专四听力文本
专四听力文本
TimeTime is tangible. One can gain time, spend time, waste time, save time, or even kill time. Common questions in American English reveal this concrete quality as though time were a possession. “Do you have any time?”, “Can you get some time for this?”, “How much free time do you have?” The treatment of time as a possession influences the way that time is carefully divided.Generally, Americans are taught to do one thing at a time and may be uncomfortable when an activity is interrupted. In businesses, the careful scheduling of time and the separation of activities are common practices. Appointment calendars are printed with15-,30-, and 60-minute time slots. The idea that “there is a time and place for everything” extends to American social life. Visitors who drop by without prior notice may interrupt their host’s personal time. Thus, calling friends on the telephone before visiting them is generally preferred to visitors’ dropping by.MAKE a COMPLAINTComplaining about faulty goods or bad services is never easy. But if something you have brought is faulty or does not do what was claimed for it, you are not asking for a favor to get it put right.Complaints should be made to a responsible person. Go back to the shop where you bought the goods, taking with you any receipt you may have. In a small store the assistant may also be the owner so you can complain direct. In a chain store, ask the manager. If you telephone, ask the name of the person who handles your enquiry, otherwise you may never find out who dealt with the complaint later. If you do not want to do it in person, write a letter. Stick to the facts and keep a copy of what you write. At this stage you should give any receipt numbers, but you should not need to give receipts or other papers to prove you bought the article.Will Computers Replace Human BeingsWe are in the computer age today. The computers are working all kinds of wonders now. They are very useful in automatic control and data processing. At the same time, computers are finding their way into the home. They seem to be so clever and can solve such complicated problems that some people think sooner or later they will replace us. But I do not think that there is such a possibility. My reason is very simple: computers are machines, not humans. And our tasks are far too various and complicated for any one single kind of machine to perform.Probably the greatest difference between man and computer is that the former can do things of his own while the latter can do nothing without being programmed. In my opinion,computers will remain nothing but an extension of our human brains, no matter how clever and complicated they may become.“How to”BooksBooks which give instructions on how to do things are popular in the United States today. Thousand s of these “how to” books are available. In fact, there are about for thousand books with titles that begin with the words “how to’.Many “how to” books give advice on careers. They tell you how to choose a career and how to succeed in it. Many of these books help people to use their free time better. Some people want book which will give them useful information about sports, hobbies and travel. Other people use their free time to make repairs and improvements on their homes. They prefer books which give step-by-step instructions on how to repair things like plumbing and electrical wiring or on how to redecorate or enlarge a house.Why have “how to” books become so popular? Probably because life has become more complex. Today people have far more free to use, more choices to make, and more problems to solve, “how to” books help people to deal with modern life.。
专四听力练习原文[新版]
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专四听力训练原文专业四级标准听写二十篇TEM 4 Dictation PracticesPassage 1 SaltWe do not know when man first began to use salt, / but we do know that it has been used in many different ways throughout history. / Historical evidence shows, for example, that people who lived over 3,000 years ago ate slated fish. / Thousands of years ago in Egypt, salt was used to preserve the dead. /Stealing salt was considered a major crime during some periods of history. / In 18th century, for instance, / if a person was caught stealing salt, he can be put in jail. / History records that about ten thousand people were put in jail during that century for stealing salt. / About 150 years before, in the year 1553, / taking more salt that one was allowed to was punishable as a crime. / The offender’s ear was cut off.Salt was an important item on the table of royalty. / It was traditionally placed in front of the king when he sat down to eat. / Important guests at the king’s table were seated near the salt. / Less important guests were given seats farther away from it. / (175 words)Passage 2 PerceptionsAsk three people to look out of the same window at a busy street and tell you what they see. / Probably you will receive three different answers. / Each person sees the same scene, but each perceives something different about it. /Perceiving goes in our minds. / Of the three people who look out of the window / one may say that he sees a policeman giving a driver a ticket. / Another may say that he sees a rush –hour traffic jam at the street corner. / The third may tell you that he sees a woman trying to cross the street with four children. / For perception is the mind’s interpretation / of what the senses – in this case our eyes – tell us. /Many psychologists today are working to try to explain / just how a person experiences or perceive the world around him. / Using a scientific method these psychologists set up experiments: / they are trying to find out what makes different people / perceive totally different things about the same scene. / (164 words)Passage 3 BalloonsBalloons have been used for sport for about one hundred years. / There are two kinds of sport balloons: gas and hot air. / Hot air balloons are safer than gas balloons, / which may catch fire. / Hot air balloons are preferred by most balloonists in theUnited States because of their safety. / They are also cheaper and easier to manager than gas balloons. / Despite the ease of operating a balloon, / pilots must watch the weather carefully. / Sport balloon flights are best early in the morning / or late in the afternoon, when the wind is light. / Over the years, balloonists have tried unsuccessfully to cross the Atlantic. / It wasn't until 1978 that three American balloonists succeeded. / It took them just six days to make the trip / from their homes in the United States to Paris, France. / Their voyage captured the imagination of the whole world. / (143 words)Passage 4 You Found a Job, Now How do You Save Money?Saving your hard earned money can be difficult, / as most of us enjoy spending rather than saving, / I certainly had a tough time holding onto my money every payday. / When I got my first few paychecks, / right away I spent the cold, hard cash I’d earned by hard work. /But I quickly realized that this sort of spending wouldn’t really help me get the things I wanted. / So I made a pact with myself. I promise that before I did anything with the money, / I would deposit at least 50% of the money into my saving account. / That way, I eliminated the temptation to spend that money. /After I got used to saving my money, / it was much easier for me not to be tempted to buy things when I saw them. / WhenI saw a CD or video game that looked appealing, / I learned to ask myself, “Do I really need this?” / Asking this question helped me appreciate my money and not let it slip out of my wallet quite so fast. / (173 words)Passage 5 Online Health ForumThere are many aspects to health, illness and healing. / Among all the teachings there is one theme that is universal to them all / and that is the unquestionable benefit achieved by communicating with others about health and its related issues. / It is with this single philosophy in mind / that we have developed this site as a forum for communication. / Dealing with a medical concern is often difficult. / Connecting with others who are going through the same thing / can make a world of difference. / Our mission is to develop online communities to help you make those connections. / You can post questions, comments and respond to messages from others. / We’ve got various topics, and we’re adding more all the time. / If you don’t see the topic you are looking for, / just let us know and we will consider a message board for it. / We hope you decide to become a regular participant / and help to make this a great resource. / (158 words)Passage 6 WordsHow men first learn to invent words is unknown, / in other words, the origin of language is a mystery. / All we really knowthat is men, unlike animals, / somehow invented certain sounds to express thoughts and feelings, / actions and things, so that they can communicate with each other; / and that later they agreed upon certain signs, called letters, / which could be represent those sounds, and which could be written down. / Those sounds, whether spoken or written in letters, wer call words. / The power of words, then lies in their associations, / that is, the things they bring up before our minds. / Words become filled with meaning for us by experience; / and the longer wer live, the more we reminded of the glad and sad events / of our past by certain words wer read and learn, / the more the number of the words / that means something to us increase. / (149 words)Passage 7 Teacher-student RelationshipThe relationship between a teacher and a student can be either good or bad, helpful or harmful. / Either way, the relationship can affect the student for the rest of his life. / A good teacher-student relationship will make the teacher’s job worthwhile. / A bad relationship can discourage the student from learning / and make teaching an unpleasant task. /In order to have a good teacher-student relationship, / respect between teacher and student is very important. / If the teacher is too strict, he frightens the student. / If the teacher is too friendly, the student may become lazy and stop lear ning hard. / The teacher’s attitude and approach shouldbe in between those two extremes. / As for the student, his proper respect to the teacher must be shown all the time. / He should be eager to learn and willing to work hard. /In conclusion, a good teacher-student relationship can be beneficial to both. / The student absorbs knowledge eagerly and enjoyable, / and the teacher gains satisfaction from his work. / (163 words)Passage 8 NearsightednessWeak eyesight is a term that is generally used to refer to nearsighted eyes. / People who are nearsighted can see well at a short range, / but anything very far away is likely to be unclear. / The term “weak eyesight” is misleading, / for in nearsighted eyes the lens of the eye is actually too strong. / The nearsighted lens is so powerful that it focuses the light coming onto the eye so quickly. / Nearsightedness is common, and its growth may be graded; / often the unclearness of distant object is so slight at first / that a person may not recognize the condition. /Nearsightedness is frequently discovered first at school. / It is here that a student first realizes the difficulty of seeing words on the blackboard, / whereas others in the class have no trouble reading the blackboard at all. / After discovery, nearsightedness can easily be corrected. / You just needs a pair of glasses / which can decrease the power of the lens of theeye. / (161 words)Passage 9 Rice CookingRice is very much under appreciated in the United States. / With the exception of Asian cooking, / rice is usually a side dish or combined with other ingredients. / Rice is very nutritious, low cost and easy-to prepare food. / There are different types of rice available and the cooking time varies by type of rice. / Follow the package instructions for the amount of liquid necessary and the cooking times. / Both vary for each type of rice. / Regular white rice has been milled / to remove the hull comes in long, medium and short grains. / Long grained rice is the best for all-purpose use. / Brown rice has a pleasant nutty flavor and a firmer texture. / While white rice is cooked in about 15 minutes, / brown rice takes 45 to 50 minutes to cook. / When cooking rice do not be concerned if you have cooked rice left over. / There are some excellent recipes, which use cooked rice. / (151 words)Passage 10 First Sign of AIDSThe virus causing AIDS enters the blood and quickly penetrates certain white cells in the body. / At first there is often little or no trace of the virus at all. / This situation usually lasts for six to twelve weeks. / During this time the person is free of symptoms / and antibody tests are negative. / The first thing that happens after infection / is that many people develop a flue-like illness. / This may be severe enoughto look like glandular fever / with swollen glands in the neck and armpits, / tiredness, fever and night sweats. / Some of those white cells are dying, / virus is being released, / and for the first time the body is working hard to make correct antibodies. / At this stage the blood test will usually become positive. / Most people do not realize what is happening, / although when they later develop AIDS they look back / and remember it clearly. / Most people have produce antibodies in about twelve weeks. / (156 words)Passage 11 The Library of CongressThe 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 toinformation. / 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 RaceAmerican 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 LifeThe concept of family life has changed considerably over the years. / In earliest times, several generations lived togetherin clans, / which consisted of all living descendents and their husbands or wives. / These clans were almost totallyself-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 VitaminsIt 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 CometsIn 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 deat h. / 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 EtiquetteThe 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 c ell 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 RecycleIn 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 ofeach 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 KillingSome 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 WorryWorry 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 theirself-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 GratitudeThanksgiving 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 hap piness. / (169 words)。
2023年4月英语专四真题答案之听力篇
2023年4月英语专四真题答案之听力篇2023年4月英语专四真题答案之听力篇2023年的英语专业四级考试刚刚结束不久，很多考生已经在等待着专四答案了。
下面是应届毕业生考试网我为大家整理的2023年4月专4级考试真题参考答案之听力篇。
PartⅠ DICTATIONLearning SympathyA big part of being human is feeling sympathy, / but how early on in our lives do we learn this? / Scientists find that babies respond to other people / by crying when other babies cry. / However, babies cant distinguish between themselves and others / until theyre eighteen to twenty months old. / Toddlers start to show concern for others around this time. / Kids also begin to do things like comforting other people. / And by the time theyre three, / most children will try to protect a victim in a fight.PartⅡ LISTENING COMPREHENSIONSECTION A TALK1. a physical classroom2. a coherent concept3. personalized curriculum4. (more) meaningful practice5. feedback6. collaborating7. question and answer8. fundamental human right9. lifelong learning10. innovationSECTION B CONVERSATIONS1. Whats wrong with the mans computer?答案：A. It has wiped the data from the flash drive.2. How will the man be compensated if the computer cant be fixed?答案：C. Get a new computer.3. How did the man feel about the womans offer of compensation?答案：D. Dissatisfied.4. When will the service engineer come to fix the computer?答案：B. After 8:30 tomorrow morning.5. What is the mans phone number?答案：A. 6574-3205.6. What should we do if our neighbors didnt reach out?答案：B. Introduce ourselves first.7. Which is the best way to handle a noisy neighbor?答案：C. Give him a reason to stop.8. What should we do if we have a nosy neighbor?答案：D. Dont answer their questions.9. How long do we expect our neighbors to stay?答案：B. Five to ten minutes.10. Where can we get more information on this topic?答案：D. CBS news website.文档内容到此结束，欢迎大家下载、修改、丰富并分享给更多有需要的人。
专四听力50篇汇总
Passage1Town and Country Life in EnglandThere is a big difference between town life and country life in England. In the country, everybody knows everybody else. They know what time you get up, what time you go to bed and what you have for dinner. If you want help, you will always get it and you will be glad to help others.In a large town like London, however, it can sometimes happen that you have never seen your next door neighbor and you do not know his name or anything about him. People in London are often very lonely. This is because people go to different places in the evenings and at weekends. If you walk through the streets in the centre of London on Sunday, it is like a town without people. One is sorry for old people living on their own. They could die in their homes and would not be discovered for weeks or even months.Passage2A Change in Women’s LifeThe 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 mos t girls left school at thefirst 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 moreequally in providing the money, and running the home, according to the abilities and interests of each of them.Useful Words and Expressions:1. life-pattern 生活方式Passage3A Popular Pastime of the English PeopleOne of the best means of understanding the people of any nation is watching what the do with their non-working time. Most English men, women and children love growing things, especially flowers. Visitors to England in spring, summer or autumn are likely to see gardens all they way along the railwaylines. There are flowers at the airports and flowers in factory grounds, as well as in gardens along the roads. Each English town has at least one park with beautifully kept flower beds. Public buildings of every kind have brilliant window boxes and sometimes baskets of flowers are hanging on them.But what the English enjoy most is growing things themselves. If it is impossible to have a garden, then a window box or something growing in a pot will do. Looking at each other’s gardens is a popular pastime with the English. Useful Words and Expressions:1. window box:窗台上的花盆箱2.pastime 消遣,娱乐Passage4British and American Police OfficersReal policemen, both in Britain and the U.S., hardly recognize any common points between their lives and what they se on TV— if they ever get home in time.Some things are almost the same, of course, but the policemen do not think much of them much of them.The first difference is that a policeman’s real life deals with the law. Most of what he learns is the law. He has to knowactually what actions are against the law and what facts can be used to prove them in court. He has to know nearly as much law as a lawyer, and what’s mor e, he has to put it into practice on his feet, in the dark and, running down a narrow street after someone he wants to talk to.Little of his time is spent in talking with beautiful girls or in bravely facing cruel criminals. He will spend most of his working life arranging millions of words on thousands of forms about hundreds of sad, ordinary people who are guilty--- or not of stupid, unimportant crimes.Useful Words and Expressions:1. think much of 重视,尊重2. in court 在法庭上Passage 5Living SpaceHow much living space does a person need? What happens when his space needs are not met? Scientists are doing experiments on rats to try to determine the effects of overcrowded conditions on man. Recent studies have shown that the behavior of rats isgreatly affected by space. If rats have enough living space, they eat well, sleep well and produce their young well. But iftheir living conditions become too crowded, their behavior and even their health change obviously. They can not sleep and eat well, and signs of fear and worry become clear. The more crowded they are, the more they tend to bite each other and even kill each other. Thus, for rats, population and violence are directly related. Is this a natural law for human society as well? Is enough space not only satisfactory, but necessary for human survival? These are interesting questions.(147 wordsPassage6The United NationsIn 1945, representatives of 50 nations met to plan this organization. It was called the United Nations. After the war, many more nations joined.There are two major parts of the United Nations. One is called the General Assembly. In the General Assembly, every member nation is represented and has an equal vote.The second part is called the Security Council. It has representatives of just 15 nations. Five nations are permanent members: the United States, Russia, France, Britain, and China. The 10 other members are elected every two years by the General Assembly.The major job of the Security Council is to keep peace in the world. If necessary, it can send troops from member nations to try to stop little wars before they turn into big ones. It is hard to get the nations of the Security Council to agree on when this is necessary. But they did vote to try to stop wars.Useful Words and Expressions:1. representative 代表2. General Assembly 联合国大会3. permanent 永久的,持久的4. Security Council 联合国安全理事会Passage 7PlasticWe use plastic wrap to protect our foods. We put our garbage in plastic bags or plastic cans. We sit on plastic chairs, play with plastic toys, drink from plastic cups, and wash our hair with shampoo from plastic bottles!Plastic doesn’t grow in nature. It is made by mixing certain things together. We call it a produced or manufactured material. Plastic was first made in the 1860s from plants, suchas wood and cotton. That plastic was soft and burned easily. The first modern plastics were made in 1930s. Most clear plastic starts out as thick, black oil. That plastic coating inside a pan begins as natural gas.Over the years, hundreds of different plastics have been developed. Some are hard and strong. Some are soft and bendable. Some are clear. Some are many-colored. There is a plastic for almost every need. Scientists continue to experiment with plastics. They hope to find even ways to use them! (160 wordsPassage 8Display of GoodsAre 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 areencouraged 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 a half empty. They do not like to buy from shelves with few products on them because they feel thereis something wrong with those products that are there. (166 wordsPassage 9Albert EinsteinAlbert Einstein was born in Germany in 1879. His father owned a factory that made electrical devices. His mother enjoyed music and books. His parents were Jewish but they did not observe many of the religion’s rules. Albert was a q uiet child who spent much of his time alone. He was slow to talk and had difficulty learning to read. When Albert was five years old, his father gave him a compass. The child was filled with wonderwhen he discovered that the compass needle always pointed in the same direction—to the north. He asked his father and his uncle what caused the needle to move. Their answers about magnetism and gravity were difficult for the boy to understand. Yet he spent a lot of time thinking about them. He said later that he felt something hidden had to be behind things. (143 words.10 Private CarsWith 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 is 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 adifficult question to answer, yet the desire for the comfort and independence a private car can bring will not be eliminated.Passage 11A Henpecked Husband and His WifeThere was once a large, fat woman who had a small, thin husband. He had a job in a big company and was given his weekly wages every Friday evening. As soon as he got home on Fridays, his wife used to make him give her all his money, and then she used to give him back only enough to buy his lunch in his company every day.One day, the small man came home very excited. He hurried into the living-room. His wife was listening to the radio and eating chocolates there.“You will never guess what happened to me today, dear,” he said.He waited for a few seconds and then added, “I won ten thousand dollar s on the lottery!”“That is wonderful!” said his wife delightedly. But then she pulled a long face and added angrily, “But how could you afford to buy the ticket?” (148 wordsPassage 12A Young Man’s PromiseOne day a young man was writing a letter to his girl friend who lived just a few miles away in a nearby town. He was telling her how much he loved her and how wonderful he thought she was. The more he wrote, the more poetic he became. Finally, he said that in order to be with her he would suffer the greatest difficulties, he would face the greatest dangers that anyone could imagine. In fact, to spend only one minute with her, he would swim across the widest river, he would enter the deepest forest, and he would fight against the fiercest animals with his bare hands.He finished the letter, signed his name, and then suddenly remembered that he had forgotten to mention something quite important. So, in a postscript below his name, he added: “By the way, I’ll be over to see you on Wednesday night, if it doesn’t rain.” (154 wordsPassage 13A Kind NeighborMr. and Mrs. Jones’ apartment was full of luggage, package, furniture and boxes. Both of them were very busy when they heardthe doorbell ring. Mrs. Jones went to open it and she saw a middle-aged lady outside. The lady said she lived next door. Mrs. Jones invited her to come in and apologized because there was no place for her to sit. “Oh, that’s OK,” said the lady. “I just come to welcome you to your new home. As you know, in some parts of this city neighbors are not friendly at all. There are some apartment houses where people don’t know any oftheir neighbors, not even the ones next door. But in this building everyone is very friendly with everyone else. We are like one big happy family. I’m sue you’ll be very happy here. ” Mr. and Mrs. Jones said, “But madam, we are not new dwellers in this apartment. We’ve lived her for two years. We’re moving out tomorrow. ” (163 wordsPassage 14That Isn’t Our FaultMr. and Mrs. Williams got married when he was twenty-three, and she was twenty. Twenty-five years later, they had a big party, and a photographer came and took some photographs of them.Then the photographer gave Mrs. Williams a card and said, “They’ll be ready next Wednesday. You can get them fromstudio.”“No,” Mrs. William said, “Please send them to us.” The photographs arrived a week later, but Mrs. Williams was not happy when she saw them. She got into her car and drove to the photographer’s studio. She went inside and said angrily, “You took some photogr aphs of me and my husband last week, but I’m not going to pay for them.”“Oh, Why not?” the photographer asked.“Because my husband looks like a monkey,” Mrs. William said.“Well,” the photographer answered, “that isn’t our fault. Why didn’t you think oft hat before you married him?” (148 wordsPassage 15A Guide’s AnswerIn 1861, the Civil War started in the United States between the Northern and the Southern states. The war continued with great bitterness until 1865, when the Northerners were victorious. However, even today, many Southerners have not forgotten their defeat, or forgiven the Northerners.A few years ago, a party of American tourists were goinground one of the battlefields of the Civil War with a guide who came from one of the Southern states. At each place, the guide told the tourists stirring stories about how a few Southern soldiers had conquered powerful forces of Northerners there. At last, one of the tourists, a lady who came from the North, stopped the guide and said to him, “But surel y the Northern army must have won at least one victory in the Civil War?” “Not as long as I’m the guide here, madam,” answered the Southern guide.(147 wordsPassage 16A Qualified PilotThe captain of a small ship had to go along a rocky coast, but he was unfamiliar with it, so he tried to find a qualified pilot to guide him. He went ashore in one of the small ports, and a local fisherman pretended that he was a pilot because he needed some money. The captain took him on board and asked him where to steer the ship.After half an hour the captain began to suspect that the fisherman did not really know what he was doing and where he was going.“Are you sure you are a qualified pilot?” he asked.“Oh, yes,” answered the fisherman. “I know every rock on this part of the coast.”Suddenly there was a terrible crash from under the ship. At once the fisherman added, “And that’s one of them.” (138 wordsPassage 17Living Things ReactYou and all organisms live in an environment. An environment is made up of everything that surrounds an organism. It can include the 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 bend toward light. Insects fly toward light. Living things also respond in other ways. 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? (156 wordsPassage 18Flowering PlantsWhat are the parts of a flower?Flowers can have male parts and female parts. The female parts make eggs that become seeds. The male parts make pollen. Pollen is a powdery material that is needed by the eggs to make seeds. To make seeds, pollen and eggs must come together. The wind, insects, and birds bring pollen to eggs. Many animals love flowers’ bright colors. They also like a sugary liquid in flowers. This is called nectar. While they drink nectar, pollen rubs off on their bodies. As they move, some of this pollen gets delivered to the female flower parts.Over time, the female parts turn into fruits that contain seeds. Animals often eat the fruits and the seeds pass through their bodies as waste. The animals do not know they are working for the plants by planting seeds as they travel to different places. (147 wordsPassage 19Finding the Direction and LocationHow can you tell which direction? By day, look for the Sun. It is in the east in the morning and the west in the afternoon. At night, use the Big Dipper to help you find the North Star. It would be better to bring a compass because its needle always points north.How do you know how far you have gone? You could count every step. Each step is about two feet. You’d better wear a pedometer which is a tool that counts steps. If you know where you started, which direction you are heading, and how far you have gone, you can use a good map to figure out exactly where you are.Today there is a new way for travelers to figure out where they are. It is the GPS. It has 24 satellites that orbit the earth and constantly broadcast their positions. Someday you may carry a small receiver as you hike and use GPS to find out if you are there yet!Passage 20WavesHow does light get from the sun to the earth? How does musicget from the stage to the audience? They move the same way — in waves!Light and sound are forms of energy. All waves carry energy, but they may carry it differently. Light and sound travel through different kinds of matter. For example, light waves cannot move through walls, but sound waves can. That is why you can hear peopletalking in another room even though you cannot see them. The energy of some waves is destructive. An earthquake produces seismic waves.Catch a wave. Ask a friend to stand a few feet away from you. Stretch a spring between you. Shake the spring to transfer energy to it. What happens? The spring bounces up and down in waves. When the waves reach your friend, they bounce back to you!Light waves travel 300,000 kilometers (186,000 miles per second! They can also travel through a vacuum. That is why light from the sun and distant stars can travel through space to the earth.(175 wordsPassage 21SoilsThere are many different kinds of soils. Different soilshave different types of rock and minerals in them than other. Some soils have more water in them than others. Some soils might have more plant and animal material in them, too.Different kinds of soils are found in different parts of the world. There are several kinds of soils found in the United States. In some areas, the soil has a lot of clay. Other soils are very sandy. Loam is a kind of soil that has a good mixture of clay and sand.In some places, soil layers are very thick. Lots of plants grow in places with a thick soil layer. In dry and windy places soil layers are much thinner. Layers of soil on mountains are thin because gravity pulls the soil downhill.The type of soil in a particular place affects what kinds of plants can grow there. (150 wordsPassage 22CrisisLife is a contest! Who will win? A bluebird and sparrow both compete for space to build their nests. A fast-growing maple tree and slower-growing dogwood compete for the sunlight they both need. Oil competes with coal and nuclear power as an energy source for electric power plants.There is a problem. There is a limited amount of space for birds, sunlight for trees, and energy for people! If we do not cut back on our uses of some of our resources, someday they will be gone!How can we use energy today and know we will have enough to go around in the future? We can choose alternate, or replacement, energy resources. It takes the earth millions of years to create coal, oil, and gas. They are nonrenewable resources.Solar energy, wind energy and water energy are renewable. What other ways we conserve our resources? How can we make sure there is always enough to go around? (159 words.Passage 23America’s Worst SurpriseDecember 7, 1941 was one of the worst days in American history. Nearly all Americans who are old enough to remember that day can still remember what they were doing at the moment they heard “the news”. The news was that America had been attacked!Shortly before 2:00 P.M., a radio dispatch came into Washington from Honolulu, Hawaii. “Air Raid, Pearl Harbor —This is no drill.” Japanese planes had begun an attackon the largest American military base in the Pacific. They first destroyed planes on the ground. Then they bombed the ships in the harbor.No one had expected the attack. So no one was prepared for it. And it did not take long for the Japanese to do their damage. When the smoke cleared, the Navy counted its losses. Eighteen ships had been sunk or badly damaged. Nearly 150 planes had been destroyed. More than 2,400 Americans had been killed and more than 1,200 wounded. (157 wordsPassage 24Great Depression in the U.S.In 1929, the bills started to come in. American industry had produced too many goods. Americans could not afford to buy all of them. So factories had to cut down on their production. Many workers lost their jobs. Investors tried to get their money back. But businesses did not have enough money to pay them. Banks tried to get their money back from investors. But the investors could not pay, either. Too many people owned money.And few of them could pay their bills.During the next few years, business got worse and worse. By 1932, banks all over the country were closing.People without money could not buy goods. So more businesses closed. More and more people lost their jobs. By 1932, more than 12 million Americans were jobless. Millions more were earning barely enough to live on. The country was in a great depression they had never experienced before. (151 wordsPassage 25A Place of Our OwnWe are all usually very careful when we buy something for the house. Why? Because we have to live with it for a long time. We paint a room to make it brighter, so we choose the colours carefully.We buy new curtains in order to match the newly decorated room, so they must be the right colour. We move the furniture round so as to make more space — or we buy new furniture — and so on. It is an endless business.Rich or poor, we take time to furnish a room. Perhaps some people buy furniture in order to impress their friends. But most of us just want to enjoy our surroundings. We want to live ascomfortably as we can afford to. We spend a large part of our lives at home. We want to make a small corner in the world which we can recognize as our own. (151 wordsPassage 26Travel for WorkYou can see them in every airport in the world. They are businessmen and women who have to travel for their work. When they first applied for the job, they may have thought of good food and hotels, huge expense accounts and fashionable cities. Now they have to sit in airport lounges, tired and uncomfortable in their smart clothes, listening to the loudspeaker announce “The flight to Tokyo, or Berlin, or New York is delayed for another two hours”. Some people say to me, “How lucky you are to be able to travel abroad in your work! You can go sightseeing without paying any money by yourself!” They think that my job is like a continual holiday. It is not. There are advantages, of course, and I do think I am lucky, but only because I can go to places I would never visit if I was a tourist. (149 wordsPassage 27IntelligenceAre 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 make 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 one 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 two people is, the closer they are likely to be in intelligence. (154 wordsPassage 28A Free Dress Every WeekThe 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 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” he r mother a free dress every week. (148 wordsPassage 29TimeTime is tangible. One can gain time, spend time, waste time, save time, or even kill time. Common questions in American English reveal this concrete quality as though time were a possession. “Do you have any time?”, “Can you get some time for this?”, “How much free time do you have?” The treatment of time as a possession influences the way that time is carefully divided.Generally, Americans are taught to do one thing at a time and may be uncomfortable when an activity is interrupted. In businesses, the careful scheduling of time and the separation of activities are common practices. Appointment calendars are printed with15-, 30-, and 60-minute time slots. The idea that “there is a time and place for everything” extends to American social life. Visitors who drop by without prior notice may interrupt their host’s personal time. Thus, calling friends on the telephone before visiting them is generally preferred to visitors’ dropping by. (157 wordsPassage 30CartoonistIn 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-supplies with current materials.A clever cartoonist may cause laughter because he often useshumour 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 widen an already broad grin. This exaggeration of a person’s chara cteristics is called caricature. The artist uses such exaggeration to put his message across. (144 wordsPassage 31Water PollutionWater 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 every 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 cleanand 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. (161 wordsPassage 32Making a ComplaintComplaining about faulty goods or bad services is never easy. But if something you have bought is faulty or does not do what was claimed for it, you are not asking for a favour to get it put right.Complaints should be made to a responsible person. Go back to the shop where you bought the goods, taking with you any receipt you may have. In a small store the assistant may also be the owner so you can complain direct. In a chain store, ask the manager. If you telephone, ask the name of the person who handles your enquiry, otherwise you may never find out who dealt with the complaint later. If you do not want to do it in person, write a letter. Stick to the facts and keep a copy of what you write. At this stage you。
专四听力
Dictation 1 Superstition 迷信One person in four in Britain is, apparently, superstitious,and they'll do everything from hanging horseshoes over their fireplace to crossing their fingers,touching wood and absolutely never walking under a they're careful about cats are supposed to be the familiars of witches,so if one is following you it's definitely bad luck- a witch is after you!On the other hand, if one crosses your path and continues then it's good luck because it hasn't noticed , in some places the beliefs are different- so it pays to know where your black cat comes from!Old superstitions linger even in today's modern author Philip Pullman drew on them in his award winning novel "His Dark Materials".The novel, which appeals to both children and adults,has been adapted for radio and also the theatre.Dictation 2 Graduate Student 研究生Graduate students specialize in a particular field of study to become experts in this field and to learn new advances in their fields while they earn an . or when they get an M. A. in one field they begin studying another hope that when they earn their graduate degrees they will succeed in finding important hope to get jobs that are interesting and high life of a graduate student is often are usually too busy studying to make a good they have to pay high tuition fees for their give up studying before they get their most keep on working at their studies until they today's world, most graduate students don't regret spending time with their are finding that new developments are occurring in all many graduate study has become a necessity.Dictation 3 April Fool's Day 愚人节1st April is a day to be careful,or you could easily get tricked by 's April Fool's Day,a day when people traditionally like to try to make a fool of someone else and laugh at are lots of theories surrounding the origins of the day,but one explanation is connected with the change in the calendar in the 16th century,which meant that 1st April was no longer the beginning of the who still celebrated the New Year on 1st April were called what kind of pranks do people play on April Fool's DayWell, there are lots of simple tricks that you can play on your example, you could wear a black sweater and pull a piece of white thread through it,so that people try to pull it could change the time on someone's alarm clock so that they're late for work.Dictation 4 Living Online 网上生活How do you meet new people, make new friends,or find out about the latest bandsHere in the UK young people have traditionally done their socializing in bars, pubs and , there is a new generation growing up that finds it easier to manage their social lives on the net,using free websites like MySpace, Bebo or MSN Spaces.Welcome to the social networking website- a place where you can present yourself to the digital community and meet other like-minded most successful social networking website in the UK is of July 2006, MySpace is the world's fourth most popular English-language website,attracting almost 3 million visitors per claims to have 95 million members with 500,000 new members joining the community each how has it become so successfulPerhaps its secret is in its new member can build their own page simply- uploading photos, videos and MP3 files.Dictation 5 Mother's Day 母亲节Does your mother know how much you appreciate herWell, Mother's Day is the time to show 's a chance to say 'thank you',or to tell your mum how much you love Britain, Mother's Day, or Mothering Sunday,falls on a different day each year,because it takes place a few weeks before the festival of it is always in the early springtime,which seems appropriate,as the season when new plants emerge,and baby birds and animals are born.In the USA, Mother's Day takes place a little later, in May,and many other countries also celebrate their mothers on different days of the began many years ago, when children,especially girls, as young as 10 would live and work away from homeas housemaids and other types of Sunday was a day when everyone was allowed to go to their home village or town, and visit their mothers.Dictation 6 Online Shopping 网上购物With only two weeks to go before Christmas,buying presents is a high priority for a lot of , this year not so many people are leaving their homesto browse around the days lots of people can do their shopping in the comfort of their own home with the help of the shopping is becoming more and more popular for a number of reasons;prices are often lower online,you don't have to queue up in busy shops and you can buy almost any product imaginable with just a few clicks of your trends are often male-dominated but this year women are expected to do more shopping on the internet than seems women are now more attracted to the convenience of online shopping than they used to be.Average spending online this Christmas by women will rise to 240 pounds compared to the slightly lower average of 233 pounds for men.Dictation 7 Reality TV 真实电视The latest fashion on British TV is Reality TV means that shows follow and film ordinary people in an artificial could be at work, or in some kind of of the first and most popular Reality TV shows is Big Brother.In this show, 15 complete strangers have to live together in a house for 11 are filmed 24 hours a day, and shown on week, the viewers vote to evict one of the , only one is left,and they win the prize money!The show was an instant hit,and runs in several housemates often become stars as a result of the show,and appear in national newspapers and on other shows.Another very popular show is I'm a Celebrity - Get Me Out Of Here!In this show, 10 celebrities have to complete tasks each week,such as eating insects.Dictation 8 School 学校September is traditionally the end of summer and the beginning of autumn in the is also the month when children go back to school after their long summer are two types of school in schools are paid for by the government,so are free to Schools are private,which means you have to pay to school day usually starts at 9 in the morning and finishes around 4,with breaks for lunch of course!In many schools, you have to wear a uniform start school when they are 5 years is called primary school,and lasts until the child is 11 when he or she will go on to senior school is compulsory from 11 until 16 years of 16, students take national examinations called GCSE' this, students can stay at school for another 2 yearsand take A Level examinations.Dictation 9 The Modern Family 现代家庭Father leaves for work in the morning after two children take the bus to school,and mother stays home cooking and cleaning until father and the kids return home in the is thetraditional picture of a happy family living in past 20 years have seen enormous changes in the lives and structure of families in biggest change has been caused by many as 2 out of 3 marriages now end in divorce,leading to a situation where many children live with one parent and only see the other at weekends or has also been a huge rise in the number of women with children who large rise in divorces has meant many women need to work to support themselves and their when there is no divorce,many families need both parents to work in order to survive.Dictation 10 Mid-Autumn Festival 中秋节On 25th September this year, people all over China will be getting together to eat with their families,look at the moon and celebrate one of the biggest festivalsin the Chinese lunar , the celebrations stretch far beyond the borders of in the UK events are taking place for Chinese people living here,and to teach the people of Britain more about this popular Soho Theatre in London conducted a study which showed that Chinese Londoners don't engage much with the arts a result, 'Moon walking In China has been created to celebrate the Mid-Autumn is no normal theatre production though,as it doesn't take place in the professionals and volunteers from the local community will take audiences around the streets of Soho on a magical lantern-lit walk through the landmarks and backstreets of Chinatown.Dictation 11 The Dragon 龙When many people in the west think of China,the animal that they think of is the them, the dragon is an aggressive monster that breathes popular legends tell of how dragons killed brave knights and ate beautiful Chinese people however,the dragon is not an evil 's a cultural and spiritual symbolfor prosperity and good dragon's main task is to create harmony and bring are celebrated in art and architecture,and of course the dragon dance is a very popular of Chinese have the word 'long',meaning dragon, as part of their isn't the only country to have the dragon as its symbol. Wales, one of the four countries in the UK,has a red dragon proudly displayed on its only other country in the world with a dragon on its flag is Bhutan,the tiny country between China and India.Dictation 12 Rainy Britain 阴雨的英国Britain is famous around the world for its rainy weather,but many parts of the country this June are experiencing much more rain than they have ever seen downpours have caused rivers to burst their banks,roads have been closed and many people have been evacuated from their homes because of the worst hit area seems to be the north of have even been fatalities as people got stuck in the rain or were washed away by the warnings have been issued in many parts of the UK and it is said that over a month's worth of rain has fallen in just the last couple of rain has also caused chaosat some of Britain's famous June Glastonbury festival is a four-day-long outdoor music festival and while it is traditionally quite rainy and muddy there,this year was particularly bad.Dictation 13 Christmas traditions 圣诞节传统There are many ways to celebrate Christmas,and some British people like to go on holiday,go out for lunch to a restaurant,or spend the day with most people's idea of a traditional Christmas involves spending a few days with their family- sometimes their extended day is the most exciting for the children.They may have spent weeks or even months dreaming of the presents they want most.Since the beginning of December,they may have opened their advent calendars,finding a new festive picture, chocolate, or small gift,to count down each day until 25th Christmas Eve, they hang up stockings,ready to be filled with presents by Santa a thank you gift of a mince pie and a glass of sherry will be left,as well as a carrot for those hungry reindeer.Dictation 14 Olympic Slogan 奥运口号Beijing unveiled the slogan for the 2008 Olympics "One World, One Dream" was finally selected from more than 210,000 entries from around the 's original bid to host the 2008 games had a different slogan "New Beijing, Great Olympics".The organizers felt the new slogan shifted the focus nicely from the city of Beijing itself to the spirit of the Olympics- unity, friendship amongst nations and was also felt that the "One World, One Dream" slogan captured the traditional Chinese values of peace and Olympics hasn't always had a slogan attached to each host fact it wasn't until 1988 at the Seoul Olympics in South Korea that the first slogan appeared."Harmony and Progress" was chosenand it seems to have been a popular theme over the years.Dictation 15 Sunbed 太阳床In the UK, a country known for its bad weather and lack of sunshine,there appears to be an ever increasing number of very tanned young just how are they achieving their golden tansSome are opting for the sun-free option and are getting their tan from a , it appears that others are turning to tanning salons,of which there are thousands in the in China young people often prefer to remain fair,in the UK there seems to be a growing desire for tanned why do the British prefer to be bronzedOften, they are trying to emulate their favorite celebrities,footballers, or footballers' from the British Sunbed Association suggests that many people believe a tan makes them feel and look is a belief that is most definitely not shared by Cancer Research firmly state that being tanned is not a sign of health.Dictation 16 Speechwriting 写演讲稿The success of a speech is often attributed to the skill of the speaker,with merit being given to speakers who are confident, articulate,But often it is not the speakerswho write these moving speeches,it is a one industry in which this practice is common is that of politics. Well according to a recent job advertisementfrom the US Embassy in Britain,a political speechwriter needs to have exceptional interpersonal skills, be detail oriented and able to demonstrate a deep knowledge of their must also work closely with speakers and be able to relate to their believe that the best speechwriters have an inherent talent,a natural creative instinct,and that speechwriting is an art form.Dictation 17 A Walk in the Park 在公园散步Exercising in natural areas is not only good for your physical health-it can improve your mood and sense of well-being in as little as five minutes. Environmental Health and alone is known to make you is being in a natural scientists wanted to see the effect of combining the evaluated 10 different UK studies involving more than 1,200 had taken part in activities such as gardening,sailing and country walks, and rated their mood and research showed that both areas get a significant boostwith as little as five minutes of outdoor people with mental disorders benefited the study authors say this is the first study to quantify the amount of time needed to get a positive effect.Dictation 18 Fast food Makes Us Less Patient 快餐使我们失去耐性Fast food is a multibillion-dollar industry,and for some of us, drive-through dinner has become a way of , sometimes we grab something quick because we really don't have psychologists got to wondering whether all this speed eating might actually make us less a series of experiments,the scientists showed volunteers logos from several fast-food chains or asked them to recall the last time they'd they found that folks who had thought about fast foodwould then read faster,even though no one told them to they also expressed a preference for time-saving products,like shampoo plus they tended to opt for immediate rewards,like getting a small cash payment right away rather than waiting a week for a larger if you want to ease the pace,forget meditation. Try a slow cooker.Dictation 19 Light All Night Not Alright 整夜开灯并非好事A nightlight may keep those monsters under the it may also open the door to the you have access to electricity,you no doubt switch on a lamp,maybe even watch a little TV,after the sun goes our bodies use cues about lightness and dark to regulate our hormones and of course our sleep what might these extra photons be doing to our healthTo find out, scientists housed mice in a room where the lights were always three weeks,they found that mice who lived in the spotlight showed symptoms of depression,more so than mice who enjoyed eight hours of darkness at , mice who could escape the light by ducking into a dark tube also escaped the worst of the flip that light switch at your own the artificial brightness that helps keep us up could also bring us down.Dictation 20 London 2012 Olympic Games 伦敦2012奥运会After a hard-fought campaign,London has been awarded the right to host the 2012 Olympic UK capital saw off competition from four rival cities:Paris, Madrid, Moscow and New can now look forward to the transformation of their city in the same way as their counterparts in , there are many similarities in the two cities approach to hosting the cities need to invest in developing their infrastructure in order to cope with the demands of the , this kind of investment is far from cheap- it is estimated that it will cost around $40 billion to prepare for the 2008 games,much of which will be spent on transport , the benefits of becoming an Olympic city can be enormous- Barcelona, which hosted the 1992 games,was completely regenerated and has since become one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world.Dictation 21 Picnic 野餐As summertime begins in Britain,people start to feel the urge to go outside to love to have a picnic whenever the weather is good enough,especially people with 's a great way to spend a sunny in the centre of London, on a sunny day,the parks are full of office worker seating their lunch outside on the might be a pretty basic picnic- a shop-bought sandwich and a bottle of if people are planning a picnic on the beach or at the park,they would probably pack a cool bag with a whole variety of home-made sandwiches,snacks, cake, fruit and soft might have a picnic rug to sit on,and paper plates and students enjoy having picnics,and usually take along some kind of sports equipment,such as a ball in order to burn off some energy after lunch.Dictation 23 The Compass 指南针A magnetic compass is a device that has been used for centuries now,and its utility in helping people find their way is technology gave us the privilege of GPS navigation systems,the act of finding out where you are and which side is northwas carried out simply with the help of a 've all seen a compass at some point or the other,and this has almost always led us to the question"How does a compass work"The answer to thisquestion can be explained through the concept of the earth's speaking, a compass is basically a small magnet that has a needle attached on one other end of the magnet is attached to a freely moving the compass is held out steadily,the magnet becomes parallel with the magnetic field of the Earth,and this causes it to point north.Dictation 24 Ball Games 球类运动Ball games have become an integral part of modern give us entertainment providing us a means to safely free ourselves from are many different ball games that can do this for people enjoy football, while others like two ball games are the most popular in games such as baseball are growing in appeal,yet have not become development of these games is is one of the few sports with a known date of , or soccer, originally developed from traits found in both China and has grown to become the world's most popular Europe, football clubs have been established,which in turn has been copied in the rest of the world.These football clubs train players who may later go to play for their nations in the World is the most watched ballgame championship on the planet.Dictation 25 Water Sports 水上运动The history of man's involvement with water sports stretches back before history was written is a history of the development of technology as well as human physical first took to water in boats that sailed around the worldwith nothing but the stars to guide seas and rivers were a mystery to be feared,for lurked unknown creatures and death by actually ventured into the a sport, however, water sports such as swimming, diving,and water polo are new comparatively to those on the oldest one is rowing in a is seen in modern games such as competitions between rowing clubs in British and American Water Sports began with swimming but did not end different kinds of water sports such as diving or water skiing came later.Dictation 26 Famous Universities 名校Many countries have excellent are, however, few world famous universities have achieved their fame through a combination of both their age and the high levels of quality in their their histories,each one has been a testing ground for the leadership of the the United States, Harvard and Yale attract thousands of foreign students who would use what they learn for the advancement of their own this way, these schools have developed an interesting method of international around the world are able to connect with each other by having graduated from one of the finest universities in the in every field, whether government officials or ground-breaking scientists,who graduated from the same school have a direct link to each other and understand each other much better.Dictation 27 Ideal Life 理想人生The ideal life is one that many people would like to pursue,yet few balance between dreams and reality is one that is difficult to people choose a vocation in the hopes that it would bring them wealth and , after years of labor in their chosen field,they begin to hate their is mainly because they have neglected other parts of their lives in search of this people devote their lives to working and are unable to separate themselves from their find that it may not be have jobs where their principles and emotional health are challenged by dishonesty or bad work people can begin to become influenced by the environment in which they work,leading to personal or health choice is not a permanent situation, however,as many people have chosen to change the values of their lives.Dictation 28 Reeducation and Employment 再教育和就业During the course of our lives,we must make many choices that we may come to is especially true when choosing a that sound exciting or rewarding become dull or not worth it as we live our daily is where reeducation can schools have been set up to train people in jobs that they may be better suited can adapt their interests and talentsthrough selected courses. They can learn cooking skills, which are always in great demand. Gardening is an option for those who enjoy the outdoorsor have a green thumb. If a person is interested in motors or cars, they can get training as a mechanic. Even more, the learning of a foreign language would allow them the opening of a dream job qualification certificates they earn can also be used too enhance their resumes,so that they are trained in a variety of skills.Dictation 29 Made in China 中国制造The label, Made in China,is one that is becoming increasing common in shopping centers all over the the United States,shoppers at Wal-Mart the nation's largest retailer have a wide selection of products mostly produced in large amount of Chinese imports have created a large selection of goods in other countries as people begin to buy more and more products made in goods are even readily available in other Asian nations,where Chinese-made goods are quite brand names are also becoming more well-known outside of development of China has amazed the world with its also, as China is a developing economy with large amounts of labor,industries are beginning to relocatein an effort to minimize costs and increase results of these relocations are that nations are beginning to try to limit the flow of Chinese goods with the use of taxes and import restrictions.Dictation 30 Glaciers 冰川Glaciers are formed in places where the temperatures are extremely could even include places that are at sea level,but are mostly places that are high up on such cold places it snows most of the snow will settle down and when it snows again the lower layer of snow gets time it snows,the below layers will compress more,finally turning into hard ice is what forms the the temperature rises slightly,the outer edges of the formed glacier and fresh snow will glacier to form and sustai For n itself it is of prime importance that the amount of snow that falls on it must be more than the amount of glacier that has is the only way in which the glacierwill be able to maintain itself and keep increasing in size year after year.Dictation 31 Oxygen 氧气Oxygen, that thing you breathe,that essential gas that keeps the world going round is really more important than you give it credit is what essentially and literally keeps you alive and keeps you this: people can survive for a few days without food and water,but do you think a person can survive even a few minutes without oxygenNo, the brain would die and the heart would stop pumping is how essential oxygen is to the human is used to convert fats and proteins from the food we consume into heat and energy for the body and its normal is essential for the production of living cells and for respiration of these cells as is also used in removing toxic waste from the simply put, the more the oxygen there is in the body,the more energetic the body will be.Dictation 32 Purpose of Society 社会的作用One of the primary purposes of society is the formation of an organized group of individuals,who can support each other in various is in those difficult times that you realize theimportance of being a part of is the members of your social group who come forward to render all the help you support given by society can be of the physical, emotional, financial or medical society is characterized by social form an integral part of society.Social networks are defined as the maps of relationships between give rise to social interactions between people of a belonging to different ethnic groups can come together, thanks to interactions give rise to strong social bonds that result in long-lasting society gives rise to a family system and an organization of relationships,which form the heart of any social group.Dictation 33 Mountains 山脉Mountains are a type of landforms that are characterized by a higher elevation,in comparison to the surrounding are higher than 600 meters,and taller than the world's tallest mountains are located in Asia and the largest range of mountains is present in the Atlantic of the highest mountain peaks are located in the represent varying climatic conditions based on their example, in case of a tall mountain,the conditions at the base differ from the top of the comparison to the mountain base,the top portion is colder and there is less oxygen and less protection from the sun's is estimated that half of the world population depends on mountains for fact, the major rivers of the world are fed by mountains have glacial lakes that are formed due to melting of the glaciers.Dictation 34 Internet Relationship 网络关系Internet relationships are ones that are made through online communicationwith a prospective friend or , many people are turning towards makings such relationships as they think these are more reliable than ones that are created by meeting in have their own individual views regarding such relationships can be made for the purpose of getting a date or just is a debate going on in the online community about these online say that these kind of bonding is not at all reliable,as anyone can pose as a person who he is not, in the other hand,if you use the Internet in the best possible manner,this bonding can go well further simply means that, along with emails and chats,if you use real-time audio and video conversations,you can be assured that the person online is not faking his identity.Dictation 35 Friendship 友谊Friendship is a silent transformer of life;a relationship that stays aliveonly till the time it is nourished with love,care, kindness and understanding.By dictionary terms,it is a compassionate and cooperative relationship between two or more individuals but it really does not define or speak about the magical power the relationship has a strong and enduring power that can transform the life of all those who are on their journey with this great is a relationship that blows flowers on the way,fills laughter in the air when friends are together,and spreads love is a feeling that offers support and comfort at every stage in life,delivers peace of mind when under deep stress,and also offers a strong level of ties two or more individuals so strongly that no one can escape from the anguish of losing or breaking the relationship.Dictation 36 Cultural Heritages 文化遗产Every country has a cultural heritage,spiritual beliefs and history and their ethnic fashion reflects their artistic will find how the market of ethnic gifts has increased at a drastic all around the globe appreciate the ethnic art with its unique beautiful , it's natural that ethnic art。
英语专业四级听力材料
英语专业四级听力材料以下是一份可能的英语专业四级听力材料：听力材料一：There's one sound that gets a big reaction from kids on a hot day, the sound of an ice-cream truck. In the hot weather, Maria McCartney has been in the mobile ice-cream business since 2005.问题：1. What kind of business is Maria McCartney in?2. When did Maria McCartney start her mobile ice-cream business?3. Why does the sound of an ice-cream truck get a big reaction from kids on a hot day?听力材料二：Woman: Good morning. Sit down, please, Mr. Johnson.Mr. Johnson: Thank you, Ma’am. Good morning.Conversation Two: Woman: Excuse me. Could I ask you some questions?Woman: I work for an advertising agency, and I’m doing some research. It’s for a new magazine for people like you.Man: OK. Man: En… Twice a week, three t imes a week?Man: Parcel Express, Good morning. How can I help you?问题：1. What does the woman want to ask the man?2. Who does the woman work for?3. What is the man's response to the woman's questions?。
专四听力50篇
11.A Henpecked Husband and His WifeThere was once a large, fat woman who had a small, thin husband. He had a job in a big company and was given his weekly wages every Friday evening. As soon as he got home on Fridays, his wife used to make him give her all his money, and then she used to give him back only enough to buy his lunch in his company every day.One day, the small man came home very excited. He hurried into the living-room. His wife was listening to the radio and eating chocolates there.“You will never guess what happened to me to day, dear.” he said.He waited for a few seconds and then added, “I won ten thousand dollars on the lottery!”“That is wonderful! ” said his wife delightedly. But then she pulled a long face and added angrily, “But how could you afford to buy the ticket?Useful Words and Expressions:1. henpecked 怕老婆的，妻管严的2. lottery 彩票a great lottery 虚无缥缈的事3. pull a long face 拉下脸来have a face to say that脸皮厚得竟能讲出这种话12.A Young Man’s PromiseOne day, a young man was writing a letter to his girlfriend who lived just a few miles away in a nearby town. He was telling her how much he loved her and how wonderful he thought she was. The more he wrote the more poetic he became. Finally he said that in order to be with her, he would suffer the greatest difficulties, he would face the greatest dangers that anyone couldn’t imagine. In fact, to spend only one minute with her, he would swim across the widest river, he would enter the deepest forest, and he would fight against the fiercest animals with his bare hands.He finished the letter, signed his name and then suddenly remembered that he had forgotten to mention something quite important. So, in a postscript below his name, he added:“By the way, I’ll be over to see you on Wednesday night, if it doesn’t rain.”13.A Kind NeighborMr. and Mrs. Jones’ apartment was full of l uggage, packages, furniture and boxes. Both of them were very busy when they heard the doorbell ring. Mrs. Jones went to open it and she saw a middle-aged lady outside. The lady said she lived next door. Mrs. Jones invited her to come in and apologized bec ause there was no place for her to sit. “Oh, that’s OK.” said the lady. “I just come to welcome to your new home. As you know, in some parts of this city, neighbors are not friendly at all. They are some apartment houses where people don’t know any of thei r neighbors, not even the ones next door. But in this building, everyone is very friendly with everyone else. We are a big happy family. I am sure you will be very happy here.” Mr. and Mrs. Jones said, “But madam, we are not new dwellers in this apartment. We’ve lived here for two years. We are moving out tomorrow.”14.That Isn’t Our FaultMr. and Mrs. Williams got married when he was twenty-three, and she was twenty. Twenty-five years later, they had a big party, and a photographer came and took some photographs of them.Then the photographer gave Mrs. Williams a card and said, “They’ll be ready next Wednesday. You can get them from studio.”“No,” Mrs. Williams said, “please send them to us.”The photographs arrived a week later, but Mrs. Williams was not happy when she saw them. She got into her car and drove to the photographer’s studio. She went inside and said angrily, “You took some photographs of me and my husband last week, but I’m not going to pay for them.”“Oh, why not?” the photographer asked.“Because my husband looks like a monkey,” Mrs. Williams said.“Well,” the photographer answered, “that isn’t our fault. Why didn’t you think of that before you married him?”15.A Guide’s AnswerIn 1861, the Civil War started in the United States between the Northern and the Southern states. The war continued with great bitterness until 1865, when the Northerners were victorious. However, even today, many Southerners have not forgotten their defeat, or forgiven the Northerners.A few years ago, a party of American tourists were going round one of the battlefields of the Civil War with a guide who came from one of the Southern states. At each place, the guide told the tourists stirring stories about how a few Southern soldiers had conquered powerful forces of Northerners there.At last, one of the tourists, a lady who came from the North, stopped the guide and said to him, “ But surely that the Northern army must have won at least one victory in the Civil War?”“Not as long as I’m the guide here, madam,” answered the Southern guide.16.A Qualified PilotThe captain of a small ship had to go along a rocky coast, but he was unfamiliar with it, so he tried to find a qualified pilot to guide him. He went ashore in one of the small ports, and a local fisherman pretended that he was a pilot because he needed some money. The captain took him on board and asked him where to steer the ship.After half an hour, the captain began to suspect that the fisherman did not really know what he was doing and where he was going.“Are you sure you are a qualified pilot?” he asked.“Oh, yes,” answered the fisherman. “I know every rock on this part of the coast.”Suddenly there was a terrible crash from under the ship. At once the fisherman added, “And that’s one of them.”17.Living Things ReactYou and all organisms live an environment. An environment is made up of everything thatsurrounds an organism. It can include the 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 bend toward light. Insects fly toward light.Living things also respond in other ways. 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?18.Flowering PlantsWhat are the parts of a flower?Flowers can have male parts and female parts. The female parts make eggs that become seeds. The male parts make pollen. Pollen is a powdery material that is needed by the eggs to make seeds. To make seeds, pollen and eggs must come together. The wind, insects, and birds bring pollen to eggs. Many animals love flowers’ bright colors. T hey also like a sugary liquid in flowers. This is called nectar. While they drink nectar, pollen rubs off on their bodies. As they move, some of this pollen gets delivered to the female flower parts.Over time, the female parts turn into fruits that contain seeds. Animals often eat the fruits and the seeds pass through their bodies as waste. The animals do no know they are working for the plants by planting seeds as they travel to different places!Useful words and Expressions:1. flowering 开花的2. pollen 花粉3. powdery 粉状的4. sugar 含糖的，甜的5. nectar花蜜，甘露6. rub 磨擦19.Finding the Direction and LocationHow can you tell which direction? By day, look for the Sun. It is in the east in the morning and the west in the afternoon. At night, use the Big Dipper to help you find the North Star. It would be better to bring a compass because its needle always points north.How do you know how far you have gone? You could count every step. Each step is about two feet. You’d better wear a pedometer which is a tool that coun ts steps. If you know where you started, which direction you are heading, and how far you have gone, you can use a good map to figure out exactly where you are.Today there is a new way for travelers to figure out where they are. It is the GPS. It has 24 satellites that orbit the earth and constantly broadcast their positions. Someday you may carry a small receiver as you hike and use GPS to find out if you are there yet!Useful Words and Expressions:1. dipper北斗七星2. compass 罗盘3. pedometer 步数计4. GPS= Global Position System全球定位系统5. orbit 轨道，绕……轨道而行6. receiver 接收器20.WavesHow does light get from the sun to the earth? How does music get from the stage to the audience? They move the same way-----in waves!Light and sound are forms of energy. All waves carry energy, but they may carry it differently. Light and sound travel through different kinds of matter. For example, light waves cannot move through walls, but sound waves can. That is why you can hear people talking in another room even though you cannot see them. The energy of some waves is destructive. An earthquake produces seismic waves.Catch a wave. Ask a friend to stand a few feet away from you. Stretch a spring between you. Shake the spring to transfer energy to it. What happens? The spring bounces up and down in waves. When the waves reach your friend, they bounce back to you!Light waves travel 300,000 kilometers (186,000 miles) per second! They can also travel through a vacuum. That is why light from the sun and distant stars can travel through space to the earth!Useful Words and Expressions;1. destructive 破坏的2. seismic地震的3. vacuum真空21.SoilsThere are many different kinds of soils. Different soils have different types of rock and minerals in them. Some soils have more water in them than others. Some soils might have more plant and animal material in them, too.Different kinds of soils are found in different parts of the world. There are several kinds of soils found in the United States. In some areas, the soil has a lot of clay. Other soils are very sandy. Loam is a kind of soil that has a good mixture of clay and sand.In some places, soil layers are very thick. Lots of plants grow in places with a thick soil layer. In dry and windy places soil layers are much thinner. Layers of soil on mountains are thin because gravity pulls the soil downhill.The type of soil in a particular place affects what kinds of plants can grow there.Useful Words:1. clay 黏土，泥土2. loam 肥土3. layer 层4. gravity 地心引力，重力5. downhill 往下。
淘金式 英语专业四级听力文本 test--02
DictationBread-makingPeople made bread in different ways, / but the bread that’s made in Britain contains five ingredients. / There’s water, flour of course, / and then there’s salt, sugar and something called yeast./ A long time ago, people made bread just from flour and water, / and their bread looked and tasted very different from the bread we make today./ It was a different shape---like large flat biscuits, / and it was dark brown in colour. / But it was too heavy to digest. / Then the Egyptians discovered that yeast,/ which is a kind of fungus, will make bread rise./ Well, in fact, if you look at a modern loaf of bread through a microscope, / it looks a bit like a sponge, doesn’t it? / Full of little holes. / Well, the holes make the bread lighter, of course, and easier to digest.yeastfungusspongeConversations1.W: Did you have a good time last weekend?M: Yes, I did. I visited some friends in Pennsylvania. They live in a small town called Canonsburg.W: That must have been interesting. I’ve never been in a small town—just big cities.M: Neither have I.W: What did you do?M: There isn’t as much to do there as is here. No plays or concerts, that is,people make their own entertainment, though.W: What do you mean?M: Well, Saturday we went to a potluck supper.W: A potluck supper? What’s that?M: The whole neighborhood has a party. Everybody brings something. It’s all put on the table and you can eat whatever you like. That is a potluck supper.W: It’s something like a picnic, isn’t it?M: Well, yes. The weather was warm, so we had this one outdoors. But in winter they have them indoors, too.W: What else did you do?M: Sunday we went for a drive. We had lunch at a drive-in.W: Is the countryside interesting?M: Beautiful farmland. You’d like it.W: I’m sure I would.M: Sunday evening some people came for dinner. It was very informal—we just sat around and talked. Just a nice Sunday night supper.W: That’s the kind of evening I like. I don’t care for a formal dinner so much. W: Neither do I.potluck 家常便饭potluck supper聚餐：每个客人都自带食物然后大家分而食之的一顿饭的drive-in 免下车餐馆, 免下车电影院(顾客可坐在自己的车上购物、进餐、看电影等等)Conversation 2W: Today’s arts report is on Dan Parker of the American Indian Dance Theater.Mr. Parker, I understand your troupe performs traditional music and dance from many different Native American cultures. Can you give us some ideas of some of the dances you’ll be doing in the performance tonight?M: Certainly. We’ll be doing won-us-award dance. Originally it was a story telling device to recount battles. Another is the grass dance, performed by the plains Indians, where they actually flatten tall field grass to prepare it for a ceremony.W: Since your dancers are from many different tribes, how can you be sure the dances are done correctly?M: Everything we do has been approved by the elders of our tribes. That’s partly because we don’t necessarily know each other’s styles of dances.But it’s also because it’s hard to get complete agreement even within the same tribe about exactly how the dance should be done.W: Anyone who attends one of your performances will notice that your company goes to a lot of trouble to provide detailed explanations of the origin of the dances, the music, the costumes and so forth. Could you explain to our listeners why you do these?M: Good question. Our explanations show that in our cultures, dance is ritual rather than entertainment. We also want to make it clear to our audience that we are not performing any dances used for sacred ceremonies.troupeConversation 3M: I really appreciate your filling me in on yesterday’s lecture.W: No problem. I thought you might want to go over it together. And anyway it helps me review. Hope you’re feeling better now.M: I am. Thanks. So, you said she talked about squid? Sounds a little strange. W: Well, actually it was about the evolution of sea life—a continuation from last week. The octopus and the squid descended from earlier creatures with shells. They survived by shedding their shells—somewhere between 200 and 500 million years ago.M: That’s a pretty long span of time. Some squid are really huge. Can you imagine something that big if it still had a shell?W: Actually, it’s because they lost their shells that they could evolve to a bigger size.M: Make sense. I’ve read about fishermen who caught squid that weighed over a ton. Did she talk about how that happened?W: Not really. But she did mention some unusual cases. In 1933 they caught a squid in New Zealand… let’s see here. ..it was twenty-two yards long. M: Remind me of all those stories of sea monsters.W: Dr. Simpson thinks there are probably even larger ones that haven’t been found because squid are intelligent and fast—so they can easily get away from humans. Maybe some of those monster stories are true.Section B PassagesPassage 1Basic to any understanding of Canada in the 20 years after the Second World War is the country’s impressive population growth. For every three Canadians in 1945, there were over five in 1966. In September 1966 Canada’s population passed the 20 million mark. Most of this surging growth came from natural increase. The depression of the 1930’s and the war had held back marriages, and the catching-up process began after 1945. The baby boomcontinued through the decade of the 1950’s, producing a population increase of nearly fifteen percent in the five years from 1951 to 1956. After the peak year of 1957, the birth rate in Canada began to decline. It continued falling until in 1966 it stood at the lowest level in 25 years. Partly this decline reflected the low level of births during the depression and the war, but it was also caused by changes in Canadian society. Young people were staying at school longer; more women were working; young married couples were buying automobiles or houses before starting families; rising living standards were cutting down the size of families. It appeared that Canada was once more falling in step with the trend toward smaller families that had occurred all through the Western world since the time of the Industrial revolution. Passage 2In the early days of the United States, postal charges were paid by the recipient and charges varied with the distance carried. In 1847 the United States Post Office Department adopted the idea of a postage stamp, which of course simplified the payment for postal service but caused grumbling by those who did not like to prepay. Besides, the stamps covered only delivery to the post office and did not include carrying it to a private address. In Philadelphia, for example, with a population of 150,000, people still had to go to the post office to get their mail. The confusion and congestion of individual citizens looking for their letters was itself enough to discourage the use of mail. It is no wonder that, during the years of these cumbersome arrangements, private letter-carrying and express business developed. Although their activities were only semi-legal, they thrived, and actually advertised that between Boston and Philadelphia they were a half-day speedier than the government mail. The government postal service lost volume to private competition and was not able to handle efficiently even the business it had. Finally, in 1863, Congress provided that the mail carriers who delivered the mail from the post offices to private addresses should receive a government salary and that there should be no extra charge for that delivery.recipientgrumblecongestion拥塞, 充血cumbersomePassage 3There are two factors which determine an individual’s intelligence. The first is the sort of brain he is born with. Human brains differ considerably, somebeing more capable than others. But no matter how good a brain he has to begin with, an individual will have a low order of intelligence unless he has opportunities to learn. So the second factor is what happens to the individual and the sort of environment in which he is reared. If an individual is handicapped environmentally, it is likely that his brain will fail to develop. The importance of environment in determining an individual’s intelligence can be demonstrated by the case of the identical twins, Peter and Mark. Being identical, the twins had identical brains at birth, and their growth processes were the same. When the twins were three months old, their parents died, and they were placed in separate foster homes. Peter was reared by parents of low intelligence in an isolated community with poor educational opportunities. Mark was reared in the home of well-to-do parents who had been to college. He was sent to good schools, and given every opportunity to be stimulated intellectually. This environmental difference continued until the twins were in their late teens, when they were given tests to measure their intelligence. Mark’s IQ was 125, twenty-five points higher than the average and fully forty points higher than his identical brother.Section 3 NewsNews 1The sixth World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference will open in Hong Kong a week from tomorrow. Police say they will deploy 9,000 officers, one thirds of its manpower, during the event. The government says the weeklong conference will bring inconvenience to the public and is appealing for understanding. The weeklong WTO Ministerial Conference opens on the 13th at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center in Wanchai. Police revealed that they have received applications for public meetings and protests on practically everyday of the week during the conference.News 2Thousands of people living in villages closest to the volcano have already been moved to emergency shelters. Many more are lining up by the side of the road waiting for trucks to take them to safety. But still there are a few farmers refusing to move. Without their crops and animals they have no income and cannot support their families so they’re waiting until the government offers financial help. Meanwhile, the mountain above them is becoming more active by the day. At least one village about three kilometers from the crater has been covered in a dusting of volcanic ash. One scientist told the BBC he now believed Merapi was in what be called the early stages of an eruption but he added “we cannot predict when it will reach its peak.”News 3Palestinians have exported the first shipment of crops grown in Gaza greenhouses left behind by evacuated Jewish settlers. Palestinian officials said two and a half tons of peppers left Gaza through the Karni Crossings, and will be sold in Israel. The Director of the Palestinian Economic Development Company said he was very pleased. He said the shipment moved without problems and he hopes this will be a good start. Palestinian officials hope to export a further shipment of produce to Europe, via Israel, next week. Until this summer, the greenhouses belonged to Jewish settlers in Gaza. When Israel withdrew from Gaza, and dismantled the settlements, private, foreign donors bought the greenhouses for $13 million and gave them to the Palestinians. Palestinian officials say access to the outside world is crucial for strengthening Gaza’s troubled economy.evacuatedismantleNews 4Eighty-three million miles out in space, a comet had a visitor from planet Earth earlier today. The comet is named Tempel 1 and the visitor was called Deep Impact, which also describes its mission to slam into the speeding comet and learn just what it’s made of. Well, it worked. It was a brilliant success. The picture perfects collision of Deep Impact’s unmanned probe, the explosion of images and data. Even Mission Controllers could barely believe they’d pulled off such a brash technological feat.unmanned probe 无人探测News 5This was one of the most daring prison breakouts to take place in Greece. The helicopter landed in a courtyard of Korydallos prison in Athens as those on board threw flares into the area. Amid the confusion, two inmates managed to climb into the helicopter which took off again, flying to a nearby cemetery. The escaped prisoners then fled with their accomplices on motorbikes which have since been found near the port of Piraes. One of the men, Vassilis, Paleokostas, was serving a twenty-five year sentence for kidnapping and bank robbery.It’s thought his brother, who’s been on the run since 1990, was behind the breakout. The police have arrested the helicopter pilot, who says he was forced to fly to the prison at gunpoint. Korydallos hold some of the country’s most notorious criminals including the leaders of the militant left-wing organization, November Seventeenth, who were found guilty ofmurdering politicians, businessmen and foreign diplomats.News 6Many people may be nervous about using online bill pay. But a new report says it can be safer than using traditional methods. The story posted on reports, Javelin Dtrategy and Research says, eliminating paper bills makes it harder for thieves to steal information,often done by searching a person’s mail. The report claims that by simply buying into the high-tech approach, customers can save $4.8 billion in fraud costs each year. The group also says people who use Internet banking or bill pay are more likely to monitor their transactions on a regular basis. One of the snags, though most companies do charge a monthly fee for the online services.snag。
专四听力文本doc
Model Test 1HobbiesIn early times, most people were too busy making a living to have many hobbies. Today as machines have reduced the amount of time they must spend on their jobs, people have more time than before for hobbies.People take up hobbies because these activities offer enjoyment, friendship, knowledge, and relaxation. Sometimes they even yield financial profit. Hobbies help people relax after periods of hard work. They provide a balance between work and play, especially for workers who do the same monotonous tasks all day long. Hobbies also offer interesting activities for persons who have retired. Those who have devoted hobbies never need to worry about what to do with their newly-found leisure hours. Anyone can follow a satisfying hobby, regardless of his age, position, or income. A famous Canadian doctor expressed the value of hobbies bysaying, “No man is really happy or safe without a hobby.”Model Test 3Let Children Learn to Judge Their Own Work A child learning to talk does not learn by being corrected all the time. If corrected too much, he will stop talking. He notices a thousand times a day the difference between the language he uses and the language those around him use. Bit by bit, he makes the necessary changes to make his language like other people’s. In the same way, when children learn to do all the other things, such as walking, running, climbing, and riding a bicycle, they learn to do them without being taught. Rather, they compare those performances with those of more skilled people, and slowly make the needed changes. But in school we never give a child a chance to find out his own mistakes for himself. Weact as if we thought that he would never notice a mistake unless it was pointed out to him. Soon he becomes dependent on the teacher.Model Test 4A New Need for Traffic Lights Space is getting crowded. That’s the latest worry for many scientists. About ten thousand objects are orbiting our planets now. Some are satellites that have a job to do. Other items have finished their work. Parts of rockets may have been discarded during a flight and left behind in space.This is becoming a real problem. More items in space lead to more danger. Some of the objects now floating through space are just a few inches in size. But they can still do harm. If they hit a spacecraft or spacelab, they might destroy it.Space agencies can now locate objects in space with a computer. Yet, accidents still happen. Someone may see that two objectsseem to be very close. But they have no power to prevent the crash. Experts can only plot courses to help future rockets avoid some of the objects.Model Test 5SportThe word “sport”first meant something that people did in their free time. Later, it often meant hunting wild animals and birds. About a hundred years ago, the word was first used for organized games, which is its usual meaning today. People spend their spare time playing football, basketball, tennis and many other sports. Such people play because they want to. Some people are paid for the sport they play. These people are called professional sportsmen. They may be sportsmen for only a few years, but many of them can earn a lot of money.Of course, it is only possible for a few sportsmen to earn much money in sports for individuals, like golf, tennis and motor racing.And famous stars can even get huge amounts of money from advertisements. They allow the companies to use their names or photographs and are paid for this. Sport is no longer just something for people’s spare time.Model Test 7Teaching and LearningTeaching is supposed to be a professional activity requiring long and complicated training as well as official certification. The act of teaching is looked upon as a flow of knowledge from a higher source to an empty container. The student’s role is one of receiving information, while the teacher’s is one of sending it.There is a clear distinction assumed between one who is supposed to know and another, usually, younger person who is supposed not to know. However, teaching needn’t be the province of a special group of people nor need it be looked upon as a technical skill. Teachingcan be more like guiding and assisting than forcing information into a supposedly empty head. If you have a certain skill, you should be able to share it with someone. You don’t have to get certified to convey what you know to someone else or to help them in their attempt to teach themselves.Model Test 8The Use of ComputersNearly everything we do in the modern world is helped or even controlled by computers. Computers are being used more and more extensively for the simple reason that they are far more efficient than human beings. They have much better memories and can store huge amounts of information. They can collect and analyze enormous numbers of facts very quickly. This makes them suitable for all kinds of work. They can pay wages,reserve seats on planes, control machines in factories. They can even play chess, write poetry, or composemusic. But perhaps the most interesting applications will be for personal use. In some countries, modified television sets have been connected by telephone to a very large computer. Users dial a few numbers on the telephone to get information from the large computer such as schedules for airplanes, information from dictionaries, or weather forecasts. They can also use the computers to do complicated calculations and to play games.Model test 9Life in SpaceSome scientists say that in twenty years, there will be communities in space. These will begin because men will go to work on the moon, and send important metals back to earth. They will need somewhere to live, and so, with the help of special building machines, they will create large “ships ”in space. People will be able to live a new way of life because the ships will be large enough for all the thingspeople need. In the middle of the ship there could be a river. On the outside of the ship, the people will grow vegetables, under plastic or glass. These will grow very quickly because of the light from the sun. But perhaps the most beautiful thing about these communities is that people inside will be able to fly, since the gravity will be very low. Perhaps when people live in places like these,, they will have a better life than in the cities on earth.Model Test TenForeign Language StudyThe knowledge of a foreign language is an important part of an education． A person cannot be considered truly educated if he knows only one language. Nevertheless, the importance of learning foreign language is often underestimated.English is one of the most commonly used languages in international communication. Some speakers of English mistakenly argue that it is important for them to know anotherlanguage for communicative purposes. They think that everyone else should know English. But there are still billions of people who do not speak English, and many of these people have limited educational opportunities. If English speakers do not make the effort to learn to communicate in other languages, they should not expect others to gain a knowledge of English.If there is to be world peace, the people of the world must understand each other.Communication is necessary to thatunderstanding, but people cannot communicate if they do not speak the samelanguage./5908417366/profile?topnav=1&wvr=6&is_all=1 //shop-a1057660228///8sLH3ZqZvDYP。
专四听力训练原文
After I got used to saving my money, / it was much easier for me not to be tempted to buy things when I saw them. / When I saw a CD or video game that looked appealing, / I learned to ask myself, “Do I really need this?” / Asking this question helped me appreciate my money and not let it slip out of my wallet quite so fast. / (173 words)
Passage 2 Perceptions
Ask three people to look out of the same window at a busy street and tell you what they see. / Probably you will receive three different answers. / Each person sees the same scene, but each perceives something different about it. /
Perceiving goes in our minds. / Of the three people who look out of the window / one may say that he sees a policeman giving a driver a ticket. / Another may say that he sees a rush – hour traffic jam at the street corner. / The third may tell you that he sees a woman trying to cross the street with four children. / For perception is the mind’s interpretation / of what the senses – in this case our eyes – tell us. /
专四听力材料
专四听力材料Good morning, everyone. Today, I am going to talk about the impact of technology on our daily lives. As we all know, technology is advancing rapidly and has become an integral part of our daily lives.Firstly, technology has greatly improved our communication. With the advent of smartphones and the internet, we can now instantly connect with people from all around the world. We can send messages, make phone calls, or even video chat with our loved ones, regardless of where they are. This has made it easier for us to stay in touch with friends and family, especially for those who live far away.Secondly, technology has revolutionized the way we work. Many traditional jobs have been replaced by machines or computers, which has increased productivity and efficiency. For example, in factories, robots can now perform tasks that used to be done by humans, resulting in faster production and reduced costs. In offices, computers have made it easier to store and access information, making work more streamlined and organized.Furthermore, technology has improved our access to information. In the past, we had to go to the library or search through books to find the information we needed. Now, with just a few clicks on the internet, we can find information on any topic we desire. This has made learning more convenient and accessible for everyone. However, along with the benefits, there are also some negative effects of technology. One major concern is our dependence ontechnology. Many people are now relying on their smartphones for almost everything, from communication to entertainment. This over-reliance on technology can be detrimental to our social skills and mental health.Moreover, technology has also given rise to new forms of crimes, such as hacking and online scams. It is important for individuals to be cautious when using technology and take necessary measures to protect themselves from cyber threats.In conclusion, technology has had a significant impact on our daily lives. It has improved our communication, changed the way we work, and increased our access to information. However, we need to be aware of the negative effects and use technology responsibly.。
专四听力文本03
Can't"Can't" is the worst word that can be written or spoken, and can do more harm than lying. Many strong spirits have been broken by it. It springs from the lips of thoughtless people each morning and robs us of the courage we need that day. It rings in our ears like a timely sent warning and laughs when we fall by the way."Can't" is the father of weak effort, and the parent of fear and half-hearted work. It weakens the efforts of clever craftsmen, and makes people work less. It poisons the soul of a person with an illusion. It laughs at people's hopes and dreams.Whatever the goal you are seeking, keep trying, and answer by saying, "I can!" "Can't" is the enemy that is ready to ruin your will. It will only give way to courage, patience and skill. Treat it with strong and continuous hate, for once it is welcomed it can break any man. (160 words)Useful Words and Expressionsspring from 起源于……；来自……rob v. 抢夺，剥夺rob sb. of sth. 抢走，剥夺The accident robbed him of his health. 那次事故使他丧失了健康。
专四听力文本doc
can be more like guiding and assisting than forcing information into a supposedly empty head. If you have a certain skill, you should be able to share it with someone. You don’t have to get certified to convey what you know to someone else or to help them in their attempt to teach themselves.
Model Test 7 Teaching and Learning Teaching is supposed to be a professional activity requiring long and complicated training as well as official certification. The act of teaching is looked upon as a flow of knowledge from a higher source to an empty container. The student’s role is one of receiving information, while the teacher’s is one of sending it. There is a clear distinction assumed between one who is supposed to know and another, usually, younger person who is supposed not to know. However, teaching needn’t be the province of a special group of people nor need it be looked upon as a technical skill. Teaching
专四听力50篇
Passage1Town and Country Life in EnglandThere is a big difference between town life and country life in England. In the country, everybody knows everybody else. They know what time you get up, what time you go to bed and what you have for dinner. If you want help, you will always get it and you will be glad to help others.In a large town like London, however, it can sometimes happen that you have never seen your next door neighbor and you do not know his name or anything about him. People in London are often very lonely. This is because people go to different places in the evenings and at weekends. If you walk through the streets in the centre of London on Sunday, it is like a town without people. One is sorry for old people living on their own. They could die in their homes and would not be discovered for weeks or even months.Passage2A Change in Women’s LifeThe 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 thefirst 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.Useful Words and Expressions:1. life-pattern生活方式Passage3A Popular Pastime of the English PeopleOne of the best means of understanding the people of any nation is watching what the do with their non-working time.Most English men, women and children love growing things, especially flowers. Visitors to England in spring, summer or autumn are likely to see gardens all they way along the railwaylines. There are flowers at the airports and flowers in factory grounds, as well as in gardens along the roads. Each English town has at least one park with beautifully kept flower beds. Public buildings of every kind have brilliant window boxes and sometimes baskets of flowers are hanging on them.But what the English enjoy most is growing things themselves. If it is impossible to have a garden, then a window box or something growing in a pot will do. Looking at each other’s gardens is a popular pastime with the English.Useful Words and Expressions:1. window box:窗台上的花盆箱2.pastime 消遣，娱乐Passage4British and American Police OfficersReal policemen, both in Britain and the U.S., hardly recognize any common points between their lives and what they se on TV—if they ever get home in time.Some things are almost the same, of course, but the policemen do not think much of them much of them.The first difference is that a policeman’s real life deals with the law. Most of what he learns is the law. He has to knowactually what actions are against the law and what facts can be used to prove them in court. He has to know nearly as much law as a lawyer, and what’s mor e, he has to put it into practice on his feet, in the dark and, running down a narrow street after someone he wants to talk to.Little of his time is spent in talking with beautiful girls or in bravely facing cruel criminals. He will spend most of his working life arranging millions of words on thousands of forms about hundreds of sad, ordinary people who are guilty--- or not of stupid, unimportant crimes.Useful Words and Expressions:1. think much of 重视，尊重2. in court 在法庭上Passage 5Living SpaceHow much living space does a person need? What happens when his space needs are not met? Scientists are doing experiments on rats to try to determine the effects of overcrowded conditions on man. Recent studies have shown that the behavior of rats is greatly affected by space. If rats have enough living space, they eat well, sleep well and produce their young well. But iftheir living conditions become too crowded, their behavior and even their health change obviously. They can not sleep and eat well, and signs of fear and worry become clear. The more crowded they are, the more they tend to bite each other and even kill each other. Thus, for rats, population and violence are directly related. Is this a natural law for human society as well? Is enough space not only satisfactory, but necessary for human survival? These are interesting questions.(147 words)Passage6The United NationsIn 1945, representatives of 50 nations met to plan this organization. It was called the United Nations. After the war, many more nations joined.There are two major parts of the United Nations. One is called the General Assembly. In the General Assembly, every member nation is represented and has an equal vote.The second part is called the Security Council. It has representatives of just 15 nations. Five nations are permanent members: the United States, Russia, France, Britain, and China. The 10 other members are elected every two years by the General Assembly.The major job of the Security Council is to keep peace in the world. If necessary, it can send troops from member nations to try to stop little wars before they turn into big ones.It is hard to get the nations of the Security Council to agree on when this is necessary. But they did vote to try to stop wars.Useful Words and Expressions:1. representative 代表2. General Assembly 联合国大会3. permanent 永久的，持久的4. Security Council 联合国安全理事会Passage 7PlasticWe use plastic wrap to protect our foods. We put our garbage in plastic bags or plastic cans. We sit on plastic chairs, play with plastic toys, drink from plastic cups, and wash our hair with shampoo from plastic bottles!Plastic doesn’t grow in nature. It is made by mixing certain things together. We call it a produced or manufactured material. Plastic was first made in the 1860s from plants, suchas wood and cotton. That plastic was soft and burned easily.The first modern plastics were made in 1930s. Most clear plastic starts out as thick, black oil. That plastic coating inside a pan begins as natural gas.Over the years, hundreds of different plastics have been developed. Some are hard and strong. Some are soft and bendable. Some are clear. Some are many-colored. There is a plastic for almost every need. Scientists continue to experiment with plastics. They hope to find even ways to use them! (160 words)Passage 8Display of GoodsAre 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 areencouraged 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 a 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. (166 words)Passage 9Albert EinsteinAlbert Einstein was born in Germany in 1879. His father owned a factory that made electrical devices. His mother enjoyed music and books. His parents were Jewish but they did not obser ve many of the religion’s rules. Albert was a quiet child who spent much of his time alone. He was slow to talk and had difficulty learning to read. When Albert was five years old, his father gave him a compass. The child was filled with wonderwhen he discovered that the compass needle always pointed in the same direction—to the north. He asked his father and his uncle what caused the needle to move. Their answers about magnetism and gravity were difficult for the boy to understand. Yet he spent a lot of time thinking about them. He said later that he felt something hidden had to be behind things. (143 words.)10 Private CarsWith 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 is 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 adifficult question to answer, yet the desire for the comfort and independence a private car can bring will not be eliminated.Passage 11A Henpecked Husband and His WifeThere was once a large, fat woman who had a small, thin husband. He had a job in a big company and was given his weekly wages every Friday evening. As soon as he got home on Fridays, his wife used to make him give her all his money, and then she used to give him back only enough to buy his lunch in his company every day.One day, the small man came home very excited. He hurried into the living-room. His wife was listening to the radio and eating chocolates there.“You will never guess what happened to me today, dear,” he said.He waited for a few seconds and then added, “I won ten thousand dollars on the lottery!”“That is wonderful!” said his wife delightedly. But then she pulled a long face and added angrily, “But how could you afford to buy the ticket?” (148 words)Passage 12A Young Man’s P romiseOne day a young man was writing a letter to his girl friend who lived just a few miles away in a nearby town. He was telling her how much he loved her and how wonderful he thought she was. The more he wrote, the more poetic he became. Finally, he said that in order to be with her he would suffer the greatest difficulties, he would face the greatest dangers that anyone could imagine. In fact, to spend only one minute with her, he would swim across the widest river, he would enter the deepest forest, and he would fight against the fiercest animals with his bare hands.He finished the letter, signed his name, and then suddenly remembered that he had forgotten to mention something quite important. So, in a postscript below his name, he added: “By the way,I’ll be over to see you on Wednesday night, if it doesn’t rain.” (154 words)Passage 13A Kind NeighborMr. and Mrs. Jones’ apartment was full of luggage, package, furniture and boxes. Both of them were very busy when they heardthe doorbell ring. Mrs. Jones went to open it and she saw a middle-aged lady outside. The lady said she lived next door. Mrs. Jones invited her to come in and apologized because there was no place for her to sit. “Oh, that’s OK,” said the lady. “I just come to welcome you to your new home. As you know, in some parts of this city neighbors are not friendly at all. There are some apartment houses where people don’t know any of their neighbors, not even the ones next door. But in this building everyone is very friendly with everyone else. We are like one big happy family. I’m sue you’ll be very happy here. ” Mr. and Mrs. Jones said, “But madam, we are not new dwellers in this apartment. We’ve lived her for two years. We’re moving out tomorrow. ” (163 words)Passage 14That Isn’t Ou r FaultMr. and Mrs. Williams got married when he was twenty-three, and she was twenty. Twenty-five years later, they had a big party, and a photographer came and took some photographs of them.Then the photographer gave Mrs. Williams a card and said, “They’ll be ready next Wednesday. You can get them fromstudio.”“No,” Mrs. William said, “Please send them to us.”The photographs arrived a week later, but Mrs. Williams was not happy when she saw them. She got into her car and drove to the photographer’s studio. She went inside and said angrily, “You took some photographs of me and my husband last week, but I’m not going to pay for them.”“Oh, Why not?” the photographer asked.“Because my husband looks like a monkey,” Mrs. William said.“Well,” the photographer answered, “that isn’t our fault. Why didn’t you think of that before you married him?” (148 words)Passage 15A Guide’s AnswerIn 1861, the Civil War started in the United States between the Northern and the Southern states. The war continued with great bitterness until 1865, when the Northerners were victorious. However, even today, many Southerners have not forgotten their defeat, or forgiven the Northerners.A few years ago, a party of American tourists were goinground one of the battlefields of the Civil War with a guide who came from one of the Southern states. At each place, the guide told the tourists stirring stories about how a few Southern soldiers had conquered powerful forces of Northerners there.At last, one of the tourists, a lady who came from the North, stopped the guide and said to him, “But surely the Northern army must have won at least one victory in the Civil War?”“Not as long as I’m the guide here, madam,” answered the Southern guide.(147 words)Passage 16A Qualified PilotThe captain of a small ship had to go along a rocky coast, but he was unfamiliar with it, so he tried to find a qualified pilot to guide him. He went ashore in one of the small ports, and a local fisherman pretended that he was a pilot because he needed some money. The captain took him on board and asked him where to steer the ship.After half an hour the captain began to suspect that the fisherman did not really know what he was doing and where he was going.“Are you sure you are a qualified pilot?” he asked.“Oh, yes,” answered the fisherman. “I know every rock on this part of the coast.”Suddenly there was a terrible crash from under the ship. At once the fisherman added, “And that’s one of them.” (138 words)Passage 17Living Things ReactYou and all organisms live in an environment. An environment is made up of everything that surrounds an organism. It can include the 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 bend toward light. Insects fly toward light.Living things also respond in other ways. 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? (156 words)Passage 18Flowering PlantsWhat are the parts of a flower?Flowers can have male parts and female parts. The female parts make eggs that become seeds. The male parts make pollen. Pollen is a powdery material that is needed by the eggs to make seeds. To make seeds, pollen and eggs must come together. The wind, insects, and birds bring pollen to eggs. Many animals love flowers’ bright colo rs. They also like a sugary liquid in flowers. This is called nectar. While they drink nectar, pollen rubs off on their bodies. As they move, some of this pollen gets delivered to the female flower parts.Over time, the female parts turn into fruits that contain seeds. Animals often eat the fruits and the seeds pass through their bodies as waste. The animals do not know they are working for the plants by planting seeds as they travel to different places. (147 words)Passage 19Finding the Direction and LocationHow can you tell which direction? By day, look for the Sun. It is in the east in the morning and the west in the afternoon. At night, use the Big Dipper to help you find the North Star. It would be better to bring a compass because its needle always points north.How do you know how far you have gone? You could count every step. Each step is about two feet. You’d better wear a pedometer which is a tool that counts steps. If you know where you started, which direction you are heading, and how far you have gone, you can use a good map to figure out exactly where you are.Today there is a new way for travelers to figure out where they are. It is the GPS. It has 24 satellites that orbit the earth and constantly broadcast their positions. Someday you may carry a small receiver as you hike and use GPS to find out if you are there yet!Passage 20WavesHow does light get from the sun to the earth? How does musicget from the stage to the audience? They move the same way —in waves!Light and sound are forms of energy. All waves carry energy, but they may carry it differently. Light and sound travel through different kinds of matter. For example, light waves cannot move through walls, but sound waves can. That is why you can hear people talking in another room even though you cannot see them. The energy of some waves is destructive. An earthquake produces seismic waves.Catch a wave. Ask a friend to stand a few feet away from you. Stretch a spring between you. Shake the spring to transfer energy to it. What happens? The spring bounces up and down in waves. When the waves reach your friend, they bounce back to you!Light waves travel 300,000 kilometers (186,000 miles) per second! They can also travel through a vacuum. That is why light from the sun and distant stars can travel through space to the earth.(175 words)Passage 21SoilsThere are many different kinds of soils. Different soilshave different types of rock and minerals in them than other. Some soils have more water in them than others. Some soils might have more plant and animal material in them, too.Different kinds of soils are found in different parts of the world. There are several kinds of soils found in the United States. In some areas, the soil has a lot of clay. Other soils are very sandy. Loam is a kind of soil that has a good mixture of clay and sand.In some places, soil layers are very thick. Lots of plants grow in places with a thick soil layer. In dry and windy places soil layers are much thinner. Layers of soil on mountains are thin because gravity pulls the soil downhill.The type of soil in a particular place affects what kinds of plants can grow there. (150 words)Passage 22CrisisLife is a contest! Who will win? A bluebird and sparrow both compete for space to build their nests. A fast-growing maple tree and slower-growing dogwood compete for the sunlight they both need. Oil competes with coal and nuclear power as an energy source for electric power plants.There is a problem. There is a limited amount of space for birds, sunlight for trees, and energy for people! If we do not cut back on our uses of some of our resources, someday they will be gone!How can we use energy today and know we will have enough to go around in the future? We can choose alternate, or replacement, energy resources. It takes the earth millions of years to create coal, oil, and gas. They are nonrenewable resources.Solar energy, wind energy and water energy are renewable. What other ways we conserve our resources? How can we make sure there is always enough to go around? (159 words.)Passage 23America’s Worst SurpriseDecember 7, 1941 was one of the worst days in American history. Nearly all Americans who are old enough to remember that day can still remember what they were doing at the moment they heard “the news”. The news was that America had been attacked!Shortly before 2:00 P.M., a radio dispatch came into Washington from Honolulu, Hawaii. “Air Raid, Pearl Harbor —This is no drill.” Japanese planes had begun an attack on the largest American military base in the Pacific. They first destroyed planes on the ground. Then they bombed the ships in the harbor.No one had expected the attack. So no one was prepared for it. And it did not take long for the Japanese to do their damage. When the smoke cleared, the Navy counted its losses. Eighteen ships had been sunk or badly damaged. Nearly 150 planes had been destroyed. More than 2,400 Americans had been killed and more than 1,200 wounded. (157 words)Passage 24Great Depression in the U.S.In 1929, the bills started to come in. American industry had produced too many goods. Americans could not afford to buy all of them. So factories had to cut down on their production. Many workers lost their jobs. Investors tried to get their money back. But businesses did not have enough money to pay them. Banks tried to get their money back from investors. But the investors could not pay, either. Too many people owned money.And few of them could pay their bills.During the next few years, business got worse and worse. By 1932, banks all over the country were closing.People without money could not buy goods. So more businesses closed. More and more people lost their jobs. By 1932, more than 12 million Americans were jobless. Millions more were earning barely enough to live on. The country was in a great depression they had never experienced before. (151 words)Passage 25A Place of Our OwnWe are all usually very careful when we buy something for the house. Why? Because we have to live with it for a long time. We paint a room to make it brighter, so we choose the colours carefully.We buy new curtains in order to match the newly decorated room, so they must be the right colour. We move the furniture round so as to make more space — or we buy new furniture —and so on. It is an endless business.Rich or poor, we take time to furnish a room. Perhaps some people buy furniture in order to impress their friends. But most of us just want to enjoy our surroundings. We want to live ascomfortably as we can afford to. We spend a large part of our lives at home. We want to make a small corner in the world which we can recognize as our own. (151 words)Passage 26Travel for WorkYou can see them in every airport in the world. They are businessmen and women who have to travel for their work.When they first applied for the job, they may have thought of good food and hotels, huge expense accounts and fashionable cities. Now they have to sit in airport lounges, tired and uncomfortable in their smart clothes, listening to the loudspeaker ann ounce “The flight to Tokyo, or Berlin, or New York is delayed for another two hours”. Some people say to me, “How lucky you are to be able to travel abroad in your work! You can go sightseeing without paying any money by yourself!” They think that my job is like a continual holiday. It is not.There are advantages, of course, and I do think I am lucky, but only because I can go to places I would never visit if I was a tourist. (149 words)Passage 27IntelligenceAre 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 make 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 one 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 two people is, the closer they are likely to be in intelligence. (154 words)Passage 28A Free Dress Every WeekThe 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 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. (148 words)Passage 29TimeTime is tangible. One can gain time, spend time, waste time, save time, or even kill time. Common questions in American English reveal this concrete quality as though time were a possession. “Do you have any time?”, “Can you get some time for this?”, “How much free time do you have?” The treatment of time as a possession influences the way that time is carefully divided.Generally, Americans are taught to do one thing at a time and may be uncomfortable when an activity is interrupted. In businesses, the careful scheduling of time and the separation of activities are common practices. Appointment calendars are printed with 15-, 30-, and 60-minute time slots. The idea that “there is a time and place for everything” extends to American social life. Visitors who drop by without prior notice may interrupt their host’s personal time. Thus, ca lling friends on the telephone before visiting them is generally preferred to visitors’ dropping by. (157 words)Passage 30CartoonistIn 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-supplies with current materials.A clever cartoonist may cause laughter because he often useshumour 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 widen an already broad grin. This exaggeration of a person’s characteristics is called caricature. The artist uses such exaggeration to put his message across. (144 words)Passage 31Water PollutionWater 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 every 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。
英语专四听力新闻文本素材
英语专四听力新闻文本素材英语专四听力是英语专业学生进行学业考试的必修科目之一，而听力考试则是其中重要的一个部分。
在专四听力考试中，新闻文本内容占有很大的比重。
因此，对于备考专四听力的学生来说，关于新闻文本的复习和素材的积累至关重要。
在备考英语专四听力考试时，学生需要掌握一些常见的新闻文本类型，例如：政治、经济、社会、文化等。
因为这些新闻类型在实际的生活和工作中都很常见，而且在考试中也可能会出现。
此外，学生还需要注意不同新闻文本的特点和风格，这有助于他们更好地理解和记忆相关的内容。
下面将为您提供一些适合备考英语专四听力考试的新闻文本素材。
1.政治类Political leaders call for unity in face of global crisisRecent events have highlighted the need for governments to work together to tackle global issues such as climate change and terrorism. Politicians from around the world have called for greater cooperation and unity in the face of these challenges.2.经济类Global economy shows signs of recoveryFollowing several years of economic stagnation, the global economy is starting to show signs of recovery. Many countries are experiencing economic growth and unemployment rates are falling. However, experts warn that there are still significant economic challenges to overcome.3.社会类Protests erupt in major cities over police brutalityRecent incidents of police brutality have sparked widespread protests in major cities around the world. Demonstrators are calling for justice and accountability for police officers who abuse their power and violate human rights.4.文化类Art exhibit explores themes of love and lossA new art exhibit featuring works by local artists explores the complex themes of love and loss. The exhibit showcases a varietyof artistic styles and mediums, including painting, sculpture, and photography.以上是几个常见的新闻类别，这些素材可帮助学生在备考英语专四听力考试时快速记忆和理解相关内容。
英语专四听力
英语专四听力English Listening Test for CET-4Section One: Short Conversations1. Woman: Are you going to the party tonight?Man: No, I have to study for tomorrow's exam.Woman: Oh, too bad. I was looking forward to going with you.2. Man: Can I borrow your car to go to the supermarket?Woman: Sorry, I have an appointment later. I won't be able to lend it to you.3. Woman: Can you help me move this heavy table?Man: Sure, I'll give you a hand.4. Man: How was your vacation?Woman: It was great! I visited Paris and London. The food was amazing.5. Woman: Do you have change for a ten-dollar bill?Man: Sorry, I just have a five-dollar bill.Section Two: Short Monologues6. Hi everyone. Today, I am going to talk about the benefits of regular exercise. Firstly, exercise can boost your mood and reduce stress. It releases endorphins in the brain, which are natural mood enhancers. Secondly, exercise helps in weight control and promotes better sleep. Regular physical activity can also strengthen your heart and lungs, reducing the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases. Lastly, exercise improves brain function and memory. So, make sure to include exercise in your daily routine!7. Good morning. In today's lecture, we will discuss the impact of climate change on the environment. Climate change is caused by the increasing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, primarily due to human activities. It leads to rising global temperatures, resulting in melting ice caps, sea-level rise, and extreme weather events. Climate change also poses risks to biodiversity, as it disrupts ecosystems and threatens the survival of many species. It is important for everyone to take action to minimize the effects of climate change and protect our planet.Section Three: Conversations8. Woman: Have you heard about the new restaurant that opened downtown?Man: Yes, I have. I've been there twice already. The food is excellent, and the service is top-notch.Woman: That's great to hear. I've been wanting to try it out. What do you recommend?9. Man: I can't believe we have to write a 10-page essay for the history class.Woman: I know, it seems overwhelming. But if we break it down into smaller sections and plan our time effectively, it will be more manageable.10. Woman: Are you planning to attend the seminar tomorrow?Man: Yes, I am. It's on a topic I'm really interested in. Woman: That's good. I heard the speaker is very knowledgeable and engaging.Section Four: Long Monologue11. Hello, everyone. Today, I am going to talk about thebenefits of learning a second language. Firstly, learning a second language improves cognitive skills and memory. Ithelps develop problem-solving and critical thinking abilities. Secondly, it enhances cultural understanding and communication. Knowing another language allows individuals to connect with people from different backgrounds and gain a broader perspective of the world. Additionally, learning a second language can enhance career prospects, as it is often seen as a valuable skill in today's globalized economy. So, consider learning a second language, as it offers numerous personal and professional advantages.This concludes the English Listening Test for CET-4.Thank you for participating.。
commuting专四听力原文
commuting专四听力原文示例文章篇一：《我眼中的通勤之旅》我每天早上都会看到好多大人去上班，他们的通勤就像是一场特别的冒险。
我就想啊，这通勤到底是个啥样的事儿呢？我邻居叔叔是在城里的写字楼上班的。
他每天早上起来，那表情就像是要去打一场大战似的。
他先是急匆匆地吃几口早饭，然后就拎着他那个大大的公文包出门了。
我有一次问他：“叔叔，你上班为啥这么急呀？”叔叔叹口气说：“小宝贝啊，通勤可不容易呢。
我得先走到公交站，要是错过了那趟早班车，上班就可能迟到，迟到了老板可是要扣钱的。
”我似懂非懂地点点头。
我还听妈妈说过她朋友阿姨的通勤故事。
阿姨住得离公司有点远，她每天要先坐地铁，再转公交车。
地铁里人多得像罐头里的沙丁鱼，挤得满满当当的。
阿姨说：“每次在地铁里，我都感觉自己快喘不过气来了。
周围都是人，大家都面无表情，就像一个个机器人一样。
”我就想啊，那多难受呀。
我在学校里课间休息的时候，教室外的走廊可比这宽敞多了，大家还能跑来跑去玩耍呢。
有一次，我跟着爸爸去他单位玩。
爸爸开车通勤，路上那车多得像蚂蚁搬家一样。
爸爸一边小心翼翼地开车，一边还跟我说：“你看，这么多车都在往自己的目的地赶呢。
这路上就像是一个大的赛场，大家都不想落后。
”我看着车窗外那些匆匆而过的车辆和行人们，心想这通勤就像是一场没有硝烟的战争，每个人都在努力地争取不迟到，能按时到达自己的工作或者学习的地方。
我的老师也跟我们讲过她的通勤经历。
老师住得离学校不算太远，她有时候会选择骑自行车来学校。
老师说：“骑自行车的时候，我能看到路边的小花小草，还能感受到清晨的微风，那感觉可舒服了。
不过要是下雨或者下雪天，就有点麻烦了，路滑还得小心别摔倒。
”我就想象着老师在小路上骑着自行车，旁边有五颜六色的小花，就像一幅美丽的画。
而下雨天呢，就像是有个调皮的小怪兽出来捣乱了。
在我看来，通勤虽然很辛苦，但也像是生活中的一段独特旅程。
大人们在这个过程中会遇到各种各样的情况，就像我们在学校里会遇到不同的挑战一样。
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1.Town and Country Life in EnglandThere is a big difference between town life and country life in England. In the country, everybody knows everybody else. They know what time you get up, what time you go to bed and what you have for dinner. If you want help, you will always get it and you will be glad to help others.In a large town like London, however, it can sometimes happen that you have never seen your next door neighbor and you do not know his name or anything about him. People in London are often very lonely. This is because people go to different places in the evenings and at weekends. If you walk through the streets in the centre of London on Sunday, it is like a town without people. One is sorry for old people living on their own. They could die in their homes and would not be discovered for weeks or even months.2.A Change in Women’s LifeThe 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 orpart-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.Useful Words and Expressions:1. life-pattern生活方式2. share3.A Popular Pastime of the English PeopleOne of the best means of understanding the people of any nation is watching what the do with their non-working time.Most English men, women and children love growing things, especially flowers. Visitors to England in spring, summer or autumn are likely to see gardens all they way along the railway lines. There are flowers at the airports and flowers in factory grounds, as well as in gardens along the roads. Each English town has at least one park with beautifully kept flower beds. Public buildings of every kind have brilliant window boxes and sometimes baskets of flowers are hanging on them.But what the English enjoy most is growing things themselves. If it is impossible to have a garden, then a window box or something growing in a pot will do. Looking at each other’s gardens is a popular pastime with the English.Useful Words and Expressions:1. window box:窗台上的花盆箱2.pastime 消遣，娱乐Swimming is my favorite pastime.4.British and American Police OfficersReal policemen, both in Britain and the U.S., hardly recognize any common points between their lives and what they se on TV—if they ever get home in time.Some things are almost the same, of course, but the policemen do not think much of them much of them.The first difference is that a policeman’s real life deals with the law. Most of what he learns is the law. He has to know actually what actions are against the law and what facts can be used to prove them in court. He has to know nearly as much law as a lawyer, and what’s more, he has to put it into practice on his feet, in the dark and, running down a narrow street after someone he wants to talk to.Little of his time is spent in talking with beautiful girls or in bravely facing cruel criminals. He will spend most of his working life arranging millions of words on thousands of forms about hundreds of sad, ordinary people who are guilty--- or not of stupid, unimportant crimes.Useful Words and Expressions:1. think much of 重视，尊重2. in court 在法庭上3. criminal 罪犯，犯罪者4. guilty 犯罪的，有罪的5.Living SpaceHow much living space does a person need? What happens when his space needs are not met? Scientists are doing experiments on rats to try to determine the effects of overcrowded conditions on man. Recent studies have shown that the behavior of rats is greatly affected by space. If rats have enough living space, they eat well, sleep well and produce their young well. But if their living conditions become too crowded, their behavior and even their health change obviously. They can not sleep and eat well, and signs of fear and worry become clear. The more crowded they are, and more they tend to bite each other and even kill each other. Thus, for rats, populations and violence are directly related. Is this a natural law for human society as well? Is enough space not only satisfactory, but necessary for human survival? These are interesting questions.6.The United NationsIn 1945, representatives of 50 nations met to plan this organization. It was called the United Nations. After the war, many more nations joined. There are two major parts of the United Nations. One is called the General Assembly. In the General Assembly, every member nation is represented and has an equal vote.The second part is called the Security Council. It has representatives of just 15 nations. Five nations are permanent members: the United States, Russia, France, Britain, and China. The 10 other members are elected every two years by the General Assembly.The major job of the Security Council is to keep peace in the world. If necessary, it can send troops from member nations to try to stop little wars before they turn into big ones.It is hard to get the nations of the Security Council to agree on when this is necessary. But they did vote to try to stop wars.Useful Words and Expressions:1. representative 代表2. General Assembly 联合国大会3. permanent 永久的，持久的4. Security Council 联合国安全理事会7.PlasticWe use plastic wrap to protect our foods. We put our garbage in plastic bags or plastic cans. We sit on plastic chairs, play with plastic toys, drink from plastic cups, and wash our hair with shampoo from plastic bottles! Plastic does not grow in nature. It is made by mixing certain things together. We call it a produced or manufactured material. Plastic was first made in the 1860s from plants, such as wood and cotton. That plastic was soft and burned easily.The first modern plastics were made in the 1930s. Most clear plastic starts out as thick, black oil. That plastic coating inside a pan begins as natural gas.Over the years, hundreds of different plastics have been developed. Some are hard and strong. Some are soft and bendable. Some are clear. Some are many-colored. There is a plastic for almost every need. Scientists continue to experiment with plastics. They hope to find even ways to use them!8.Display of GoodsAre 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 areencouraged 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9.Albert EinsteinAlbert Einstein was born in Germany in 1879, His father owned a factory that made electrical devices. His mother enjoyed music and books. His parents were Jewish but they did not observe many of the religion’s rules. Albert was a quite child who spent much of his time alone. He was slow to talk and had difficulty learning to read. When Albert was five years old, his father gave him a compass. The child was filled with wonder when he discovered that the compass needle always pointed in the same direction—to be north. He asked his father and his uncle what caused the needle to move. Their answers about magnetism and gravity were difficult for the boy to understand. Yet he spent a lot of time thinking about them. He said later that he felt something hidden had to be behind things.Useful expressions and words:1. device 装置，设备leave to one’s own devices 听任某人自行其是，允许某人按自己的意愿做事She left the child to her own devices for an hour in the afternoon.她允许孩子在下午有一个小时的自由支配时间。