英语四级听写答案50篇 第一篇是Town and country life in England
英语专业四级Dictation50篇

1.Town 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 months2.A 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, manygirls 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 relationship in marriage, with the husband accepting a greater 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.Useful Words and Expressions:1. life-pattern生活方式2. share3.A Popular Pastime of the English PeopleOne of the best means of understanding the people of any nation is watching what the 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 they 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 andsometimes 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.Useful Words and Expressions:1. window box:窗台上的花盆箱2.pastime 消遣,娱乐Swimming is my favorite pastime.4.British and American Police OfficersReal policemen, both in Britain and the U.S., hardly recognize any common points between their lives and what they se 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 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 hewants to talk to.Little of his time is spent in talking with beautiful girls or in bravely 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.Useful Words and Expressions:1. think much of 重视,尊重2. in court 在法庭上3. criminal 罪犯,犯罪者4. guilty 犯罪的,有罪的5.Living 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 behavior 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 behavior 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, and more they tend to bite eachother and even kill each other. Thus, for rats, populations 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.6.The 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.Useful Words and Expressions:1. representative 代表2. General Assembly 联合国大会3. permanent 永久的,持久的4. Security Council 联合国安全理事会7.PlasticWe 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 soft and burned easily.The first modern 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 many-colored. There is a plastic for almost every need. Scientists continue to experiment with plastics. They hope to find even ways to use them!8. Display 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.Useful Words and Expressions:1. aisle 走廊,过道2. trolley 手推车3. checkout 收款台9.Albert 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 re ligion’s rules. Albert was a quite 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 be 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.Useful expressions and words:1. device 装置,设备leave to one’s own devices 听任某人自行其是,允许某人按自己的意愿做事She left the child to her own devices for an hour in the afternoon.她允许孩子在下午有一个小时的自由支配时间。
英语专业四级听写50篇

英语专业四级听写50篇前言听写在英语专业四级统考中占有15%的比重,是考试的重要组成部分。
说起听写,正在准备和已经参加过英语专业四级考试的同学会说:"我能明白听写的内容,可写的时候就是跟不上!""短文大意我明白,可是有的语我不会写。
这只反映出了问题的两个方面。
一是听写速度不够快。
二是词汇量不够或词汇掌握得不够准确。
这些无疑是影响听写成绩的重要因素。
但是,这些不是问题的全部。
在从事听写教学及听写问卷过程中,很容易发现学生失分的具体问题:(1)没听懂,没听好,听写速度跟不上,写出的内容断断续续不连贯,学生因此大量失分;(2)有的词汇没听懂,拼写不够准确,这导致听写失分;(3)时态错误导致失分;(4)单复数不准确导致失分;(5)没有注意断句或专有名词,句子开头单词或专有名词错误使用大小写导致失分;(6)没有注意原文冠词的使用,书写时漏掉冠词导致失分;(7)没有注意单数第三人称形式导致失分;(8)没有注意单数复数名词的形式导致失分。
上述问题的产生有的是缺乏训练造成的,如书写速度跟不上。
有的则是语言基础较差造成的,如听力较差没有完全听懂或没有掌握好词汇。
而单复数、大小写、冠词漏写等则多是粗心大意造成的。
听写部分能提高吗?当然能!而且提高的空间很大。
笔者从事英语专业基础教学与研究,从一开始所带的教学班参加四级考试超过全国院校平均通过率28.2个百分点,超过全国专业外语院校平均通过率12.5个百分点开始,所带的教学班在全国英语专业④级统考中通过率始终ito%,平均成绩、优秀率始终名列前茅。
最近一次所带的教学班参加四级统考,又考出了很好的成绩,通过率超过全国院校平均水平26石个百分点,超过全国专业外语院校13.6个百分点,而且在十几个平行班中平均成绩是最高的,优秀人数也是最多的。
在四级考试中,听写一项的成绩也不例外,每次均位居第一,本项目满分15分,所带班级平均成绩能够达到14分。
专业听力50篇

Passage3
One of the best means of understanding the people of any nations is watching what they non-working time. Most English men, women and children love growing things, especially flowers. Visitors to English 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.
英语专业四Dictation

1. Town 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 months2. A 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 leftschool 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 relationship in marriage, with the husband accepting a greater 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.Useful Words and Expressions:1. life-pattern生活方式2. share3. A Popular Pastime of the English PeopleOne of the best means of understanding the people of any nation is watching what the 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 they 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.Useful Words and Expressions:1. window box:窗台上的花盆箱2.pastime 消遣,娱乐Swimming is my favorite pastime.4. British and American Police OfficersReal policemen, both in Britain and the U.S., hardly recognize any common points between their lives and what they se 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 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 in bravely 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.Useful Words and Expressions:1. think much of 重视,尊重2. in court 在法庭上3. criminal 罪犯,犯罪者4. guilty 犯罪的,有罪的5. Living 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 behavior 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 behavior 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, and more they tend to bite each other and even kill each other. Thus, for rats, populations 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.6. The 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.Useful Words and Expressions:1. representative 代表2. General Assembly 联合国大会3. permanent 永久的,持久的4. Security Council 联合国安全理事会7. PlasticWe 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 soft and burned easily.The first modern 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 many-colored. There is a plastic for almost every need. Scientistscontinue to experiment with plastics. They hope to find even ways to use them!8. Display 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.Useful Words and Expressions:1. aisle 走廊,过道2. trolley 手推车3. checkout 收款台9. Albert 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 quite 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 be 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.Useful expressions and words:1. device 装置,设备leave to one’s own devices 听任某人自行其是,允许某人按自己的意愿做事She left the child to her own devices for an hour in the afternoon.她允许孩子在下午有一个小时的自由支配时间。
2019年12月英语四级听力:Town and Country Life in England

2019年12月英语四级听力:Town and CountryLife in England2018年12月大学英语四级阅读200篇汇总Universities Branch OutAs never before in their long history, universities have become instruments of national competition as well as instruments of peace. They are the place of the scientific discoveries that move economies forward, and the primary means of educating the talent required to obtain and maintain competitive advantage. But at the same time, the opening of national borders to the flow of goods, services, information and especially people has made universities a powerful force for global integration, mutual understanding and geopolitical stability.In response to the same forces that have driven the world economy, universities have become more self-consciously global: seeking students form around the world who represent the entire range of cultures and values, sending their own students abroad to prepare them for global careers, offering courses of study that address the challenges of an interconnected world and collaborative (合作的) research programs to advance science for the benefit of all humanity.Of the forces shaping higher education none is more sweeping than the movement across borders. Over the past three decades the number of students leaving home each year to study abroad has grown at an annual rate of 3.9 percent, from 800,000 in 1975 to 2.5 million in 2004. Most travel fromone developed nation to another, but the flow from developing to developed countries is growing rapidly. The reverse flow, from developed to developing countries, is on the rise, too. Today foreign students earn 30 percent of the doctoraldegrees awarded in the United States and 38 percent of thosein the United Kingdom. And the number crossing borders for undergraduate study is growing as well, to 8 percent of the undergraduates at America’s best institutions and 10 percent of all undergraduates in the U.K. In the United States, 20 percent of the newly hired professors in science and engineering are foreign-born, and in China many newly hired faculty members at the top research universities receivedtheir graduate education abroad.Universities are also encouraging students to spend some of their undergraduate years in another country. In Europe, more than 140,000 students participate in the Erasmus program each year, taking courses for credit in one of 2,200 participating institutions across the continent. And in the United States, institutions are helping place students in summer internships (实习) abroad to prepare them for global careers. Yale and Harvard have led the way, offering every undergraduate at least one international study or internship opportunity-and providing the financial resources to make it possible.Globalization is also reshaping the way research is done. One new trend involves sourcing portions of a researchprogram to another country. Yale professor and Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator Tian Xu directs a research center focused on the genetics of human disease atShanghai’s Fudan University, in collaboration with facultycolleagues from both schools. The Shanghai center has 95 employees and graduate students working in a 4,300-square-meter laboratory facility. Yale faculty, postdoctors and graduate students visit regularly and attend videoconference seminars with scientists from both campuses. The arrangement benefits both countries; Xu’s Yale lab is more productive, thanks to the lower costs of conducting research in china, and Chinese graduate students, postdoctors and faculty geton-the-job training from a world-class scientist and his U.S. team.As a result of its strength in science, the United States has consistently led the world in the commercialization of major new technologies, from the mainframe computer and the integrated circuit of the 1960s to the Internet infrastructure (基础设施) and applications software of the 1990s. The link between university-based science and industrial application is often indirect but sometimes highly visible: Silicon Valley was intentionally created by Stanford University, and Route 128 outside Boston has long housed companies spun off from MIT and Harvard. Around the world, governments have encouraged copying of this model, perhaps most successfully in Cambridge, England, where Microsoft and scores of other leading software and biotechnology companies have set up shop around the university.For all its success, the United States remains deeply hesitant about sustaining the research-university model. Most politician recognize the link between investment in science and national economic strength, but support for research funding has been unsteady. The budget of the National。
2018年12月英语四级听力:TownandCountryLifeinEngland

【导语】英语听⼒是英语四六级考试中的重要组成部分,对于中国的考⽣,⽇常英⽂听说机会少,缺少听⼒训练,所以在备考⼤学英语四级时,需要加强听⼒的训练。
针对这⼀情况,英语四六级频道特别整理听⼒相关⽂章,供学员参考使⽤。
预祝⼤家⾼分通过考试。
2018年12⽉⼤学英语四级阅读200篇汇总 Universities Branch Out As never before in their long history, universities have become instruments of national competition as well as instruments of peace. They are the place of the scientific discoveries that move economies forward, and the primary means of educating the talent required to obtain and maintain competitive advantage. But at the same time, the opening of national borders to the flow of goods, services, information and especially people has made universities a powerful force for global integration, mutual understanding and geopolitical stability. In response to the same forces that have driven the world economy, universities have become more self-consciously global: seeking students form around the world who represent the entire range of cultures and values, sending their own students abroad to prepare them for global careers, offering courses of study that address the challenges of an interconnected world and collaborative (合作的) research programs to advance science for the benefit of all humanity. Of the forces shaping higher education none is more sweeping than the movement across borders. Over the past three decades the number of students leaving home each year to study abroad has grown at an annual rate of 3.9 percent, from 800,000 in 1975 to 2.5 million in 2004. Most travel from one developed nation to another, but the flow from developing to developed countries is growing rapidly. The reverse flow, from developed to developing countries, is on the rise, too. Today foreign students earn 30 percent of the doctoral degrees awarded in the United States and 38 percent of those in the United Kingdom. And the number crossing borders for undergraduate study is growing as well, to 8 percent of the undergraduates at America’s best institutions and 10 percent of all undergraduates in the U.K. In the United States, 20 percent of the newly hired professors in science and engineering are foreign-born, and in China many newly hired faculty members at the top research universities received their graduate education abroad. Universities are also encouraging students to spend some of their undergraduate years in another country. In Europe, more than 140,000 students participate in the Erasmus program each year, taking courses for credit in one of 2,200 participating institutions across the continent. And in the United States, institutions are helping place students in summer internships (实习) abroad to prepare them for global careers. Yale and Harvard have led the way, offering every undergraduate at least one international study or internship opportunity-and providing the financial resources to make it possible. Globalization is also reshaping the way research is done. One new trend involves sourcing portions of a research program to another country. Yale professor and Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator Tian Xu directs a research center focused on the genetics of human disease at Shanghai’s Fudan University, in collaboration with faculty colleagues from both schools. The Shanghai center has 95 employees and graduate students working in a 4,300-square-meter laboratory facility. Yale faculty, postdoctors and graduate students visit regularly and attend videoconference seminars with scientists from both campuses. The arrangement benefits both countries; Xu’s Yale lab is more productive, thanks to the lower costs of conducting research in china, and Chinese graduate students, postdoctors and faculty get on-the-job training from a world-class scientist and his U.S. team. As a result of its strength in science, the United States has consistently led the world in the commercialization of major new technologies, from the mainframe computer and the integrated circuit of the 1960s to the Internet infrastructure (基础设施) and applications software of the 1990s. The link between university-based science and industrial application is often indirect but sometimes highly visible: Silicon Valley was intentionally created by Stanford University, and Route 128 outside Boston has long housed companies spun off from MIT and Harvard. Around the world, governments have encouragedcopying of this model, perhaps most successfully in Cambridge, England, where Microsoft and scores of other leading software and biotechnology companies have set up shop around the university. For all its success, the United States remains deeply hesitant about sustaining the research-university model. Most politician recognize the link between investment in science and national economic strength, but support for research funding has been unsteady. The budget of the National Institutes of Health doubled between 1998 and 2003, but has risen more slowly than inflation since then. Support for the physical sciences and engineering barely kept pace with inflation during that same period. The attempt to make up lost ground is welcome, but the nation would be better served by steady, predictable increases in science funding at the rate of long-term GDP growth, which is on the order of inflation plus 3 percent per year. American politicians have great difficulty recognizing that admitting more foreign students can greatly promote the national interest by increasing international understanding. Adjusted for inflation, public funding for international exchanges and foreign-language study is well below the levels of 40 years ago. In the wake of September 11, changes in the visa process caused a dramatic decline in the number of foreign students seeking admission to U.S. Universities, and a corresponding surge in enrollments in Australia, Singapore and the U.K. Objections from American university and business leaders led to improvements in the process and a reversal of the decline, but the United States is still seen by many as unwelcoming to international students. Most Americans recognize that universities contribute to the nation’s well-being through their scientific research, but many fear that foreign students threaten American competitiveness by taking their knowledge and skills back home. They fail to grasp that welcoming foreign students to the United States has two important positive effects: first, the very best of them stay in the States and –like immigrants throughout history-strengthen the nation; and second, foreign students who study in the United States become ambassadors for many of its most cherished (珍视) values when they return home. Or at least they understand them better. In America as elsewhere, few instruments of foreign policy are as effective in promoting peace and stability as welcoming international university students. 注意:此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。
专4听写10篇
听写10篇Dictation1Town and Country Life in England英国城市和乡村生活(169 words)There 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 sor⁃ry for old people living on their own./They could die in their homes and would not be discovered for weeks or even months./Dictation2Plastic塑料(176words)We 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 plas⁃tic 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 soft and burned easily./The first modern plastics were made in the1930s./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 many-col⁃ored./There is a plastic for almost every need.Scientists continue to experiment with plastics./They hope to find even more ways to use them!/Dictation3Higher Education高等教育(183words)Higher education is a very different experience to school or further education./ You are expected to do far more work for yourself./Lectures and seminars will provide guidance,/but you’ll need to widen your knowledge through background reading./Subject staff will offer lots of advice/to help you get used to this new1--way of working./Library staff will be able to help you find the materials you need, /and advise on referencing and avoiding plagiarism when it comes to writing es⁃says./Making new friends is a key part of the higher education experience./If you’re worried about fitting in,/remember that students from all backgrounds and of all ages go to university and college./One way to form friendships is through student societies or sports./It’s always easier to bond with someone if you share a com⁃mon interest./There will probably be a full list of societies available on your stu⁃dents’union website,/and you’ll have an opportunity to join up to most at the “freshers’fair”./Dictation4Dining Custom in the USA美国的就餐习惯(172words) Americans,like many people elsewhere in the world,/like to invite friends to their homes for an evening of food,drink and conversation./Formal dinners in fine homes and hotels in the US/are much the same as formal dinners anywhere in the world./But as most people in the US have no servants,/their dinner parties at home tend to be informal./Guests may sit down at a table,/or as many new small homes have no separate dining room or very small dining space./ Guests can also serve themselves and eat in the living room,/holding their plates or trays on their knees./A more enjoyable form of entertainment is the pic⁃nic./Americans are great picnickers and almost every family has a picnic basket./ Summer invitations are often for a picnic at a park or in the open countryside,/ and less hamburgers or hot dogs are cooked over a fire./Picnic food is usually cold./Dictation5Sleep睡觉(173words)Why is it so difficult to fall asleep when you are overtired?/There is no one answer that applies to every individual./It is possible to feel“tired”physically and still be unable to fall asleep,/because while your body may be exhausted,you do not feel sleepy./It is not so easy to simply“turn off”./Lack 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 than that on consecutive three nights,/you begin to accrue four“sleep 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 and2--more tired,/but your body is increasingly stimulated./“Power sleeping”for more hours on weekends is only a temporary solution./There is no substitute for getting a good night’s sleep on a regular basis./Dictation6Cartoonists卡通艺术家(159words)In a good cartoon,the artist can tell in a few lines/as much as a writer can tell in half a dozen paragraphs./The cartoonist not only tells a story/but he also tries to persuade the reader to his way of thinking./He has great influence on public opinion./In a political campaign,he plays an important part./Controver⁃sial issues in Congress or at meetings of the United Nations/may keep the car⁃toonist 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./Dictation7A Guide’s Answer导游的答案(160words)In1861,the Civil War started in the United States/between the Northern and the Southern states./The war continued with great bitterness until1865,/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 bat⁃tlefields of the Civil War/with a guide who came from one of the Southern states. /At each place,the guide told the tourists stirring stories/about how a few South⁃ern 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 that 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./Dictation8Great Depression in the U.S.美国经济大萧条(166words)In1929,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 not3--pay,either.Too many people owed money./And few of them could pay their bills. /During the next few years,business got worse and worse./By1932,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./By1932,more than12million Americans were jobless./Millions more were earning barely enough to live on./The country was in a great depression they had never experienced before./Dictation9Making a Complaint投诉(170words) Complaining about faulty goods or bad services is never easy./But if some⁃thing 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 complaint later./If you do not want to do it in person,write a letter./Stick to the facts 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./Dictation10Balloons气球(153words)Balloons have been used for sport for about100years./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 the United States/because of their safety./They are also cheaper and easier to man⁃age 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 late./Over the years,balloonists have tried unsuccessfully to cross the Atlantic./It wasn’t until1978that three American balloonists succeeded./It took them just6days to make the trip,/from their homes in the United State to Paris,France./Their voyage captured the imagina⁃tion of the whole world./4--。
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。
英语专业四级听写50篇(完整版)
英语专业四级听写50篇前言听写在英语专业四级统考中占有15%的比重,是考试的重要组成部分。
说起听写,正在准备和已经参加过英语专业四级考试的同学会说:“我能明白听写的内容,可写的时候就是跟不上!”“短文大意我明白,可是有的语我不会写。
”这只反映出了问题的两个方面。
一是听写速度不够快。
二是词汇量不够或词汇掌握得不够准确。
这些无疑是影响听写成绩的重要因素。
但是,这些不是问题的全部。
在从事听写教学及听写问卷过程中,很容易发现学生失分的具体问题:(1)没听懂,没听好,听写速度跟不上,写出的内容断断续续不连贯,学生因此大量失分;(2)有的词汇没听懂,拼写不够准确,这导致听写失分;(3)时态错误导致失分;(4)单复数不准确导致失分;(5)没有注意断句或专有名词,句子开头单词或专有名词错误使用大小写导致失分;(6)没有注意原文冠词的使用,书写时漏掉冠词导致失分;(7)没有注意单数第三人称形式导致失分;(8)没有注意单数复数名词的形式导致失分。
上述问题的产生有的是缺乏训练造成的,如书写速度跟不上。
有的则是语言基础较差造成的,如听力较差没有完全听懂或没有掌握好词汇。
而单复数、大小写、冠词漏写等则多是粗心大意造成的。
听写部分能提高吗?当然能!而且提高的空间很大。
笔者从事英语专业基础教学与研究,从一开始所带的教学班参加四级考试超过全国院校平均通过率28.2个百分点,超过全国专业外语院校平均通过率12.5个百分点开始,所带的教学班在全国英语专业④级统考中通过率始终ito%,平均成绩、优秀率始终名列前茅。
最近一次所带的教学班参加四级统考,又考出了很好的成绩,通过率超过全国院校平均水平26石个百分点,超过全国专业外语院校13.6个百分点,而且在十几个平行班中平均成绩是最高的,优秀人数也是最多的。
在四级考试中,听写一项的成绩也不例外,每次均位居第一,本项目满分15分,所带班级平均成绩能够达到14分。
是不是学生基础很好?统计表明,和平行班相比所带班级入学时并不存在什么特别优势。
专四 听力50篇 原文 答案
Passage 1: Town and Country Life in England There 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 center 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 2: A 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 relationship in marriage, with the husband accepting a greater share of the duties and satisfactions of family life and with bothhusband and wife sharing more equally in providing themoney, and running the home, according to the abilitiesand interests of each of them. (154 words)Passage 3: A Popular Pastime of the English PeopleOne of the best means of understanding the people ofany nation is watching what they do with theirnon-working time.Most English men, women and children lovegrowing things, especially flowers. Visitors to Englandin spring, summer, or autumn are likely to see gardensall the way along the railway lines. There are flowers atthe airports and flowers in factory grounds, as well as ingardens along the roads. Each English town has at leastone park with beautifully kept flower beds. Publicbuildings of every kind have brilliant window boxesand sometimes baskets of flowers are hanging on them.But what the English enjoy most is growing thingsthemselves. If it is impossible to have a garden, then awindow box or something growing in a pot will do.Looking at each other’s gardens is a popular pastimewith the English. (144 words)Passage 4: British and American Police OfficersReal policemen, both in Britain and the U.S., hardlyrecognize any common points between their lives andwhat they see on TV—if they ever get home in time.Some things are almost the same, of course, but thepolicemen do not think much of them.The first difference is that a policeman’s real lifedeals with the law. Most of what he learns is the law.He has to know actually what actions are against thelaw and what facts can be used to prove them in court.He has to know nearly as much law as a lawyer, andwhat’s more, he has to put it into practice on his feet, inthe dark and, running down a narrow street aftersomeone he wants to talk to.Little of his time is spent in talking with beautifulgirls or in bravely facing cruel criminals. He will spendmost of his working life arranging millions of words onthousands of forms about hundreds of sad, ordinarypeople who are guilty—or not of stupid, unimportantcrimes. (177 words)Passage 5: Living SpaceHow much living space does a person need? Whathappens when his space needs are not met? Scientistsare doing experiments on rats to try to determine theeffects of overcrowded conditions on man. Recentstudies have shown that the behavior of rats is greatlyaffected by space. If rats have enough living space, theyeat well, sleep well and produce their young well. But iftheir living conditions become too crowded, theirbehavior and even their health change obviously. Theycan not sleep and eat well, and signs of fear and worrybecome clear. The more crowded they are, the morethey tend to bite each other and even kill each other.Thus, for rats, population and violence are directlyrelated. Is this a natural law for human society as well?Is enough space not only satisfactory, but necessary forhuman survival? These are interesting questions. (147words)Passage 6: The United NationsIn 1945, representatives of 50 nations met to planthis 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 7: PlasticWe 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 soft and burned easily.The first modern 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 many-colored. There is a plastic for almost every need.Scientists continue to experiment with plastics. Theyhope to find even ways to use them! (160 words)Passage 8: Display of GoodsAre supermarkets designed to persuade us to buymore?Fresh fruit and vegetables are displayed nearsupermarket entrances. This gives the impression thatonly healthy food is sold in the shop. Basic foods thateveryone buys, like sugar and tea, are not put near eachother. They are kept in different aisles so customers aretaken past other attractive foods before they find whatthey want. In this way, shoppers are encouraged to buyproducts that they do not really need.Sweets are often placed at children’s eye level at thecheckout. While parents are waiting to pay, childrenreach for the sweets and put them in the trolley.More is bought from a fifteen-foot display of onetype of product than from a ten-foot one. Customersalso buy more when shelves are full than when they arehalf empty. They do not like to buy from shelves withfew products on them because they feel there issomething wrong with those products that are there.(166 words)Passage 9: Albert EinsteinAlbert Einstein was born in Germany in 1879. Hisfather owned a factory that made electrical devices. Hismother enjoyed music and books. His parents wereJewish but they did not observe many of the religion’srules. Albert was a quiet child who spent much of histime alone. He was slow to talk and had difficultylearning to read. When Albert was five years old, hisfather gave him a compass. The child was filled withwonder when he discovered that the compass needlealways pointed in the same direction—to the north. Heasked his father and his uncle what caused the needle tomove. Their answers about magnetism and gravity weredifficult for the boy to understand. Yet he spent a lot oftime thinking about them. He said later that he feltsomething hidden had to be behind things. (143 words)Passage 10: Private 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 varyfrom person to person.It gives a much greater degree of comfort andmobility. The owner of a car is no longer forced to relyon public transport, and hence no irritation caused bywaiting for buses or taxis. However, others stronglyobject to developing private cars. They maintain that asmore and more cars are produced and run in the street, alarge volume of poisonous gas will be given off,polluting the atmosphere and causing actual harm to thehealth of people.Whether private cars should be developed in China isa difficult question to answer, yet the desire for thecomfort and independence a private car can bring willnot be eliminated. (143 words)Passage 11: A 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 wasgiven his weekly wages every Friday evening. As soonas he got home on Fridays, his wife used to make himgive her all his money, and then she used to give himback only enough to buy his lunch in his company every day.One day, the small man came home very excited. He hurried 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 12: A 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, if it doesn't rain.‖ (154 words)Passage 13: A Kind NeighborMr. and Mrs. Jones’apartment was full of luggage, packages, furniture and boxes. Both of them were verybusy when they heard the doorbell ring. Mrs. Joneswent to open it and she saw a middle-aged lady outside.They lady said she lived next door. Mrs. Jones invitedher to come in and apologized because there was noplace for her to sit. ―Oh, that’s OK,‖said the lady. ―Ijust come to welcome you to your new home. As youknow, in some parts of this city neighbors are notfriendly at all. There are some apartment houses wherepeople don’t know any of their neighbors, not even theones next door. But in this building everyone is veryfriendly with everyone else. We are like one big family.I’m sure you’ll be very happy here.‖Mr. and Mrs.Jones said, ―But madam, we are not new dwellers in theapartment. We’ve lived here for two years. We’removing out tomorrow.‖ (163 words)Passage 14: That Isn’t Our FaultMr. and Mrs. Williams got married when he wastwenty-three, and she was twenty. Twenty-five yearslater, they had a big party, and a photographer came andtook some photographs of them.Then the photographer gave Mrs. Williams a cardand said, ―They’ll be ready next Wednesday. You canget 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 gotinto her car and drove to the photographer’s studio. Shewent inside and said angrily, ―You took somephotographs of me and my husband last week, but I’mnot 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 ourfault. Why didn’t you think of that before you marriedhim?‖ (148 words)Passage 15: A Guide’s AnswerIn 1861, the Civil War started in the United Statesbetween the Northern and the Southern states. The warcontinued with great bitterness until 1865, when theNortherners were victorious. However, even today,many Southerners have not forgotten their defeat, orforgiven the Northerners.A few years ago, a party of American tourists wasgoing round one of the battlefields of the Civil Warwith a guide who came from one of the Southern states.At each place, the guide told the tourists stirring storiesabout how a few Southern soldiers had conqueredpowerful forces of Northerners there.At last, one of the tourists, a lady who came from theNorth, stopped the guide and said to him, ―But surelythe Northern army must have won at least one victoryin the Civil War?‖―Not as long as I’m the guide here, Madam,‖answered the Southern guide. (147 words)Passage 16: A Qualified PilotThe captain of a small ship had to go along a rockycoast, but he was unfamiliar with it, so he tried to find aqualified pilot to guide him. He went ashore in one ofthe small ports, and a local fisherman pretended that hewas a pilot because he needed some money. The captaintook him on board and asked him where to steer theship.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 17: Living 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 nut for the winter. Bears sleep through the winter in a cave.You respond to your environment in many ways, too. You may shiver if you are cold. What other ways do you respond to changes in your environment? (156 words)Passage 18: Flowering PlantsWhat are the parts of a flower?Flowers can have male parts and female parts. Thefemale parts make eggs that become seeds. The maleparts make pollen. Pollen is a powdery material that isneeded 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 loveflowers’ bright colors. They also like a sugary liquid inflowers. This is called nectar. While they drink nectar,pollen rubs off on their bodies. As they move, some ofthis pollen gets delivered to the female flower parts.Over time, the female parts turn into fruits thatcontain seeds. Animals often eat the fruits and the seedspass through their bodies as waste. The animals do notknow they are working for the plants by planting seedsas they travel to different places! (137 words)Passage 19: Finding the Direction and LocationHow can you tell which direction? By day, look forthe Sun. It is in the east in the morning and the west inthe afternoon. At night, use the Big Dipper to help youfind the North Star. It would be better to bring acompass because its needle always points north.How do you know how far you have gone? Youcould count every step. Each step is about two feet.You’d better wear a pedometer which is a tool thatcounts steps. If you know where you started, whichdirection you are heading, and how far you have gone,you can use a good map to figure out exactly where youare.Today there is a new way for travelers to figure outwhere they are. It is the GPS. Is has 24 satellites thatorbit the earth and constantly broadcast their positions.Someday you may carry a small receiver as you hikeand use GPS to find out if you are there yet! (167words)Passage 20: WavesHow does light get from the sun to the earth? Howdoes music get from the stage to the audience? Theymove the same way – in waves!Light and sound are forms of energy. All waves carryenergy, but they may carry it differently. Light andsound travel through different kinds of matter. Forexample, light waves cannot move through walls, butsound waves can. That is why you can hear peopletalking in another room even though you cannot seethem. The energy of some waves is destructive. Anearthquake produces seismic waves.Catch a wave. Ask a friend to stand a few feet awayfrom you. Stretch a spring between you. Shake thespring to transfer energy to it. What happens? Thespring bounces up and down in waves. When the wavesreach your friend, they bounce back to you!Light waves travel 300,000 kilometers (186,000miles) per second! They can also travel through avacuum. That is why light from the sun and distant starscan travel through space to the earth! (175 words)Passage 21: SoilsThere are many different kinds of soils. Differentsolids have different types of rock and minerals in them.Some soils have more water in them than others. Somesoils might have more plant and animal material inthem, too.Different kinds of soils are found in different parts ofthe world. There are several kinds of soils found in theUnited States. In some areas, the soil has a lot of clay.Other soils are very sandy. Loam is a kind of soil that has a good mixture of clay and sand.In some places, soil layers are very thick. Lots of plants grow in places with a thick soil layer. In dry and windy places soil layers are much thinner. Layers of soil on mountains are then because gravity pulls the soil downhill.The type of soil in a particular place affects what kinds of plants can grow there. (150 words)Passage 22: CrisisLife is a contest! Who will win? A bluebird and sparrow both compete for space to build their nests. A fast-growing maple tree and slower-growing dogwood compete for the sunlight they both need. Oil competes with coal and nuclear power as an energy source for electric power plants.There is a problem. There is a limited amount of space for birds, sunlight for trees, and energy for people! If we do not cut back on our uses of some of our resources, someday they will be gone!How can we use energy today and know we will have enough to go around in the future? We can choose alternate, or replacement, energy resources. It takes the earth millions of years to create coal, oil, and gas. They are nonrenewable resources.Solar energy, wind energy and water energy are renewable. What other ways can we conserve our resources? How can we make sure there is always enough to go around? (159 words)Passage 23: America’s Worst SurpriseDecember 7, 1941 was one of the worst days in American history. Nearly all Americans who are old enough to remember that day can still remember whatthey were doing at the moment they heard ―the news‖.The news was that America had been attacked!Shortly before 2:00 P.M., a radio dispatch came intoWashington from Honolulu, Hawaii. ―Air Raid, PearlHarbor—this is no drill.‖ Japanese planes had begun anattack on the largest American military base in thePacific. They first destroyed planes on the ground. Thenthey bombed the ships in the harbor.No one had expected the attack. So no one wasprepared for it. And it did not take long for the Japaneseto do their damage. When the smoke cleared, the Navycounted its losses. Eighteen ships had been sunk orbadly damaged. Nearly 150 planes had been destroyed.More than 2,400 Americans had been killed and morethan 1,200 wounded. (157 words)Passage 24: Great Depression in the U.S.In 1929, the bills started to come in. Americanindustry had produced too many goods. Americanscould not afford to buy all of them. So factories had tocut down on their production. Many workers lost theirjobs. Investors tried to get their money back. Butbusinesses did not have enough money to pay them.Banks tried to get their money back from investors. Butthe investors could not pay, either. Too many peopleowed money. And few of them could pay their bills.During the next few years, business got worse andworse. By 1932, banks all over the country wereclosing.People without money could not buy goods. So morebusinesses 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 neverexperienced before. (151 words)Passage 25: A Place of Our OwnWe are all usually very careful when we buysomething for the house. Why? Because we have to livewith it for a long time. We paint a room to make itbrighter, so we choose the colors carefully.We buy new curtains in order to match the newlydecorated room, so they must be the right color. Wemove the furniture round so as to make more space—orwe buy new furniture—and so on. It is an endlessbusiness.Rich or poor, we take time to furnish a room. Perhapssome people buy furniture in order to impress theirfriends. But most of us just want to enjoy oursurroundings. We want to live as comfortably as we canafford to. We spend a large part of our lives at home.We want to make a small corner in the world which wecan recognize as our own. (151 words)Passage 26: Travel for WorkYou can see them in every airport in the world.They are businessmen and women who have to travelfor their work.When they first applied for the job, they may havethought of good food and hotels, huge expense accountsand fashionable cities. Now they have to sit in airportlounges, tired and uncomfortable in their smart clothes,listening to the loudspeaker announces ―The flight toTokyo, or Berlin, or New York is delayed for anothertwo hours.‖Some people say to me, ―How lucky youare to be able to travel abroad in your work! You can gosightseeing 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 think I am lucky, but only because I can go to places I would never visit if I was a tourist. (149 words)Passage 27: IntelligenceAre 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 extend 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 in rich and varied surroundings. Thus, the limits of a person’s intelligence are fixed 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 extend something we are born with. The closer the blood relationship between two people is the closer they are likely to be in intelligence. (154 words) Passage 28: A Free Dress Every WeekThe temptation to steal is greater than ever before especially in large shops and people are not so honest as they once were.A detective recently watched a well-dressed woman who always went into a large store on Monday mornings. One Monday, there were fewer people in the shop than usual when the woman came in, so it was easier for the detective to watch her. The woman firstbought a few small articles. After a little time, she choseone of the most expensive dresses in the shop andhanded it to an assistant who wrapped it up for her asquickly as possible. The woman simply took the parceland walked out of the shop without paying. When shewas arrested, the detective found out that the shopassistant was her daughter. Believe it or not, the girl―gave‖ her mother a free dress every week! (148 words)Passage 29: TimeTime is tangible. One can gain time, spend time,waste time, save time, or even kill time. Commonquestions in American English reveal this concretequality as though time were a possession. ―Do you haveany time?‖, ―Can you get some time for this?‖, ―Howmuch free time do you have?‖ The treatment of time asa possession influences the way that time is carefullydivided.Generally, Americans are taught to do one thing at atime and may be uncomfortable when an activity isinterrupted. In businesses, the careful scheduling oftime and the separation of activities are commonpractices. Appointment calendars are printed with 15-,30-, and 60-minute time slots. The idea that ―there is atime and place for everything‖extends to Americansocial life. Visitors who drop by without prior noticemay interrupt their host’s personal time. Thus, callingfriends on the telephone before visiting them isgenerally preferred to visitor s’dropping by. (157words)Passage 30: CartoonistsIn a good cartoon, the artist can tell in a few lines asmuch as a writer can tell in half a dozen paragraphs.The cartoonist not only tells a story but he also tries topersuade the reader to his way of thinking. He has greatinfluence on public opinion. In a political campaign, heplays an important part. Controversial issues inCongress or at meetings of the United Nations maykeep the cartoonist well-supplied with currentmaterials.A clever cartoonist may cause laughter because heoften uses humor in his drawings. If he is sketching afamous person, he takes a prominent feature andexaggerates it. Cartoonists, for instance, like to lengthenan already long nose and to widen an already broad grin.This exaggeration of a person’s characteristics is calledcaricature. The artist uses such exaggeration to put hismessage across. (144 words)Passage 31:Water PollutionWater is very important to us. Factories and plantsneed water for industrial uses and large pieces offarmland need it for irrigation. Without water to drink,people die in a short time.Today most water sources are so dirty that peoplemust purify water before drinking. Water becomes dirtyin many ways: industrial pollution is one of them. Withthe development of industry, plants and factories pourtons of industrial wastes into rivers every day. Therivers have become seriously polluted, and the water isbecoming unfit for drinking or irrigation. The samething has also happened to our seas and oceans. So, theproblem of water pollution is almost worldwide.Scientists of many countries have done a lot ofwork to stop pollution. The polluted water in some。
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1 Town 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.2 A 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 relationship in marriage, with the husband accepting a greater 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.Useful Words and Expressions:1. life-pattern生活方式2. share3 A Popular Pastime of the English PeopleOne of the best means of understanding the people of any nation is watching what the 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 they 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 windo w box or something growing in a pot will do. Looking at each other’s gardens is a popular pastime with the English.Useful Words and Expressions:1. window box:窗台上的花盆箱2.pastime 消遣,娱乐Swimming is my favorite pastime.4 British and American Police OfficersReal policemen, both in Britain and the U.S., hardly recognize any common points between their lives and what they se 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 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 in bravely 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.Useful Words and Expressions:1. think much of 重视,尊重2. in court 在法庭上3. criminal 罪犯,犯罪者4. guilty 犯罪的,有罪的5 Living 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 behavior 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 behavior 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, and more they tend to bite each other and even kill each other. Thus, for rats, populations 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.6 The 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.Useful Words and Expressions:1. representative 代表2. General Assembly 联合国大会3. permanent 永久的,持久的4. Security Council 联合国安全理事会7 PlasticWe use plastic wrap to protect our foods. We put our garbage in plastic bags or plastic cans. We siton 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 soft and burned easily.The first modern 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 many-colored. There is a plastic for almost every need. Scientists continue to experiment with plastics. They hope to find even ways to use them!8 Display 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.Useful Words and Expressions:1. aisle 走廊,过道2. trolley 手推车3. checkout 收款台9 Albert 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 re ligion’s rules. Albert was a quite 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 be 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.Useful expressions and words:1. device 装置,设备leave to one’s own devices 听任某人自行其是,允许某人按自己的意愿做事She left the child to her own devices for an hour in the afternoon.她允许孩子在下午有一个小时的自由支配时间。