College English Test band four

PART II

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 Report 1

A Russian airliner has made an emergency landing in Moscow,

colliding with buildings and splitting into two parts,

but only two people were killed.Here's Steve Rosenberg.

“The Tupolev-154 jet took off from Moscow's Vnukovo airport.

It was bound for the Russian Republic of Dagestan in the North Caucasus.

But half an hour into the flight at 30,000 feet,

the aircraft suffered a sudden and dramatic system failure.

All three of its engines are reported to have cut out one after the other.

The Dagestani airline's plane,with more than 150 people on board,

was forced to make an emergency landing at another Moscow airport,

Domodedovo.As it neared the ground, it lost power.

Its navigation system stopped working.It touched down,

but skidded off the runway and broke into pieces.

The Russian authorities have launched an urgent investigation.”

Questions 1 and 2 are based on the news report you have just heard.

1: Q:Where is the aircraft going to?

2: Q:How many people are on the plane?

News Report  2

Less than a month ago, U.S.President Barack Obama and European

leaders agreed to revamp the NATO defense alliance to

meet new and daunting challenges in the 21st century.

Obama announced the aims of the new, so-called ‘strategic concept’

during a NATO summit in Lisbon.

“We have reaffirmed the central premise of NATO-our Article 5 commitment

that an attack on one is an attack on all,” said president Obama.

“And to ensure this article has meaning, we agreed action in a third area,

to modernize our conventional forces and develop the full range of military

capabilities that we need to defend our nations.”

But doing this takes money-at a time European countries are slashing their defense budgets,

sometimes drastically.That's the dilemma European defenseministers

are confronting as they meet in Brussels.

Questions 3 and 4 are based on the news report you have just heard.

3: Q:What is agreed on less than a month ago?

4: Q:What is the problem European defense ministers are facing now?

News Report 3

Haiti holds elections on Sunday for a new president and National Assembly.

The nation has struggled with damage from the January

earthquake－and now a deadly outbreak of cholera.

This election is seen as one of the most important in years.

International donors are waiting to give billions of dollars

in aid money to a new government.

The United States has promised fourteen million dollars in election aid to Haiti.

That includes money to help pay for international observers.

Will Haiti finally get the political leadership it needs to bring real change?

That is the question on the minds of most Haitians.

They live in the poorest country in the Americas.Haiti

is also known for widespread corruption and wasting international aid.

One voter, Elexcema Okinel, says the country's biggest problem

is the tent camps for people displaced by the quake.

Questions 5 and 7 are based on the news report you have just heard.

5.Q:What happens in Haiti on Sunday?

6:Q:How much money will the united state donate to Haiti?

7:Q:What is the question on the minds of most Haitians?

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.

Conversation One

W: Hey, Joe, what's all this talk about the benefit walk-a-thon this weekend?

M: Don't you know?Most of the residents in Packer Hall are going to try

to walk the seven miles from the Engineering Library,

across campus and down to the City Hallin an effort to raise money

for the new children's hospital.

W: Sounds like a good idea.

But I don't understand where the money comes from?

M: Well,a few days before the walk-a-thon,

each participant goes around,

asking people to pledge a certain amount of money for each mile

that he or she expects to walk in the event.

Then after the walk-a-thon is over the participants go back to the same people,

collect the money pledged and send it into the hospital.

W: So you mean that someone pledges, say, a dollar a mile, and you walk

five miles, you get five dollars?

M: That's right. Of course, most of my friends aren't such big spenders.

The biggest pledge I've gotten so far is twenty-five cents a mile.

W: And how many people have made pledges for you?

M: Eleven, so far. Hey, how about making it even a dozen?

W: Sure, if you'll do the same for me. The walk-a-thon sounds like a

perfect opportunity for me to break in my new pair of sports shoes.

Questions 8 to 11 are based on the conversation you have just heard.

8.Q:Who's going to participate in the walk-a-thon?

9.Q:How was money raised in the walk-a-thon?

10.Q:What will happen to the money raised at the walk-a-thon?

11.Q:How much money has each of Joe's friends pledged to him?

Conversation Two

M: You must be pretty excited about your trip to Europe.

When is it that you are leaving?

W:In just three weeks, and I am excited! But there are

still a few things I need to do before I go.

M: Like what?

W: Like renewing my passport,going to the travel

agency to buy my plane tickets,

and figuring out what to do with my apartment while I'm gone.

M: You are not going to give it up, are you?

W:No way!I'll never find another apartment around here.

But I don't like the idea of paying a three-month rent

on an empty apartment, either.

M: I don't blame you. Perhaps you could sublet it.

W: Yes, but who to?

M: Hm, let me think.Oh,I know just a person.

A colleague of mine Jim Thomas is coming here to do

some research this summer from June to August.

W: Well, that's exactly when I'll be away! It sounds ideal,

as long as the landlord agrees!

M: Tell you what; I'll be calling Jim late this week anyway,

so I'll mention it to him then.

W: Well, thanks, Bill. Let me know what happens.

That extra money would really come in handy.

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

12.Q:When will the woman leave for Europe?

13.Q:What does the woman need to do at the travel agency?

14.Q:Why doesn't the woman want to give up her apartment entirely?

15.Q:How long will the woman be in Europe?

Section C

Directions:In this section, you will hear three passages.

At the end of each passage, you will hear three or four 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

The White House has become in many ways a monument to American government,

symbolizing the authority and stature of the president

and the executive branch. But despite its prominence,

the White House continues to serve its original function—as the home

and workplace of the president. Presidents live here with their families,

which at various times have included children and a range of pets.

The North Entrance provides access to the first floor

of the White House main building from Pennsylvania Avenue.

Most official government ceremonies take place in first floor rooms.

This part of the White House is open to the public.

Presidents have used the Blue Room to host small receptions

since the White House was completed in 1800.

President James Monroe redecorated the room

as part of a project to rebuild the White House

after the British burned it in 1814 during the War of 1812.

Some of the room's furnishings date from that time.

President Martin Van Buren established

the blue color scheme in 1837 and it has been known as the Blue Room ever since.

Questions 16 to 18 are based on the  passage you have just heard.

16.Q:What is the White House's original function?

17.Q:Which part of the White House is open to the public?

18.Q:Who had Blue Room painted?

Passage Two

Nicknamed “The Mighty Mo,”

the USS Missouri was the last battleship in active service

in the United States Navy, serving in World War II,

the Korean War, and most recently the Persian Gulf War.

In 1998, the Missouri was moved from the naval base in Bremerton,

Washington to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii to serve as a museum.

Battleships were at one time the most important element of naval warfare.

However, by the time the Missouri entered World War II, in February 1945,

aircraft carriers had displaced battleships as

the key naval ships around which fleets were built,

and the Missouri's primary role was to defend the carriers.

The Missouri served in Korea,

was decommissioned in 1955 and then recommissioned in 1986 to

avoid the costly purchase of a new battleship.

Modernized and updated, it served in the Persian Gulf War

and was then “backuped,”and stopped its serving, in 1992.

Questions 19 to 21 are based on the passage you have just heard.

19.Q:Where did the Missouri serve as a museum?

20.Q:When did the Missouri finally get out of the navy?

21.Q:Which war did the Missouri not take part in?

Passage Three

Marketing is the process of identifying the goods and services

that consumers need and want and providing those

goods and services at the right price, place, and time.

Businesses develop marketing strategies by conducting research

to determine what products and services potential customers

think they would like to be able to purchase.Firms also promote

their products and services through such techniques

as advertising and personalized sales, which serve to

inform potential customers and motivate them to purchase.

Firms that market products for which there are always some demand,

such as foods and household goods, often advertise if they

face competition from other firms marketing similar products.

Such products rarely need to be sold face-to-face.

On the other hand, firms that market products and services

that buyers will want to see, use, or better understand before buying,

often rely on personalized sales.Expensive and durable goods—such as automobiles,

electronics, or furniture—benefit from personalized sales,

as do legal services such as the supply of insurance policies or tax preparation.

Questions 22 to 25 are based on the passage you have just heard.

22.Q：What kind of process is marketing?

23.Q：Through what techniques do firms also promote

their products and services?

24.Q：At what time do firms often advertise?

25.Q：What can you rely on if you want to buy a car?

This is the end of listening comprehension.