大学英语视听说四级UNIT 3 音频原文及其答案

Unit 3 Gender DifferencesPart 1 listening oneThree guys are out having a relaxing day fishing. Out of the blue, they catch a mermaid who begs to be set free in return for granting each of them a wish.Now one of the guys just doesn't believe it, and says, "OK, if you can really grant wishes, then double my IQ." The mermaid says, "Done." Suddenly, the guy starts to recite flawless Shakespeare followed by a short pause and an extremely insightful analysis of it. The second guy is so amazed that he says to the mermaid, "Hey, triple my IQ." The mermaid says, "Done." The guy begins pouring out all the mathematical solutions to problems that have puzzled scientists in all fields.The last guy is so impressed by the changes in his friends that he says to the mermaid, "Quintuple my IQ." The mermaid looks at him and says, "You know, I normally don't try to change people's minds when they make a wish, but I really wish you'd reconsider."The guy says, "No, I want you to increase my IQ five times, and if you don't do it, I won't set you free." "Please," says the mermaid, "you don't know what you're asking... It'll change your entire view of the universe. Won't you ask for something else? A million dollars or anything?"But no matter what the mermaid says, the guy insists on having his IQ increased by five times its usual power. So the mermaid sighs and says, "Done." And he becomes a woman.Keys: 1. F 2. F 3. F 4. T 5. T2.1. set free in return2.2 extremely insightful analysis2.3 pouring out, puzzled, in all fields2.4 normally, change people’s minds, reconsider2.5 usual powerPart 1 listening two(Dr. Herring, author of a book on language and communication, is being interviewed by Bob White, a writer for an academic journal on communication.)hBob White: Good morning, Dr. Herring! We both know that many communication specialists believe that gender bias exists in language, culture andsociety. Do you think this is really so?Dr. Herring: Yes, I certainly do. How we talk and listen can be strongly influenced by cultural expectations, and these begin during childhood. Childrenusually play together with other children of the same gender, and thisis where our conversational style is learned.Bob White: Can you give some specific examples?Dr. Herring: Certainly. We find that girls use language mainly to develop closeness or intimacy as a basis for friendship. Boys, on the contrary, uselanguage mainly to earn status in their group.Bob White: But, in communication through electronic devices like e-mail discussion groups, there should be no gender distinction if writers'names are not used in the messages.Dr. Herring: One might think so, but in fact, email writing style is more comparable with spoken language, so basic language styles are stillevident.Bob White: I thought e-mail messages were gender neutral!Dr. Herring: No. While theoretical gender equality exists for the Internet, in reality women are not given equal opportunity because of differentcommunication and language styles between the sexes.Bob White: How does that happen? Do you have any hard facts to back up this impression?Dr. Herring: Yes. I've done a research project using randomly selected e-mail messages from online discussion groups. I found that females uselanguage that is more collaborative and supportive such as "Thanksfor all your tips on...", "Good point." and "Hope this helps!". Mentend to use more aggressive or competitive language such as "Do youunderstand that?", "You should realize that...", "It is absurd tothink...".Bob White: How great are these gender differences?Dr. Herring: Males write messages using aggressive, competitive language more than twice as often as females did, while females use collaborativeand supportive language three times as often as males did. In thisstudy, it is clear that there is a gender difference in e-mail messagesjust as in other communication media.Bob White: So the "battle of the sexes" is still with us, even online. Questions:1. According to Dr. Herring, when is children’s conversational style learned?2. Which of the following is most similar to e-mail writing in style?3. Why is there still no equality on the Internet?4. What comparison did Dr. Herring make in her speech?Keys: 1. C 2. B 3. A 4. B2.1. language, culture, society, cultural expectations2.2 closeness intimacy, earn status2.3 collaborative supportive, aggressive competitivePart 1 listening threeJohn: Cathy, do you think it's appropriate for females to continuously expect guys to behave in a standard gentlemanly fashion like opening car doors?Cathy: Well, I think it would be nice if men could do such things.John: My side of the theory is that we all have to admit that we are living in the world of change. Right? Sometimes the equation changes if the driver is a girl and the passenger is a guy who doesn't drive. So what happens? Should the girl open the door for the guy or should the guy open the door for the girl?Maybe we should just adopt an "open your own door" policy.Cathy: Yes, I agree, John. But...sometimes it's just a matter of courtesy. It doesn't matter who opens the door for whom. Maybe females just should not expect too much. Life isn't a fairy tale after all.John: It's absolutely true. Sometimes I feel that there isn't any difference in the roles both genders can perform. Of course I'm not saying that men can give birth.Rather what I meant was except for the physical and natural differences between both sexes, there isn't much difference between them.Cathy: But honestly, although I don't expect guys to open doors for me, or to pull outa chair for me, I am usually quite impressed if they do so, as many guys don'tdo it nowadays. If the guy was walking in front of me and went through thedoor first, I'd appreciate it if he could hold the door and not let it slam in myface.John: Well, if I'm the one walking in front, I will open the door and hold it for the people behind me, be it a girl or a boy. I actually had the door slam right in my face a number of times though, when the person walking closely in front of me didn't hold the heavy glass door and let it swing back in my face. Of course, I tried to hold the door, but it was too heavy and too late. But I think it was more embarrassing for him than me as everyone was looking at him, while I was rubbing my squashed nose.Cathy: So being a gentleman does not stop at opening doors. There are many other aspects I believe.Keys:1. T T F F T2. D A B A BPart 1 listening fourDo you know how you learned to be a woman? Do you know how you learned to be a man? What makes the difference in terms of gender and our roles in society? Even when our physical structures are revealed to be really similar, women and men "tend" to play different roles in society. In an article in the latest issue of Psychology Today, we find a study that reflects how parents of fifteen girl babies and fifteen boy babies differed in their descriptions of their babies. Despite the fact that objective data such as birth length, weight, irritability, etc. did not differ, when the parents were asked to describe their babies, they said that girl babies were softer, littler, more beautiful, prettier, cuter than boy babies. Based on these facts, we could conclude thatparents' attitude is influencing their children.Our parents and later our school, television and the Internet are showing us a whole set of expected behaviors that create our patterns. Thus, a simple cartoon can suggest to children how they are supposed to act. Male cartoon characters are not only more prominent than female characters, but they also portray a broader range of masculine traits. Male characters are powerful, strong, smart and aggressive.Of course roles have been changing over the past decades. Nowadays, women are not necessarily expected to stay home raising their family and supporting their husbands. In the same way, men are no longer expected to be the only breadwinners like they used to be; now women and men share these responsibilities. But traditional roles still have a big influence.Keys:1. F F T T F2.1reflects descriptions2.2parents’ attitudes2.3suggest, act2.4raising their family, supporting their husbands2.5used to be, share these responsibilitiesPart 4 Further speaking and listeningListening 1"Equal" does not always mean "the same". Men and women are created equally but boys and girls are not born the same.You throw a little girl a ball, and it will hit her in the nose. You throw a little boy a ball, and he will try to catch it. Then it will hit him in the nose.A baby girl will pick up a stick and look in wonder at what nature has made. A baby boy will pick up a stick and turn it into a gun.When girls play with Barbie dolls, they like to dress them up and play house with them. When boys play with Barbie dolls, they like to tear their hair off.Boys couldn't care less if their hair is untidy. But for girls, if their hair got cut a quarter-inch too short, they would rather lock themselves in their room for two weeks than be seen in public.Baby girls find mommy's makeup and almost instinctively start painting their faces. Baby boys find mommy's makeup and almost instinctively start painting the walls.Boys grow their fingernails long because they're too lazy to cut them. Girls grow their fingernails long—not because they look nice—but because they can dig them into a boy's arm.Girls are attracted to boys, even at an early age. At an early age, boys are attracted to dirt.Most baby girls talk before boys do. Before boys talk, they learn how to make machine-gun noises.Girls turn into women. Boys turn into bigger boys.Keys: 1. 1 hit1.2 try to catch1.3 in wonder1.4 turn…into1.5 dress, play house1.6 tear…off1.7 care less1.8 lock, in public1.9 painting their face1.10 painting the walls1.11 lazy, cut1.12 dig…into1.13 boys1.14 dirt1.15 talk1.16 make machine-gun noisesListening 2In order to understand this story, you have to know the nursery rhyme Hickory Dickory Dock. In this nursery rhyme, the words in the title have no meaning. The rhyme goes like this:Hickory Dickory Dock,The mouse ran up the clock.The clock struck one,The mouse ran down!Hickory Dickory Dock.Here is the story:One day I took my seven-year-old son with me to shop for an electric wall clock for the kitchen and found a whole counter full of them on sale at a discount store. I had trouble deciding which clock to buy. While I held one clock in my hand and looked at another, I asked my son which one he liked better.“The one you’re holding with the mouse in it, Mom,” he said.Before I understood his words, a real, live mouse jumped out onto the counter and ran away. I screamed so loud everyone turned to see what was wrong. I was so embarrassed. I tried to make my way quietly out of the store. Everyone was looking at me. On the way out the door, my delighted son recited Hickory Dickory Dock. What a naughty boy!Questions:1.Where did the story take place?2.Why did the mother ask her son which clock he liked better?3.Which clock did the boy like best?4.Why did the mother feel embossed?5.Why did he boy recite Hickory Dickory Dock?Keys:1. B2. D3. A4. C5. DListening 3Men, it is said, are generally more aggressive than women and enjoy taking risks. They play fighting games and enjoy "dares". More men than women are convicted for crimes, especially crimes of violence.Some say that this is simply a matter of biology; others suggest that it is a function of the way we organize the sex and gender roles in our society. In fact, many of the findings, in this area, have turned out to be unsatisfactory, and often there turns out to be very small differences with a large degree of overlap.Biologically, men certainly seem to be the weaker sex. On average, men experience heart attacks 10 years earlier than women, but have a better rate of survival if they survive the first year after an attack. Symptoms also vary by sex: Women experience shortness of breath, fatigue, and chest pain; most male heart attacks come on as a sudden, striking pain in the chest. In adulthood, men are more likely to be infected with viruses and have a shorter average lifespan.In recent years, a great many biological sex differences have been found throughout the body, including the brain. However, regardless of the findings that sex differences really do exist after all and despite the pressure to deny them, socially, we still expect women to behave like women and men like men.Keys:1) aggressive 2) taking risks 3) crime 4) biology 5) function 6) roles7) unsatisfactory 8) weaker 9) heart attacks 10) rate of survival 11) vary 12) be infected with 13) average lifespan 14) do exist 15) deny16) behaveListening 4It is my belief that gender stereotypes are very real gender characteristics that are exaggerated to the extreme ends with no gray areas. So in truth a woman is "weak" physically only because a man is in reality "stronger". A woman is "submissive" only because a man in reality is more "aggressive". A woman is "emotional" only because a man is "less emotional". All these are observed facts.Are there ways to avoid the stereotyping? This is hard to do. We as males and females love to exaggerate our differences. It seems we love to do this in many ways. We love to exaggerate gender traits as if to say "Look how female I am" or "Look how male I am". Do we go so far as to actually create differences that do not exist? Not from what I see. I think we like to exaggerate our differences because the more male we feel or the more female we feel the more attractive we feel.So all in all I believe stereotypes are true differences that are exaggerated. I don't think stereotypes should be avoided because they are real. I do think that we should not place extremes of a trait to a gender as a whole and most certainly not limit someone's potential abilities based on a stereotype. Stereotypes should apply ingeneral but not to an individual. They should serve to help make judgment but not as an absolute.Keys:1.T F F F T T2.1 physically, in reality, aggressive2.2 avoid, differences, attractive2.3 extremes, potential abilities。