大学四级听力真题原文200712Section A ConversationsShort Conversations11. W: I ran into Sally the other day.I could hardly recognize her. Do you re member her from high school?M: Yeah, she was a little out of sha pe back then. Well, has she lost a lot of weight?Q: What does the man remember of Sally?12. W: We don’t seem to have a res ervation for you, sir. I’m sorry.M: But my secretary said that she h ad reserved a room for me here. I phon ed her from the airport this morning just before I got on board the plane.Q: Where does the conversation mo st probably take place?13. W: What would you do if you we re in my place?M: If Paul were my son, I’d just not worry. Now that his teacher is giving hi m extra help and he's working hard him self, he’s sure t o do well in the next ex am.Q: What’s the man’s suggestion to t he woman?14. M: You’ve had your hands full a nd have been overworked during the las t two weeks. I think you really need to go out and get some fresh air and suns hine.W: You are right. Th at’s just what I’m thinking about.Q: What is the woman most probably going to do?15. W: Hello, John. How are you feel ing now? I hear you’ve been ill.M: They must have confused me wit h my twin brother Rods. He’s been sick all week, but I’ve never f elt better in my life.Q: What do we learn about the ma n?16. M: Did you really give away all y our furniture when you moved into the n ew house last month?W: Just the useless pieces, as I’m p lanning to purchase a new set from Italy for the sitting room only.Q: What does the woman mean?17. M: I’ve brought back your Oxford Companion to English Literature. I thou ght you might use it for your paper. Sor ry not to have returned it earlier.W: I was wondering where that book was.Q: What can we infer from the conv ersation?18. W: To tell the truth, Tony, it nev er occurs to me that you are an athlete.M: Oh, really? Most people who mee t me, including some friends of mine, do n’t think so either.Q: What do we learn from the conve rsation?Long ConversationsConversation 1M: Mary, I hope you're packed and r eady to leave.W: Yes, I’m packed, but not quite re ady. I can’t find my passport.M: Your passport? That’s the one thi ng you mustn’t leave behind.W: I know. I haven’t lost it. I’ve pac ked it, but I can’t remember which bag i t’s in.M: Well, you have to find it at the ai rport. Come on, the taxi is waiting.W: Did you say taxi? I thought we were going in your car.M: Yes, well, I have planned to, but I’ll explain later. You’ve go t to be there i n an hour.W: The plane doesn’t leave for two hours. Anyway, I’m ready to go now.M: Now, you're taking just one case, is that right?W: No, there is one in the hall as w ell.M: Gosh, what a lot of stuff! You're taking enough for a month instead of a week.W: Well, you can’t depend on the w eather. It might be cold.M: It’s never cold in Rome. Certainly not in May. Come on, we really must g o.W: Right, we're ready. We’ve got the bags, I’m sure there's no need to rush.M: There is. I asked the taxi driver t o wait two minutes, not twenty.W: Look, I’m supposed to be going away to relax. You're making me nervou s.M: Well, I want you to relax on holid ay, but you can’t relax yet.W: OK, I promise not to relax, at lea st not until we get to the airport and I fi nd my passport.Questions 19-22 are based on the co nversatoin you have just heard.Q19: What does the woman say abo ut her passport?Q20: What do we know about the w oman’s trip?Q21: Why does the man urge the w oman to hurry?Q22: Where does the conversation m ost probably take place?Conversation 2W: Oh, I’m fed up with my job.M: Hey, there's a perfect job for you in the paper today. You might be intere sted.W: Oh, what is it? What do they wa nt?M: Wait a minute. Uh, here it is. The European Space Agency is recruiting tr anslators.W: The European Space Agency?M: Well, that’s what it says. They ne ed an English translator to work from Fr ench or German.W: So they need a degree in French or German, I su ppose. Well, I’ve got th at. What’s more, I have plenty of experie nce. What else are they asking for?M: Just that. A university degree and t hree or four years of experience as a tr anslator in a professional environment. T hey also say the person should have alively and inquiring mind, effective co mmunication skills and the ability to wor kindividually or as a part of the team.W: Well, if I stay at my present job much longer, I won’t have any mind or skills left. By the way, what about salary?I just ho pe it isn’t lower than what I ge t now.M: It’s said to be negotiable. It depe nds on the applicant’s education and ex perience. In addition to basic salary, ther e's a list of extra benefits. Have a look yourself.W: Hm, travel and social security pl us relocation expenses are paid. Hey, thi s isn’t bad. I really want the job.Questions 23-25 are based on the co nversatoin you have just heard.Q23: Why is the woman trying to fin d a new job?Q24: What position is being advertis ed in the paper?Q25: What are the key factors that d etermine the salary of the new position?Section B Short PassagesPassage 1When couples get married, they usuall y plan to have children. Sometimes, how ever, a couple can not have a child of t heir own. In this case, they may decide to adopt a child. In fact, adoption is ver y common today. There are about 60 th ousand adoptions each year in the Unite d States alone. Some people prefer to ad opt infants, others adopt older children, some couples adopt children from their own countries, others adopt children fr om foreign countries. In any case, theyall adopt children for the same reason ---- they care about children and want to give their adopted child a happy life.Most adopted children know that they are adopted. Psychologists and child-car e experts generally think this is a good idea. However, many adopted children or adoptees have very little information ab out their biological parents. As a matter of fact, it is often very difficult for adopt ees to find out about their birth parents because the birth records of most adopt ees are usually sealed. The information i s secret so no one can see it. Naturally, adopted children have different feelings about their birth parents. Many adoptee s want to search for them, but others d o not. The decision to search for birth p arents is a difficult one to make. Most a doptees have mixed feelings about findin g their biological parents. Even though a doptees do not know about their naturalparents, they do know that their adopte d parents want them, love them and will care for them.Questions 26-29 are based on the pa ssage you have just heard.26. According to the speaker, why d o some couples adopt children?27. Why is it difficult for adoptees to find out about their birth parents?28. Why do many adoptees find it h ard to make the decision to search for t heir birth parents?29. What can we infer from the pass age?Passage 2Katherine Gram graduated from Univer sity of Chicago in 1938 and got a job as a news reporter in San Francisco. Kath erin e’s father used to be a successfulinvestment banker. In 1933, he bought a failing newspaper, the Washington Pos t.Then Katherine returned to Washingto n and got a job, editing letters in her fat her’s newspaper. She married Philip Gra m, who took over his father-in-law’s posi tion shortly after and became publisher of the Washington Post. But for many y ears, her husband suffered from mental i llness and he killed himself in 1963. Afte r her husband’s death, Katherine operate d the newspaper. In the 1970s, the news paper became famous around the world and Katherine was also recognized as a n important leader in newspaper publishi ng. She was the first woman to head a major American publishing company, the Washington Post company. In a few ye ars, she successfully expanded the com pany to include newspaper, magazine, br oadcast and cable companies.She died of head injuries after a fall when she was 84. More than 3 thousan d people attended her funeral including many government and business leaders. Her friends said she would be remember ed as a woman who had an important influence on events in the United S tates and the world. Katherine once wrot e, “The world without newspapers would not be the same kind of world”. After h er death, the employees of the Washingt o n Post wrote, “The world without Kathe rine would not be the same at all.”Questions 30-32 are based on the pa ssage you have just heard.30. What do we learn from the pass age about Katherine’s father?31. What does the speaker tell us ab out Katherine Gram?32. What does the comment by empl oyees of the Washington Post suggest?Passage 3Obtaining good health insurance is a real necessity while you are studying o verseas. It protects you from minor and major medical expenses that can wipe o ut not only your savings but your dream s of an education abroad. There are ofte n two different types of health insurance you can consider buying, international t ravel insurance and student insurance in the country where you will be going.An international travel insurance poli cy is usually purchased in your home c ountry before you go abroad. It generall y covers a wide variety of medical servi ces and you are often given a list of do ctors in the area where you will travel w ho may even speak your native languag e. The drawback might be that you maynot get your money back immediately, in other words, you may have to pay all y ou medical expenses and then later sub mit your receipts to the insurance comp any.On the other hand, getting student h eath insurance in the country where you will study might allow you to only pay a certain percentage of the medical cost at the time of service and thus you do n’t have to have sufficient cash to pay t he entire bill at once. Whatever you deci de, obtaining some form of health insura nce is something you should consider b efore you go overseas. You shouldn’t w ait until you are sick with major medical bills to pay off.Questions 33-35 are based on the pa ssage you have just heard.33. Why does the speaker advice ov erseas students to buy health insuranc e?34. What is the drawback of student s buying international travel insurance?35. What does the speaker say abou t students getting health insurance in th e country where they will study?Section C Compound DictationMore and more of t he world’s populati on are living in towns or cities. The spe ed at which cities are growing in the les s developed countries is alarming. Betwe en 1920 and 1960, big cities in develope d countries increased two and a half tim es in size, but in other parts of the worl d the growth was eight times their size. The sheer size of growth is bad enough, but there are now also very disturbing signs of trouble in the comparison of percentages of people living in towns and percentages of people working in industr y. During the 19th century, cities grew a s a result of the growth of industry. In Europe, the proportion of people living i n cities was always smaller than that of the work force working in factories. Now, however, thereverse is almost always true in the n ewly industrialized world. The percentage of people living in cities is much highe r than the percentage working in industr y. Without a base of people working in i ndustry, these cities cannot pay for their growth. There is not enough money to build adequate houses for the people th at live there, let alone the new arrivals. There has been little opportunity to build water supplies or other facilities. So t he figures for the growth of towns and cities represent proportional growt h of unemployment and underemployment, a growth in the number of hopeless and despairing parents and starving chil dren.。