上外中级口译第三版听力教程原文及讲解--Unit-16Unit 16.Part one. Air quality in Britain. 2. Exercises.1. Listen to the passage about air quality in Britain. And then briefly answer the foll owing questions.Air quality in Britain has improved considerably in the last 30 years. Total emissions of smoke in the air have fall en by over 85 percent since 1960. London and other major cities no l onger have the dense smoke l ed in smog of the 1950s. And in central London winter sunshine has increased by about 70 percent since the late 1950s. However new concerns have arisen, especially over the emissions from the growing number of motor vehicl es, and their possibl e impact on health. Measures have consequently been ad opted to reduce substantially emissions from new vehicl es. The environment act of 1995 provid es a new frame work for air quality management, including the publication by the governmentof the national strategy which was said air qualities standards and targets for the pollutants causing the most concern. This was issued for consultation in August 1996 containing air quality targets for the year 2005. The act also places new duties on l ocal authorities to assess air quality in their boundaries, and to prepare action plans where standards are not met or are likely to be met in future. Pil ot schemes are being taken forward in 14 areas before full impl ementation in April 1997. Earlier l egislation all ows l ocal authorities to declare smoke control areas within which the emission of smoke from chimneys is in offends. About two thirds of the dwellings in connorbations are covered by smoke control orders around 6,340 are in force.2. Listen again and supply the missing information.Part two. Statements. 2. Exercises. Listen and then choose the answer that is cl osest in7) After the buil ding was damaged by a fire caused by faulty wires, the inhabitants were paid by the insurance company.8) Everyone knows the foll owing trend as the technol ogy of el ectronics improves, the prices of personal computers shoul d come d own. 9) There shoul d be one of those dresses that can fit you. They come in 3 different sizes. They are all imported from France or Britain.10) Moner has been offered the manager’s job, although she has hardly any work experience. This is a big surprise even for herself.11) I need to do something to improve my spoken French. I don’t kn ow whether the community coll ege offer something.12) At the board meeting hel d last Friday she voted against the investment plan, because she thinks it involves too great a risk.13) The landl ord coll ects rent on the first of the month without fail. So I need to always have cash ready before the end of eachmonth.14) The president appointed Mr. Brown head of the newly formed commission, although Mr. Brown is already well over 60 and he is expected to retire soon.15) In ord er to make more money to support her two sons Martha is hol ding down 2 jobs at the same time, but she’d better take it easy. 16) Pawl l ooked better when we visited him in the hospital last week. The doctor said he coul d come home to recover.17) We’ve come to the restaurant a bit t oo late. We woul d like to have the tabl e by the wind ow, but that tabl e has been reserved. 18) After meeting with several failures, Walter has been unsuccessful with his new business. He was rather depressed in recent months.19) At the annual general meetings the board chairman of the car company outlined the devel opment strategy for the next d ecade. 20) Everybody says that Bob shoul dn’t go intoarts since he is no good in math. But he had to decid e for himself in my opinion.Part three. 3. Exercises.1. Acid rain. Listen to the foll owing passage and then choose the best answer to each question you hear.M: You know everyone today is concerned about pollution. And scientists are talking a l ot about one kind of pollution, acid rain. W: Why exactly is it call ed acid rain?M: It’s call ed acid rain because the rain or some other kind of precipitation has been polluted with acid.W: Where does the acid come from?M: From cars or factories, anything that burns coal or oil. These are made up mostly of sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxid es, which react with water vapor to form sulphuric acid or nitric acid.W: You mean that when coal or oil is burned acid gets formed. And when it rains or snows the acid falls back on the earth?M: Exactly. That’s why it is s o dangerous. Acid rain has been falling over areas of Northern American and Northern Europe. And if it isn’t checked the affect on the water supply and plant of animal life coul d be disastrous.W: This is something I shoul d read more about.Questions:1) What is the best topic of this conversation?2) What energy sources cause acid rain?3) How is sulphuric acid formed?4) According to the man where is acid rain a probl em?5) What action does the woman think she shoul d take next?2. Is nucl ear power safe? Listen to the foll owing dial ogue about the use of nucl ear power, and then choose the best answer to each question you hear.M: The energy minster announced at a press conference yesterday the construction of 3 more nucl ear power stations. These wereforms of a vital part of the government’s energy plans for the next 2 decades. And it need ed to satisfy the country’s growing demands for el ectricity. The plans were strongly criticized by opposition MPs as well as anti-nucl ear and environmentalist groups. W: They must be absolutely mad. More nucl ear power stations?M: OK, Jane. But we’ve got to get the energy from somewhere, haven’t we? We can’t just go on using oil and coal.W: Look, the main point is that they are just not safe. They are real menace. Every one of these things is an accident waiting to happen. Look at the Chernobyl forgotten to sake.M: Yes, OK. I agree there is a risk, of course there is. But it’s minimal. With modern technol ogy nucl ear reactors are much safer. W: Much safer? You must be joking. No, l ook at all that radio active waste they are dumping into the sea and und erground, nobody really knows what will happen l ongterm.M: That is a probl em, sure. But it’s also true that nucl ear energy is cheap and can produce el ectricity very quickly. Lots of countries have no alternatives. They don’t have any oil, coal, or anything. What are they suppose to do? W: Oh, come on. There are l ots of possibilities. Well, quite a few. We just haven’t really l ooked at them seriously enough. There are solar energy and wind power and what’s call ed wave power. We still got a l ot of coal. M: All right, but that all take time and money to devel op. We need energy now. And nucl ear power is the best alternative.W: Oh, I don’t believe this. I reckon it just crazy.Questions:1) Who made the government announcement yesterday?2) What is the government planning to do?3) How does the woman feel about this?4) What is the woman’s main argument?5) Which of the foll owing statements is not true about th e man’s argument?3. Buil ding dams. Listen to a coll ege report and then choose the best answer to each question you hear.Millions of acres of lands of all kinds of wil d life made their homes have been ruined in recent years. This land has been ruined by federally approved water projects such as dams built in violation of the rarely enforced law passed in 1934. According to this law all projects to modify a body of water can be carried out only after a through study to discover what damage may be caused to the wil d life in that area. Many states have not complied with the law. In three southern states, Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi, about 1.2 million acres of wil d life habitats have been covered with water because of dams which have been constructed there. Another plan to buil d a dam in Tennessee was fought because it woul d fl ood large areas ofwil d life habitat particularly endangering a species of small fish call ed the snail darter. The proposed dam woul d also d estroy several important archeol ogical sites, including the ancestral capital of the ancient Cherryky Indian nation. To prevent any further destruction the public must become accurately informed about the advantages and disadvantages of our national water projects. Only then can we be assured the existing laws will be enforced.Questions:1) According to the speaker why have many animals and birds l ost their homes?2) What type of projects does the 1934 law deal with?3) What is required by the rarely enforced 1934 law?4) According to the speaker how many southern states have l ost land because of dams?5) Why did peopl e fight a plan to buil d a damin Tennessee?6) According to the speaker how can further destruction be prevented?7) According to the speaker who can prevent further destruction?Part four. Listening and translation. 2. Exercises.1. Sentence translation. Listen and translate each sentence you have heard into Chinese. Then write it in the space given bel ow.1) I have some funds on hand, and I am wondering whether I ought to put them in the saving’s account.2) The university is buil ding a language laboratory for the d epartment of English, and the job is schedul ed to be compl eted early next year.3) The balance of powers is keeping us out of war because neither sid e would really dare to start a war because of the consequences.4) In addition to using newspapers and the phone the internet has become the tool forgetting more details on job openings, applications and other necessary information.5) On the days they worked empl oyed men worked about an hour more than empl oyed women, 7.9 versus 7.1 hours, the US department of labor reported today.2. Passage translation. Listen and translate each passage you have heard into Chinese. Then write it in the space given bel ow. You may take notes whil e you are listening.1) I resent the way the police react quite differently the different groups of peopl e. I mean, for exampl e, their reaction to young peopl e and student youth, they may have l ong hair or very short hair even skin heads, is quite different from peopl e who are sort of mid dl e aged. They have well spoken middl e class voices. It’s quite wrong.2) You ask how l ong it takes to drive across London. Well, it depends on traffic. If the roads aren’t too busy, you can do it in about an hour.But if you go during the rush hour, then of course, it can take much l onger. It also depends on how well you know the roads. If you don’t know the best routes, it can take you hours to get through, because you will get stuck in one way systems, and end up mil es away from where you want to go.。