专四英语听力原文

[ti:Dictation 1 Superstition]
[00:00.50]Dictation 1 Superstition 迷信
[00:05.39]One person in four in Britain is, apparently, superstitious, [00:11.35]and they'll do everything from hanging horseshoes
[00:14.58]over their fireplace to crossing their fingers,
[00:17.84]touching wood and absolutely never walking under a ladder. [00:22.40]And they're careful about cats.
[00:25.58]Black cats are supposed to be the familiars of witches, [00:30.02]so if one is following you it's definitely bad luck
[00:34.70]- a witch is after you!
[00:36.46]On the other hand, if one crosses your path and continues [00:41.17]then it's good luck because it hasn't noticed you.
[00:45.15]However, in some places the beliefs are different
[00:49.53]- so it pays to know where your black cat comes from! [00:53.36]Old superstitions linger even in today's modern world. [00:59.10]The author Philip Pullman drew on them
[01:02.57]in his award winning novel "His Dark Materials".
[01:06.78]The novel, which appeals to both children and adults, [01:11.26]has been adapted for radio and also the theatre.
[ti:Dictation 2 Graduate Student]
[00:03.50]Dictation 2 Graduate Student 研究生
[00:07.17]Graduate students specialize in a particular field of study. [00:11.77]They study to become experts in this field
[00:15.03]and to learn new advances in their fields
[00:18.05]while they earn an M.A. or Ph.D.
[00:20.88]Sometimes when they get an M. A. in one field
[00:24.47]they begin studying another field.
[00:26.42]They hope that when they earn their graduate degrees [00:29.02]they will succeed in finding important jobs.
[00:31.99]They hope to get jobs that are interesting and high paying. [00:35.74]The life of a graduate student is often difficult.
[00:39.11]They are usually too busy studying to make a good living. [00:42.97]Often they have to pay high tuition fees for their education. [00:46.72]Some give up studying before they get their degrees. [00:50.74]But most keep on working at their studies until they graduate. [00:55.01]In today's world, most graduate students
[00:58.31]don't regret spending time with their studies.
[01:01.13]They are finding that new developments
[01:03.46]are occurring in all fields.
[01:05.47]For many graduate study has become a necessity.
[ti:Dictation 3 April Fool's Day]
[00:03.00]Dictation 3 April Fool's Day 愚人节
[00:05.63]1st April is a day to be careful,
[00:08.89]or you could easily get tricked by someone.
[00:11.59]It's April Fool's Day,
[00:13.82]a day when people traditionally like to try
[00:17.18]to make a fool of someone else and laugh at them.
[00:20.39]There are lots of theories surrounding the origins of the day, [00:25.02]but one explanation is connected with the change
[00:28.67]in the calendar in the 16th century,
[00:31.32]which meant that 1st April
[00:33.40]was no longer the beginning of the year.
[00:36.66]Those who still celebrated the New Y ear
[00:39.52]on 1st April were called fools.
[00:42.56]So what kind of pranks
[00:45.27]do people play on April Fool's Day?
[00:47.97]Well, there are lots of simple tricks
[00:50.51]that you can play on your friends.
[00:53.49]For example, you could wear a black sweater
[00:56.41]and pull a piece of white thread through it,
[00:58.95]so that people try to pull it off.
[01:01.04]Y ou could change the time on someone's alarm clock
[01:04.33]so that they're late for work.
[ti:Dictation 4 Living Online]
[00:03.00]Dictation 4 Living Online 网上生活
[00:06.10]How do you meet new people, make new friends,
[00:09.25]or find out about the latest bands?
[00:11.84]Here in the UK young people have traditionally
[00:14.66]done their socializing in bars, pubs and clubs.
[00:18.12]However, there is a new generation growing up
[00:21.58]that finds it easier to manage their social lives on the net, [00:25.24]using free websites like MySpace, Bebo or MSN Spaces. [00:30.88]Welcome to the social networking website
[00:34.25]- a place where you can present yourself
[00:36.39]to the digital community and meet other like-minded people. [00:40.45]The most successful social networking website
[00:43.51]in the UK is .
[00:47.07]As of July 2006, MySpace is the world's
[00:51.45]fourth most popular English-language website,
[00:54.66]attracting almost 3 million visitors per month.
[00:58.73]MySpace claims to have 95 million members
[01:03.72]with 500,000 new members joining the community each week.
[01:08.45]So how has it become so successful?
[01:11.86]Perhaps its secret is in its simplicity.
[01:15.64]Each new member can build their own page simply
[01:19.29]- uploading photos, videos and MP3 files.
[ti:Dictation 5 Mother's Day]
[00:03.50]Dictation 5 Mother's Day 母亲节
[00:06.14]Does your mother know how much you appreciate her? [00:09.41]Well, Mother's Day is the time to show her.
[00:13.44]It's a chance to say 'thank you',
[00:16.19]or to tell your mum how much you love her.
[00:18.78]In Britain, Mother's Day, or Mothering Sunday,
[00:23.35]falls on a different day each year,
[00:26.30]because it takes place a few weeks
[00:28.69]before the festival of Easter.
[00:30.67]But it is always in the early springtime,
[00:33.63]which seems appropriate,
[00:35.46]as the season when new plants emerge,
[00:37.85]and baby birds and animals are born.
[00:40.74]In the USA, Mother's Day takes place a little later, in May, [00:46.54]and many other countries also celebrate
[00:49.09]their mothers on different days of the year.
[00:51.98]It began many years ago, when children,
[00:56.07]especially girls, as young as 10
[00:58.57]would live and work away from home
[01:01.01]as housemaids and other types of servant.
[01:03.80]Mothering Sunday was a day when everyone was allowed [01:08.03]to go to their home village or town, and visit their mothers.
[ti:Dictation 6 Online Shopping]
[00:02.50]Dictation 6 Online Shopping 网上购物
[00:05.15]With only two weeks to go before Christmas,
[00:08.31]buying presents is a high priority for a lot of people.
[00:12.13]However, this year not so many people are leaving their homes [00:16.45]to browse around the shops.
[00:18.30]These days lots of people can do their shopping
[00:21.46]in the comfort of their own home
[00:23.55]with the help of the internet.
[00:25.63]Online shopping is becoming more and more popular
[00:29.56]for a number of reasons;
[00:31.33]prices are often lower online,
[00:33.97]you don't have to queue up in busy shops
[00:36.56]and you can buy almost any product imaginable
[00:39.57]with just a few clicks of your mouse.
[00:41.80]Computer trends are often male-dominated
[00:45.58]but this year women are expected to do
[00:47.72]more shopping on the internet than men.
[00:50.66]It seems women are now more attracted to
[00:53.88]the convenience of online shopping than they used to be.
[00:56.67]A verage spending online this Christmas by women will rise to 240 pounds [01:03.73]compared to the slightly lower average of 233 pounds for men.
[ti:Dictation 7 Reality TV]
[00:03.50]Dictation 7 Reality TV 真实电视
[00:05.91]The latest fashion on British TV is Reality TV.
[00:11.15]Reality TV means that shows follow and film
[00:15.31]ordinary people in an artificial situation.
[00:18.47]This could be at work, or in some kind of competition.
[00:22.65]One of the first and most popular Reality TV shows
[00:27.73]is Big Brother.
[00:29.10]In this show, 15 complete strangers
[00:32.77]have to live together in a house for 11 weeks.
[00:36.23]They are filmed 24 hours a day, and shown on television.
[00:40.95]Each week, the viewers vote to evict
[00:43.85]one of the housemates.
[00:46.44]Finally, only one is left,
[00:48.68]and they win the prize money!
[00:50.66]The show was an instant hit,
[00:53.34]and runs in several countries.
[00:55.47]The housemates often become stars as a result of the show,
[00:59.40]and appear in national newspapers and on other shows.
[01:03.06]Another very popular show is
[01:05.95]I'm a Celebrity - Get Me Out Of Here!
[01:09.15]In this show, 10 celebrities
[01:12.05]have to complete tasks each week,
[01:14.64]such as eating insects.
[ti:Dictation 8 School]
[00:03.50]Dictation 8 School 学校
[00:05.66]September is traditionally the end of summer
[00:09.18]and the beginning of autumn in the UK.
[00:11.77]It is also the month when children go back to school
[00:15.64]after their long summer holidays.
[00:17.83]There are two types of school in England.
[00:20.55]State-run schools are paid for by the government,
[00:23.64]so are free to attend.
[00:25.53]Independent Schools are private,
[00:27.92]which means you have to pay to attend.
[00:30.17]The school day usually starts at 9 in the morning
[00:34.65]and finishes around 4,
[00:36.48]with breaks for lunch of course!
[00:38.81]In many schools, you have to wear a uniform too.
[00:42.42]Children start school when they are 5 years old.
[00:45.52]This is called primary school,
[00:47.96]and lasts until the child is 11
[00:50.51]when he or she will go on to senior school.
[00:53.11]Secondary school is compulsory
[00:56.20]from 11 until 16 years of age.
[00:58.91]At 16, students take national examinations called GCSE's. [01:03.95]After this, students can stay at school for another 2 years [01:08.27]and take A Level examinations.
[ti:Dictation 9 The Modern Family]
[00:04.00]Dictation 9 The Modern Family 现代家庭
[00:06.38]Father leaves for work in the morning after breakfast. [00:10.47]The two children take the bus to school,
[00:13.56]and mother stays home cooking and cleaning
[00:16.70]until father and the kids return home in the evening. [00:20.45]This is the traditional picture
[00:23.02]of a happy family living in Britain.
[00:25.88]The past 20 years have seen enormous changes
[00:30.18]in the lives and structure of families in Britain.
[00:33.46]The biggest change has been caused by divorce.
[00:37.46]As many as 2 out of 3 marriages now end in divorce, [00:42.38]leading to a situation
[00:44.30]where many children live with one parent
[00:47.18]and only see the other at weekends or holidays.
[00:50.48]There has also been a huge rise
[00:53.92]in the number of women with children who work.
[00:56.76]The large rise in divorces has meant
[01:00.01]many women need to work
[01:01.84]to support themselves and their children.
[01:04.59]Even when there is no divorce,
[01:07.01]many families need both parents to work in order to survive.
[ti:Dictation 10 Mid-Autumn Festival]
[00:03.00]Dictation 10 Mid-Autumn Festival 中秋节
[00:05.68]On 25th September this year, people all over China
[00:10.01]will be getting together to eat with their families,
[00:13.20]look at the moon and celebrate one of the biggest festivals [00:16.40]in the Chinese lunar calendar.
[00:18.29]However, the celebrations stretch
[00:20.64]far beyond the borders of China.
[00:23.05]Here in the UK
[00:24.27]events are taking place for Chinese people living here, [00:27.53]and to teach the people of Britain
[00:29.52]more about this popular festival.
[00:31.85]The Soho Theatre in London conducted a study
[00:35.61]which showed that Chinese Londoners
[00:37.64]don't engage much with the arts world.
[00:40.55]As a result, 'Moon walking In China
[00:43.50]has been created to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival. [00:46.60]This is no normal theatre production though,
[00:49.85]as it doesn't take place in the theatre.
[00:52.46]Theatre professionals and volunteers from the local community [00:56.11]will take audiences around the streets of Soho
[00:59.11]on a magical lantern-lit walk
[01:01.36]through the landmarks and backstreets of Chinatown.。