Part 2 Listening Comprehension(25 minutes)

Section A Directions:

In this section, you will hear three news reports. 

At the end of each news report, you will hear two or three questions. 

Both the news report and the questions will be spoken only once. 

After you hear a question, you must choose the best answer from the four choices 

marked A), B), C）and D). 

Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the centre.

Questions 1 and 2 will be based on the following news item.

News Item 1

A company that monitors betting on sport globally has told the BBC 

that around three hundred matches at the top levels of the European football

 are fixed each season.Sport Radar against information from big makers 

all over the world in order to analyze movements in betting markets.Tukmansle reports: 

One indication of the scale of the problem is a trial that is currently 

being held in a court in Germany that four people were accused of

 fixing more than thirty games in 2009.

There were a large group of the people arrested last year 

and imagine them fixing games in fifteen European countries.

Among them are Germany, Turkey, Switzerland and Belgium.Sport Radar says 

it never senses suspicious betting in either 

the English Premier League or Championship. 

1.A company that  betting on sports globally has told the BBC that many games are fixed.

2.Which of the following statements is true according to the report? 

Questions 3 and 4 will be based on the following news item.

News Item 2

Panama has granted political asylum to the former head of Columbia`s secret police, 

whom Columbian investigators want to question about the illegal wiretapping operations.

Maria del Pilar Hurtado left Columbia passing without being challenged 

through immigration controls run by the department she used to lead.From Columbia,

 Jeremy McDermott reports:

Former DAS director Maria del Pilar Hurtado was one of the few people 

who could possibly implicate the former president, Alvaro Uribe, 

in the illegal wiretapping of his political opponents and the judges

 who were seeking to block his actions and reelection prospects.

But Mr.Uribe has denied issuing any orders that violated the law or the Constitution.

His private secretary has already been banned from holding public office for eighteen 

years as the investigations into the wiretapping scandal continue.

But no charges have been brought against the former president.

3.The woman could possibly  the former Columbia president in a political scandal.

4.The former president private secretary is banned from holding public office for .

Questions 5 and 7 will be based on the following news item.

News Item 3

Never take it personally; never lose your sense of humor.

That`s the motto Dee Dee Myers lived by as President Bill Clinton`s press secretary, 

the first woman ever to hold that position.

“Being the first woman it was a little harder for me 

to establish my authority and my credibility in a culture, 

in Washington, which is pretty traditional,” Myers says.

“I definitely faced challenges and I sometimes felt 

I get to have more responsibility than I had authority,

 which I think is a problem a lot of women face.But I, you know,

 I fought back as I could and, over time, 

I think I was able to make things work better for me and 

most importantly for the president.”

Myers was inspired by her mother and other successful women.

“My mom always told my sisters and me that we could do whatever we wanted,”

 she recalls.“And she finished her master`s degree and went back into the workforce,

 when I was in high school.So she was a great role model for me and, I think, 

my sisters as well.And as I grew up in politics, I saw a lot of women moving up.

And that gave me the confidence to think that I might be able to make that next level.

I don`t think I`ve ever really thought I would end up in the White House.”

Myers says she was also lucky to have great mentors, both women and men.

5.It is hard for a woman to establish her  in her political career.

6.Which of the following statements is true about Myers` family? 

7.Dee Dee Myers is the first woman to be  .

Section B

Directions:In this section, you will hear two long conversations.

At the end of each conversation, you will hear four questions. 

Both the conversation and the questions will be spoken only once. 

After you hear a question, you must choose the best answer from 

the four choices marked A), B), C）and D). 

Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the centre.

Now you will haer the two long conversations

Conversation One

W: Simon, how does it feel to be retired? 

M: Well, not so bad.

W: How have you been spending your time? 

M: I have been spending more time with my family.

 I`ve also travelled a bit, you know, 

off season when everywhere is less crowded and hotels cost less.

W: Great.

M: You know I haven`t stopped work completely.

W: Yes, could you tell us more about this? 

M: I`m on a scheme that`s called phased retirement; 

 I had a sixmonth break from work; 

after that I could apply for project work with the company I used to work for.

W: How does the scheme work? 

M: Well, it`s a trial at the moment. 

Instead of hiring temporary stuff, 

the company advertises posts on its website that retired employees like myself can access.

W: What sort of works advertised? 

M: Well, all sorts of things, really.

 Administrative work and more specialized work, the sort of thing I can do. 

Some of the projects can last five or six months, 

and others can just be a couple of days.

 I can decide more or less when to work. So I can manage my own time.

W: I can see it`s good for you. What is your company get out of this? 

M: Well, I still have all my old contacts at work,

 so I know who to contact to get something done.

 The company gets flexibility, too. Once the job`s over, 

that`s it. I`m not on their books any more.

8：How long did the man have a break from work according to the conversation?

9:  Why does Simon find his retired life enjoyable?

10:How does Simon get to know about the company`s available posts?

11:Why does the company adopt the phased retirement scheme?

Conversation 2

W: Oh, where are we going? 

M: I want to show you something.

W: I know, but what is it? 

M: A farm. It`s just down this road. It`s a small place,

 but at least it would be our own.

W: A farm? How can we afford to buy a farm? 

M: It isn`t very large, only 40 acres. 

We wouldn`t have to pay very much right now.

W: Is there a house on the place? 

M: A small one, two bedrooms, 

but it needs to be fixed up a little.

 I can do the job myself.

W: OK. Is there enough space for a kitchen garden? 

M: There is about half an acre around the house.

 That`s plenty of space.

W: Then we can grow our own fresh vegetables. 

And maybe keep a few chickens, couldn`t we?

M: Yes, and we can probably grow a lot of our own food. 

W: What are you thinking about growing, 

if we do take this place? 

M: Well, it really isn`t big enough for corn.

 I thought we might try to raise a crop of potatoes.

W: Potatoes? There are a lot of work.

M: We are used to hard work, aren`t we? 

W: Yes, we are, but the money. Do we have enough to get started? 

It seems like a dream.

M: I think we`ve saved enough. 

We can pay a little on the farm 

and maybe put a few dollars down on the tractor, too.

12:What are the speakers going to do at the time of the conversation? 

13:What does the man say about the farm?

14:Why does the man intend to grow potatoes rather than corn on the farm?

15:What is the woman`s greatest concern about the man`s plan?

Section C. Directions:

In this section, you will hear three short passages. 

At the end of each passage, you will hear some questions. 

Both the passage and the questions will be spoken only once. 

After you hear a question, you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C）and D). 

Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the centre.

Passage One 

Members of the city council and distinguished guests, 

it is my privilege to introduce to you today Mr. Robert Washington, 

chief of our city`s police force. He will address us on the subject of the Community Policing Program. 

Most of you know that Mr. Washington has a distinguished record as

 head of our police force for more than ten years. 

However, you may not know that he also holds a master`s degree in criminology and studied abroad 

for a year with the International Police Force which deals with crimes around the world.

 Mr. Washington first introduced the Community Policing Program 8 years ago.

The idea behind the program is to get the police officers out of their cars 

and into our neighborhoods where they can talk directly to merchants 

and residents about the real dynamics of our city. 

These officers do more than make arrests. 

They try to find ways to help solve the problems that contribute to crime in the first place.

Often that means hooking people up with services offered by other city agencies, such as schools, 

hospitals, housing, drug treatment centers. 

And the program seems to be working: 

crime is down and our citizens report that they feel more secure. 

Today Mr. Washington is going to tell us more about this program. 

Now Let`s welcome Mr. Robert Washington.

16:What is the purpose of the speaker`s remarks? 

17:What does the speaker say about Mr. Robert Washington? 

18:What is the idea behind the Community Policing Program? 

19:How has the Community Policing Program turned out to be? 

Passage 2

There are between 3000 and 6000 public languages in the world, 

and we must add approximately 6 billion private languages since each one of us necessarily has one. 

Considering these facts, the possibilities for breakdowns in communication seem infinite in number. 

However, we do communicate successfully from time to time. 

And we do learn to speak languages.

 But learning to speak languages seems to be a very mysterious process.

 For a long time, people thought that we learned a language only by imitation and association. 

For example, a baby touches a hot pot and starts to cry.

 The mother says, “Hot, hot!” And the baby, when it stops crying, 

imitates the mother and says, “Hot, hot!”

 However, Noam Chomsky, a famous expert in language, 

pointed out that although children do learn some words by imitation and association, 

they also combine words to make meaningful sentences in ways that are unique, unlearned and creative. 

Because young children can make sentences they have never heard before, 

Chomsky suggested that human infants are born with the ability to learn language. 

Chomsky meant that underneath all the differences between public and private languages,

 there is a universal language mechanism that makes it possible for us, as infants, 

to learn any language in the world. 

This theory explains the potential that human infants have for learning language. 

But it does not really explain how children come to use language in particular ways.

20: Why does the speaker say there are great possibilities for communication breakdowns?

21: What is Chomsky`s viewpoint on the ability to learn a language? 

22: What does Chomsky`s theory fail to explain according to the speaker?

Passage 3

When US spacewoman Joan Higginbotham is not flying and working in space,

 she might be found somewhere on earth giving a speech. Higginbotham, 

who grew up in Chicago and became an engineer before joining NASA, that is, 

the National Air and Space Administration, gives about a dozen speeches a year. 

Each speech is different because she tailors her remarks to each audience. 

Through interviews and Emails, she finds out in advance her listeners`

 educational level and what information they want to know. 

On the subject of space walks, for example, audiences vary in their interests

 and how much complexity they can comprehend. To elementary school children, 

Higginbotham may discuss a problem that many kids want to know about. 

“How do spacemen in a spacesuit eat, drink, and go to the bathroom?”

 Her answer is “the spacesuit is really a small spacecraft with room

 for food and water containers, and a wastecollection system.”

To a high school audience, she might satisfy a curiosity that

 often arises in her prespeech interviews with students who

 obviously have seen many sciencefiction movies. 

“Do spacemen carry weapons in case they encounter enemies in space?” 

Her answer is “No”. To scientists, she might provide technical details

 on such topics as the design of spacesuits that protects spacemen

 from the deadly temperature extremes of space. 

Just as elaborate preparation is required for success in space,

 Higginbotham says that it`s important for speakers to learn as much

 as possible about their listeners before a speech because every audience is different. 

23:What did Joan Higginbotham do before joining in NASA?

24:How does Higginbotham prepare her speech on space walks? 

25:What does the high school audience want to know about space travel?