六级英语

Part II Listening Comprehension

Section A

Directions:

In this section, you will hear 8 short conversations

and 2 long conversations.

At the end of each conversation,

one or more questions will be asked about what was said.

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

After each question there will be a pause.

During the pause,

you must read the four choices marked A), B), C) and D),

and decide which is the best answer.

Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 1

with a single line through the centre.

Now let's begin with the eight short Conversations.

Question 1.

M: Before we play again, I’m going to buy a good tennis racket.

W: Your shoes aren’t in a very good shape，either.

Q: What does the woman mean?

Question 2.

M: Barbara, I’d like you could assist me in the lab demonstration.

But aren’t you supposed to go to Dr. Smith’s lecture today?

W: I ask Cathy to take notes for me.

Q: What do we learn from the conversation?

Question 3.

W: Steve invited me to the dinner party on Sunday evening.

Have you received your invitation yet?

M: Yes, he found me this morning and told me he wanted

all his old classmates to come to the reunion.

Q: What do we learn from the conversation?

Question 4.

W: I’m afraid I’m a little bit seasick. I feel dizzy.

M: Close your eyes and relax.

You’ll be all right as soon as we come at shore.

Q: Where does the conversation most probably take place?

Question 5.

W: I wonder what’s happened to our train.

It should have been here twenty minutes ago according to the timetable.

But it’s already 9:30.

M: There’s no need to get nervous.

The announcement says it’s forty minutes late.

Q: When is the train arriving?

Question 6.

M: John is handsome and wealthy. Believe it or not,

he is still a bachelor.

W: He is a notorious guy in many girls’ eyes.

I’m sick of hearing his name.

Q: What does the woman mean?

Question 7.

M: Cars had lined up bumper to bumper.

And I’ve been held up on the express way for the entire hour.

W: Really? It must be a pain in the neck.

But be patient, anyway, you can do nothing but wait.

Q: What do we learn about the man?

Question 8.

W: Yesterday I was surprised to see Mary using

that washing machine you’re going to throw away.

M: Yes, it’s quite old and in a very poor condition.

Frankly speaking, that she got it working amazes me a lot.

Q: What does the man imply about Mary?

Now you will hear two long conversations.

Conversation one

M: A recent case I heard was of a man accused and found guilty of breaking

 into a house and stealing some money.

W: Well, was he really guilty, judge?

M: He admitted that he’d done it, and there were several witnesses saying

that he had indeed done it. So I can only assume that he was guilty.

W: Why did he do it?

M: Well, the reasons were little muddied, probably at least it seemed in a trial

that he did it to get some money to feed his family. You see,

 he’d been out of work for some time.

W: Well, he’d been out of work and he chose to break into a house

 to get money for his family and apparently in front of people that,

 err... could see him do it.

M: His attorney presented testimony that he had indeed applied for jobs

and was listed with several employment agencies,

including the state employment agency, but they weren’t any jobs.

W: And he had no luck!

M: He had no luck and it’d been some time.

He had two children and both of them were needing food and clothing.

W: So he was in desperate circumstances. Did you sentence him?

M: Yes.

W: But what good does it do to put the man into jail when he’s obviously

in such need?

M: This particular fellow has been in prison before.

W: For the same thing?

M: No, for a different sort of crime.

W: Huh?

M: But he did know about crime, so I suppose there are folks that

just have to go back to prison several times.

Questions 9-11 are based on the conversation you have just heard.

Q9. What did the judge say about the case he recently heard?

Q10.What do we learn about the man at the time of crime?

Q11:What did the judge say about the accused?

Conversation Two

M: Ah, how do you do, Ms. Winzemore?

W: How do you do?

M: Do sit down.

W: Thank you.

M: I’m glad you’re interested in our job. Now, let me explain it.

 We plan to increase our advertising considerably. At present,

an advertising agency handles our account,

 but we haven’t been too pleased with the results lately

 and we may give our account to another agency.

W: What would my work entail?

M: You’d be responsible to me for all advertising and to Mr. Grunt

for public relations. You’d brief the agency whoever it is

 on the kind of advertising campaign we want.

 You’d also be responsible for getting our leaflets,

brochures and catalogs designed.

W: I presume you advertise in the national press as well as the trade press.

M: Yes, we do.

W: Have you thought about advertising on television?

M: We don’t think it’s a suitable medium for us. And it’s much too expensive.

W: I can just imagine a scene with a typist sitting on an old-fashioned typing chair,

her back aching, exhausted, then we show her in one of your chairs.

 Her back properly supported filling full of energy, typing twice as quickly.

M: Before you get carried away with your little scene,

Ms. Winzemore, I regret to have to tell you again that we are not planning

 to go into television.

W: That’s a shame. I’ve been doing a lot of television work lately

 and it interests me enormously.

M: Then I really don’t think that this is quite the right job for you here,

Ms. Winzemore.

Questions 12-15 are based on the conversation you have just heard.

Q12． What does the man think of their present advertising agency?

Q13. What would the woman be responsible for to Mr. Grunt?

Q14. What is the woman most interested in doing?

Q15. What does the man think of the woman applicant?

Section B

Directions:

In this section, you will hear 3 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 1

　Many foreign students are attracted not only to the academic programs

 at a particular U.S. college but also to the larger community,

which affords the chance to soak up the surrounding culture.

 Few foreign universities put much emphasis on the cozy communal life

 that characterizes American campuses from clubs and sports teams to student

publications and drama societies. “The campus and the American university

have become identical in people’s minds,”

says Brown University President Vartan Gregorian.

“In America it is assumed that a student’s daily life is as important

 as his learning experience.”

　　Foreign students also come in search of choices.

 America’s menu of options—research universities,

 state institutions, private liberal-arts schools,

 community colleges, religious institutions, military academies—is unrivaled.

 “In Europe,” says history professor Jonathan Steinberg,

 who has taught at both Harvard and Cambridge,

 “there is one system, and that is it.” While students overseas usually

 must demonstrate expertise in a specific field, whether law or philosophy

 or chemistry, most American universities insist that students sample natural

 and social sciences, languages and literature

before choosing a field of concentration.

Such opposing philosophies grow out of different traditions and power structures.

In Europe and Japan, universities are answerable only to a ministry of education,

which sets academic standards and distributes money.

While centralization ensures that all students are equipped with roughly

the same resources and perform at roughly the same level,

 it also discourages experimentation. “When they make mistakes,

 they make big ones,” says Robert Rosenzweig,

president of the Association of American Universities.

“They set a system in wrong directions, and it’s like steering a supertanker.”

Questions 16 to 19 are based on the passage you have just heard

Q16. What does the speaker say characterizes American campuses?

Q17. What does Brown University president Vartan Gregorian say

 about students' daily life?

Q18. In what way is the United States unrivaled according to the speaker?

Q19. What does the speaker say about universities in Europe and Japan?

Passage 2

Hello, ladies and gentlemen, welcome aboard your Sea-link ferry from Folkestone

 to Boulogne and wish you a pleasant trip with us.

We are due to leave Folkestone in about five minutes and a journey to Boulogne

 will take approximately two hours.

 We are getting good reports of the weather in the Channel and in France,

 so we should have a calm crossing. Sun and temperatures of 30 degrees celsius

 are reported on the French coast.

For your convenience on the journey, we'd like to point out that there ar e a number

 of facilities available on board. There's a snack bar serving sandwiches

 and hot and cold refreshments situated in the front of A deck.

 There is also a restaurant serving hot meals situated on B deck.

 If you need to change money or cash travelers' checks,

 we have a bank on board. You can find a bank on C deck.

 Between the ship's office and the duty free shop,

 toilets are situated on B deck at the rear of the ship and on A deck

 next to the snack bar. For the children,

there's a games room on C deck next to the duty free shop.

 Here children can find a variety of electronic games.

Passengers are reminded that the lounge on B deck is for the sole use

of passengers traveling with cars and that there is another lounge on C deck

 at the front of the ship for passengers traveling without cars. Finally,

ladies and gentlemen, we'd like to wish you a pleasant journey and hope

that you'll travel with us again in the near future.

Questions 20 to 22 are based on the passage you have just heard

Q20. What does the speaker say about the Sea-link ferry?

Q21. Where is the snack bar situated?

Q22. What does the speaker say about the lounge on B deck?

Passage 3

On Christmas Eve in 1994, humans entered a cave in the mountains of southeastern

France for what was probably the first time in 20,000 years.

The vivid images of more than 300 animals that Jean-Marie Chauvet and

 his assistants found on the cave walls were like none that they had seen before

. Unusual in the Grotte Chauvet,

 as the cave is now called in honor of its discoverer,

are paintings of many flat sheeting animals.

 Other known caves from the same geographical area and time period contain

only paintings of plantites.

The paintings in this cave refute the old theory that Cro-Magnoon people painted

 animals that they hunted and then ate.

 Now many specialists believe that cave paintings were not part of a ritual

 to bring good luck to hunters.

They point out that while deer made up a major part of their diet,

there're no drawings of deer. They believe that the animals painted were those

central to the symbolic and spiritual life of the times;

 animals that represented something deep and spiritual to the people.

 Scientists are hopeful that Groo Chavie will yield new information

 about the art and lifestyle of Cro-Magnoon people.

They readily admit, however, that little is understood yet as to the reasons

 why ice age artists created their interesting and detailed paintings.

 Scientists also wonder why some paintings were done in areas that are so difficult

 to get to, in caves, for example, that are 2,400 feet underground,

and accessible only by crawling through narrow passageways.

Questions 23 to 25 are based on the passage you have just heard.

Q23. How did the cave get its name?

Q24. What is the old theory about the paintings in the cave?

Q25. What do scientists readily admit according to the speaker?

Section C

Directions:

In this section,

you will hear a passage three times.

When the passage is read for the first time,

you should listen carefully for its general idea.

When the passage is read for the second time,

you are required to fill in the blanks with the exact words you have just heard.

Finally, when the passage is read for the third time,

you should check what you have written.

Now listen to the passage.

If you are attending a local college, especially one without residence halls,

you'll probably live at home and commute to classes.

This arrangement has a lot of advantages.

 It's cheaper. It provides a comfortable and familiar setting,

and it means you'll get the kind of home cooking you're used to instead of the monotony (单调)

 that characterizes even the best institutional food.

However, commuting students need to go out of their way to become involved in the life of their

 college and to take special steps to meet their fellow students.

Often, this means a certain amount of initiative on your part in seeking

out and talking to people in your classes whom you think you might like.

One problem that commuting students sometimes face is their parents' unwillingness to recognize

 that they're adults. The transition from high school to college is a big one,

 and if you live at home you need to develop the same kind of independence you'd have if you were

living away. Home rules that might have been appropriate

when you were in high school don't apply. If your parents are reluctant to renegotiate,

 you can speed the process along by letting your behavior show that you have the responsibility

that goes with maturity. Parents are more willing to acknowledge their children as adults

 when they behave like adults. If, however,

 there's so much friction at home that it interferes with your academic work,

you might want to consider sharing an apartment with one or more friends. Sometimes

 this is a happy solution when family tensions make everyone miserable.

Now the passage will be read again.

If you are attending a local college, especially one without residence halls,

you'll probably live at home and commute to classes. This arrangement has a lot of advantages.

 It's cheaper. It provides a comfortable and familiar setting,

and it means you'll get the kind of home cooking you're used to instead of the monotony (单调)

 that characterizes even the best institutional food.

However, commuting students need to go out of their way to become involved in the life of their

 college and to take special steps to meet their fellow students.

Often, this means a certain amount of initiative on your part in seeking

out and talking to people in your classes whom you think you might like.

One problem that commuting students sometimes face is their parents' unwillingness to recognize

 that they're adults. The transition from high school to college is a big one,

 and if you live at home you need to develop the same kind of independence you'd have if you were

living away. Home rules that might have been appropriate

when you were in high school don't apply. If your parents are reluctant to renegotiate,

 you can speed the process along by letting your behavior show that you have the responsibility

that goes with maturity. Parents are more willing to acknowledge their children as adults

 when they behave like adults. If, however,

 there's so much friction at home that it interferes with your academic work,

you might want to consider sharing an apartment with one or more friends. Sometimes

 this is a happy solution when family tensions make everyone miserable.

Now the passage will be read for the third time.

If you are attending a local college, especially one without residence halls,

you'll probably live at home and commute to classes. This arrangement has a lot of advantages.

 It's cheaper. It provides a comfortable and familiar setting,

and it means you'll get the kind of home cooking you're used to instead of the monotony (单调)

 that characterizes even the best institutional food.

However, commuting students need to go out of their way to become involved in the life of their

 college and to take special steps to meet their fellow students.

Often, this means a certain amount of initiative on your part in seeking

out and talking to people in your classes whom you think you might like.

One problem that commuting students sometimes face is their parents' unwillingness to recognize

 that they're adults. The transition from high school to college is a big one,

 and if you live at home you need to develop the same kind of independence you'd have if you were

living away. Home rules that might have been appropriate

when you were in high school don't apply. If your parents are reluctant to renegotiate,

 you can speed the process along by letting your behavior show that you have the responsibility

that goes with maturity.

Parents are more willing to acknowledge their children as adults

 when they behave like adults. If, however,

 there's so much friction at home that it interferes with your academic work,

you might want to consider sharing an apartment with one or more friends. Sometimes

 this is a happy solution when family tensions make everyone miserable.

 This is the end of listening comprehension.