专四听写参考答案

Passage 2 A change in women’s life
The 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.
Passage 8 Display of Goods
Are 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
Passage 10 Private cars
with 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 s 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
Passage 11 The Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the national library of the United States. / It was founded in 1800 to serve the needs of the congressmen. / Today, it contains books, articles and documents on every subject imaginable. / Besides senators, congressmen and other government officials, / it serves libraries, researchers, artists and scientists throughout the country and the world. /
The Library is one of the largest libraries in the world. / It has a collection of 74 million items which are housed in three buildings. / The bookshelves stretch for 350 miles. / Of the 18 million books, more than half are in languages other than English. /
The main reading room is a great hall of marble pillars. / It is the center of activity in the library. / There is a computer catalog center with six terminals for quick access to information. / For greater speed and efficiency, / the library has installed an electric book – carrying system / that carries books from one building to another in only a few seconds. / (160 words)
Passage 12 A Car Soccer Race
American football is different from the European football / and some people think that it is better. / Now there’s a new kind of football or soccer which is played in America. / It’s called car soccer. / The players drive small cars, which are called Beetles. / The players try to catch the ball in their cars. / The cars are protected all since they often crash into each other. / The ball is larger than the usual one and the players are protected, too. / In 1985, the First European car soccer match took place in West Germany. / Teams from some countries in European played in the match. / The Beetles raced around the ground madly / while the spectators shouted “The ball is behind you”. / When the match ended, three cars had been crashed into pieces. / And the players as well as many of the spectators were badly hurt and had to be taken to hospital. / Will this car soccer become as popular as football? I doubt. / (160 words)
Passage 13 Changes of Family Life
The concept of family life has changed considerably over the years. / In earliest times, several generations lived together in clans, / which consisted of all living descendents and their husbands or wives. / These clans were almost totally self-sufficient, / every member contributing in some way toward the survival of the group. / The men hunted and fished for food or sometimes maintained flocks of sheep or goats. / The women baked bread and roasted the meat their men provided. / Special members of the community were selected to make products like pottery, baskets and home weapons. / But with the development of greater varieties of food, clothing and shelter, / a single clan could no longer develop all the individual skills the group required. / Clans merged into larger societies and at the same time broke into smaller units consisting of married couples and their children. / Later the Industrial Revolution brought about even more important
changes in family life. / New inventions brought shorter working hours for men and easier housekeeping routines for women. / Today a productive family life suggests not the group’s cooperative efforts of working together, / but the pleasant and meaningful sharing of its leisure. / (185 words)
Passage 14 Vitamins
It was not until the beginning of this century that it was recognized / that certain substances were essential in the diet to prevent or cure some diseases. / These substances are now known as vitamins. / They are vital for growth, good health, / and maintenance of the normal functions of the body. / A well-balanced diet should provide all the vitamins we normally require. / Those of us who are fortunate enough to be able to buy sufficient food / should not suffer from vitamin deficiency. / However, for various reasons, / some people do not maintain a balanced diet. / People often lose their appetite because of illness. / People living alone may not bother to eat proper meals, / and people on a diet may not eat sufficient quantities of necessary foods. / Moreover, modern methods of preserving, freezing, and long-term storage of food, / together with overcooking, can destroy many of the vitamins. / (145 words)
Passage 15 Comets
In recent years scientists’ investigation of comets has increased / because of growing interest in the origin of the sun and planets. / Scientists want to learn how comets are formed. / They think that such information will help explain the origin of the solar system. / The word “comet” comes from Greek and means “hairy object”. / In history comets have a special place. / People believed that they brought news of death, destruction or military victories. / The tails of comets provide viewers with spectacular sights at night. / Comet tails are millions of kilometers long. / The tails frequently reach lengths of 250 million kilometers and more. / The most famous comet of history is called Halley’s Comet, which appears every 76 years. / It was named for Edward Halley, a British astronomer. / He predicted the appearance of the comet in 1758, 16 years after his death. / Halley’s Comet is extremely bright and has two tails. / In the 20th century it returned in 1910 and 1986. / (159 words)
Passage 16 Mobile Phone Etiquette
The mobile phone has created a new way of life. / It gives us the opportunity to reach people when and wherever we like. / But when mobile phones become as commonplace as wristwatches, / it seems they are creating embarrassing situations. / People let their phones ring in restaurants, theaters or business meetings. / People loudly discuss very personal issues over their phones while strangers are around them. / People spend all their time in the presence of friends / paying more attention to those at the other end of their mobile phones. / By now, everyone knows that mobile phone etiquette is a real problem. / These are tips for being a good mobile citizen. / Firstly, remember to check your phone is off at activities. / Secondly, respect the people around you when you make or take calls in public. / Thirdly, don’t answer your cell phone
while talking with another person / unless that phone call is more important than the person you are with. / Follow these rules and you’ll be a responsible mobile phone user by being considerate to others.
Passage 17 Reduce, Reuse and Recycle
In recent years there has been an increase awareness of the importance of recycling. / The three Rs to keep in mind / for a cleaner environment are: reduce, reuse, and recycle. / Reducing is the best way to protect the environment. / However, if you can’t reduce something, reuse it and if you can’t reuse it, recycle it. / Reducing waste means shopping with the environment in mind. / Consider the environmental impact of each product before you buy it. / Make a list of what you need before you go shopping; / this will reduce impulse buying. / Avoid buying things that can’t be recycled. / Learning to reuse is easy after a little practice. / For example, you can reuse shopping bags. / Buy durable, high quality goods for a longer life outside the landfill. / Although durable goods may cost a little more at first, / they will save your money and help save the environment in the long run. / Before throwing anything away, think about how each item can be reused. / (162 words)
Passage 18 Mercy Killing
Some people hold that for patients with painful and terminal disease mercy killing is a solution, / for it will allow them to die a peaceful death and it seems to benefit everybody: / the patients themselves, their relatives, the medical staff, / and the patients who are waiting for hospital beds. / But mercy killing is still a controversial issue. / Those who are strongly against it hold / that the possibility of abuse will expose sick people to all kinds of danger. / At present, many societies and organization have been formed in the world to promote mercy killing / but in no country has it been legalized. / However, in the Netherlands the society and the courts tend to tolerate doctor-assisted suicide / if strict criteria are met. / In 1995 about 2.3% of all Dutch deaths, or 3118 cases, / were attributed to mercy killing by government studies. / A few cases of mercy killing are also reported in the U.S. / although the majority of the public are against it. / (161 words)
Passage 19 Worry
Worry is like blood pressure. / You need a certain level to live, but too much can kill you. / People who worry too much suffer. / For all their hard work, for all their humor and willingness to laugh at themselves, / for all their self-awareness, worries just cannot achieve peace of mind. / Worry is amazingly common. / At least one in four of us – about 65 million Americans / – will meet the criteria for an anxiety disorder at some point in our lifetime. / Even those individuals whose lives are going well / may worry excessively on occasion. / And yet, worry is a very treatable condition. / Most people today are not aware of all that we have learned about worry in the last 50 years. / We’ve come to understand different types of worry and the underlying triggers. / Worry may accompany simple shyness, depression of generalized anxiety disorder. / Each kind of worry responds to specific and powerful techniques. / (151 words)
Passage 20 The Attitude of Gratitude
Thanksgiving Day is a day for giving thanks to family and friends in the United States. / Some people think Thanksgiving is the most important holiday of the year / because they believe the two most important words in the English are “thank you”. / For business success, a “thank you” tells a prospect or partner / that you are appreciative of what he has just done. / And that means you have an interest in that person / and the business relationship as well. / For social interaction, expressing gratitude is equally important to show / how you value the other person and the social relationship you have with him. / Therefore, “thank you” is a bonding phrase. / Additionally, giving thanks is most important for out own pursuit of happiness. / Whatever you have, you can either appreciate of not. / If you appreciate it and really notice that you have it, it will bring you happiness. / However, if you take it for granted, and focus on things you don’t have, / what you do have won’t bring you happiness. / (169 words)
Passage 17 Living things react
You and all organisms live in an environment. An environment is made up of everything that surrounds an organism. It can include 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 bed toward light. Insects fly toward light. Living things also respond in other way. 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 if you are cold. What other ways do you respond to changes in your environment?
Passage 27 Intelligence
Are some people born clever, and others born stupid? Or is intelligence developed by our environment and our experience? Strangely enough, the answer to these questions is yes. To some extent, our intelligence is given us at birth, and no amount of special education can made 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 on 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 extent, something we are born with: the closer the blood relationship between people is, the closer they are likely to be in intelligence.
Passage 28 A free dress every week
The 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 first bought a few small articles. After a little time, she chose one of the most expensive dresses in the shop and handed it to an assistant who wrapped it up for her as quickly as possible. The woman simply took the parcel and walked out of the shop without paying. When she was arrested, the detective found out that the shop assistant was her daughter. Believe it or not, the girl gave her mother a free dress every week.
Passage 30 Cartoonists
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. Controversial issues in Congress or at meetings of the United Nations may keep the cartoonist well-supplied with current materials. A clever cartoonist may cause laughter because he often uses humour 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 wide an already broad grin. This exaggeration of a person’s characteristics is called caricature. The artist uses such exaggeration to put his message across.
Passage 31 Water pollution
Water is very important to us. Factories and plants need water for industrial uses, and large pieces of farmland need it for irrigation. Without water to drink, people die in a short time. Today most water sources are so dirty that people must purify water before drinking. Water becomes dirty in many ways: industrial pollution is one of them. With the development of industry, plants and factories pour tons of industrial wastes into rivers very day. The rivers have become seriously polluted, and the water is becoming unfit for drinking or irrigation. The same thing has also happened to our seas and oceans. So the problem of water pollution is almost worldwide. Scientists of many countries have done a lot of work to stop pollution. The polluted water in some places has become clean and drinkable again. Perhaps one day, the people in all towns and cities will be drinking clean water. That day, we believe, is not very far off.。