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.

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

News Item 1

This is CNN STUDENT NEWS.

First story takes us to the nation of Turkey.

Yesterday, thousands of people gathered in

Turkish cities nationwide to mourn the victims of a terrorist attack.

It was the deadliest in Turkish history

and it happened during a peace rally Saturday,

in the capital of Ankara.Police believe two suicide

bombers detonated their weapons in a crowded area.

At least 95 people were killed, hundreds of others were wounded,

some critically. No one has claimed responsibility for the blast yet,

but they could deepen divisions in an uneasy Turkish society.

The country has been dealing with a number

of issues Europe`s historic refugee crisis,

the threat of international terrorism.

Another is tension between Turkey`s different ethnic groups.

Turks composed about 70 to 75 percent of their country`s population.

Ethnic Kurds make up just under 20 percent. Other minorities around 10 percent.

These attacks happened at an event designed

to show unity among Turkey`s ethnic groups.

The country`s prime minister says the blast were an attack on that unity.

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

News Item 2

The world population is expected to grow to more than 8 billion by 2030,

and the housing situation in urban centers is already a huge problem.

Building new homes the traditional way still takes weeks or months.

In a London neighborhood, a group of volunteers is constructing a house made

of prefabricated plywood panels and parts,

the so called Wiki House. All parts were precisely cut in a Computer Numerical Control,

or CNC machine, following a free plan downloaded from the Internet.

Co founder of the U.K. based Wiki.

House Foundation, architectural designer Alastair Parvin ,

said this could be the solution for affordable housing.

“WikiHouse is essentially a series of technologies we`re developing aimed

at massively simplifying the process of making really sustainable

high performance houses to a point where almost anyone can do it,”

he said. “And to do that we`re using the power of the web and digital

manufacturing technologies like 3 D printing.”

Precise cutting allows a perfect fit for all parts,

which speeds up the process of assembly.

No special tools are required.

The Wiki House was built in 10 days for exhibition purposes.

Then, it was taken apart and reassembled elsewhere for permanent use.

Parvin said the whole concept is based on the blueprints available online.

“Open source software is now really established,

it drives a lot of the software we use,” he said.

“What`s happening now is that that`s now coming into the world of physical things,

so we`re effectively building a kind

of Wikipedia for physical stuff.”

Parvin said the project is in its early stages,

with limited availability.

But he said he expects it to grow as more people

start showing interest in houses whose assembly requires no special skills.

George Butidge VOA news from Washington.

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

News Item 3

This week, a U.N. panel opens a three day meeting

on the aging of the global population.

It`s part of a process that could lead to a new international

treaty to protect the rights of older persons.

This is the fifth session of the Open ended Working Group on Aging.

Its focus is on human rights, the care of older persons, violence,

abuse and legal and financial issues. Its work could lead to a U.N.

Convention on the Rights of Older People.

One of the groups driving the process is Help Age International,

which began its Age Demands Action Campaign in 2007.

Help Age Chief Executive Toby Porter explained

why he believes a convention is needed for those 60 years of age and older.

Porter said it`s important that people`s rights are protected as they age.

“By protecting people`s rights and ensuring they`re not discriminated

against in health services,in the work place, holding property, etc, by law,

it`s going to benefit society as a whole.

Because it`s going to make sure that the contribution of older people

can be maximized and to make sure that older people aren`t ignored,” he said.

The Help Age chief executive said society faces the challenge

of moving beyond negative stereotypes of aging.

“Older people are actually massive contributors to society,

massively contributing to their families.

And so I really do feel that population aging is going to

become one of the most important themes in the world,” he said.

The U.N. Openended Working Group on Aging meets

in New York from July 30 through August1.

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 hear two long conversation.

Conversation One

M: Hello. Matt Ellis speaking.

W: Hello, Dr. Ellis, my name`s Pam Johnson. My roommate, Janet Holms,

wanted me to call you.

M: Janet Holms? Oh, that`s right; she`s in my Shakespearean English class.

Has anything happened to her?

W: Nothing, it`s just that she submitted a job application

yesterday and the company asked her in for an interview today.

She`s afraid she won`t be able to attend your class this afternoon, though.

I`m calling to see if it would be okay if I gave you her essay.

Janet said it`s due today.

M: Certainly, that would be fine. Uh,

you can either drop it off at my class or bring it to my office.

W: Would it be alright to come by your office around 4:00?

It`s impossible to come any earlier because I have three classes this afternoon.

M: Uh, I won`t be here when you come;

I`m supposed to be at a meeting from 3 to 6,

but how about leaving it with my secretary?

She usually stays until 5:00.

W: Fine; please tell her I`ll be there at 4:00.

And Dr. Ellis, one more thing,

could you tell me where your office is located?

Janet told me where your class is,

but she didn`t give me directions to your office.

M: Well, I`m in Room 302 of the Gregory Building.

I`ll tell my secretary to put the paper in my mail box,

and I`ll get it when I return.

W: I sure appreciate it;

Janet was worried about not getting her paper in on time.

M: No problem. I`ll look for Janet`s paper later this evening.

Good bye, Ms. Johnston.

W: Bye, Dr. Ellis. Thanks again.

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

8.How many classes does Pam have this afternoon?

9.What`s the relationship between Ellis and Janet?

10.What will Janet do soon according to this conversation?

11.Why hasn`t Pam never been to Ellis` office?

Conversation Two

M: And a little bit north of there even, actually, uh,

New Hampshire. It started from there and went down to Georgia.

And there were thirteen original colonies. I could name them.

W: Go on.

M: Uh, maybe. New Hampshire, Massachusetts,

Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York,

Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland,

Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina,

and Georgia. I did it!

W: Wow, good job! Virginia and Carolina,

which were those states named after queens? Or…

M: Yeah, Virginia after Queen Elizabeth the virgin

queen so they called it Virginia.

W: And CarolineCarolina?

M: That I don`t know. It`s probably King Charles,

or something like that. I`m not really sure,

but they cut his head off, so, um.

W: In Australia, a lot of the place names are Aboriginal names.

M: Yeah.

W: What American states are Native American or Indian names?

M: Lots of them. Um, Massachusetts,

Connecticut, Michigan, Minnesota, Illinois,Indiana, Ohio,

Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama,

Dakotas, North and South Dakota, Utah…

W: Iowa.

M: Iowa, Kansas…

W: Illinois.

M: Illinois, uh, Missouri, uh, Arkansas…

W: Seattle

M: Oklahoma maybe.

W: Seattle, but not Washington?

M: Uh, not Washington, no. Seattle, I don`t know what that is.

W: That`s the name of Chief Seattle.

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

12.Which of the following countries are they talking about?

13.Which of the following is NOT among the thirteen original colonies?

14.Which of the following queens was Virginia named after?

15.Which of the following American states is NOT

a Native American or Indian name?

Section C

In this section, you will hear three 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

I don`t know what to do about my mother.

She is always criticizing me … the way I dress,

the way I speak or look … I can`t even read a book

without her interrupting me to ask what it`s about

and tell me whether I should be reading it or not,

and why. And of course every moment

of my time away from her has to be accounted for …

I try to tell her to stop interfering with my life,

but it doesn`t seem to help.

And I`ve no one to advise me,

my father is dead and I have no brothers or sisters.

It`s not as if my mother has any worries;

we`re fairly well off and she doesn`t have to work,

only do the housekeeping.

I`ve now met a wonderful girl who I want to see a lot of,

but I`m afraid to bring her to the house when she meets my mother,

she won`t want to see me any more.

I`m nineteen years old.

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

16. What is the speaker complaining about?

17. What do you know of the speaker`s family?

18. Why is the speaker afraid to bring his girl friend home?

19. What is the essential characteristic of the psychological functions?

Passage Two

Recently a group of 17 year old schoolboys decided

to beat the world basketball time record.

They are to play for 90 hours and add 6 hours to the record.

How could 18 boys play for almost 4 days without stopping?

The boys decided that each person would play for two and a half

hours and then rest for two hours.

They had to be able to sleep near the basketball hall,

and they needed hot food and drink, day and night.

Finally they started at 6 o` clock one evening.

The first night was very hard for the players.

When it was their turn to rest,

they were too excited to fall asleep at once.

After sleeping for a short time, they had to play again.

The nights were very long, when nobody was watching.

The days were better,

because plenty of people cheered the players` efforts.

On the second night they fell asleep as soon as they stopped.

Some of them had trouble with their hands and feet,

but the only serious problem was a mental one.

Each boy was thinking:

What am I doing here?

How can I play any longer?

After the third night the players knew they could finish the 90 hours.

On the fourth night the play was very slow,

but in the final hours it got better.

For the last few minutes the players looked as fresh as when they started.

They were tired, but very happy.

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

19. What was the world basketball time record before the boys` match?

20. In what sense was the first night very hard for them?

21. Why was it difficult for the boys to pass the nights?

Passage Three

Scientists in many developing nations are studying a way to protect

and control the use of forests, fishing water, grasslands

and other resources. They call the system “common property”.

It means that people join together to share and protect the resources.

Scientists say that increased population is damaging the world resources.

Too many trees are cut; grasslands and croplands are destroyed.

Too many fish are taken from the fishing area.

There are two traditional ways to deal with this situation.

One is public the government agency decides who may use the resources and when;

or the property can be private the owner decides how to protect the resources.

Experts say these two methods often are not effective, however.

They believe there is a third possibility that is

neither completely governmental nor completely private.

It is communal or joint control of the resources.

Scientists know that this idea of common property is not new.

The system has been believed successful for a long time by groups in many countries.

In South Asia, some villagers have governing systems

to protect everyone`s right to irrigation water.

In part of Central Africa,

there are traditional rules that banned the killing of some wild animals.

Farmers in Syria have a system to share grasslands and fishermen

in Turkey have a system to make sure no one takes too many fish.

Scientists say such systems usually were developed

by small groups to deal with limited problems.

Rules are simple and the enforcement is based on traditional value

and ways of doing things.

Scientists believe such systems also would be effective in other situations.

They are studying how it might produce more cooking rules for people in Indian villages.

The scientific group in Costa Rica is studying common property

to control land area.

And a government group in Zimbabwe is studying

the system to protect wild animals.

Scientists do not say the common property system

will solve all resource needs in developing nations,

but they believe it provides one important way to deal with the probelm.

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

22. What is common property according to the passage?

23. Why has the system been effective?

24. Which of the following is NOT cited

as a successful example of the system?

25. What can be inferred from the passage?