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

For the publication of “White House Diary,” 

the 26th book by Jimmy Carter, the former president reviewed

 more than 5,000 pages of notes he took while he was in the White House.

Mr.Carter says the book gives readers an unprecedented look at the inner workings of his administration.

“I thought it would be intriguing for the American, and maybe the foreign public

 just to have an unprecedented insight into what life was like in the White House, 

and also to explain what is going on today in more historic terms,” said Carter.

The book offers insights into many of the 

defining moments of Mr.Carter`s tenure in the Oval Office, 

including the Iran hostage crisis.

Iranian revolutionaries stormed the U.S.embassy in Tehran on 4 Nov.1979, 

taking 52 Americans hostage.The former president says it led to the 

most daunting foreign policy challenge of his administration.

“I have said that to many people, both religious and not religious, 

that that is the time when I prayed more than any time else 

in my life—during that time when the hostages were being held.

My prayer was that I would protect the interests of my country, 

first of all, but that every hostage would come home safe and free.”

1.The Iran hostage crisis happened on .

2.Mr.Carter says: “I have said to many people, 

both religious and not religious, 

 is the time when I prayed more than any time else in my life…”

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

News Item 2

An American nuclear scientist says he was shown a vast 

new nuclear facility when he visited North Korea last week.

The scientist, Siegfried Hecker ,

 told the New York Times that he has been stunned by how sophisticated 

the new plant was.Poole Harper reports:

Professor Hecker was shown what he describes as hundreds and hundreds 

of centrifuges for  enriching uranium which can be used to make nuclear weapons.

American officials say that in April, 

2009 when international weapons inspectors were expelled from North Korea, 

this plant did not exist.The speed with which the country is pressing ahead

 with its nuclear programme would fuel suspicions

 that it was receiving help from abroad,

 in circumventing the United Nations` sanctions.

3.Professor Hecker was shown hundreds and hundreds of centrifuges  uranium.

4.The speed with which the country is pressing ahead 

with its nuclear programme would  suspicions.

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

News Item 3

Front Street in Woodburn, Oregon, is lined with taquerias,

 stores displaying Mexican style cowboy boots and hats,

 signs in Spanish and a bus station that offers tickets to the heart of Mexico.

Migrant farm workers started coming to Woodburn about 50 years ago to work the harvest.

So many ended up staying, the town became known as 

Little Mexico.But just a few blocks down from Front Street,

 at Woodburn High School, the scene is no different than any other American suburb.

More than a dozen teenage boys practice soccer, 

preparing for what they hope will be a deep run into the playoffs.

Senior Jaime Velas is trying not to be over confident.

“We`re taking it step by step, game by game,” says Velas.

“We don`t want to think too far because we don`t want to get our hopes up, you know.”

Velas has good reason to temper his excitement.

Despite making the state playoffs for an uninterrupted quarter of a century,

 Woodburn has never achieved its dream of winning the soccer championship.

Author Wilson thinks their perseverance is an apt metaphor.

“They had in one way an unparalleled level of success.

They were getting to the playoffs every year.

No other team was doing that.But they`d never won the state championship,”

 he says.“And I was feeling there was a parallel among 

the team`s experience and the experience of Mexican Americans in the United States.”

5.Front Street in Woodburn, Oregon, 

is lined with stores displaying Mexican style cowboy .

6.“We don`t want to think too far because we don`t want to  , you know.”

7.Woodburn has never achieved its dream of winning the soccer championship .

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

M: When I say I live in Sweden, people always

 want to know about the seasons.

W: The seasons?

M: Yeah, you know, how cold it is in winter?

 Why its light in the day is so short?

W: So what is it like?

M: Well, it is cold, very cold in winter. 

Sometimes, as cold as 26 degrees below centigrade. And of course, 

when you go out, you wrap up warm, but inside, in the houses, 

it`s always very warm, much warmer than at home.

 Swedish people always complain that when they visit England,

 the houses are cold even in a good winter.

W: And what about the darkness?

M: Well, yeah, around Christmas time, 

there is only one hour of daylight, 

so you really look forward to the spring. 

It is sometimes a bit depressing, but you see the summers are amazing. 

From May to July in the north of Sweden, the sun never sets.

 It`s still light at midnight. 

You can walk in the mountains and read a newspaper.

W: Oh, yeah, the Land of the Midnight Sun.

M: That`s right, but it`s wonderful. 

You want to stay up all night. 

And the Swedes make the most of it.

 Often, they start work early in summer 

and then leave at about two or three in the afternoon so that 

they can really enjoy the long summer evenings. 

They like to work hard but play hard, too. 

I think Londoners work longer hours, 

but I`m not sure this is a good thing.

8：What do we learn about the man from the conversation?

9: What do Swedish people complain about when they visit England in winter?

10:How does the man describe the short hour of daylight around Christmas in Sweden?

11: What does the man say about the Swedish people?

Conversation 2

W: What kind of training does one need to go into this type of job?

M: That`s a very good question. 

I don`t think there is any, specifically.

W: For example, in your case,

 what`s your educational background?

M: Well,I did a degree in French, in Nottingham.After that, 

I did careers work in secondary schools, like the careers guidance people here in the university.

 Then I went into local government, 

because I found I was more interested in the administrative side,

 then progressed on to universities. So there wasn`t any plan, 

and there was no specific training.

 There are plenty of training courses in management techniques 

and committee work which you can attend now.

W: But in the first place, you did a French degree.

M: In my time, there wasn`t a degree you can do for administration.

 I think most of the administrators I`ve come across

 have degrees in all sorts of things.

W: Well, I know in my case, I did an English literature degree. 

And I didn`t really expect to end up doing what I`m doing now.

M: Quite.

W: But you`re local to Nottingham actually. 

Is there any reason why you went to Nottingham University?

M: No, no, I come from the north of England, from west Yorkshire. 

Nottingham was one of the universities I put on my list,

 and I liked the look of it. The campus is just beautiful.

W: Yes, indeed. Let`s see. 

Were you from the industrial part of Yorkshire?

M: Yes, from the Woolen District.

12:Where did the man come from?

13:What was the man`s major at university?

14:What was the man`s job in secondary schools?

15:What attracted the man to Nottingham University?

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 

While Gail Obcamp, an American artist, 

was giving a speech on the art of Japanese brush painting

 to an audience that included visitors from Japan. 

She was confused to see that many of her Japanese listeners had their eyes closed.

 Were they turned off because an American had the nerve to

 instruct Japanese in their own art form or they deliberately 

trying to signal their rejection of her?

Obcamp later found out that her listeners were not being disrespectful.

 Japanese listeners sometimes close their eyes to enhance concentration. 

Her listeners were showing their respect for her by chewing on her words.

 Someday, you may be either a speaker or a listener in a situation involving

 people from other countries or members of a minority group in North America. 

Learning how different cultures signal respect can help you avoid misunderstandings.

 Here are some examples. In the Deaf Culture of North American,

 many listeners show applause not by clapping their hands but by waving them in the air.

 In some cultures, both overseas and in some minority groups in North America,

 listeners are considered disrespectful if they look directly at the speaker.

 Respect is shown by looking in the general direction but avoiding direct eye contact.

 In some countries, whistling by listeners is a sign of approval 

while in other countries it is a form of insult.

16:What did Obcamp`s speech focus on?

17:Why do Japanese listeners sometimes close their eyes while listening to a speech?

18:What does the speaker try to explain?

Passage 2

Chris is in charge of purchasing and maintaining equipment 

in his division at Taxlong company.

 He`s soon going to have an evaluation interview with 

his supervisor and personnel director to discuss the work he has done in the past year.

 Salary, promotion and plans for the coming year will also be discussed at the meeting.

Chris has made several changes for his division in his past year.

 First, he bought new equipment for one of the departments.

 He`s been particularly happy about new equipment because many of the employees 

have told him how much it has helped them. Along with improving the equipment, 

Chris began a program to train employees to use equipment

 better and do simple maintenance themselves.

 The training saved time for the employees and money for the company.

Unfortunately, one serious problem developed during the year. 

Two employees that Chris hired were stealing, and he had to fire them.

Chris knows that a new job for a purchasing and maintenance

 manager for the whole company will be open in a few months 

and he would like to be promoted to the job.

 Chris knows, however, that someone else wants the new job, too.

 Kim is in charge of purchasing and maintenance in another division of the company.

 She has also made several changes over the year.

 Chris knows that his boss likes Kim`s work, 

and expects that his work will be compared with hers.

19:What is Chris` main responsibility at Taxlong company?

20:What problem did Chris encounter in his division?

21:What does Chris hope for in the near future?

22. What do we learn about Kim from the passage?

Passage 3

Proverbs, sometimes called sayings, are examples of folk wisdom. 

They are little lessons which older people of the culture pass down 

to the younger people to teach them about life. 

Many proverbs remind the people of values that are important in the culture. 

Values teach people how to act, what is right and what is wrong, 

because the values of each culture are different.

 Understanding the values of another culture, 

helps to explain how people think and act.

 Understanding your own culture values is important, too.

 If you can accept that people from other cultures act according to their values not yours,

 getting along with them will be much easier.

 Many proverbs are very old. So some of the values they teach may not be 

as important in the culture as they once were. 

For example, Americans today do not pay much attention

 to the proverbs “haste makes waste”,

 because patience is not important to them. But if you know about past values,

 it helps you to understand the present. And many of the old values are still strong today. 

Benjamin Franklin, a famous American diplomat, writer, 

and scientist died in 1790. But his proverb “Time is money”

 is taken more seriously by Americans of today than ever before. 

A study of proverbs from around the world shows that some values are shared by many cultures. 

In many cases, though, the same idea is expressed differently. 

23:Why are proverbs so important?

24:According to the speaker, what happens to some proverbs with the passage of time?

25:What do we learn from the study of proverbs from around the world?