《现代大学英语听力2》听力原文及题目答案Unit2.doc

《现代大学英语听力2》听力原文及题目答案Unit 2Unit 2

Task 1

【答案】

1) b 2) a 3) d

【原文】

Texas was the biggest state before Alaska became the forty-ninth state in 1959. One good way to understand the size of Texas is to learn about its weather. Different parts of the state have very different kinds of weather.

Laredo is one of the hottest cities in the United States in summer. The best time to visit Laredo is in winter, when it is pleasantly warm.

Amarillo gets very cold in winter. Sometimes there is more snow in Amarillo than in New York, which is a northern city. Summers are better, but sometimes it gets quite hot. The best time to visit Amarillo is in the autumn when it is cool.

If anyone asks you about the weather in Texas, ask him, “What part of Texas do you mean？”Task 2

【答案】

A.

1)T 2) F 3) F

B.

1) d 2) c 3) c

C.

climate, reputation, extraordinary, unreliable, dry, wet, clear, dull, hot, cold, bad, mild

【原文】

Our friend, Nick, whose English gets better and better, declared solemnly the other day that he thought that the British climate was wonderful, but the British weather was terrible. He went on to explain by pointing out that the British climate was a temperate one. This meant, he said, "that you could always be certain that the weather would never be extreme — at any rate not for any length of time — never very hot and never very cold." He quite rightly pointed out that the rainfall in Britain, according to the statistics, was not very heavy. "Why then," he asked, "has the British climate such a bad reputation?" He answered by saying it was because of the extraordinary, unreliable weather. There was no part of the year at which you could be certain that the weather would be dry or wet, clear or dull, hot or cold. A bad day in July could be as cold as a mild day in January. Indeed you could feel cold at almost any time of the year. Nick blamed drafty British houses for this, but agreed you could also blame the small amount of sunshine and a great amount of dampness. He advised every student coming to Britain to bring an umbrella and to understand the meaning of that splendid word "drizzle".

Task 3

【答案】

I.

the country; Trees, grass, lakes and steams

II.

A.

1. concrete, iron, steel

2. take in the heat during the day and throw off heat into the air at night

B. Warmer winters, car engines; electrical appliance

Ⅲ.

A. air pollution may stop sunlight from reaching the earth

B.

1. Ice near the North and South poles to melt

2. to be slowly flooded and people living in these cities to move to higher land

【原文】

Cities change the climate around you. In the country, there are trees, grass, lakes, and streams. In hot weather, the trees and grass cool the area around them. Lakes and rivers also cool the area around them.

But cities are not cooled in these natural ways. Cities are built of asphalt, concrete, iron, and steel. There are few trees and usually not much grass. Rain falls onto the streets and into the sewers.

When the summer sun shines, streets and buildings take in the heat; after the sun sets, the streets and buildings throw off heat into the street. Once the sun sets, the countryside cools off, but a city may stay hot all night.

Cities are hotter than the countryside in winter, too. Standing near a car with its motor running, winter or summer, you will feel the heat thrown off by the engine. The heat comes from the gasoline burned by the engine. This heat warms the air and the ground around the car. Thousands of running cars are almost like thousands of small fires burning.

Carefully put your hand near a light bulb or television set. As you can see, electricity creates a lot of heat. This heat from electricity warms the house and the outside air.

The heat given off by cities can affect the climate. Some experts even believe that cities can change the climate of the whole world. They think that air pollution may stop sunlight from reaching the earth. If less sunshine reaches the earth, the earth may become cooler.

Still other experts think the world will get warmer. If the world did get warmer, great changes would occur. Ice near the North and South poles would melt. This would make the oceans rise. Cities near oceans — like Los Angeles, Boston, and Miami — would slowly be flooded. People living in these cities would have to move to higher land.

Task 4

【答案】

A.

1) b 2) c

B. night, delight; morning, warning; gray, way, red, head

C.

1) F 2) T 3) F

【原文】

A red sky at either dusk or dawn is one of the spectacular and beautiful weather predictors we have in nature. By closely observing this phenomenon, you can achieve short-range accuracy of the weather as good as, or better than your local weatherman. In the Bible, Jesus in Matthew 16, 2-3 is quoted as saying, “When it is evening, it will be fair weather: for the sky is red. And in the morning it will be foul weather today: for the sky is red” when speaking to the Pharisees. An old English weather proverb based on this passage is:

Red sky at night, sailors delight.