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

Google`s self driving car has hit a small bump in the road.

The driverless car had an accident February 14 in California.

The accident was reported to the Department of

Motor Vehicles in California February 23rd.

"According to WIRED, a technology publication,"

the car changed traffic lanes and moved into the path of a bus.

"The driverless car was a Lexus SUV. When it hit the bus,"

the Google car was moving at around 3 kilometers per hour.

The speed of the bus was 24 kilometers per hour at the time of the collision.

No injuries were reported.

The left front wheel and fender of the Google car were damaged.

"In a May 2015 monthly report, Google said:"

“We`ll inevitably be involved in accidents;

sometimes it`s impossible to overcome the realities of speed and distance.

"In the six years of our project,"

we`ve been involved in 12 minor accidents

during more than 1.8 million miles of autonomous and manual driving combined.”

Google has predicted the cars will be ready for the road by 2020.

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

1.What`s the cause of the accident?

2.When did Google car project start?

News  Report  2

The U.S. East Coast is preparing for a major snow storm

that weather experts are calling “historic” even before any snow falls.

"The storm could produce blizzard conditions in Washington, D.C.,"

Baltimore and New York City. At least 15 states expect heavy snow until Sunday.

Weather officials expect between 30 and 90 centimeters of snow.

"Officials expect strong winds, ice and coastal flooding during the storm."

"Some cities and states, including Washington and Maryland,"

have declared states of emergency. Government leaders are asking

the millions in the storm`s path to be “better safe than sorry.”

"“Be careful, stay home on Saturday unless you have to travel somewhere,”"

"said Anthony Santino, a city official for Hempstead, N.Y."

Residents of the nation`s capital experienced winter weather earlier this week.

Washington had barely 5 centimeters of snow Wednesday.

But many drivers were stranded because of a thin layer of ice on the roads.

Some people abandoned their vehicles in the middle and on the side of the road.

"Leading up to the weekend storm, supplies are difficult"

to find at hardware stores and grocery stores.

"Supplies of bottled water, wood for fires and snow shovels are limited."

“The fastest moving thing has been snow shovels.

"We are down to the last few of them,”"

"said Derek Staton, who works at a hardware store in Virginia."

Schools in the Washington area closed Friday in preparation for the storm.

The federal government only required its employees to work for half the day on Friday.

The capital`s public transportation system will close

Friday evening and plans to stay closed through Monday morning.

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

3.What do you know about the coming storm?

4.What`s the preparation for the storm？

News  Report  3

Taiwan`s annual university admissions tests are taking place this week.

Tens of thousands of students are trying to give the

right answers to math and language questions.

High scores permit students to enter the top schools.

"However, these tests will not be in place for much longer."

The current examinations require that students

memorize facts in high school classes.

They do not test critical thinking or creative problem solving abilities.

Officials in Taiwan plan to change the admissions

test to also measure imagination and the ability to innovate.

Taiwanese officials see the progress China and South Korea

are making in the information technology field.

"By comparison, Taiwan is losing technology business."

There is concern that younger people are afraid of the risk

of starting a company or inventing something.

The Ministry of Education wants to encourage young Taiwanese to innovate.

"So, it will begin a new selection process for university students."

They hope the best schools will start to accept people with new business ideas.

The new admissions policy will take effect in 2018.

It will include personal interviews with interested students.

The Ministry wants high school graduates to show they excelled outside of class.

Ma Hsiang ping is the ministry`s deputy director for higher education.

She told VOA the new exam system will look for

people interested in invention or starting businesses.

She said Taiwan will lose competitiveness if all the

inventing is done in other countries.

She said the ministry hopes new admissions

policies will reshape the 12-year public education system.

She said it should not focus only on memorization

of facts but also on the growth of other skills.

Ms. Ma said that the written admissions test

should be used only to show that a student has basic knowledge.

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

5.What`s the problem of the current examinations in Taiwan?

6.What will the written admissions test evaluate in the future?

7.What can you infer from the text?

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

"M: Oh, hi, this book is due today,"

and I am not quite finished with it.

Is it possible to get it renewed?

"W: Hmmm, French Art & Architecture of the19th century."

I`ll have to check to see if that`s possible.

Can I have the book and your library card please?

"M: Sure, here you are."

I just need it for a few more days if possible.

"W: Well, first of all this book is one week late,"

and not due today as you thought.

It appears you have your dates mixed up.

M: Oh. Gosh!

W: There are also a few requests for this book

so it is now on hold for the next person.

"Now there`s a small fine on your card of $1.40 for the overdue book,"

would you like to pay this today?

"M: Umm, so if I pay the fine today,"

can I take this book out again?

W: You won`t be able to take this book out again until all

the other people who have placed holds on it have signed it out.

Did you want to pay your fine today?

M: Have you already processed the return on the book?

I hope to keep it for a few more days. I really need it to study.

The exam is in two days and this is practically the course textbook.

"W: Sorry, I have already signed it back in and now the book is on hold."

"In fact if I could, I would triple your fines and suspend your library privileges."

It`s not fair to all the other students who are

also trying to access library material for study purpose.

Perhaps you should think of the other people who also

need this book to study. Now are you going to pay your fine today?

M: OK. Sorry.

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

8.What is the man`s problem?

9.On what condition can the man have the book again?

10.What is the man likely to do next?

11.Why did the woman refuse his request?

Conversation Two

"W: Good morning, Dr. Smith."

"I`m not sure whether you can help me or not,"

but I`m getting desperate!

"M: Oh, what`s wrong? What is making you so desperate?"

"W: Well, everybody laughs at me because I`m so fat."

I`ve always been overweight.

I`m trying to eat less but I don`t seem to be able to lose any weight.

I don`t know what I can do.

Maybe you can give me some medication?

"M: Well, it is not a good idea to eat less."

"You should eat more healthy food like fruits and vegetables,"

and avoid fast foods like the hamburgers and hot dogs.

W: But hamburgers and hot dogs are my favorite.

M: That`s the problem. They contain high calorie that causes fatness.

"In addition to avoiding these high calorie foods,"

you should do some exercises.

Physical exercise does a lot of good to health

and will be an effective way to reduce weight.

Medicine is not always the best solution to your problem.

"W: I know, but I don`t have time to do exercise. You know,"

"I`m busy at my work from morning to night. Besides,"

I am not rich enough to go to the gym.

M: You needn`t spend much time on exercise and you don`t have to go to the gym.

I suggest that you walk more regularly.

You could get off the bus one stop early and walk the last bit.

"When you walk, try to walk a little more quickly."

You could also use the stairs instead of the elevator.

W: That`s really a good idea.

"M: You will succeed, if you act in accordance with my suggestions."

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

12.What are they talking about?

13.Why does the woman feel desperate?

14.What is the reason for the fatness of the woman?

15.Which of the following is not the man`s suggestion?

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

A survey taken during the recent flu scare reveales one

in four people don`t cover their mouths and noses when they cough or sneeze.

Coughs and sneezes spread diseases.

"But most people use their hands instead to stop germs,"

this is not an effective way of preventing infection

unless you thoroughly wash your hands afterwards.

"Professor Nick Wilson said: “When you cough into your hands,"

"you cover your hands in virus. Then you touch doorknobs,"

furniture and other things. And other people touch those and get viruses that way.”

Professor Wilson and his medical students secretly

"watched hundreds of people coughing and sneezing at a train station,"

"a shopping centre and a hospital in Wellington,"

"New Zealand. They observed 384 sneezes and coughs,"

which worked out as 5.5 per observed person each hour.

"Their study, presented at an infectious diseases conference in Atlanta this week,"

found 26.7 per cent were uncovered.

Only one in 30 people used a tissue and one in 77 used his elbow.

"The researchers also saw people spit on the floor several times,"

including at the hospital.

The researchers said the findings were surprising as they came

only four months after swine flu was first identified

as a potential global pandemic threat.

"In the UK, the Department of Health launched a hygiene"

"campaign in 2009 urging people with viruses to “Catch it, Bin it, Kill it”."

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

16.What`s the implied meaning of Professor Wilson`s remarks?

17. What does the study tell us?

18.What`s the purpose of the hygiene campaign held by Department of Health?

Passage Two

New York City has given passers more time to cross at more than 400 crossroads

in an effort to make streets safer for older residents.

"The city has sent yellow school buses,"

"filled not with children but with elderly people,"

to dozens of grocery stores in the past seven months.

"People live in New York because it is like no place else filled with life,"

energy and a wealth of choices  but there is some recognition among city planners

that it could be a kinder and gentler place in which to grow old.

"The Department of City Planning predicts that in 20 years,"

"New York`s shares of schoolchildren and older people will be about the same,"

"15 percent each, a sharp change from 1995, when schoolchildren"

outnumbered older residents by more than 2 to 1.

"By 2030, the number of New Yorkers age 65 and over a result of the baby boomers,"

"decreasing fertility and increasing longevity is expected to reach 1.35 million,"

up 44 percent from 2000. What people say they

want most of all is to live in a neighborly place where it is safe

to cross the street and where the corner drugstore will give

them a drink of water and let them use the bathroom.

"Now, the city is looking to enhance life here in more modest,"

"but meaningful ways. This summer, it is holding more intimate"

focus groups in East Harlem and on the Upper West Side.

Questions 19 to 22 are based on the passage you have just heard.

19.Why did New York City give passers more time to cross the crossroads?

20.What is the recognition among the city planners in the passage?

21.What`s the population state between schoolchildren and older residents in 1995?

22.What kind of city do people want most?

Passage Three

Two teenagers drowned on Sunday afternoon as one tried

to rescue the other at a popular but off limits swimming spot in the Bronx.

"Crystal Reyes, 15, seemed to be struggling"

in the water above a dam in the Bronx River.

"David Lee, 17, jumped into save her, according to witnesses."

They were part of a small group of young people who had gone

to Bronx Park on a sweltering afternoon.

The police and firefighters responded about 2：45 p.m.

and pulled Crystal out of the water quickly.

It took longer for them to find David.

"Both were brought to St. Barnabas Hospital,"

where they were pronounced dead on arrival.

A family friend who answered the door at Crystal`s home

"said her mother “could not get up off the floor,”"

as the sound of sobs could be heard from inside the apartment.

"“They were too long in the water,” said Bryan, 17,"

who was visiting the park with his family.

He added that there was “no way” that they could have survived.

The area is popular with people fishing for carp and catfish.

"And even though the section is fenced and locked,"

many young people ignore the “No Swimming” signs.

"Within hours of the drowning, youths were again playing"

"in the water at the site on Sunday evening,"

jumping off a 13 foot waterfall created by the dam.A police spokesman

said that both the police and parks departments

were responsible for enforcing the restricted area.

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

23.How did David Lee die?

24.When were the two teenagers died?

25.What happened at the accident cite that evening?