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.

News Item 1

China says it has passed Germany and become the world's top exporter.

Exports totaled more than one trillion dollars last year.

That was down from 2008,

but about thirty billion more than Germany China's influence in the world

has increased with its fastgrowing economy.

The United States remains the largest economy.

China is third and gaining on Japan.

Manufacturing has expanded, fueling exports.

But China has not imported as much as its trade partners would like.

Its policies about valuing its currency and its human rights record have also created tensions.

And now there is a new dispute.

China is the world's largest Internet market, but Google says it may leave.

The company said it was targeted last month by a major Internet attack launched from China.

At least twenty other large companies in different industries were also targeted.

Also, the company said it is no longer willing to censor search results as required by Chinese law.

Google says it is still observing censorship laws, but it will hold talks with the government in the coming weeks.

Google.cn launched four years ago this month.

Google is estimated to have around a thirty percent share of the search market in China.

But that is only about half the share of the Chinese search engine Baidu.

Baidu also reported an attack on its Web site earlier this week.

Online advertising sales in China are estimated to bring Google only a few hundred million dollars a year.

Not much for such a big company, notes business expert Fariborz Ghadar at Penns State University.

News Item 2

The health ministry in Haiti says more than 1,000 people have now died in the cholera epidemic

that's sweeping the country.

More than 16,000 people have been treated in hospital,

and the disease has reached almost every province of the country.

Britain has announced a financial settlement with former terrorism detainees

in an apparent effort to avoid a court case,

which could have put sensitive intelligence information into the public domain.

All of those involved are British citizens or residents. Rob Watson reports.

The 16 former terrorism suspects had all accused the British authorities of colluding

in their detention and in some cases their alleged torture.

Announcing the payments, the Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke told parliament

the settlement didn't amount to an admission of culpability by the government,

nor did it mean the former detainees had withdrawn their allegations.

But Mr Clarke said the government had wanted to avoid a lengthy court battle,

which could have involved releasing highly sensitive documents and risking Britain's national security.

News Item 3

Now, lowercost printers are available to a much wider market,

including small businesses and individuals.

In January, the global technology company Hewlett

Packard agreed to sell 3D printers manufactured by Stratasys.

Stratasys has made 3D printers for years.

Last year, it introduced one for less than $15,000.

More companies are using 3D printing to directly manufacture some products.

For example, Freedom of Creation, based in Amsterdam,

the Netherlands, prints furniture and art.

Bespoke Innovations in San Francisco, California wants to design and print artificial limbs.

Cofounder Scott Summit says these prosthetic limbs can be designed exactly

for a patient's body for less money than existing products.

But 3D printing still has limits.

For example, metals are more difficult to print than plastics.

However, airplane maker Boeing prints some airplane parts.

And printers are being used to create some rare parts for old machines.

For people interested in new technology, a New York based company,

Makerbot, sells kits to people who want to build a small 3D printer.

Some kits cost less than $1,000.

Section B Directions:

In this section, you will hear two long conversations.

Now you hear the 2 long conversations

Conversation 1

W:Hi, Leo. Why do you say English will become the world language？

M:Well， for one thing, it's so commonly used. The only language that is used by more people is Chinese.

W:Why is English spoken by so many people？

M:It's spoken in many countries of the world because of the British Empire.

W:Many students find English a difficult language to learn.

M:Oh, all languages are difficult to learn. But English does have two great advantages.

W:What are they？

M:Well, first of all, it has a very international vocabulary.

It has many German, Dutch, French, Spanish and Italian words in it.

So speakers of those languages will find many familiar words in English.

In fact, English has words from many other languages as well.

W:Why is that？

M:Well, partly because English speakers have travelled a lot,

They bring back words with them, so English really does have an international vocabulary,

W:And what's the other advantage of English？

M:It's that English grammar is really quite easy.

For example, it doesn't have dozens of different endings for its nouns, adjectives and verbs,

not like Latin, Russian, and German for example.

W:Why is that？

M：Well, it's quite interesting actually.

It's because of the French.

When the French ruled England,French was the official language and only the common people spoke English.

They try to make the language as simple as possible, so they made the grammar easier.

Q 8: What does the man say about Chinese？

Q 9:What made English a widely used language？

Q 10:What is said to be special about English vocabulary？

Q 11:Which is not true according to the recording?

Conversation 2

M:Hello. Yes？

W:Hello. Is that the sales department？

M:Yes, it is.

W：Oh, well. My name is Jane Kingsbury of GPF limited. We need some supplies for our design office.

M:Oh, what sort？

W：Well, first of all, we need one complete new drawing board.

M:DO44 or DO45？

W：Ah, I don't know. What's the difference？

M:Well, the 45 costs 15 pounds more.

W：So what's the total price then？

M：It's 387 pounds.

W：Dose that include valuedadded tax？

M:Oh, I'm not sure. Most of the prices do. Yes, I think it does.

W：What are the boards actually made of？

M:Oh, I don't know. I think it's a sort of plastic stuff these days. It's white anyway.

W：And how long does it take to deliver？

M:Oh, I couldn't really say.

It depends on how much work we've got and how many other orders there are to send out, you know.

W：Ok, now we also want some drawing pens, ink and rulers, and some drawing paper.

M:Oh dear. The girl who takes all those supplies isn't here this morning.

So I can't take those orders for you. I only do the equipment you see.

W：Ok, well, perhaps I'll ring back tomorrow.

M:So do you want the drawing board then？

W：Oh, I have to think about it. Thanks very much. I'll let you know. Goodbye.

M:Thank you. Goodbye.

Q 12：What is the woman's purpose in making the phone call?

Q 13:What do we learn about the man from the conversation?

Q 14：What does the man say about dilivery?

Q 15:What does the woman say she will possibly do tomorrow?

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

No one knows for sure just how old kites are.

In fact, they have been in use for centuries. 25 centuries ago,

kites were wellknown in China.

These first kites were probably made of wood.

They may even have been covered with silk, because silk were used a lot at that time.

Early kites were built for certain uses.

In ancient China, they were used to carry ropes across rivers.

Once across, the ropes were torn down and wooden bridges would hang for them.

Legend tells of one General who flew musical kites over the enemie's camp.

The enemy fled, believing the sounds to be the warming voices of angels.

By the 15th century, many people flew kites in Europe.

Marco Polo may have brought the kite back from his visit to China.

The kite has been linked to great names and events.

For instance, Benjamin Franklin used a kite to prove the lightening electricity.

He flew the kite in the storm.

He did this in order to draw lightening from the clouds.

He tied a metal key and a strip of silk to the kite line.

The silk ribbon would stop the lightening from passing through his body.

Benjamin's idea was first laughed at.

But later on, it enlightened the invention of the lightening rod.

With such grand history, kite flying is short remained as an entertaining and popular sport.

Q 16:What does the speaker say about kite？

Q 17:What did ancient Chinese use kites to do？

Q 18:Why did Benjamin Franklin flied a kite in the storm？

Passage 2

I have learnt many languages,

but I'm not mastered them the way the professional interpreter or translator has.

Still, they have open doors for me.

They have allowed me the opportunity to seek jobs in international contexts and help me get those jobs.

Like many people who have lived overseas for a while,

I simply got crazy about it.

I can't image living my professional or social life without international interaction.

Since 1977, I have spent much more time abroad than in the United States.

I like going to new places, eating new foods and experiencing new cultures.

If you can speak the language, it's easier to get to know the country and its people.

If I had the time and money, I would live for a year in as many countries as possible.

Beyond my career, my facility with languages has given me a few rare opportunities.

Once just after I returned from my year in Vienna,

I was asked to translate for a German judge at an Olympic level horse event and learned a lot about the sport.

In Japan, once when I was in the studio audience of a TV cooking show,

I was asked to go up on this stage and taste the beef dish that was being prepared,

and tell what I thought.

They asked “Was it as good as American beef？”

It was very exciting for me to be on Japanese TV,

speaking in Japanese about how delicious the beef was.

Q 19：What does the speaker say about herself?

Q 20:What does the speaker say about many people who have lived overseas for a while?

Q 21:How did the speaker experience of living in Vienna benefit her?

Q 22：What was the speaker asked to do in the Japanese studio?

Passage 3

Dr. Ben Carsen grew up in a poor singleparent household in Detroit.

His mother, who had only a 3rd grade education, works two job cleaning bathrooms.

To his classmates and even to his teachers,

he was thought of as the dumbest kid in the class, according to his own not so fond memories.

He had a terrible temper, and once threatened to kill another child.

Dr. Carsen was headed down a part of selfdistraction until a critical moment in his youth.

His mother convinced that she had to do something dramatic

to preventing from leading a life of failure laid down some rules.

He could not watch television except for two programs a week,

could not play with his friends after school until he finished his homework,

and had to read two books a week, and write book reports about them.

His mother's strategy worked.

“Of course, I didn't know she couldn't read.

So there I was submitting these reports.” He said.

She would put check marks on them like she had been reading them.

As I began to read about scientists, economists and philosophers,

I started imaging myself in their shoes.

As he got into the hobbit of hard work, his grades began to soar.

Ultimately he received a scholarship to attending Yale University,

and later he was admitted to the University of Michigan Medical School.

He is now a leading surgeon ate Johns Hopkins Medical School

and he is also the author of the three books.

Q 23：What do we learn about Ben Carsen？

Q 24：What did Ben Caren's classmates and teachers think of him when he was first at school？

Q 25：What did Ben Carsen's mother tell him to do when he was a schoolboy？