2016年专四真题听力原文

听写Think Positive and Feel Positive
Are you confident or insecure in a difficult situation? Do you react positively or negatively? The answer may depend in part on whom you're around.
A study found that negative thinking can be contagious in some cases. For example, the researchers studied 103 college roommates. They measured each roommate's tendency towards negative thinking. It was found that thinking patterns can be contagious.
Students with a negative-thinking roommate became more depressed themselves. And students with more positive-thinking roommates were more likely to become more positive as well.
Talk
What Is Grit?
Good afternoon, everyone. （1）Today, I would like to talk about my research project concerning the key to success. I would like to start my topic with my own story.
When I was 27 years old, I left for a demanding job: teaching seventh graders math in the New York City public schools. And like any teacher, I made quizzes and tests. I gave out homework assignments. When the work came back, I calculated grades.
What struck me was that IQ was not the only difference between my best and my worst students. Some of my strongest performers did not have super IQ scores. Some of my smartest kids weren't doing so well.Then I felt very interested in knowing the reason why the students' math performance is not that closely related to their IQ scores. （2）I started studying kids and adults in all kinds of challenging settings, and in every study my question was, who is successful here and why.My research team and I went to West Point Military Academy. We tried to predict which students would stay in military training and which would drop out. (3)We went to the National Spelling Contest and tried to predict which children would advance furthest in competition. We worked with private companies, asking, which of these salespeople is going to keep their jobs? And who's going to earn the most money.We went to many places, and finally one characteristic emerged as a significant predictor of success. And it wasn't social intelligence. It wasn't good looks, physical health, and it wasn't IQ. It was grit.
What is grit?(4)Well, grit is passion and perseverance for very long-term goals. (5)Grit is sticking with your future, day in, day out, not just for the week, not just for the month, but for
years, and working really hard to make future a reality.(6) Grit is living your life like it's a marathon, not a sprint.
A few years ago, I started studying grit in the Chicago public schools. I asked thousands of high school juniors to take grit questionnaires, and then waited around more than a year to see who would graduate. (7)It turned out that grittier kids were significantly more likely to graduate, even when I matched them on every characteristic I could measure, things like family income, test scores and so on.
To me, the most shocking thing about grit is how little we know, how little science knows, about building it. Every day, parents and teachers ask me, "How do I build grit in kids? How do I keep them motivated for the long run? "
Our data shows very clearly that there are many talented individuals who simply do not follow through on their commitment. (8)In fact, in our data, grit is usually unrelated to measures of talent.
So far, the best idea I've heard about building grit in kids is something called "growth mindset." (9)Growth mindset is the belief that the ability to learn is not fixed, that it can change with your effort.(10) Kids with grit are much more likely to persevere when they fail, because they don't believe that failure is a permanent condition.
So growth mindset is a great idea for building grit. But we need more. And that's where I'm going to end my talk, because that's where we are. That's the work that stands before us. We have to be willing to fail, to be wrong, to start over again with lessons learned.
As a conclusion, we need to be gritty about getting our kids grittier.Next time, I would like to share with you my experience in building up students' grit.
CONVERSATION ONE
W: Hello, This is Kate Smith, I'm calling from ABC Company.
M: Oh, hello, Kate. Great to hear from you.
W: You've already been told that you've been shortlisted for interview...
M: Oh, yes...
W: Well, we're very excited about meeting you. （1）OK, I just want to talk you through the procedure for the day. Someone will meet you when you arrive, and then bring you up to meet myself and Arthur Miller, the CEO.
M: OK, sounds good. So will you be the only members of the interview panel there then?
W: Yes, it'll be just me and Arthur who will talk to you. The interview will be in three parts---first of all we'll ask you some general questions about yourself and your educational and professional background, and then we'll move on to specifics.
M: Oh, um, specifics? Well er, what kind of questions will you be asking?
W: Well, it'll be very similar to the personal statement you submitted with your CV — we'll be expecting you to... to give actual examples of problems you've faced and solved, and of what you feel are the major successes in your career so far.
M: OK. Well, yeah, that sounds great — can't wait!
W:（2） Then there'll be a chance for you to ask us any questions — about the job itself, or ABC Company in general...
M: Oh, um, OK... I'll think of something!
W:（3/4）After that, we'd like you to give a short presentation on how you see ABC Company as a company progressing, and how you see yourself taking us there.
M: OK, so will I be expected to give like a formal style presentation?
W: It can be as formal or informal as you like. There'll be a computer and a data projector there available. If you need anything else, just let us know.
M: Oh, um... OK, a presentation! I'll think of something. I haven't done one of those in a while... W: Is that all clear?
M: Yes.
W:（5）Great! So, Daniel, I'll see you at 11 a.m., Thursday next week.
M: OK, great. I look forward to meeting you! Thanks, bye.
W: Bye.
Questions 1 to 5 are based on Conversation One.
1. Why does the woman call the man?
2. What kind of questions can the man ask in the interview?
3. Which is the last part of the interview?
4. What might be expected from the man's presentation?
5. When is the interview scheduled?
CONVERSATION TWO
W: It says a growing number of students are making a major hole from the minute they enter the real world because they are already, some of them, more than 100, 000 dollars in debt. With us
now is Mark Spencer, he is the senior financial analyst for SBC Bank. Welcome to you.
M: Thank you. Nice to be with you.
W: Now I guess there are two kinds of debts: good debt and bad debt. Where does this go?
M: (7)Well, student loan debt is traditionally considered good debt, but the problem for many students and their families is that the cost of colleges has been going up at 6 to 8% a year, far faster than the income, far faster than the standard of living. That means debt's taking on a bigger and bigger role in financing education.
W: (6-1)How much debt is too much debt for, for one student?
M: (8)Well, one guideline is that you look at the first year's salary in your field after graduation, and use that as a barometer, but even then...
W: Is that right?
M: Well, you are talking big payments even in that instance, for example, 30, 000 dollars worth of debt. If you are gonna repay that over 10 years, you are talking more than 300 dollars a month at, in payments every month for 10 years.
W: (6-2)But there is surely more than one way to get a loan for college. There are government programs. There are so many kinds of grants. What's, what's the best advice for people who are looking for these loans to try to keep themselves from going under.
M: I understand that loans are just one way of college finance. Take advantage of the other opportunities. (9)Things like a college savings plan, let, let you save on a tax advantage basis. So you can put money away in these accounts and withdraw tax-free to pay for that education.
W: So it's important to start early and that really reduces that reliance on debt later.
M: (6-3)Another thing, leave no stone unturned, looking at grants, scholarships, even on-campus jobs. I mean every dollar you get that way is seen as another dollar you don't have to borrow later.
W: (10-1)The kinds of jobs that so many students, the fresh off students, like to go into, er, charity stuff, volunteer work. This debt is eliminating a lot of that, isn't it?
M:(10-2) I think that's the social cost. Really, I mean, you know, when you consider that, you know, people may pass up a rewarding career in charitable work, or non-profit organization because they have to get a higher salary someplace else to pay off that debt.
W: Yeah, that's for sure. Mark Spencer, senior financial analyst from SBC Bank.
Mark, good you could be here.
M: Thank you.
6. What is the interview mainly about?
7. How does the cost of college education change every year?
8. What is used to measure student loan debt as a guideline?
9. What is the advantage of joining a college savings plan?
10. What is the possible social cost of a college loan?。