2008年英语专业八级考试听力真题MP3附试题及答案

2008年英语专业八级考试听力真题MP3附试题及答案

SECTION A MINI-LECTURE

In this section you will hear a mini-lecture. You willhear the lecture ONCE ONLY. While listening, takenotes on the important points. Your notes will not be marked, but you will need them tocomplete a gap-filling task after the mini-lecture. When the lecture is over, you will be given two minutes to check your notes, and another ten minutes to complete the gap-filling task onANSWER SHEET ONE. Use the blank sheet for note-taking.

The Popularity of English

I. Present status of English

A. English as a native/first language

B. English as a lingua franca: a language for communication among people

whose (1)______ are different

C. Number of people speaking English as a first or a second language:

— 320-380 million native speakers

— 250- (2) _____ million speakers of English as a second language

II. Reasons for the popular use of English

A. (3) ____ reasons

— the Pilgrim Fathers brought the language to America;

— British settlers brought the language to Australia;

— English was used as a means of control in (4)_____

B. Economic reasons

—spread of (5) _____

— language of communication iii the international business community

C. (6)______ in international travel

— use of English in travel and tourism

— signs in airports

— language of announcement

— language of (7) ______

D. Information exchange

— use of English in the academic world

— language of (8) _____ or journal articles

E. Popular culture

— pop music on (9)______

— films from the USA

III. Questions to think about

A. status of English in the future

B. (10) ______ of distinct varieties of English

SECTION A MINI-LECTURE

In this section you will hear a mini-lecture. You willhear the lecture ONCE ONLY while listening,takenotes on the important points. Your notes will not be marked, but you will need them tocomplete a gap-filling task after the mini-lecture. When the lecture is over, you will be given two minutes to check your notes, and another ten minutes to complete the gap-filling task onANSWER SHEET ONE. Use the blank sheet for note-taking.

Now listen to the mini-lecture

The Popularity of English

Good morning, every one. Today’s lecture is about the popularity of English. As we all know,English is widely used in the world. Although English is not the language with the largestnumber of native or first language speakers, it has really become a lingua franca. Then what is alingua franca? The term refers to a language which is widely adopted for communication between two speakers whose native languages are different from each other’s, and where oneor both speakers are using it as a second language. For example, when an Indian talks to aSingaporean using English, then English is the lingua franca. Then actually how many peoplespeak English as either a first or a second language? Some researchers suggested a few yearsago that between 320－380 million people spoke English as a first language, and anywaybetween 250－350 million as a second language. And of course, if we include people who arelearning English as

a foreign language all over the world, that number may increase dramatically.Then we may ask a question: how did English get there? That is, how did English gain thepresent status of popularity? There are in fact a number of interlocking reasons for the popularity of English as a lingua franca. Many of the reasons are historical, but they alsoinclude economic and cultural factors that have influenced and sustained the spread of thelanguage. Let’s go through the reasons one by one.

First is the historical reason. This is related to the colonial history. As we know, when thePilgrim Fathers landed on the Massachusetts coast in 1620 after their journey from England,they brought with them not just a set of religious beliefs, a pioneering spirit or a desire for colonization, but also their language. Although many years later, the Americans broke awayfrom their colonial master, the language of English remained and still does. It was the same inAustralia, too. When Commander Phillip planted the British flag in Sydney cove on the 26thJanuary, 1788, it was not just a bunch of British convicts on their guardians, but also alanguage. In other parts of the former British Empire, English rapidly became a unifying ordominating means of control. For example, it became a lingua franca in India or a variety of indigenous languages made the use of any one of them as a whole country system problematic. So the imposition of English as the one language of administration helpsmaintain the colonizers’control and power, thus English traveled around many parts of theworld in those days. And long after that colonial power has faded away, it is still widely used asa main or at least an institutional language in countries as far apart as Jamaica and Pakistan,Uganda and New Zealand. That is the first factor.

Now the second major factor in the spread of English has been the spread of commerce throughout the world. The spread of international commerce has taken English along with it.This is the 20th century phenomenon of globalization. Therefore, one of the first sights manytravelers see when arriving in countries as diverse as Brazil, China, for example, is the yellowtwin arch sign of MacDonald’s fast food restaurant or some other famous brands outlets Andwithout doubt, English is used as the language of communication in the international business community. in the international business community.

And the third factor related to the popular use of English is the booming international travel.And you will find that much travel and tourism is carried on around the world in English. Ofcourse this is not always the case, as the multi-lingualism of many tourism workers in manydifferent countries

demonstrate. But a visit to most airports on the globe will show signs notonly in the language of that country but also with English, just as many airline announcementsbroadcast in English too, whatever the language of the country the airport is situated in.

So far, English is also the preferred language of air traffic control in many countries and is usedwidely in sea travel communication. Another factor has something to do with information exchange around the world. As we all know, a great deal of academic discourse

around the world takes place in English. It is often a lingua franca of conferences,for example,and many journal articles in fields as diverse as astronomy, trio psychology and geology haveEnglish as a kind of default language.

The last factor I cite here concerns popular culture. In the western world, at least English is adominating language in popular culture. Pop music in English can be heard on many radios,thus many people who are not English speakers can sing words from their favorite English medium songs. And many people who are regular cinema-goers or TV viewers can frequentlyhear English in subtitle films coming out of the USA.

Now, to sum up in today’s lecture, we have reviewed some of the reasons or factors that liebehind the popular use of English as the No. 1 world language. Before we finish, I'd like toleave a few questions for you to think about. Is the status of English as the No. 1 worldlanguage a sure in the future? Will it split into varieties that become less mutually intelligible?Or will some other language or languages take the place of English as world language in future?These questions are not easy to answer, I know. But they are definitely worth pondering overafter the lecture. Ok, this brings to the end of today’s lecture. Thank you for your attention.Now you have two minutes to check your notes. And then please finish the gap-filling task onAnswer Sheet 1 in 10 minutes.

SECTION B CONVERSATION

In this section you will hear everything ONCE ONLY. Listen carefully and then answer the questions that follow. Mark the correct answer to each question on your coloured answer sheet.

Questions 1 to 5 are based on a conversation. At the end of the conversation you

will be given 10 seconds to answer each of the following five questions.

Now listen to the conversation.

1. Mary doesn't seem to favour the idea of a new airport because ________.

A. the existing airports are to be wasted

B. more people will be encouraged to travel

C. more oil will be consumed

D. more airplanes will be purchased

2. Which of the following is NOT mentioned by Mary as a potential disadvantage?

A. More people in the area.

B. Noise and motorways.

C. Waste of land.

D. Unnecessary travel.

3. Freddy has cited the following advantages for a new airport EXCEPT

A. more job opportunities

B. vitality to the local economy

C. road construction,

D. presence of aircrew in the area

4. Mary thinks that people don't need to do much travel nowadays as a result of ________.

A. less emphasis on personal contact

B. advances in modern telecommunications

C. recent changes in people's concepts

D. more potential damage to the area

5. We learn from the conversation that Freddy is Mary's ideas,

A. strongly in favour of

B. mildly in favour of

C. strongly against

D. mildly against

SECTION B CONVERSATION

In this section you will hear everything ONCE ONLY.Listen carefully and answer the questions that follow.Mark the correct answer to each question on your coloured answer sheet. Questions 1 to 5 arebased on a conversation. At the end of the conversation you will be given 10 seconds toanswer each of the following five questions.

Now listen to the conversation.

W: Hello, Freddie.

M: Hello, Mary. How nice to see you again. How’s everything going?

W: Fine. Busy these days?

M: Yeah. With lots of things to do. Would you like to join me for a drink?

W: Ok, thanks.

M: Any news recently?

W: Oh, well, I read in the local paper the other day that the government is planning to build anairport here, you know that?

M: I’m afraid not.

W: Well, my real objection to this idea of a new airport is, is the whole thing is so wasteful, Imean, we know we are currently in fuel crises, we know that we’ve got to conserve oil and fueland all the rest of it, and get here the government seems quite deliberately to be encouragingpeople to, ... to travel, to use and these jets use a hack of a lot of oil, I mean it takes a ton ofoil,

a ton of petrol before one of these big jets even takes off.

M: Mm...

W: It seems so completely short-sighted to me. Quite apart from all the ways to the land andso on, I can’t see, I can’t see the rationale behind really wanting an, an airport at all.

M: Well, surely you must have to admit that the existing airport nearby are becoming swarmed.I mean, why should people, uhh...

W: Well, they aren’t being swarmed.

M: Be treated like cattle when there is a chance of... a new airport here.

W: But, but really people shouldn’t be traveling that much, that’s, that’s why most of thejourneys, I mean, they swamped because there is far too much unnecessary tourism and soon. It isn’t necessary for people to travel so far or even so often.

M: Well, you take the climate here in this country. Now just before Christmas, there was thisdreadful cold spell, there was a tremendous increase in number of people who wanted to leaveand spent Christmas and the New Year in a reasonable climate of sun and, and a certain mild climate. And, and in summer, the same situation occurs. It is unbearably hot here and peoplewant to go somewhere cool.

W: Well, yes, I can sympathize with that. But it is still not really necessary to do, well, as itisn’t necessary to, to conserve fuel and it is necessary to, well, not to waste land. I mean landfor a new airport could be used for far more important things which would benefit the peoplehere far more. I mean it could be used for farming for instance.

M: True.

W: It could also be used for housing, or it could be used for parks, you know. People thencould come and enjoy themselves without having to travel far.

M: But, airports do bring some local advantages. They bring roads, there is obviously extraemployment, for instance, new hotels, shops, restaurants will have to be built. This means morejobs for the locals and it is good for local economy.

W: But you ask the people, you ask those who are now living near the airports, for instance,whether,whether they recon that airpotrs bring them advantages, although, all the airportsbring in are noise and vast motorways, and the whole area is, is desolated, isn’t it?

M: But the airport infra, ..., infrastructure relies on housing and other facilities for the greatnumber of people who would be employed in the airport, the pilots even, the stewardess, theyhave to live somewhere near the airport, right?

W: Yeah, but it’s, it’s just so, so damaging to the whole area. I think, airports, from my pointof view, the whole concept is outdated, really. Umm, with

modern technology, we can make alot of travel unnecessary, really. For example, it won’t be necessary for businessmen to fly outto a foreign county to talk to somebody. They can just leave it to the telephone in the office,press the button, and say to the person they want to do business with. You see, businessdeals can be made without having to travel back and forth, right?

M: Yes, you are right. But for a lot of people, personal contact is important. And this meanstravel, and means quick travel, air travel. And we just need a new airport.

SECTION C NEWS BROADCAST

In this section you will hear everything ONCE ONLY.Listen carefully and then answer the questions thatfollow. Mark the correct answer to each question on your coloured answer sheet.

Question 6 is based on the following news. At the end of the news item, you will be given 10seconds to answer the question.

Now listen to the news.

6. What is the main idea of the news item?

A. A new government was formed after Sunday's elections.

B. The new government intends to change the welfare system.

C. The Social Democratic Party founded the welfare system.

D. The Social Democratic Party was responsible for high unemployment.

Questions 7 and 8 are based on the following news. At the end of the news item, you will begiven 20 seconds to answer the questions.

Now listen to the news.

7. The tapes of the Apollo-11 mission were first stored in ________.

A. a U.S. government archives warehouse

B. a NASA ground tracking station

C. the Goddard Space Flight Centre

D. none of the above places

8. What does the news item say about Richard Nafzger?

A. He is assigned the task to look for the tapes.

B. He believes that the tapes are probably lost.

C. He works in a NASA ground receiving site.

D. He had asked for the tapes in the 1970s.

Questions 9 and 10 are based on the following news. At the end of the news item, you will begiven 20 seconds to answer the questions.

Now listen to the news.

9. The example in the news item is cited mainly to show ________.

A. that doctors are sometimes professionally incompetent

B. that in cases like that hospitals have to pay huge compensations

C. that language barriers might lower the quality of treatment

D. that language barriers can result in fatal consequences

10. According to Dr. Flores, hospitals and clinics ________.

A. have seen the need for hiring trained interpreters

B. have realized the problems of language barriers

C. have begun training their staff to be bilinguals

D. have taken steps to provide accurate diagnosis

In this section you will hear everything ONCE ONLY.Listen carefully and answer the questions that follow.Mark the correct answer to each question on yourcoloured answer sheet. Question 6 is based on thefollowing news . At the end of the news item, you will be given 10 seconds to answer thequestion.

Now listen to the news.

The New Moderates Party began forming the new Swedish government on Monday. In Sunday’selections, the New Moderates Party defeated the Social Democrats. The Social Democratic Partyhas controlled Sweden for all but 9 years since 1932, building up the country’s generous welfare state. But the New Moderates wants to change it. Sweden’s welfare system is famedaround the world, ]but the system encourages people to be lazy. And unemployment

is alsohigh in Sweden. One reason is the high tax on companies which makes it difficult to employ new people.

Questions 7 and 8 are based on the following news. At the end of the news item, you will begiven 20 seconds to answer the questions.

Now listen to the news.

Much of the world was watching on television when the commander of the Apollo-11 mission,Neil Armstrong, took the first steps on the moon in July, 1969. The pictures of that historicfootstep and everything else about that and subsequent Apollo moon landings were recordedon magnetic tapes at three NASA ground tracking stations around the world. The tapes werethen shipped to a NASA operations center near Washington, the Goddard Space Flight Center.

In late 1969, the space agency began transferring them and tens of thousands of tapes fromother space missions to a nearby U.S. government archives warehouse. NASA says it askedfor them back in the 1970s, but now does not know where they are. “I probably am overly sensitive to the word ‘lost’. I did not feel they are lost,” said Richard Nafzger, a Goddard SpaceFlight Center engineer who was in charge of television processing from all of NASA’s groundreceiving sites.

The space agency has authorized him to set aside his other duties for the foreseeable futureand devote his time to the hunt for the tapes. Nafzger says they are stored somewhere.

Questions 9 and 10 are based on the following news. At the end of the news item, you will begiven 20 seconds to answer the questions.

Now listen to the news.

More than 22 million people who live in the United States don’t speak or understand Englishvery well and that can be deadly. In a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine,Dr. Glenn Flores highlights some cases where language barriers prevented patients fromcommunicating with health care providers — with serious consequences. Dr. Flores recalls one incident in which English-speaking doctors thought a Spanish-speaking man was sufferingfrom a drug overdose. “He was in the hospital basically for two days being worked up for drug abuse,” Flores says. “They finally did a head CT scan and realized he had had a major bleed intohis brain. He ended up being paralyzed and he got a $71 million settlement award from thehospital.” Dr.

Flores, a professor at the Medical College of Wisconsin says that despite exampleslike that, the majority of U.S. health care facilities still do not have trained interpreters on site.But he acknowledges that increasing numbers of health care workers are bilingual, and thatmore clinics and hospitals do make sure their staff and patients understand each other. This isthe end of listening comprehension, please proceed to the next part.