / Worry is amazingly common. / At least one in four of us –about 65 million Americans / –will meet the criteria for an anxiety disorder at some point in our lifetime. / Even those individuals whose lives are going well / may worry excessively on occasion. / And yet, worry is a very treatable condition. / Most people today are not aware of all that we have learned about worry in the last 50 years. / We’ve come to understand different types of worry and the underlying triggers. / Worry may accompany simple shyness, depression of generalized anxiety disorder. / Each kind of worry responds to specific and powerful techniques. / (151 words)Passage 20 The Attitude of GratitudeThanksgiving Day is a day for giving thanks to family and friends in the United States. / Some people think Thanksgiving is the most important holiday of the year / because they believe the two most important words in the English are “thank you”. / For business success, a “thank you” tells a prospect or partner / that you are appreciative of what he has just done. / And that means you have an interest in that person / and the business relationship as well. / For social interaction,expressing gratitude is equally important to show / how you value the other person and the social relationship you have with him. / Therefore, “thank you” is a bonding phrase. / Additionally, giving thanks is most important for out own pursuit of happiness. / Whatever you have, you can either appreciate of not. / If you appreciate it and really notice that you have it, it will bring you happiness. / However, if you take it for granted, and focus on things you don’t have, / what you do have won’t bring you hap piness. / (169 words)。
英语专四听写50篇
英语专四听写英语专四听写01ReadingNowadays few of us read books after we leave school.This is rather disturbing, for one should know that books are no less necessary to one’s mental life than fresh air is to one’s physical life. From good reading we can derive companionship, experience and instruction. A good book is our faithful friend. It can increase our contentment when we are cheerful and happy, and lessen our pain when we are sad or lonely. Books can also offer us a wide range of experience. Few of us can travel far from home or live long over 100,’s more, but all of us can live many lives through the pages of books. Whatreading books can increase our intellectual ability, broaden our minds and make us wise.With the coming of TV,, books are no longer read as widely as they once were. However, nothing can replace the role that books play in our lives.Useful words and expressions:1. leave school 离校，中学毕业2. disturbing 烦扰的3. mental 精神的4. derive 得到5. companionship 伴侣6. intellectual 智力的02 Natural ResourcesThrough the changes in the ways of making a living in a family over several generations, the cartoon aims at sounding a warning against man’s wasteful use of natural resources and emphasizing the urgent need to preserve these resources.Ever since man appeared on the earth, man’s survival has been heavily dependent on nature. Almost everything we use in our everyday life comes from nature, ranging from the food we eat, the water we drink, to the wood which is turned into furniture. With the development of technology and population growth, the amount and range of materials used has increased at an alarming rate.However, natural resources are not inexhaustible. Some reserves are already on the brink of exhaustion and there is no hope of replacing them. The widespread water shortage is an example in point. If man continued to squander natural resources with no thought for the future, the whole world would be in a mess.Useful Words and Expressions:谋生1. make a living 谋生2. aim at 瞄准3. aim high 胸怀大志4. alarming使人惊动的5. inexhaustible 无穷无尽的6. squander 浪费乱七八糟7. be in a mess 乱七八糟03 Population GrowthIt is well-known that there has been a drastic increase in world population. But it is probably les well-known that the extinction rate of wildlife species is experiencing a parallel trend.T ake the United States for instance. In 1990, U.S. population reached an unprecedented level of 250 million, which is approximately 250 times of that of 1800. On the other hand, wildlife species are disappearing from the country at an alarming rate. By 1990, about 70 wildlife species would never be seen in U.S. We are fully justified in declaring that the explosive population growth has had an adverse effect on the survival of wildlife species and will be a constant threat to the wildlife resources if no immediate actions are taken.Nothing has ever equaled the magnitude and speed with which the human species is altering the physical and chemical world. It has been demolishing the environment we are living in.Useful words and expressions:1. drastic 激烈的2. parallel 平行的3. trend 倾向4. unprecedented 空前的5. magnitude 大小，数量6. alter 改变7. demolish 毁坏04House and Home“House”and “home”are two words that have similar meanings.“House”and “home”both refer to places where people live. However, thereis a difference between them. “Home”is often referred to as the place that we live in with our families. Sadly, in our society, people can hardly distinguish a home from a house because they often see no difference between them. This confusion can be traced back to the indifference between family members. Therefore, we can say that love is an important factor in a home. A home is a shelter, not only for our bodies but also for our minds. Whenever we are depressed, we can go home for comfort. Everyone in the family will do his best to take care of each other and share their happiness as well as sorrow. Without love, a home is merely a house where loneliness is all that can be found. And a house can never be a home unless there is love.Useful words and expressions:1. refer to 提到2. distinguish区别，辨别3. confusion 混乱，混淆4. trace back 追溯到5. indifference 不关心6. depressed 沮丧的05 AutomobilesIt is impossible to say that any one man invented the automobile. Many individuals living and working in different countries and at different times contributed to its development. Many of the discoveries that went into thecreation of the automobile were small in themselves. But together they were important. Here are two examples.“Carriage is running at a speed of 8 to 9 miles an hour.”It was almost unheardof in those days. According to automobile historians, this was the first practical use of mechanical power to move a vehicle. After its first run, the machine reportedly burned up while the inventor and his friends were celebrating its success at a pub.Henry Ford is considered the father of modern automobiles mass production. His famous Model-T car,, because of its low price, made it possible to produce cars on a large scale and his efforts made it accessible to ordinary people. Useful words and expressions:1. reportedly 据传说，据传闻2. mass production大规模生产大规模地3. on a large scale 大规模地4. accessible 易接近的，可到达的accessible to 与……接近06 The Influence of LifeIn the early times when human beings hunted and gathered food, they were not in control of their environment. They could only interact with their surroundings as the other lower animals did.When they learned to make fire, however, they became capable of altering their environment. To provide themselves with fuel, they cut down trees. They also burned clearings in forests to increase the growth of grass and to provide a greater grazing area for the wild animals that human beings fed upon. Thisdevelopment led to farming and the domestication of animals. Fire provided the means for cooking plants which had previously been inedible. Only when the process of meeting the basic need for food reached a certain level was it possible for humans to follow other pursuits such as setting up families, forming societies and founding cities.Useful words and Expressions:1. interact with 与……组合2. clearing 空旷地3. grazing 放牧，牧草4. domestication 驯养，驯服5. previously 先前，以前6. inedible 不能吃的，不适于食用的7. pursuit 追击8. set up 设立07 Gardening in AmericaBelieve or not, 43,000,000 Americans are gardening. That is about one in six. Gardeners, of course, come in many varieties. Not surprisingly, most of them are people who live in the suburbs, and enjoy planting flowers, or maybe a small vegetables garden.The average age of gardeners in America is about 45 years old; they usually fall somewhere in the middle class. But the fastest growing groups are city dwellers. Urban residents are finding ways of gardening even in their crowded areas. Many go to large public gardens, as a place designed by the city for garden, and you can actually ranch your own plot.Still other people use their balconies or roof tops, wherever they can find the space to plant small patches of green.Useful Words and Expressions:1. suburb 郊区2. dweller 居民3. ranch 经营牧场4. balcony 阳台5. patch小块地08 Our ConcernThe history of life on earth has been a history of interaction between living things and their surroundings. T o a large extent, the physical form and the habits of the earth’s vegetation and its animal life have been molded by the environment. Only in the present century has one species of man acquired significant power to alter the nature of his world.The rapidity of change follows the pace of man rather than the pace of nature. Radiation is now the unnatural creation of man’s tampering with the atom. The chemicals are the creations of man’s inventive mind, having no counterparts in nature.We have put poisonous and biologically potent chemicals into the hands of persons largely ignorant of their potentials for harm. We have subjected enormous numbers of people to contact with these enormous numbers of people to contact with these poisons, without their consent and often without their knowledge. We have allowed these chemicals to be used with little or noadvance investigation of their effect. Future generations are unlikely to forgive our lack of concern.Useful Words and Expressions:1. interaction 交互作用，交感2. vegetation 植被3. mold 塑造，浇铸4. species 种类5. unnatural 不自然的6. temper with 损害，影响7. counterpart 配对物8. poisonous 有毒的9. potent 有力的，有效的10. consent 同意，赞成09 SleepWhy is it so difficult to fall asleep when you are overtired? There is no one“tired”physically answer that applies to every individual. It is possible to feeland still be unable to fall asleep, because while your body may be exhausted,“turn off”.you do not feel sleepy. It is not so easy to simplyLack of sleep complicates matters even more. Experts say adults need at least seven to eight hours of sleep a night to function properly. When you get less“sleep sleep than that on consecutive three nights, you begin to accrue four debt”. As sleep debt increases your body experiences a stress response. Now a vicious cycle has been created: You experience the feeling of being more and more tired, but your body is increasingly stimulated. “Power sleeping”formore hours on weekends is only a temporary solution. There is no substitute for getting a good night’s sleep on a regular basis.Useful Words and Expressions:1. overtire 使过度疲劳2. apply to 将……应用于3. consecutive 连续的，连贯的4. accrue 自然增加，产生5. vicious恶的vicious cycle 恶性循环6. stimulate 刺激，激励7. substitute for 代替……，替换……10 Apology HelpsIt is never easy to admit you are in the wrong. Being human, we all need to know the art of apologizing. Look back with honesty and think how often you have judged roughly, you said unkind things, and pushed yourself ahead at the expense of a friend. Then count the occasions when you indicated clearly and truly that you were so sorry. A bit frightening, isn’t it? It is frightening, isn’tit? It is frightening because some deep wisdom in us knows that when even a small wrong has been committed, some mysterious moral feeling is disturbed; and it stays out of balance until fault is acknowledged and regret expressed.A heartfelt apology can not only heal a damaged relationship but also make it stronger. If you can think of someone who deserves an apology from you, someone you have wronged, or judged too roughly, or just neglected, do something about it right now.1. push ahead 捉紧进行在损害……的情况下2. at the expense of 在损害……的情况下3. mysterious神秘的4. moral 道德的5. disturbed 扰乱的不参与……，置身于……之外6. stay out of 不参与……，置身于……之外7. heartfelt 衷心的，真心真意的8. roughly粗糙地，概略地11 How High Can You Jump?Fleas trainers have observed a strange habit of fleas while training them. Fleas are trained by putting them in a cardboard box with a top on it. The fleas will jump up and hit the top of the cardboard box over and over and over again. As you watch them jump and hit the lid, something very interesting becomes obvious. The fleas continue to jump, but they are no longer jumping high enough to hit the top.When you take off the lid, the fleas continue to jump, but they will not jump out of the box. They will not jump out because they cannot jump out. Why? The reason is simple. They have conditioned themselves to jump just so high. Once they have conditioned themselves to jump just so high. Once they have conditioned themselves to jump just so high, that is all they can do!Many times, people do the same thing. They restrict themselves and never reach their potential. Just like the fleas, they fail to jump higher, thinking they are doing al they can do.1. cardboard 纸板2. lid 盖子3. conditioned 有条件的，习惯于……的4. restrict 限制，约束限于狭窄的范围内be restricted within narrow limits 限于狭窄的范围内be restricted in one’s movements 行动受限制12Don’t give upIf we would ever accomplish anything in life, let us not forget that we must persevere. If we would learn our lessons in school, we must be diligent and not give up whenever we come to anything difficult. We shall find many of our lessons very hard, but let us consider that the harder they are the better they will do to us if we will preserve and learn them thoroughly.But there are some among us who are ready to give up when they come to a hard example in mathematics, and say, “I can’t do this.”They never will if they feel so. “I can’t”never does anything worthwhile, but “I’ll try”accomplishes wonders.Let us remember that we shall meet with difficulties all through life. They are in the pathway of everyone. If we will only try and keep trying, we shall be sure to conquer and overcome very difficulty we meet.13“How to”BooksBooks which give instructions on how to do things are popular in the United States today. Thousands of these “how to”books are available. In fact, there“how to’.are about for thousand books with titles that begin with the wordsMany “how to”books give advice on careers. They tell you how to choose a career and how to succeed in it. Many of these books help people to use their free time better.. Some people want book which will give them useful information about sports, hobbies and travel. Other people use their free time to make repairs and improvements on their homes. They prefer books which give step-by-step instructions on how to repair things like plumbing and electrical wiring or on how to redecorate or enlarge a house.Why have “how to”books become so popular? Probably because life has become more complex. T oday people have far more free to use, more choices to make, and more problems to solve, “how to”books help people to deal with modern life.1. step-by-step 按部就班的Useful words and Expressions:1.2. redecorate 重新装饰，再装饰3. complex 复杂的，综合的14Professioanl Sports in the U.S.Professional sports are not only very popular in the United States, but also a big business. The most popular sports are baseball, football and basketball. Each sport has its own season and individual teams have millions of supporters. Professional teams are named for the cities where they are located. For example, the Lakers are in Los Angeles. The strongest supporters of the Lakers are residents of Los Angeles and Southern California. When the Lakers play, many people in Los Angeles enthusiastically follow the game. When we mention “NBA”, almost every one knows it ahs some relationship with U.S. professional basketball. However, what does it really stand for? N.B.A is gainingnew fans and supporters around the world. Basketball has been called the “national pastime”. However, football is the most popular professional sport in the U.S.. American football is different from international football, which Americans call “soccer”. Both games require strength and specialized skills. Useful Words and Expressions:被指定为1. be named for 被指定为是……的简称2. be short for 是……的简称3. stand for代表15 ArtistsEvery artist knows in his heart that he is saying something to the public. Not only does he want to say it well, but he wants it to be something which has not been said before.What visual artists, like painters, want to say is easy to make out but difficult to explain, because painters translate their experiences into shapes and colors, not words. They seem to feel that a certain selection of shapes and colors, out of the countless billions of possible, is exceptionally interesting for them and worth showing to us.Most artists take their shapes and colors from the world of nature and from human bodies in motion and response; their choices indicate that these aspects of the world are worth looking at, that they contain beautiful sights. Contemporary artists might say that they merely choose subjects that provide an interesting pattern, that there is nothing more in it. Yet even they do not choose entirely without reference to the character of their subjects.Useful words and Expressions:1. visual artist 视觉艺术家2. selection 挑选，选择3. exceptional 例外的，异常的4. motion 运动，动作5. indicate显示，象征6. contemporary 当代的，同时代的7. without reference to 不论，与……无关16 SoccerSoccer has had a slow start in America. In fact, the majority of schools still have no official soccer teams or coaches. But the blossoming popularity of the game cannot be denied. Thanks to the efforts of some world-famous soccer stars, soccer is soon to have its place in American culture.Although soccer has enjoyed decades of popularity elsewhere, it was literally ignored in America. Instead, a variation of the game called “football”was most popular in the U.S. and still is to this day. But the obvious advantages of playing soccer instead will soon win even the most avid football enthusiasts. For one thing, soccer is a much safer game to play than football. No one deliberately tries to knock an opponent down in soccer. In fact, they players are discouraged from even touching each other.Soccer is a game that requires skill and dexterity in controlling the ball. Since no one may use hands to do this, soccer players soon acquire incredible control of their heads, knees, and feet.Useful Words and Expresisons:1. slow start 缓慢起动2. blossom 兴旺，发展3. ignore 忽视4. avid 渴望的5. discourage from 劝阻6. dexterity 灵巧，机敏17 Will Computers Replace Human Beings?We are in the computer age today. The computers are working all kinds ofwonders now. They are very useful in automatic control and data processing. Atthe same time, computers are finding their way into the home. They seem to beso clever and can solve such complicated problems that some people think sooner or later they will replace us.But I do not think that there is such a possibility. My reason is very simple:computers are machines, not humans. And our tasks are far too various andcomplicated for any one single kind of machine to perform.Probably the greatest difference between man and computer is that the former can do things of his own while the latter can do nothing without beingprogrammed. In my opinion, computers will remain nothing but an extension ofour human brains, no matter how clever and complicated they may become.18 Where Do the British LiveNearly everyone in Britain would like to own their own home and, whether theydo or not, they are prepared to put time and money into decorating andfurnishing it or even making structural alterations to it. Because of the climateand because of the expense involved in going out for the evening, the British spend a lot of time at home and a large part of their social life takes place there. Young people tend to stay with their families longer these days as accommodation is expensive but, when they move away to a job or college, there are various options open to them. They can get lodgings with a landlady. This means that they rent a room in someone’s house and have breakfast with the family. They can also get a bed-sitting room, that is to say one self-contained room in which they can cook, live and sleep. Alternatively, they can share a rented flat or house with a group of young people, perhaps the most popular option of all.Useful Words and Expressions:1. lodging 寄宿处2. bedsit 卧室兼起居室3. bed-sitting 卧室兼起居室的4. self-contained 设备齐全的19 Making a ComplaintComplaining about faulty goods or bad services is never easy. But if something you have brought is faulty or does not do what was claimed for it, you are not asking for a favor to get it put right.Complaints should be made to a responsible person. Go back to the shop where you bought the goods, taking with you any receipt you may have. In a small store the assistant may also be the owner so you can complain direct. In a chain store, ask the manager. If you telephone, ask the name of the person who handles your enquiry, otherwise you may never find out who dealt with the. Stick to the complaint later. If you do not want to do it in person, write a letterfacts and keep a copy of what you write. At this stage you should give any receipt numbers, but you should not need to give receipts or other papers to prove you bought the article.20Water PollutionWater is very important to us. Factories and plants need water for industrial uses and large pieces of farmland need it for irrigation. Without water to drink, people die in a short time.Today most water sources are so dirty that people must purify water before drinking. Water becomes dirty in many ways: industrial pollution is one of them. With the development of industry, plants and factories pour tons of industrialwasters into rivers every day. The rivers have become seriously polluted, and the water is becoming unfit for drinking or irrigation. The same thing has also happened to our seas and oceans. So, the problem of water pollution is almost worldwide.Scientists of many countries have done a lot of work to stop pollution. The polluted water in some places has become clean and drinkable again. Perhaps. That day, one day the people in all towns and cities will be drinking clean waterwe believe, is not very far off.21 CartoonistsIn a good cartoon, the artist can tell in a few lines as much as a writer can tell inhalf a dozen paragraphs. The cartoonist not only tells a story but he also tries topersuade the reader to his way of thinking. He has great influence on publicopinion. In a political campaign, he plays an important part. Controversial issues in Congress or at meetings of the United Nations may keep the cartoonist well-supplied with current materials.A clever cartoonist may cause laughter because he often uses humor in his drawings. If he is sketching a famous person, he takes a prominent feature and exaggerates it. Cartoonists, for instance, like to lengthen an already long nose and to widen an already broad grin. This exaggeration of a person’s characteristics is called caricature. The artist uses such exaggeration to put his message across.Useful Words and Expressions:1. cartoonist 漫画家2. campaign 活动3. controversial 争论的，争议的4. sketch 素描5. prominent 卓越的6. exaggerate 夸张7. lengthen 延长8. grin 露齿笑22 TimeTime is tangible. One can gain time, spend time, waste time, save time, or evenkill time. Common questions in American English reveal this concrete quality as though time were a possession. “Do you have any time?”, “Can you get sometime for this?”, “How much free time do you have?”The treatment of time asa possession influences the way that time is carefully divided.Generally, Americans are taught to do one thing at a time and may be uncomfortable when an activity is interrupted. In businesses, the careful scheduling of time and the separation of activities are common practices. Appointment calendars are printed with 15-,30-, and 60-minute time slots. The idea that “there is a time and place for everything”extends to American social life. Visitors who drop by without prior notice may interrupt their host’svisiting them is personal time. Thus, calling friends on the telephone before v isitinggenerally preferred to visitors’dropping by.Useful words and expressions:1. tangible 切实的2. kill time 消磨时间3. reveal 显示，揭示4. scheduling 行程安排5. slot 缝隙6. drop by 随便访问7. preferred 首选的23 A Free Dress Every Week Thetemptationtostealisgreaterthaneverbeforeespeciallyinlargeshopsandpeople arenotsohonestastheyoncewere.Adetectiverecentlywatchedawell-dressedwomanwhoalwayswentintoalargestor eonMondaymornings. OneMonday, therewerefewerpeopleintheshopthanusualwhenthewomancamein, soitwaseasierforthedetectivetowatchher. Thewomanfirstboughtafewsmallarticles. Afteralittletime,shechoseoneofthemostexpensivedressesintheshopandhandedittoanassistantw howrappeditupforherasquicklyaspossible. Thewomansimplytooktheparcelandwalkedoutoftheshopwithoutpaying. Whenshewasarrested, thedetectivefoundoutthattheshopassistantwasherdaughter. Believeitornot, thegirl“gave” hermotherafreedresseveryweek!24 Are some people born clever, and others born stupid? Or is intelligence developed by our environment and our experience?Strangely enough, the answer to these questions is yes. To some extent our intelligence is given us at birth, and no amount of special education can make a genius out of a child born with low intelligence. On the other hand, a child who lives in a boring environment will develop his intelligence less than one who lives’s intelligence arein rich and varied surroundings. Thus, the limits of a personfixed at birth, whether or not he reaches those limits will depend on his environment. This view, held by most experts now, can be supported in a number of ways. As is easy to show that intelligence is to some extent something we are born with. The closer the blood relationship between two people is, the closer they are likely to be in intelligence.25 Travel for WorkYou can see them in every airport in the world. They are businessmen and women who have to travel for their work.When they first applied for the job, they may have thought of good food and hotels, huge expense accounts and fashionable cities. Now they have to sit in airport lounges, tired and uncomfortable in their smart clothes, listening to theloudspeaker announce “The fight of T okyo, or Berlin, or New York is delayed for another two hours.”Some people say to me, “How lucky you are to be able to travel abroad in your work! You can go sightseeing without paying any money by yourself!”They think that my job is like a continual holiday. It is not.There are advantages, of course, and I do thin I am lucky, but only because I can go to places I would never visit if I was a tourist.26 A Place of Our OwnWe are all usually very careful when we buy something for the house. Why? Because we have to live with it for a long time. We paint a room to make it brighter, so we choose the colors carefully.We buy new curtains in order to match the newly decorated room, so they must—orbe the right color. We move the furniture round so as to make more spacewe buy new furniture—and so on. It is an endless business.Rich or poor,, we take time to furnish a room. Perhaps some people buy furniturein order to impress their friends. But most of us just want to enjoy our surroundings. We want to live as comfortably as we can afford to. We spend a large part of our lives at home. We want to make a small corner in the world which we can recognize as our own27 Great Depression in the U.S.In 1929, the bills started to come in. American industry had produced too many goods. Americans could not afford to buy all of them. So factories had to cut down on their production. Many workers lost their jobs. Investors tried to get their money back. But businesses did not have enough money to pay them.Banks tried to get their money back from investors. But the investors could not pay, either. T oo many people owed money. And few of them could pay their bills. During the next few years, business got worse and worse. By 1932, banks all over the country were closing.People without money could not buy goods. So more businesses closed. More and more people lost their jobs. By 1932, more than 12 million Americans were jobless. Millions more were earning barely enough to live on. The country was in a great depression they had never experienced before.Useful Words and Expressions:1. bill 帐单，票据foot the bill付账，负责减少2. cut down on 减少3. depression 沮丧，萧条Great Depression大萧条28 America’s Worst SurpriseDecember 7, 1941 was one of the worst days in American history. Nearly allAmericans who are old enough to remember that day can still remember what they were doing at the moment they heard “the news”. The news was that America had been attacked!.M., a radio dispatch came into Washington from Honolulu, Shortly before 2:00 P.M.,Hawaii. “Air Raid, Pearl Harbor—This is no drill.”Japanese planes had begunan attack on the largest American military base in the Pacific. They first. destroyed planes on the ground. Then they bombed the ships in the harborNo one had expected the attack. So no one was prepared for it. And it did not。
淘金币英语专业四级听写120篇
The application process consists of filling out the common application, writing a personal statement, and any necessary supplemental assays. In addition, all applicants are required to submit standardized test scores, letters of recommendation, high school transcripts, along with an application fee.
Some people would say that the United States Declaration of Independence first defined the American dream. It expressed why the American colonies decided to fight British colonial rule in order to become an independent nation. The Declaration of Independence states that all men are created equal, and that they have the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
You should study the web sites of schools that interest you. You can find information about how and when to apply, how much it will cost and whether any financial aid is available. And you may be able to apply online and pay the application charge with a credit card.
英语专业四级听写20篇
Passage 1Town and Country Life in EnglandThere is a big difference between town life and country life in England. In the country, everybody knows everybody else. They know what time you get up, what time you go to bed and what you have for dinner. If you want help, you will always get it and you will be glad to help others.In a large town like London, however, it can sometimes happen that you have never seen your next door neighbor and you do not know his name or anything about him. People in London are often very lonely. This is because people go to different places in the evenings and at weekends. If you walk through the streets in the centre of London on Sunday, it is like a town without people. One is sorry for old people living on their own. They could die in their homes and would not be discovered for weeks or even months. (154 words)Passage 2A Change in Women's LifeThe important change in women's life-pattern has only recently begun to have its full effect on women's economic position. Even a few years ago most girls left school at the first opportunity, and most of them took a full-time job. However, when they married, they usually left work at once and never returned to it. Today the school-leaving age is sixteen, many girls stay at school after that age, and though women tend to marry younger, more married women stay at work at least until shortly before their first child is born. Very many more afterwards return to full-time or part-time work. Such changes have led to a new relation-ship in marriage with the husband accepting a great share of the duties and satisfactions of family life and with both husband and wife sharing more equally in providing the money, and running the home, according to the abilities and interests of each of them. ( 154 words)Passage 3A Popular Pastime of the English PeopleOne of the best means of understanding the people of any nation is watching what they do with their non-working time.Most English men, women and children love growing things, especially flowers. Visitors to England in spring, summer, or autumn are likely to see gardens all the way along the railway lines. There are flowers at the airports and flowers in factory grounds, as well as in gardens along the roads. Each English town has at least one park with beautifully kept flower beds. Public buildings of every kind have brilliant window boxes and sometimes baskets of flowers are hanging on them.But what the English enjoy most is growing things themselves. If it is impossible to have a garden, then a window box or something growing in a pot will do. Looking at each other's gardens is a popular pastime with the English. (144 words)Passage 4British and American Police OfficersReal policemen, both in Britain and the U. S., hardly recognize any common points between their lives and what they see on TV---if they ever get home in time.Some things are almost the same, of course, but the policemen do not think much of them.The first difference is that a policeman's real life deals with the law. Most of what he learns is the law. He has to know actually what actions are against the law and what facts can be used to prove them in court. He has to know nearly as much law as a lawyer, and what' s more, he has to put it into practice on his feet, in the dark and, running down a narrow street after someone he wants to talk to.Little of his time is spent in talking with beautiful girls or inbravely facing cruel criminals. He will spend most of his working life arranging millions of words on thousands of forms about hundreds of sad, ordinary people who are guilty--or not of stupid, unimportant crimes. (177 words)Passage 5Living SpaceHow much living space does a person need? What happens when his space needs are not met? Scientists are doing experiments on rats to try to determine the effects of overcrowded conditions on man. Recent studies have shown that the behaviour of rats is greatly affected by space. If rats have enough living space, they eat well, sleep well and produce their young well. But if their living conditions become too crowded, their behaviour and even their health change obviously. They can not sleep and eat well, and signs of fear and worry become clear. The more crowded they are, the more they tend to bite each other and even kill each other. Thus, for rots, population and violence are directly related. Is this a natural law for human society as well? Is enough space not only satisfactory, but necessary for human survival? These are interesting questions. (147 words)Passage 6The United NationsIn 1945, representatives of 50 nations met to plan this organization. It was called the United Nations. After the war, many more nations joined.There are two major parts of the United Nations. One is called the General Assembly. In the General Assembly, every member nation is represented and has an equal vote.The second part is called the Security Council. It has representatives of just 15 nations. Five nations are permanent members:the United States, Russia, France, Britain, and China. The 10 other members are elected every two years by the General Assembly.The major job of the Security Council is to keep peace in the world. If necessary, it can send troops from member nations to try to stop little wars before they turn into big ones.It is hard to get the nations of the Security Council to agree on when this is necessary. But they did vote to try to stop wars. (156 words)Passage 7PlasticWe use plastic wrap to protect our foods. We put our garbage in plastic bags or plastic cans. We sit on plastic chairs, play with plastic toys, drink from plastic cups, and wash our hair with shampoo from plastic bottles!Plastic does not grow in nature. It is made by mixing certain things together. We call it a produced or manufactured material. Plastic was first made in the 1860s from plants, such as wood and cotton. That plastic was sot~ and burned easily.The first modem plastics were made in the 1930s. Most clear plastic starts out as thick, black oil. That plastic coating inside a pan begins as natural gas.Over the years, hundreds of different plastics have been developed. Some are hard and strong. Some are soft and bendable. Some are clear. Some are rarely-colored. There is a plastic for almost every need. Scientists continue to experiment with plastics. They hope to find even ways to use them! (150 words )Passage 8Display of GoodsAre supermarkets designed to persuade us to buy more?Fresh fruit and vegetables are displayed near supermarket entrances.This gives the impression that only healthy food is sold in the shop. Basic foods that everyone buys, like sugar and tea, are not put near each other. They are kept in different aisles so customers are taken past other attractive foods before they find what they want. In this way, shoppers are encouraged to buy products that they do not really need.Sweets are often placed at children's eye level at the checkout. While parents are waiting to pay, children reach for the sweets and put them in the trolley.More is bought from a fifteen-foot display of one type of product than from a ten-foot one. Customers also buy more when shelves are full than when they are half empty. They do not like to buy from shelves with few products on them because they feel there is something wrong with those products that are there. (166 words)Passage 9Albert EinsteinAlbert Einstein was born in Germany in 1879. His father owned a factory that made electrical devices. His mother enjoyed music and books. His parents were Jewish but they did not observe many of the religion's rules. Albert was a quiet child who spent much of his time alone. He was slow to talk and had difficulty learning to read. When Albert was five years old, his father gave him a compass. The child was filled with wonder when he discovered that the compass needle always pointed in the same direction--to the north. He asked his father and his uncle what caused the needle to move. Their answers about magnetism and gravity were difficult for the boy to understand. Yet he spent a lot of time thinking about them. He said later that he felt something hidden had to be behind things. (143 words)Passage10Private CarsWith the increase in the general standard of living, some ordinary Chinese families begin to afford a car. Yet opinions of the development of a private car vary from person to person.It gives a much greater degree of comfort and mobility. The owner of a car is no longer forced to rely on public transport, and hence no irritation caused by waiting for buses or taxis. However, others strongly object to developing private cars. They maintain that as more and more cars are produced and run in the street, a large volume of poisonous gas will be given off, polluting the atmosphere and causing actual harm to the health of people.Whether private cars should be developed in China is a difficult question to answer, yet the desire for the comfort and independence a private car can bring will not be eliminated. (143 words)Passage 11A Henpecked Husband and His WifeThere was once a large, fat woman who had a small, thin husband. He had a job in a big company and was given his weekly wages every Friday evening. As soon as he got home on Fridays, his wife used to make him give her all his money, and then she used to give him back only enough to buy his lunch in his company every day.One day, the small man came home very excited. He hunted into the living-room. His wife was listening to the radio and eating chocolates there."You will never guess what happened to me today, dear," he said.He waited for a few seconds and then added, "I won ten thousand dollars on the lottery!""That is wonderful" said his wife delightedly. But then she pulled a long face and added angrily, "But how could you afford to buy the ticket?" (148 words)Passage 12A Young Man's PromiseOne day a young man was writing a letter to his girl friend who lived just a few miles away in a nearby town. He was telling her how much he loved her and how wonderful he thought she was. The more he wrote, the more poetic he became. Finally, he said that in order to be with her he would suffer the greatest difficulties, he would face the greatest dangers that anyone could imagine. In fact, to spend only one minute with her, he would swim across the widest river, he would enter the deepest forest, and he would fight against the fiercest animals with his bare hands.He finished the letter, signed his name, and then suddenly remembered that he had forgotten to mention something quite important. So, in a postscript below his name, he added:"By the way, I'll be over to see you on Wednesday night, flit doesn't rain."(154 words)Passage13A Kind NeighborMr. and Mrs. Jones' apartment was full of luggage, packages, furniture and boxes. Both of them were very busy when they heard the doorbell ring. Mrs. Jones went to open it and she saw a middle-aged lady outside. The lady said she lived next door. Mrs. Jones invited her to come in and apologized because there was no place for her to sit. "Oh, that's OK," said the lady. "I just come to welcome you to your new home. As you know, in some parts of this city neighbors are not friendly at all. There are some apartment houses where people don't know any of their neighbors, not even the ones next door. But in this building everyone is very friendly with everyone else. We are like one big happy family. I' m sure you'll be very happy here." Mr. and Mrs. Jones said, "But madam, we are not new dwellers in this apartment. We've lived here for two years. We're moving out tomorrow. "(163 words)Passage14That Isn't Our FaultMr. and Mrs. Williams got married when he was twenty-three, and she was twenty--three. Twenty-five years later, they had a big party, and a photographer came and took some photographs of them.Then the photographer gave Mrs. Williams a card and said, "They'll be ready next Wednesday. You can get them from studio.""No," Mrs. Williams said, "please send them to us.”The photographs arrived a week later, but Mrs. Williams was not happy when she saw them. She got into her car and drove to the photographer's studio. She went inside and said angrily, "You took some photographs of me and my husband last week, but I' m not going to pay for them.""Oh, why not?" the photographer asked."Because my husband looks like a monkey," Mrs. Williams said."Well," the photographer answered, "that isn't our fault. Why didn't you think of that before you married him?" (148 words)Passage 1 5A Guide's AnswerIn 1861, the Civil War started in the United States between the Northern and the Southern states. The war continued with great bitterness until 1865, when the Northerners were victorious. However, even today, many Southerners have not forgotten their defeat, or forgiven the Northerners.A few years ago, a party of American tourists were going round one of the battlefields of the Civil War with a guide who came from one of the Southern states. At each place, the guide told the tourists stir- ring stories about how a few Southern soldiers had conquered powerful forces of Northerners there.At last, one of the tourists, a lady who came from the North, stopped the guide and said to him, "But surely the Northern army must have won at least one victory in the Civil War?""Not as long as I'm the guide here, madam," answered the Southern guide. (147 words)Passage 1 6A Qualified PilotThe captain of a small ship had to go along a rocky coast, but he was unfamiliar with it, so he tried to find a qualified pilot to guide him. He went ashore in one of the small ports, and a local fisherman pretended that he was a pilot because he needed some money. The captain took him on board and asked him where to steer the ship.After half an hour the captain began to suspect that the fisherman did not really know what he was doing and where he was going."Are you sure you are a qualified pilot?" he asked."Oh, yes," answered the fisherman. "I know every rock on this part of the coast."Suddenly there was a terrible crash from under the ship. At once the fisherman added, "And that's one of them." (138 words)Passage 1 7Living Things ReactYou and all organisms live in an environment. An environment is made up of everything that surrounds an organism. It can include the air, the water, the soil, and even other organisms.An organism responds to changes in its environment. When an organism responds to a change, it reacts in certain ways. All living things respond in some way.Have you ever noticed how plants and insects respond to light? Plants bend toward light. Insects fly toward light.Living things also respond in other ways. The leaves on some trees respond to a change in season. In autumn, they change colors and then fall off the branches. Animals also respond to a change in season. Squirrels save nuts for the winter. Bears sleep through the winter in a cave.You respond to your environment in many ways, too. You may shiver ff you are cold. What other ways do you respond to changes in your environment? ( 156 words )Passage18Flowering PlantsWhat are the parts of a flower?Flowers can have male parts and female parts. The female parts make eggs that become seeds. The male parts make pollen. Pollen is a powdery material that is needed by the eggs to make seeds. To make seeds, pollen and eggs must come together. The wind, insects, and birds bring pollen to eggs. Many animals love flowers' bright colors. They also like a sugary liquid in flowers. This is called nectar. While they drink nectar, pollen rubs off on their bodies. As they move, some of this pollen gets delivered to the female flower parts.Over time, the female parts turn into fruits that contain seeds. Animals often eat the fruits and the seeds pass through their bodies as waste. The animals do not know they are working for the plants by planting seeds as they travel to different places! (147 words)Passage 19Finding the Direction and LocationHow can you tell which direction? By day, look for the Sun. It is in the east in the morning and the west in the afternoon. At night, use the Big Dipper to help you find the North Star. It would be better to bring a compass because its needle always points north.How do you know how far you have gone? You could count every step. Each step is about two feet. You'd better wear a pedometer which is a tool that counts steps. If you know where you started, which direction you are heading, and how far you have gone, you can use a good map to figure out exactly where you are.Today there is a new way for travelers to figure out where they are. It is the GPS. It has 24 satellites that orbit the earth and constantly broadcast their positions. Someday you may carry a small receiver as you hike and use GPS to find out if you are there yet! (167 words)Passage 20WavesHow does light get from the sun to the earth? How does music get from the stage to the audience? They move the same way--in waves!Light and sound are forms of energy. All waves carry energy, but they may carry it differently. Light and sound travel through different kinds of matter. For example, light waves cannot move through walls, but sound waves can. That is why you can hear people talking in another room even though you cannot see them. The energy of some waves is destructive. An earthquake produces seismic waves.Catch a wave. Ask a friend to stand a few feet away from you. Stretch a spring between you. Shake the spring to transfer energy to it. What happens? The spring bounces up and down in waves. When the waves reach your friend, they bounce back to you!Light waves travel 300,000 kilometers (185,000 miles) per second! They can also travel through a vacuum. That is why light from the sun and distant stars can travel through space to the earth! (175 words)11。
英语专业四级考试历年听写原文(doc 页)
英语专业四级考试历年听写原文(doc 页)专业四级考试听写评分标准1. 听写共分15小节，每节1分，扣分一律写在试卷右边的空白处。
大错误下面画线。
小错误用圆圈表示，重复错误用三角记号表示。
2. 每节最多扣1分。
3. 重复错误，仅扣一次分。
4. 错误共分两类：小错误（minor mistakes）和大错误（major mistakes），分别扣0.25分和0. 5分。
A. 小错误：1）单词拼写错一到两个字母。
例：steadily →staedily；harbor →habor两个字母以下的词、次序颠倒算小错。
2）标点符号错误（含大小写）。
例：World War I →world war one, and then adopted →. And then adopte d3) 冠词、单复数错误。
例：until the beginning →until beginning; p arent →parents4）小错误扣分标准：小错误在一节中出现一次，留作总计；出现两次：扣0.5分；出现三次：扣0.5分后留作总计；出现四次：扣1分。
5）未扣分小错误的扣分标准：累计2 ~ 4 个：扣0.5分累计5 ~ 8 个：扣1分B. 大错误：漏写、加词、造词、换词（冠词作小错计）、大移位、时态错误，每个错误扣0.5分。
例：loved →love；task —test；trip —trap；flee —flea；have finished —finsh（ed）5. 一些特例的扣分标准：下列情况不扣分：World War I →World War Onerace car →racecarwell-balanced →well balanced90 percent →90%6. 总分只有0.5分时，以1分计算；其余总分中如含小数点的，小数舍去，保留整数，如12.5 →12；7.5 →77. 空白卷一律打0分。
英语专业四级考试历年听写原文（1993年——2006年）Package Holidays (1993)Package holidays, covering a two weeks' stay in an attractive place, are increasingly popular. Once you get to the airport, it is up to the tour operator to see that you get safely to your destination．Everything is laid on for you．There is, in fact, no reason for you to bother to arrange anything yourselve s．You make friends and have a good time. But there is very little chance that you will really get to know the local people．This is even less likely on a coach tour, when you s pend almost your entire time traveling．Of c ourse, there are carefully planned stops for you to visit historic buildings and monument s. You may visit the beautiful, the historic, t he ancient. But time is always short．There i s also the added disadvantage of being oblig ed to spend you holiday with a group of pe ople you have never met before．The American Family (1994)The American family unit is changing. There used to be mainly two types of famili es, the extended and the nuclear. The forme r included mother, father, children, and som e other relatives such as grandparents, living in the same house or nearby. Then as the economy progressed from agricultural to ind ustrial, people began moving to different par ts of the country in order to search for job opportunities. These moves split up the exte nded family.The nuclear family consisting o f only parents and children has therefore be come far more wide spread. Today’s family, however, can be composed of diverse combi nations. With the divorce rate nearly one in two, there's an increase in single-parent ho mes—a father or mother living with one or more children.Blended families occur when divorced men and women remarry and com bine the children from former marriages into a new family. On the other hand, there is an increase in childless couples while one i n rive Americans lives alone.Unidentified Flying Objects (1995)There are many explanations for why U FOs visit the Earth. / The most popular one is that they maybe visitors from other plan ets./ To fly such aircraft, their builders must develop different forms of aviation,/because they seem to fly much faster than normal ai rcraft./ The UFOs, it is believed, must contai n scientists/ from other planets who are stud ying life on earth./ It is even believed that s everal such aircraft may have landed on ear th/ and the space visitors may be living amo ngst us./ But there are also less fantastic ex planations available./ Although some sighting s of UFOs are difficult to explain, most can be explained quite easily./ In many cases th e observers might have made a mistake./ Th ey might have seen a weather balloon or anaircraft./ Or the light they saw in the sky might have been light from the ground,/ refl ected on to the clouds./ However, the exact cause of many sightings still remained a mys tery.The Indian Medicine Man (1996)Among the Indians of North America, t he medicine man was a very important pers on. He could cure illness and he could spea k to the spirits. The spirits were the supern atural forces that controlled the world. The Indians believed that bad spirits made peopl e ill. So when people were ill, the medicine man tried to help them by using magic. He spoke to the good spirits and asked for thei r help. Many people were cured, because th ey thought the spirits were helping them, bu t really these people cured themselves. Somet imes your own mind is the best doctor for you. The medicine men were often successful for another reason, too. They knew about plants that really can cure illness. A lot ofmedicines are made from the plants that we re used by medicine men hundred of years ago.Legal Age for Marriage (1997)Throughout the United States, the legal age for marriage shows some difference. The most common age without parents’ consent is 18 for both females and males. However, persons who are under age in their home s tate can get married in another state, and t hen return to the home state legally married. Each state issues its own marriage license. Both residents and non-residents are qualifie d for such a license. The fees and ceremonie s vary greatly from state to state. Most state s, for instance, have a blood test requiremen t, but a few do not. Most states permit eith er a civil or religious ceremony, but a few r equire the ceremony to be religious. In most states a waiting period is required before t he license is issued. This period is from oneto five days depending on the state. A thre e-day-wait is the most common. In some stat es there is no required waiting period.The Railways in Britain (1998)The success of early railways, such as t he lines between big cities,/ led to a great in crease in railway building in Victorian times. / Between 1835 and 1865 about 25000 kilo meters of track were built,/ and over 100 ra ilway companies were created. /Railway travel transformed people's lives. / Trains were first designed to carry goods. / However, a law in the 19th century force d railway companies to run one cheap train a day / which stopped at every station and cost only a penny a mile. / Soon working c lass passengers found they could afford to tr avel by rail. / Cheap day excursion trains b ecame popular and seaside resorts grew rapi dly. / The railways also provided thousands of new jobs:/ building carriages, running therailways and repairing the tracks. / Railwa ys even changed the time. / The need to run the railways on time meant that local time was abolished/ and clocks showed the same t ime all over the country. /United Nations Day(1999)The 24th of October is celebrated as Un ited Nations Day. h is a day that belongs to everyone. And it is celebrated in most coun tries of the world. Some countries celebrate for a week instead of a day. In many parts of the world, schools have special programs for the day. Boys and girls in some commun ities decorate a UN tree. In other communiti es, young people put on plays about the UN. Some libraries exhibit childr en’s art worksth the songs and dances of other countries o r give parties where foods of other countries are served. No matter how the day is celeb rated, the purpose of these celebrations is to help everyone understand the UN, and the important roles it plays in world affairs. Th e UN encourages people to learn about othe r lands and their customs. In this way, peop le can gain a better understanding and appr eciation of peoples all over the world.What We Know About Language(2000) Many things about language are a mys tery and will remain so. However, we now d o know something about it. First, we know t hat all human beings have a language of so me sort. No human race anywhere on earth is so backward that it has no language of i ts own at all. Second, there is no such thing as a primitive language. There are many phe languages they speak are by no means p rimitive. In all the languages existing in the world today, there are complexities that mus t have been developed for years. Third, we know that all languages are perfectly adequa te. Each is a perfect means of expressing its culture. And finally, we know that language changes over time, which is natural and no rmal if a language is to survive. The langua ge which remains unchanged is nothing but dead.Characteristics of A Good Reader(2001) To improve your reading habits, you must understand the characteristics of a goo d reader. First, the good reader usually read s rapidly. Of course, he does not read every piece of material at the same rate. But whe ther he is reading a newspaper or a chapterely fast. He has learned to read for ideas ra ther than words one at a time. Next, the go od reader can recognize and understand gen eral ideas and specific details. Thus he is ab le to comprehend the material with a minim um of effort and a maximum of interest. Fi nally, the good reader has in his command s everal special skills, which he can apply to r eading problems as they occur. For the colle ge student, the most helpful of these skills i nclude making use of the various aids to un derstanding that most text books provide an d skim-reading for a general survey. Disappearing Forests(2002)The world’s forests are disappearing. Aen lost since agriculture began some 10,000 years ago. The remaining forests are home t o half of the world’s species, thus becoming the chief resource for their survival. Tropica l rain forests once covered 12% of the land of the planet, as well as supporting at least half of the world’s species of plants and an imals. These rain forests are home to million s of people. But there are other demands on them. For example, much has been cut for timber. An increasing amount of forest lan d has been used for industrial purposes or f or agricultural development such as crop-gro wing. By the 1990’s less than half of the ear th’s original rain forests remained, and they continued to di sapp ear at an alarming rate every year. As a result the world’s forests are now facing gradual extinction.Salmon (2003)Every year, millions of salmon swim fro m the ocean into the mouths of rivers and t hen steadily up the rivers. Passing through waters, around rocks and waterfalls, the fish finally reach their original streams or lakes. They dig out nests in the riverbed and lay their eggs. Then, exhausted by their journe y, the parent salmon die. They have finished the task that nature has given them. Month s, or years later, the young fish start their t rip to the ocean. They live in the salt water from 2-7 years, until they, too are ready to swim back to reproduce. Their life cycle he lps man provide himself with a basic food-fi sh. When the adult salmon gather at the riv er mouths for the annual trip up the rivers, they are in the best possible condition, and nearly every harbor has its salmon fishing fleet ready to catch thousands for markets. Money (2004)Money is accepted across the world as payment for goods or services. People use m oney to buy food, clothes and hundreds of o ther things. In the past, many different thin gs were used as money. People on Pacific isl ands once exchanged shells for goods. The C hinese used cloth and knives. In Africa, elep hant tusks or salt were used. Even today, so me people in Africa are still paid in salt. C oins were first invented by the Chinese. Ori ginally, they were round pieces of metal wit h a hole in the center, so that a piece of str ing could keep them together. This made doi ng business much easier, but people still fou nd coins inconvenient to carry when they w anted to buy something expensive. To solve t his problem, the Chinese again came up wit h the solution. They began to use paper mo ney for coins. Now paper notes are used thr oughout the world.The Wrist Watch （2005）It is generally believed that wrist watch es are an exception / to the normal sequenc e in the evolution of man's jewelry. / Revers ing the usual order, they were first worn by women, / and then adopted by men. / In t he old days, queens included wrist watches a mong their crown jewelry. / Later, they wer e worn by Swiss workers and farmers. / Unt il World War I, Americans associated the w atch with fortune hunters. / Then army offic ers discovered that the wrist watch was mos t practical for active combat. / Race car dri vers also loved to wear wrist watches, / and pilots found them most useful while flying. / Soon men dared to wear wrist watches wit hout feeling self-conscious. / By 1924, some 30 percent of man's watches were worn on tAnd they are now worn by both men and women / for practical purposes rather than for decoration.The Internet (2006)The Internet is the most significant prog ress in the field of communications. / Imagin e a book that never ends, a library with a million floors, / or imagine a research projec t with thousands of scientists / working arou nd the clock forever. / This is the magic of the Internet. / Yet the Internet has the pote ntial for good and bad. / One can find well-organized, information-rich websites. / At the same time, one can also find wasteful websi tes. / Most websites are known as different I nternet applications. / These include online g ames, chat rooms (chatrooms) and so on. / These applications have great power, too. / Sometimes the power can be so great / that young people may easily become victims tothe seriousness of the problem. / We must w ork together to use its power for better end s.专业四级标准听写二十篇TEM 4 Dictation Practices Passage 1SaltWe do not know when man first began to use salt, / but we do know that it has b een used in many different ways throughout history. / Historical evidence shows, for exa mple, that people who lived over 3,000 years ago ate slated fish. / Thousands of years ag o in Egypt, salt was used to preserve the de ad. /Stealing salt was considered a major cri me during some periods of history. / In 18th century, for instance, / if a person was cautory records that about ten thousand people were put in jail during that century for ste aling salt. / About 150 years before, in the year 1553, / taking more salt that one was a llowed to was punishable as a crime. / The offender’s ear was cut off.Salt was an important item on the table of royalty. / It was traditionally placed in f ront of the king when he sat down to eat. / Important guests at th e king’s table were s eated near the salt. / Less important guests were given seats farther away from it. / (17 5 words)Passage 2 Per ceptionsAsk three people to look out of the same window at a busy street and tell you what t hey see. / Probably you will receive three di fferent answers. / Each person sees the samescene, but each perceives something differen t about it. /Perceiving goes in our minds. / Of the thr ee people who look out of the window / one may say that he sees a policeman giving a driver a ticket. / Another may say that he s ees a rush –hour traffic jam at the street c orner. / The third may tell you that he sees a woman trying to cross the street with fo ur children. / For perception is the mind’s i nterpretation / of what the senses –in this case our eyes –tell us. /Many psychologists today are working to t ry to explain / just how a person experience s or perceive the world around him. / Using a scientific method these psychologists set u p experiments: / they are trying to find out what makes different people / perceive totall y different things about the same scene. / (1 64 words)Passage 3 Ball oonsBalloons have been used for sport for a bout one hundred years. / There are two ki nds of sport balloons: gas and hot air. / Hot air balloons are safer than gas balloons, / which may catch fire. / Hot air balloons are preferred by most balloonists in the United States because of their safety. / They are al so cheaper and easier to manager than gas balloons. / Despite the ease of operating a b alloon, / pilots must watch the weather caref ully. / Sport balloon flights are best early in the morning / or late in the afternoon, whe n the wind is light. / Over the years, balloo nists have tried unsuccessfully to cross the A tlantic. / It wasn't until 1978 that three Ame rican balloonists succeeded. / It took them j ust six days to make the trip / from their h omes in the United States to Paris, France. /Their voyage captured the imagination of t he whole world. / (143 words)Passage 4 You Found a Job, Now How do You Save Money?Saving your hard earned money can be difficult, / as most of us enjoy spending rat her than saving, / I certainly had a tough ti me holding onto my money every payday. / When I got my first few paychecks, / right away I spent the cold, hard cash I’d earned by hard work. /But I quickly realized that this sort of spe nding wouldn’t really help me get the things I wanted. / So I made a pact with myself.I promise that before I did anything with th e money, / I would deposit at least 50% of the money into my saving account. / That w ay, I eliminated the temptation to spend that money. /After I got used to saving my money, / it was much easier for me not to be tempted t o buy things when I saw them. / When I sa w a CD or video game that looked appealin g, / I learned to ask myself, “Do I really ne ed this?” / Asking this question helped me a ppreciate my money and not let it slip out of my wallet quite so fast. / (173 words) Passage 5 Online He alth ForumThere are many aspects to health, illness a nd healing. / Among all the teachings there is one theme that is universal to them all / and that is the unquestionable benefit achiev ed by communicating with others about heal th and its related issues. / It is with this sin gle philosophy in mind / that we have devel oped this site as a forum for communication. / Dealing with a medical concern is often d ifficult. / Connecting with others who are going through the same thing / can make a w orld of difference. / Our mission is to develo p online communities to help you make thos e connections. / You can post questions, com ments and respond to messages from others. / We’ve got various topics, and we’re add in g more all the time. / If you don’t see the t opic you are looking for, / just let us know and we will consider a message board for it. / We hope you decide to become a regular participant / and help to make this a great resource. / (158 words)Passage 6 Wo rdsHow men first learn to invent words is un known, / in other words, the origin of langu age is a mystery. / All we really know that is men, unlike animals, / somehow invented certain sounds to express thoughts and feelin gs, / actions and things, so that they can co mmunicate with each other; / and that laterthey agreed upon certain signs, called letter s, / which could be represent those sounds, and which could be written down. / Those s ounds, whether spoken or written in letters, wer call words. / The power of words, then lies in their associations, / that is, the things they bring up before our minds. / Words b ecome filled with meaning for us by experie nce; / and the longer wer live, the more we reminded of the glad and sad events / of o ur past by certain words wer read and lear n, / the more the number of the words / th at means something to us increase. / (149 w ords)Passage 7 Teacher-stude nt RelationshipThe relationship between a teacher and a student can be either good or bad, helpful o r harmful. / Either way, the relationship can affect the student for the rest of his life. / A good teacher-student relationship will make the teacher’s job worthwhile. / A bad rela tionship can discourage the student from lea rning / and make teaching an unpleasant tas k. /In order to have a good teacher-student re lationship, / respect between teacher and stu dent is very important. / If the teacher is to o strict, he frightens the student. / If the tea cher is too friendly, the student may become lazy and stop learning hard. / The teacher’s attitude and approach should be in betwee n those two extremes. / As for the student, his proper respect to the teacher must be sh own all the time. / He should be eager to le arn and willing to work hard. /In conclusion, a good teacher-student relati onship can be beneficial to both. / The stude nt absorbs knowledge eagerly and enjoyable, / and the teacher gains satisfaction from hi s work. / (163 words)Passage 8 Nearsight ednessWeak eyesight is a term that is generall y used to refer to nearsighted eyes. / People who are nearsighted can see well at a shor t range, / but anything very far away is like ly to be unclear. / The term “weak eyesigh t” is misleadin g, / for in nearsighted eyes th e lens of the eye is actually too strong. / Th e nearsighted lens is so powerful that it focu ses the light coming onto the eye so quickly. / Nearsightedness is common, and its growt h may be graded; / often the unclearness of distant object is so slight at first / that a p erson may not recognize the condition. / Nearsightedness is frequently discovered first at school. / It is here that a student fir st realizes the difficulty of seeing words on t he blackboard, / whereas others in the class have no trouble reading the blackboard at all. / After discovery, nearsightedness can ea sily be corrected. / You just needs a pair ofglasses / which can decrease the power of t he lens of the eye. / (161 words)Passage 9 Rice CookingRice is very much under appreciated in th e United States. / With the exception of Asia n cooking, / rice is usually a side dish or co mbined with other ingredients. / Rice is very nutritious, low cost and easy-to prepare foo d. / There are different types of rice availab le and the cooking time varies by type of ri ce. / Follow the package instructions for the amount of liquid necessary and the cooking times. / Both vary for each type of rice. / Regular white rice has been milled / to rem ove the hull comes in long, medium and sho rt grains. / Long grained rice is the best for all-purpose use. / Brown rice has a pleasan t nutty flavor and a firmer texture. / While white rice is cooked in about 15 minutes, / brown rice takes 45 to 50 minutes to cook. / When cooking rice do not be concerned if you have cooked rice left over. / There aresome excellent recipes, which use cooked rice. / (151 words)Passage 10 First Sig n of AIDSThe virus causing AIDS enters the blood a nd quickly penetrates certain white cells in t he body. / At first there is often little or no trace of the virus at all. / This situation us ually lasts for six to twelve weeks. / During this time the person is free of symptoms / a nd antibody tests are negative. / The first th ing that happens after infection / is that ma ny people develop a flue-like illness. / This may be severe enough to look like glandular fever / with swollen glands in the neck and armpits, / tiredness, fever and night sweats. / Some of those white cells are dying, / vir us is being released, / and for the first time the body is working hard to make correct antibodies. / At this stage the blood test will usually become positive. / Most people do not realize what is happening, / although whe n they later develop AIDS they look back / and remember it clearly. / Most people have produce antibodies in about twelve weeks. / (156 words)Passage 11 The Librar y of CongressThe Library of Congress is the national li brary of the United States. / It was founded in 1800 to serve the needs of the congress men. / Today, it contains books, articles and documents on every subject imaginable. / B esides senators, congressmen and other gover nment officials, / it serves libraries, research ers, artists and scientists throughout the cou ntry and the world. /The Library is one of the largest libraries in the world. / It has a collection of 74 mil lion items which are housed in three buildin gs. / The bookshelves stretch for 350 miles. /Of the 18 million books, more than half ar e in languages other than English. /The main reading room is a great hall of marble pillars. / It is the center of activity i n the library. / There is a computer catalog center with six terminals for quick access t o information. / For greater speed and effici ency, / the library has installed an electric b ook –carrying system / that carries books f rom one building to another in only a few s econds. / (160 words)Passage 12 A Car Soccer RaceAmerican football is different from the Eu ropean football / and some people think that it is better. / Now there’s a new kind of fo otball or soccer which is played in America. / It’s called car soccer. / The players drive small cars, which are called Beetles. / The players try to catch the ball in their cars. / The cars are protected all since they often crash into each other. / The ball is larger th an the usual one and the players are protect ed, too. / In 1985, the First European car so ccer match took place in West Germany. / Teams from some countries in European pla yed in the match. / The Beetles raced aroun d the ground madly / while the spectators s houted “The ball is behind you”. / When th e match ended, three cars had been crashed into pieces. / And the players as well as m any of the spectators were badly hurt and h ad to be taken to hospital. / Will this car so ccer become as popular as football? I doubt. / (160 words)Passage 13 Changes of Family LifeThe concept of family life has changed considerably over the years. / In earliest tim es, several generations lived together in clans, / which consisted of all living descendents a nd their husbands or wives. / These clans were almost totally self-sufficient, / every mem ber contributing in some way toward the su rvival of the group. / The men hunted and f ished for food or sometimes maintained floc ks of sheep or goats. / The women baked br ead and roasted the meat their men provide d. / Special members of the community were selected to make products like pottery, bask ets and home weapons. / But with the devel opment of greater varieties of food, clothing and shelter, / a single clan could no longer develop all the individual skills the group re quired. / Clans merged into larger societies and at the same time broke into smaller uni ts consisting of married couples and their ch ildren. / Later the Industrial Revolution bro ught about even more important changes in family life. / New inventions brought shorter working hours for men and easier housekee ping routines for women. / Today a producti ve family life suggests not the group’s coope rative efforts of working together, / but the pleasant and meaningful sharing of its leisur e. / (185 words)Passage 14 Vitami nsIt was not until the beginning of this ce ntury that it was recognized / that certain s ubstances were essential in the diet to preve nt or cure some diseases. / These substances are now known as vitamins. / They are vit al for growth, good health, / and maintenan ce of the normal functions of the body. / A well-balanced diet should provide all the vita mins we normally require. / Those of us wh o are fortunate enough to be able to buy su fficient food / should not suffer from vitami n deficiency. / However, for various reasons, / some people do not maintain a balanced diet. / People often lose their appetite becaus e of illness. / People living alone may not bo ther to eat proper meals, / and people on a diet may not eat sufficient quantities of nec essary foods. / Moreover, modern methods o f preserving, freezing, and long-term storageof food, / together with overcooking, can de stroy many of the vitamins. / (145 words) Passage 15 Com etsIn recent years scientists’ investigation o f comets has increased / because of growing interest in the origin of the sun and planet s. / Scientists want to learn how comets are formed. / They think that such information will help explain the origin of the solar syst em. / The word “comet” comes from Greek and means “hairy object”. / In history come ts have a special place. / People believed tha t they brought news of death, destruction or military victories. / The tails of comets pro vide viewers with spectacular sights at night. / Comet tails are millions of kilometers lon g. / The tails frequently reach lengths of 250 million kilometers and more. / The most fa mous comet of history is called Halley’s Co met, which appears every 76 years. / It was named for Edward Halley, a British astron omer. / He predicted the appearance of the。
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英语专业四级听写120篇上海外国语大学王兴扬主审戴远君主编Passage 1College LifeAmerican college and university students who live away from their families/ are generally housed in dormitories at least for their first year. / Men and women often live in the same building, / though they may live on separate floors. /Some dorms have a theme, like an international house, / where students can lean about other cultures. / In language houses, students try to avoid speaking their native language. / The idea is to lean a different language. /Colleges and universities often have many clubs that students can join. / These include political, religious and service clubs, / as well as groups for activities like singing, dancing, cooking, even leaning how to play magic. / Schools may also have internal sports clubs. / These are for students who do not play for a school team / but want organized sports with other students. / And schools will often recognize a new club or activity if enough students are interested. /Passage 2Names in AmericaMost parents in the United States give their babies a first, middle and last name when they are born. / The last name is generally their family name. / First names are a different story. / Some children's names are also the names of cities, plants or flowers. / Religious names from the Bible are also common. / Americans even choose names from other countries. / Americans are interested in the names / that famous actors, entertainers and athletes give their children. / Some famous people like names that have been around for many years. / Last names as first names are also popular. /Middle names have become important because many famous people use them. / A middle name is also a way for parents to honor a family member or hero. / Some parents give a girl a boy's middle name. / Some American women use their former last name / as middle name after they marry. /Passage 3The Space RaceThe space race between the United States and the former Soviet Union began in October of 1957, / when the Soviets launched the first man-made satellite into orbit around Earth. / Weeks later the second satellite was launched. /Their success added to the tensions of what was known as the Cold War, / which many people worried could lead to nuclear war. / And it pushed Americans to work harder to reach outer space. / Three months later, the United States launched its own satellite. / Then, in 1961, the Soviet Union sent the first person into space. / An American astronaut followed less than a month later. /The space race continued. / The finish line was the moon. / And it was reached when the crew of American spaceship landed in 1969. / Today, there is cooperation between the Russian and American space programs. / Astronauts share duties on the International Space Station. / And other countries are expanding their space programs. /Passage 4Summer for College StudentsCollege students spend their summers in many different ways. / Many students work hard at Summer jobs. / They realize it can be difficult to balance college classes and a job during the school year. / Summer is a good time to save up some money. /Restaurants, swimming pools, stores and other businesses are always looking for hardworking students. / Some students get jobs in the field they hope to enter after college. /The experience gives students a taste of the world outside of college. / Other college students choose to take summer classes. /Instead, they take just one or two. / The extra classes can help students to get ahead in their studies. /However, summers are not all work. / Students spend time with friends, go to a movie or take a trip. / A relaxing day under the summer sun / will help students forget a]l about tests and studying' /Passage 5The English LanguageEnglish is the most widespread language in the world /and is more widely spoken and written than any other language. / More people are trying to lean English in the world. / English is the language of political negotiations and international business. / It has become the international language of science and medicine. / International treaties say passenger airplane pilots must speak English. /English is the major foreign language taught in most schools in South America and Europe. / School children in the Philippines and Japan begin learning English at an early age. / English is the official language of more than 75 countries / including Britain, Canada, the United States, Australia, and South Africa. /In countries where many different languages are spoken,/ English is often used as an official language to help people communicate./ India is a good example./ English is the common language in this country/ where at least 24 languages are spoken by more than one million people./Passage 6DatingDating is the traditional first step toward marriage. /But dating and establishing a relationship can be hard work. . /So a lot of people want to go where they can meet people with similar interests. /They might look for someone/ who share a common interest in religion or books, for example. / A lot of bookstores now have places that serve coffee and food. /Many offer special programs and social activities for single people. /Singles may join health clubs, or sports teams or maybe even a group for people who like to take long walks in the wood. /If nothing else, at least they will have gotten some exercise. / Some people use dating services, /which help people choose a person they might like. /Many newspapers and magazines publish message/ from people who are seeking someone to date./ There are also telephone dating services, video dating services and online dating services./Passage 7National Spelling BeeEvery year, the best young English language spellers from around the world / gather in Washington, D.C. for the National spelling Bee. / They spell complex words / that most English speakers have never even heard of'. /The national spelling bee takes place over two intense days of competition in a large hotel meeting room. / The spellers sit together in front of several judges./ Each speller stands when it is his or her turn. / When the judge calls out the word, / spellers can ask for help. / They can ask for the definition of the word or for it to be used in a sentence. / They can also ask which language the word came from. / This can often help them decide how it is spelled. /Students who spell the word correctly remain in the competition. / But if the speller makes a mistake, / a bell rings and the child must leave the group. /Passage 8SalesWhen a store sells goods or services at a cost lower than usual, it is called a sale./ Sales last for a limited time. / Then the cost is retuned to its usual amount. /There are many kinds of sales. / For example, a “back-to-school sale” is held near the beginning of the school year. / Parents can save money on clothes and school supplies for their children. / A “midnight madness” event Starts very late at night. / An “early bird special” sale starts very early in the morning, /usually before the sunrises. /This kind of sale is popular the day after Thanksgiving in November. / A favorite sale among many people is the “buy one, get one free,” sale. / You buy one thing and get a second one with out cost. / Another kind of sale is a “going out of business” sale. / This is when a store owner t ries to sell all the goods in the store / before closing the business permanently. /buy one, get one free买一送一permanently 永久地Passage9Test of English as a Foreign LanguageIt is the most widely respected English-language test in the world, / recognized by more than 8,000 colleges and universities in more than 130 countries. / It is called TOEFL, which stands for Test English as a Foreign Language. / TOEFL is an important test for foreign students who want to study America. / More than 4,000 American universities and other schools / require students seek admission to take the test. / Each year, nearly a million individuals of all ages take the TOEFL level to demonstrate their English-language proficiency. / It measures your ability to use and understand English at the university level. / And it evaluates how well you combine your four skills, / listening reading, speaking and writing skills to perform academic tasks. / There are two formats for the TOEFL test. / The format you take depends on the location of your test center. / Nowadays, most test takers take the Internet-based Test. / Test centers that do not have Internet access offer the Paper-based TestTOEFL 托福考试demonstrate 说明，显示evaluate评估；评价format形式Internet-based 基于互联网的proficiency 熟练，精通Passage10Heat StressThe most common health problem linked to hot weather is heat stress. / The causes of heatstress include wearing heavy clothing, / physical work or exercise, hot weather and high humidity./If several of these conditions are present at the same time, / a person's body temperature may rise above safe levels. /Most people suffer only muscle pain because of heat stress. / The pain is a warning that the body is becoming too hot. / Doctors say those suffering muscle pains should stop all activity and rest in a cool place. / Doctors say not to return to physical activity for a few hours / because serious conditions could develop. /Some people face an increased danger from heat stress. / They may have a weak or damaged heart, / high blood pressure or other problems of the blood system. / Severe heat is also dangerous for people who weigh too much and have too much body fat, / and for people who drink alcohol. / humidity 湿度，潮湿Passage11Foreign Language Study in AmericaForeign language study starts at a very young age for many students in America. / Some students start language training at age six. / States do not require foreign language training this early in education. / But many students choose to study languages in elementary school. / The most popular languages for young students are Spanish, French and German. /Almost 7 million students in public secondary schools in the United States / are studying a foreign language. / Each state sets its own requirements for foreign language study / at the junior high and high school level. / Many students graduate high school with at least two years of foreign language study. / Some study a foreign language for four years. / There are different foreign language requirements at colleges and universities. / Some universities require students to have had several years of language education in high school. / In addition, many colleges and universities require students / to complete at least two years of foreign language study before graduating. /Passage 12Variations in British AccentsLanguage changes over time as people try to express themselves in different ways to different people. / And English, although broadly the same language, / is spoken in lots of different ways buy lots of different people. / Normally this is because people live far apart. / However, even in Britain, a relatively small place, / there are huge variations in the way people speak English. / And that is not to forget the large numbers of people who speak other languages as their firstlanguage. /Written English is much more fixed, / and changes much less quickly than spoken English. / People across Britain speak English using not only different accents, but different expressions. /For example, people of different ages and from different parts of Britain / may greet you with as many different words. / As people migrate into Britain, and as people move around Britain more freely, / accents change more quickly. / However, most British people can guess where another British person from because of their accent. /broadly 广泛地relatively 相对地variation 变化，变体migrate 移居Passage 13Teaching AssistantsForeign students at American colleges and universities may earn money / after they successfully complete an entry-level study program. / Those wishing to continue their education could work as a teaching assistant, or T.A /A teaching assistant usually works about twenty hours each week. / Teaching assistants are paid to help professors teach students in entry-level study programs. /Generally, the professor gives a talk, or lecture, / to a large group of students one or two times a week. / The teaching assistant meets with smaller groups of students during the week. / The T.A. gives tests and reads any homework or reports the students may be required to write. / Teaching assistants also meet with students who seek help. / They attend teaching meetings / And some working with science professors help to organize laboratory equipment. / Most American colleges and universities must honor legal requirements / when employing foreign students as teaching assistants. / One of these is that the T.A. must speak English well. / entry-level入门级的legal requirement 法定条件Passage 14Open-source SoftwareOpen-source software is computer software / that is available to the general public in source code form. / If a person has enough knowledge about computers and computer programming, / he or she can change the program's source code. / The source code is like a set of directions that show the gram how to operate. /People change the codes so that the program will operate / in a way that will meet their needs. / Some changing the code will make the program run faster. / Or it will take problems out of the program. / These problems can cause a computer program to shut down. /People who change the source code of a computer program / share these programs with each other on the Internet. / Programmers enjoy being able to improve computer programs on their own. / They enjoy being able to ask other people on the Internet for help with their programs. / Working together, people can improve computer programs for the good of the group. /source code 源代码the general public 公众operate 运行shut down （机器）关闭on one's own 独自地Passage 15Party TimeAmericans plan parties for marry reasons. / As in other cultures, many Americans attend parties for weddings and religious and national holidays. / But some parties are especially American. /For example, a group of neighbors may gather on their street to eat food, play music and visit with one another. / This is called a block party. / A woman might invite a group of women to a party / called a baby shower for a friend who is about to give birth. / Guests bring presents for the new baby. /Birthday parties are also very popular. / Many parents organize a party for their child around a theme. / Rock star parties axe very popular for young girls and boys' / Birthday parties usually include gifts and a birthday cake with candles. / Birthday parties can be low cost or very costly. /Some parents take their children's birthday parties very seriously, / even when the child is too young to fully understand the celebration. /block party街头聚会give birth (to) 产生costly 昂贵的Passage 16TimeIf you can read a clock, you can know the time of day. / But no one knows what time itself is. / For all our success in measuring the smallest parts of time, / time remains one of the great mysteries of the universe. /One way to think about time is to imagine a world without time. / There could be no movement, / because time and movement cannot be separated. / A world without time could exist only as long as there were no changes, / for time and change are linked. / We know that time has passed when something changes. /In the real world with time, however, changes never stop. /Some changes happen only once in a while, like an eclipse of the moon. / Others happen repeatedly, like the rising and setting of the sun. / Humans always have noted natural events that repeat themselves. / When people beganto count such events, they began to measure time. /eclipse（日，月）食rising and setting of the sun日出和日落Passage 17PatentPatents are meant to protect the chances of inventors / to make money from their creations. / The term of a patent is up to 20 years. / During that time, the inventor controls the legal right / to make, use or sell the invention. / After 20 years, anyone can make or sell the invention. /A patent gives both inventors and investors time to develop and market a product. / Patents also provide a way to share and spread technical information. /Suppose you have an idea for an invention. / How do you get a patent to protect your rights? / The first step is to record your idea on paper. / You must be sure no one else has invented a device just like yours. / So you must examine the descriptions of similar devices that already have patents. / This can be a big job and take a long time. / Many inventors pay patent lawyers to do this job. / patent 专利up to 到达……之多Passage l8Central ParkCentral Park in New York City is the first m4ior city park in America. / It contains more than 340 hectares of land. / The designer's goal is to make a beautiful natural environment / with lakes, woods and open areas for all the people of New York to enjoy. /About 25 million people visit Central Park each year. / These include people from other areas of America and from foreign countries. / Millions of people who live in New York love Central Park / as a place to escape from their small apartments in high-rise buildings. /Every day, people walk, run or ride bicycles along the paths in Central Park. / Others walk their dogs, play baseball, / row a boat on the lake or eat a meal on the grass. / Bird-watchers can observe more than 200 kinds of birds in the park. / Many people also use the park for special events. / For example, some people choose one of the beautiful natural areas in the park / as the perfect place to get married. /hectare 公顷special event 特别事件Passage l9Yard SalesYard sales do not have to be huge. / One family, or even one person, can hold a yard salePeople simply collect some things they no longer want / and put them in the yard outside their home. / They might also place handmade signs on nearby streets to direct people to the sale. / Yard sales are a good way for people without much money / to find things for their family. / But even people with a lot of money like to look around. / Professional dealers might also go to yard sales. / If they find something valuable at a low price, they can re-sell it for more. / Still other people go to yard sales because they enjoy the hunt. / They like to find beautiful or unusual things / that are being sold for less than the value. / For example, they may find a piece of old furniture / that is worth a lot of money after it is repaired. /dealer 商人Passage 20Pressing Oil from SeedsOil is separated from seeds by using pressure. / A machine called a press is often used. / The first step in pressing the oil from seeds is to crush the seeds between two stones./ A cloth container or bag is filled with the crushed seeds. / Then the bag is hung up. / Some of the oil will flow out of the bag and can be collected. / But some oil will remain in the crushed seeds inside the bag. / The easiest way to get the rest of the oil out / is to place heavy rocks on the crushed material. / Another method is to place several cloth bags on top of each other in a box, / Then a long wooden stick is used to slowly push a heavy cover down on the bags' / Great pressure is produced in this way. / Much greater pressure can be produced by using a machine. / The greater the pressure, / the more oil will be produced. /seed 种子hang up 挂起来press 榨油机，压榨flow out of 从……中流出Passage 21University DaysBritish universities start in September or October. / Courses normally last 3 years, / but some, such as languages, engineering or medicine, can take much longer to complete. / Students usually go to university in a different town, / so they need to get used to living alone, paying bills and washing their own clothes! / For many, this is a difficult time, but everyone soon becomes used to it! /Universities in Britain used to be free, / but many students now have to pay for part of their course. / Similarly, students used to receive a grant from the government. / Nowadays, they have to apply for student loans or take part-time jobs. / Either way, it can be difficult and many studentshave money problems. /University life is not just about studying, however. / Many students take part in drama productions or play music. / Others, of course, take part in a wide range of sports, / such as football, rugby and cricket. /grant 助学金，补助金loan 贷款cricket 板球rugby 橄榄球Passage 22American Education SystemThe education system in the United States is controlled by state and local governments. / But education laws are similar in each state. / For example, in all 50 states and 6 territories, / all children must attend school from the age of 6 or 7 to the age of 16. / Public schools are free of charge for grades 1 through 12. /Private schools also operate in a1l states and territories. / Some private schools are operated by churches and religious groups./ Other private schools are not linked to any religious organization/. Private schools must be approved by the state in which they operate. / Most private schools do no receive government money. / The parents of private school students pay the school. /The school year usually begins in September and continues until June. / Most states require a school year of 180 days. / Some schools have changed this schedule / and require students to attend school throughout the year. /territory领土，领域Passage 23Universities in the USThere are thousands of colleges and universities in the United States. / Nearly half of the high school graduates in America go on to college. / Most go to large state universities. / Some of these universities have 40,000 or more students. / There are also many small universities with only a few hundred students. / Large universities have many buildings, / each building for a particular subject. / Students often must go from one class in one building to the next class in another building across campus. / They may have only a few minutes between classes to go from one building to another. /When students begin the university, they must take classes in many subjects. / These are the required courses. / English and math are usually required courses, / and often a history and ascience course are required too. / Students will study mostly required courses during their first year. / Later, they will specialize, and take courses in one subject. /graduate 毕业生specialize 专攻state university 州立大学required course 必修课Passage 24Music in British SchoolsMusic plays a big part in British schools. / Pupils can learn an instrument at school. / Traditionally, school children learn classical instruments. / Younger children often learn the recorder. / As they get older, they start to play the violin or piano. / In fact, nearly one out of five music students is learning the violin. / The piano, or keyboard, is more popular with older children at secondary school, / However, more pupils than ever before are now learning the guitar, / as they think playing the guitar is cool. /British schools do not just offer lessons for instruments, / but they have music classes for all pupils. / In the past, the focus of classes was very much Western classical music. / But the classes now cover a far wider range of styles, including folk music and world music. / Many schools have orchestras and put on concerts each term. / It is also common for pupils themselves to form their own bands. /recorder八孔长笛folk music 民乐orchestra 管弦乐队Passage 25Summer School and Online ClassesIn the United States, summer school used to be seen mainly as a place / for high school students to repeat classes they failed. / But summer programs have expanded. / Students often go to summer school / so they can ease their class load during the school year. / Or it might give them more freedom / to choose the classes they want during the regular term. /Summer school students do the same amount of work / as if they took the class during the school year. / But they do it in just one to two months. /Another choice for many students is to take classes online. / However, some online classes require students to come to a classroom to take tests. / Students may also have to take part in group discussions with the teacher online. / And there may be a required number of hours to spend logged on each day. / Yet there may also be freedom to do the work anytime, day or night. / summer program暑假课程ease the class load 减轻学业负担regular term常规学期log on 登录Passage 26American MoviesAmerican Movies do not attempt to show the lives of all the people of the United States. / Many movies contain some truth. / But even a movie that deals with true subjects / represents the ideas of the person who wrote it, / the people who acted in it and the person who directed it. / Over the years, some Americans have tried to ban some kinds of movies. / These include movies that are violent or show people having sexual relations. / People have taken legal action to stop such movies. / But court decisions have said that the right to make any kind of movie / is protected by the part of the United States Constitution / that guarantees freedom of speech. / In the United States, people have the right / to produce a bad movie or write a bad book. / People who make movies try to provide entertainment and excitement. / However, entertainment are excitement often have nothing to do with the real world. /the United States Constitution 美国宪法Passage 27The Library of CongressThe Library of Congress is America's national library. / It has more than 120 million books and other objects. / It has newspapers, popular publications and letters of historical interest. / It also has maps, photographs, art prints, movies, sound recordings and musical instruments. / The Library of Congress is open to the public Monday through Saturday, / except for government holidays. / Anyone may go there and read anything in the collection. / But no one is permitted take books out of the building. /The Library of Congress provides books and materials to the United States Congress. / It also lends books to other American libraries, government agencies and foreign libraries. / It buys some of its books and gets others as gifts. / It also gets materials through its copyright office. / Anyone who wants copyright protection for a publication / must send two copies to the library. / This means the Library of Congress receives almost everything published in the United States. / of historical interest 有历史意义的sound recording 录音copyright protection 版权保护United States Congress 美国国会Passage 28TheatreIn many parts of the world, "going to the theatre" is seen as an activity / which only a veryfew people do. /"Theatre" is not often seen as being a pastime that many ordinary people do. / Ordinary people watch TV, or go to the cinema, / or go out to eat with friends. / The theatre is for rich, upper-class intellectuals. /Like a lot of obvious remarks, there is some truth in this. / Theatre tickets are quite expensive. /They cost more than cinema tickets. / Theatres which show new plays are usually only in big cities. /However, even though this is true, / there are a lot of theatre companies who are challenging this idea. / And the way they are challenging this idea is by working with schools. / In the UK, many theatre companies now have an "educational department". / They go into schools and help students to understand and e4ioy the plays they do. /intellectual 知识分子pastime 消遣娱乐upper-class 上层社会的remark /话语Passage 29GuitarProbably no other musical instrument is as popular around the world as the guitar. / Musicians use the guitar for almost every kind of music. / Country and western music would not be the same without a guitar. / The traditional Spanish folk music could not exist without a guitar. / The sound of American blues music would not be the same / without the sad cry of the guitar. / And rock and roll music would almost be impossible without this instrument. /Music experts do not agree about where the guitar first was played. / Most agree it is ancient. /Some experts say an instrument very much like a guitar / was played in Egypt more than 1,000 years ago. / Some other experts say that the ancestor of the modem guitar was brought to Spain / from the ancient Iran sometime in the 12th century. / The guitar continued to develop in Spain. / In the 1700s it became similar to the instrument we know today. /folk music民间音乐Iran 伊朗Passage 30American's Leisure ActivitiesLeisure activities include things like watching television, seeing friends or exercising. / Both men and women reported that they spent about half their leisure time watching television. / Visiting friends and attending social events / was the next most common leisure activity for both sexes. /。